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Mead Lovers Digest #0753
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #753, 8 August 1999
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #753 8 August 1999
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #752, 2 August 1999 (Howe_melissa)
Judging Mead / Honey Flavors / Aging your mead (Nathan Kanous)
Re: Mead Tour through Brittany, France (Vicky Rowe)
Mead Judging (Ken Schramm)
Re: too much tannin, etc. (NLSteve@aol.com)
blending meads ("Spies, Jay")
QuickBrewing (SuperPope)
Re: Mead tour through Brittany, France (Terry Estrin)
Honey flavor (ALAN KEITH MEEKER)
corkers ("Warren The_Beerman")
Acid Equivalency Chart (Dan McFeeley)
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #752, 2 August 1999
From: "Howe_melissa"@dpt.com
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 12:46:59 -0400
Subject: Apple Mead not clearing.
From: RDexter819@aol.com
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 19:11:58 EDT
I had a similar problem with a peach and apple mixture. The Mead after 6 months
turned clear but still was a little sour and had a nasty kick (like mash
whisky). I gave the batch up for lost and poured it out. However that was in
1997 I recently found a bottle when I moved, out of curiosity I tried it. To my
suprise the taiste was a lot smoother and a little sweeter. I re bottled and
have set aside for future testing. I am considering trying this batch again and
letting the entire batch sit.
Thought you might like the information.
Melissa
------------------------------
Subject: Judging Mead / Honey Flavors / Aging your mead
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous@pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 11:55:26 -0500
Hi All,
Three comments. First on juding mead. I've made a few meads (not many).
I've only tasted a couple of others that homebrewers have made. Many of
those that I've tasted were somewhere shy of a beverage I'd truly enjoy.
No offense to anyone who's mead I've tried...
Anyhow, I sent in a bottle of what I thought was a decent mead (I haven't
made that many) to the Mazer Cup. I eagerly awaited the return of my
judging sheets and the coveted Mazer (yeah, right). That mead scored
rather low and I was a bit discouraged. I sat with a bottle and the
tasting sheets and reviewed for myself. The judges were right. What they
described was what it tasted like. The moral of this story is to sit with
someone that knows how to taste / judge mead. It makes a huge difference.
Competitions that use inexperienced judges are probably just making due
with what they've got when they should consider if they might better serve
"contestants" by not judging that category.
Honey flavors are hard to detect. As a primer, might I suggest that people
not accustomed to tasting "dry" honey flavors go into the yard and pick
some clover flowers. Go back inside and smell / taste the flowers and some
clover honey. This way you can BEGIN to discern what comes from the honey
and what comes from the sweet.
LEO.....LET YOUR MEAD AGE. I've got a cyser that I made a few years ago
(3?, 4?). I NEVER liked the taste of it, but I've moved with it 3
times...it's well travelled. I had a few friends over to taste some brew a
few weeks ago. None had ever tried mead. I thought this would be an
opportunity to try a couple. The cyser is actually MUCH more drinkable to
me. Before, I couldn't stand the stuff....now I can drink it. It wasn't
like gasoline or higher alcohols, it was a bit too acidic and had some
other flavors I just didn't care for. Over the ages it's become a bit
softer and some of those flavors have become less prominent. Another few
years and we may have a ringer. This is not to say you can mistreat your
mead (don't ferment a high temps) and it will be great, but don't
underestimate the power of time.
Happy meading.
nathan in madison, wi
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Tour through Brittany, France
From: Vicky Rowe <rcci@rcci.com>
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 13:21:29 -0400
<wkling@knoware.nl> said on Thu, 29 Jul 1999 18:09:29 +0200
>Inspired by an article in Zymurgy in1996 we (chuckmw@mcs.net and
>wkling@knoware.nl) decided to go on cider- and mead-tour through Brittany,
>France.
<snippage of a *great* tour>
Wow! sounds like a great trip. I'll have to try to make a trip to Brittany
when I go to Europe.....meanwhile, is there any chance of getting a copy
of that article? I'd *love* to read it........
====
Vicky
Proprietress of the soon (I hope!) to be opened Blue Moon
Meadery.........
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Judging
From: Ken Schramm <Ken.Schramm@oakland.k12.mi.us>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 13:55:10 -0400
Chuck, I hope I was reading your comments correctly, and that you felt you
got a fair shake at the Mazer Cup Mead Competition. I remember your Cyser,
and I felt it was very good.
