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Mead Lovers Digest #0776
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #776, 27 December 1999
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #776 27 December 1999
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Digests across the Y2Khasm (Mead Lover's Digest)
Melomels made with juice & cold storage ("Tim Green")
Mead Judging Form ("Bob Carbone")
using fruit and One-step (Gregg Stearns)
Honey Sources ("Douglas Whynott")
Freeze-concentrating (Ted McIrvine)
re: Need email address to American Mead Association (Dick Dunn)
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe/admin requests. When
subscribing, please include name and email address in body of message.
Digest archives and FAQ are available for anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu
in pub/clubs/homebrew/mead.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Digests across the Y2Khasm
From: mead@raven.talisman.com (Mead Lover's Digest)
Date: 23 Dec 99 23:29:46 MST (Thu)
Regarding the digest and concerns over Y2K potential-problems: I think
we're OK here and upstream. However, since the digest is not a daily event
anyway, and since it is non-essential in the grand scheme of things, I plan
to allow a comfortable gap between digests on either side of the Y2K boun-
dary. To wit: I'll push out whatever submissions are waiting to go, as of
some time on 30 December. The next digest probably won't appear until 2
January even if everything is cool. Given the usual publication schedule
[*Schedule*?!?], this should be a hardly-noticeable delay, and it will keep
us out of the way of more important matters (and problems).
- ---
Mead-Lover's Digest mead-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Melomels made with juice & cold storage
From: "Tim Green" <timothygreen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 09:48:52 -0500
I started a batch of cherry mel about 3 months ago.
Having the unfortunate problem of having made more must that my
fermenter would hold, I put the remaining gallon in a one gallon jug and
airlocked it.
The batch was made as follows:
10# of raw wildflower honey
5 gallons of sour cherry juice (pre-sweetened for wine making)
I dissolved the honey in about 2 quarts of the juice and heated it
enough to allow it to pasturize. The remainder of the juice I had
sulfated 2 days before.
I put the must in a 5 gallon carboy and a 1 gallon jug, pitched 2 packs
of Lavin EC-1118 in the carboy and one pack in the jug.
Recient samples have been dry with just a touch of sweetness and seem to
have better fruit character than I have ever achieved using whole fruit.
Has anyone else tried making mead from honey and juice?
The gallon jug was inadvertantly placed in my garage fridge when we
moved into our new house about 8 weeks ago. I don't remember why I put
it in, but I sampled it last night and was amazed. It is pale pink, has
dropped completely clear, and can only be classified as semi-sweet. It
is truly wonderful, the best mead I have ever tasted. I am tempted ti
put the other 5 gallons in the fridge.
Tim
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Judging Form
From: "Bob Carbone" <bcarbone@wnonline.net>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 09:20:30 -0600
Happy Holidays
A new mead maker has requested that I analyze his latest batch. I seem to
remember seeing an 'official' mead scoring sheet somewhere but I can't
remember where. The score sheet was formatted just like the BJCP beer score
sheet. It had the usual fifty point total score and also had flavor
descriptors in a column on the left hand side appropriate for meads.
Has anyone else seen this score sheet? Can any one direct me to a source for
this score sheet or any other for that matter?
Bob Carbone
Grand Cane, LA
------------------------------
Subject: using fruit and One-step
From: Gregg Stearns <gregg@ispi.net>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 11:14:24 -0600
In case any of you use the One-step oxygen cleanser, I have a little
precautionary word. Make sure it dissolves completely, and you get it
all poured out.
Because it is an oxygen cleanser, if you are using fruit in your mead,
any residual granuales of the cleaner will instantly start to oxidize
the fruit. I just made a blueberry melomel, and didn't realize there
was a bit of that stuff left in the fermenter. I finally noticed, and
saw that about 1/4 cup of blueberries had turned jet black.
I quickly poured off the good blueberries, and everything with the mead
is going fine.
(for those of you not familiar with One-step, it is a white powder,
oxygen clenaser/santizer. 1Tbsp/gallon water, wash your equip in it, no
need to rinse. fairly inexpensive, never had any problems with it, save
for this one)
- --
Gregg Stearns | 237 South 70th | tel: +1.402.441.3292
Editor Vnews Insider | Suite 220 | fax: +1.402.483.5418
gregg@ispi.net | Lincoln, NE 68510 | http://www.ispi.net
------------------------------
Subject: Honey Sources
From: "Douglas Whynott" <whynott@cheshire.net>
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 08:07:59 -0500
For those MLD subscribers who are looking for sources of interesting honeys,
there's the AMERICA'S HONEY SUPPLIERS directory, published by the National
Honey Board. It can be found at the Honey Board's website, www.nhb.org, and
downloaded with Adobe Acrobat. Or you can call and they'll mail it free of
charge at 303-776-2337.
For example, mesquite honey can be found at Lone Star Honey Co. in Leander,
Texas, or buckwheat honey can be bought from T.M.Klein & Sons in St. Charles,
Michigan. There's even a source for honey from mint plants. The most common
source is clover, of course, but there are a lot of possibilities for those
who want to experiment. Most of the companies ship a minimum of 5 gallons (60
lbs.) by bulk order and the wholesale price.
I would be interested in hearing about experiences with making plain meads
with various kinds of honey. In your experience, what honeys best contribute
their fragrances and aromas to the final product? I'm new to meadmaking but
I've kept bees for a long time and I've found that preferences for honeys are
wide ranging. Most people like clover honey the best, but others find clover
honey somewhat bland. Some prefer the strong flavored and dark buckwheat
honey over all others. Buckwheat is one of my favorites too.
It seems to me that rather than the fruits or spices that are added to mead,
to give it flavor and nutrient boosts, etc, that the honey itself should be
the important thing to watch for in a mead, just as the beer brewer pays so
much attention malts and hops. Any thoughts on this?
Doug Whynott
------------------------------
Subject: Freeze-concentrating
From: Ted McIrvine <McIrvine@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 00:05:01 -0800
I've only freeze-concentrated beer. (In fact, I'm trying to figure out
what to do with the remaining gallon of last year's attempt to duplicate
Samichlaus and what category it would fit in a beer competition if I
bottle it.)
A chemist friend actually claims the reverse of the ideas reposted below
from Digest 775. He claims that freezing drops out phenols, proteins,
ketones, and lots of other undesired chemicals and compounds. My
experience suggests the same, and I haven't found anything iffy about
freeze-concentrating. I use a stainless keg, which avoids the problems
of uncovered containers.
Cheers
Ted in NYC
> From: Hddanfxdwg@aol.com
> One source claims massive headache and
> ketone poisoning from freeze concentrating. Distilling is obviously illegal,
> freeze concentrating is iffy.
> Any distilled product and I would assume any freeze concentrated product is
> very rough when it is new. Maybe suitable to rub down your horse, but
> certainly not drinkable. Good brandy is aged for 5-10 years, fine brandy
> longer yet. Has anyone, using either method described above, made a mead
> brandy and aged it sufficiently to smooth it out?
------------------------------
Subject: re: Need email address to American Mead Association
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 27 Dec 99 21:44:25 MST (Mon)
Angie Helm <angiehelm@yahoo.com> wrote, and other newcomers may be
curious...
> ...Also can you give me any
> information about how I'd go about entering the
> American Mead Association competition?...
The American Mead Association no longer exists. The president (and the real
driving force behind it) was killed in a car accident about four years ago,
and after that the organization fell on the darkest of times due to very
bad people. There were attempts by good folks to revive the AMA but these
failed. I do not expect to see anything named the American Mead Association
exist again, and I have fairly serious doubts that any organization much
like it will be formed.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #776
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