The Mazer Cup has worked to build a group of individuals who are relatively
well versed in meads, and we will also spread the competition over a number
of judgings if we feel that it is the only way to assure that every entry
is judged by a competent pair of judges. I don't really see that as an
option for many of the larger national competitions, and the caliber of
judges assigned to any particular category can reach "warm body" status all
too soon. Lots of qualified judge attendance and willingness to judge the
right categories at the final round is key, and much encouraged (blatant
plug for NHC 2000 attendance, but a reasonable point, as well).
I can only say "thank you' to both the MCMC entrants - who often tolerate a
ten day long judging period and the wait for results - and the AABG and
other area mead enthusuiasts who have stcuk with this competition for long
enough to get the hang of mead judging.
If anybody has a problem with Mazer Cup score sheets, please let us know,
and we will take the necessary steps to see that the problem does not
repeat itself.
Thanks,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: too much tannin, etc.
From: NLSteve@aol.com
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 14:30:19 EDT
After a discussion in the last issue, an e-mail exchange led me to add a few
comments that might help someone:
Remember, mead can be sweetened by adding honey in doses (when in doubt, add
fresh yeast as well) until it is as sweet/dry as you'd like.
Remember too that mead can be blended. If you have a batch that is over-acid
or over-tannin, you can blend it with a batch made without acid or tannin.
Experiment by tasting to find a blending ratio that pleases you. Be
creative! Wrestle triumph from the carboy of apparent disaster! -- Steve
------------------------------
Subject: blending meads
From: "Spies, Jay" <Spies@dhcd.state.md.us>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 14:37:57 -0400
All -
I have a 2-year old apple/raspberry mel that I experimented around with in
terms of sweetness. After fermentation took the 1.125 must to .997, I added
Potassium Sorbate to stabilize, and then added about 2 pounds of honey to
sweeten it up a bit. Unfortunately, I sweetened it up a LOT. Would it be
possible/predictable to "dry it out" a bit by making a 1 gallon batch that
finishes dry and blending the two to tone down some of the sweetness? I
have about 3.5 gallons of the sweet stuff at 1.041. I'd like to end up with
a semi-sweet in the 1.020 range. Any thoughts on amount of additional mead
to make? Amount of OG and FG to aim for in the second batch? Blending
techniques? Right now, I'm bulk aging in a 6 gallon carboy, so blending
would seem to be a simple enough affair...
TIA,
Jay Spies
Wishful Thinking Basement Brewery
Baltimore, MD
------------------------------
Subject: QuickBrewing
From: SuperPope <superpope@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 11:57:12 -0700 (PDT)
I am a rather inexperienced homebrewer, I admit that.
With the help of a rather experienced Master Brewer,
I churned out three and a half gallons of incredibly
sweet mead that, which turns out, is hovering at %16
alcohol as it mass ages. While it aged, I decided to
see if I could turn out a 4-day quickbrew that was
actually worth something. (pay attention, there'll
be a question later)
Objective: a quick, cheap, and easy homebrew with
light alcohol content and medium sweetness.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 lb white domino sugar
2 fresh oranges
2 fresh lemons
1 not-so-spectacularly-fresh-but-still-good peach
1 packet Pasteur Champagne yeast
Procedure:
I wanted the flavor of the fruit but not so heavily that
it reminds you of orange juice. So, I boiled a little less
than a half gallon of water and added the fruit, sliced,
along with the sugar a little bit at a time. Once I felt
that the now-mushy fruit had suffered enough I strained it
through a clean cloth and put it into a half-gallon jug
to cool. Once cooled I pitched the cup of water enriched
with the champagne yeast (and yeast energizer) and let'er
rip.
At that time the ...let's call it "mush"...measured out at
1.100 sp.grav. One day passes. 1.09. Doesn't taste that
good. Next day. 1.08, tastes better, but still not good
enough. Two days pass, I am able to restrain myself from
taking more readings. It settled at 1.07 and is pretty
tasty. The fridge effectively stopped fermentation.
Here's the question.
How do I settle this stuff out (not looking for clear,
merely wanting the yeast mostly absent from the final
product) and keep the spirit of the brew? (quick, cheap,
and easy)
Thank you for your responses.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead tour through Brittany, France
From: Terry Estrin <estrin@sfu.ca>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 22:18:47 -0700 (PDT)
Just a quick note of appreciation to Chuck and Wout for their account of
their mead-tour of Brittany. A terrific piece, a really enjoyed it
(imagine, mead sold in grocery stores!).
Terry
------------------------------
Subject: Honey flavor
From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker@welch.jhu.edu>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 10:42:28 -0400 (EDT)
Dick Dunn wrote (in part):
> Alan, I think you're missing Anne's point, because it's a very common
> problem in dealing with mead. People have trouble thinking of what honey
> really tastes like beneath the sweetness. Asking someone to describe or
> recognize the taste of "honey without the sweetness" is like asking to
> describe "lemon without the tartness". Yes, sweetness is just one of the 4
> basic tastes...but in honey it's maybe 95% of the taste!
I guess, but from my perspective it is the NON-SWEET portions of the honey
that give it its true "honey character." Certainly honey is very sweet, being
primarily a concentrated sugar solution, but I'm sure that if I were to make a
solution duplicating the spectrum and amounts of the various sugars found in
a given honey you wouldn't think it was honey if you tasted it because it is
the non-sugar flavor "overtones" that are what most people call "honey
flavor." If you SMELL a honey sample you get a good idea of what that flavor
is -- you aren't so much smelling the sugars here as you are volatile
organics -- esters, alcohols, etc. derived from the various nectars;
the perfumes made by the plants to help attract the bees. If you were to
smell the sugar solution you'd register very little, certainly not honey
character. This is also true for your lemon example, people would have no
trouble identifying the lemon smell as "lemon," no tartness required. I can
still tell a lemon flavored lollipop without it being sour.
It seems to me that for mead it is informative to dissociate
"residual sweetness" from "honey character." Depending on the process and
details of the fermentation you could get either or both in the finished
product.
Just my point of view...
- -Alan Meeker
Baltimore MD
------------------------------
Subject: corkers
From: "Warren The_Beerman" <beerman_warren@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 14:00:38 EDT
In the last MLD, somebody asked:
>Buy the primo bottle corker (anyone tell me the trick to getting >corks
>OUT of those plastic wine corkers?)
Good question. I just switched to corking my meads (I previously
bottled with crown caps). I have a cheap, plastic, wing-handled corker and
can't quite get the hang of using it. It didn't come with instructions, but
the guy who sold it to me says that it works very well (I've seen his
bottles and would agree). How exactly do I get the corker to push the cork
all the way in. Usually, 3/4 of the cork goes in and the last 1/4 is
smashed, remaing outside the bottle.
Help me, please.
Warren Place
Beerman_Warren@hotmail.com
------------------------------
Subject: Acid Equivalency Chart
From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 00:00:12 -0500
Some time ago I posted some material on the use of acid in meadmaking,
and included a chart taken from Acton & Duncan's _Progressive Winemaking_
listing acid equivalencies. The chart was based on the European standard
of sulfuric acid, however, which makes it a little awkward for folk like
ourselves who measure titratable acidity expressed as tartaric acid.
I've redone the chart by starting with even increments for tartaric acid,
and then doing conversions for malic, citric, and sulfuric acid. This
changes the standard of acid expression from sulfuric to tartaric.
What the acid equivalency columns mean is that, looking at the first row
for example, 1.0 ppt of tartaric acid will neutralize the same amount of
a known base as 0.893 ppt of malic acid, 0.933 ppt of citric acid, or
0.65 ppt sulfuric acid.
This is an abreviated version of the full chart. If it's too brief
to be usable, I can post a longer version. For those people who prefer
to figure it out on their own, the rounded off conversion figures for
malic, citric, and sulfuric acid are in the first row. In other words,
to change a TA reading expressed as tartaric to TA expressed as malic,
multiply by 0.893.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
mcfeeley@keynet.net
CORRESPONDING ACIDITIES IN PPT OF VARIOUS ACIDS
Tartaric Malic Citric Sulfuric
1.0 0.893 0.933 0.65
1.5 1.34 1.4 0.975
2.0 1.787 1.867 1.3
2.5 2.233 2.333 1.625
3.0 2.68 2.8 1.95
3.5 3.127 3.267 2.275
4.0 3.574 3.733 2.6
4.5 4.02 4.2 2.925
5.0 4.467 4.667 3.25
5.5 4.914 5.134 3.575
6.0 5.36 5.6 3.9
6.5 5.807 6.067 4.225
7.0 6.254 6.534 4.55
7.5 6.7 7.001 4.875
8.0 7.147 7.467 5.2
8.5 7.594 7.934 5.525
9.0 8.041 8.401 5.85
9.5 8.487 8.867 6.175
10.0 8.934 9.334 6.5
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #753
*******************************
