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Mead Lovers Digest #0814
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #814, 25 July 2000
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #814 25 July 2000
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: posting (Dave Polaschek)
Scientific Articles (Michael Beale)
Matt Dickeson's questions ("Stephen J. Van der Hoven")
RE: Matt D's questions (NLSteve@aol.com)
Re: JLong's query on temperature ranges (NLSteve@aol.com)
Elderberries! (Bob Sheck)
Re:low gravity mead (JazzboBob@aol.com)
Re: Mulberry Melomel (Terry Estrin)
[FWD] THE TALE OF HEATHER ALE (long) (Dan McFeeley)
Yeast vs. My Lower GI ("Spence")
RE: varietal honey, no-chem meads ("Wout Klingens")
Bottling, degassing meads (Chuck)
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: posting
From: Dave Polaschek <davep@davespicks.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 02:11:51 -0500
Matthew Dickeson <dameadmaker@excite.com> wrote:
>... Recipes call for a certain amount of pounds of honey per gallon of water
I've always taken it to mean pounds per finished volume. That is, mix to
achieve the correct final volume. When I mix a batch that's 3#/gal, it's
15 lbs of honey into a 7 gallon fermenter, and water to bring it up to
the 5 gallon mark on the side, which leaves me plenty of room for foam on
top.
>I've read several references so far about racking mead...some say to rack it
>in two weeks, some say leave it alone for a month or two months after
>pitching before even looking at it! What is an appropriate interval for
>racking a mead?
The difference in opinion is partly due to differences in fermentation
speed. My rule is that the first racking happens after the initial
vigorous fermentation has slowed down (end of high-kraeusen if you think
in beer terms). Any subsequent rackings happen when it's convenient to my
schedule and the mead looks pretty clear.
>Also, does it really make a difference with racking once or twice
A small difference in final clarity and the amount of sediment left in
the bottle. Each extra racking will help take out some of the sediment
you might otherwise get in the bottles.
Of course if you're trying for a carbonated mead, and are
bottle-conditioning it, you're going to have some sediment in the bottle
unless you use champagne methods to pull out that last bit of sediment.
I've found that bottle-conditioned mead is usually "good enough" for me
with one racking. If I'm making a still mead and want it crystal clear,
I'll rack twice.
>My first two batches are about two months old now, and are starting to
>really clarify (fermenting between 75 and 85 degrees)...wondering when the
>best time to bottle is. Any thoughts?
It sounds like you're ready to bottle sometime in the next month or so.
I'm not sure what the "best" time would be, but that's when I'd do it.
The problems with bottling too early are extra sediment and over-pressure
bottles. If the mead is starting to drop clear, you're probably safe from
both worries. Check the gravity to make sure before you bottle (a value
less than 1 was the target on most of my batches).
- -DaveP
Dave Polaschek - Polaschek Computing, Inc. - davep@best.com
PGP key and other spiffy things at <http://www.best.com/~davep/>
"Jolt is for Windows programmers. It's typical IBM PC: it goes
in brown and comes out yellow. Mountain Dew is for Macintosh
programmers: it goes in yellow and comes out yellow.
It's WYSIWYP." - Guy Kawasaki
------------------------------
Subject: Scientific Articles
From: Michael Beale <meadmaker1977@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 21:55:29 -0700 (PDT)
The article on Morse has peeked my curiosity with
scientific articles on mead. If anyone knows of any
articles on experiments invovling mead, commercially
or home, I would appreciate a response. I'm going to
check the ones refered to in the Morse article, which
I must say was a very well written article.
Michael
meadmaker1977@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Subject: Matt Dickeson's questions
From: "Stephen J. Van der Hoven" <sjvander@mines.utah.edu>
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 10:53:58 -0600
Matt Dickeson had a number of questions. My answers are based on my own
experience and what works best for me. I think you will find that there
is no one "right" way to do many things, and depends on who you talking
to.
The first question I think almost everyone would agree on. If the
recipe calls for 2 lbs per gallon, it means dilute the 2 lbs of honey
with enough water so that the total volume of honey and water equals 1
gallon. For a five gallon batch, this would equal 10 lbs of honey and a
little more than 4 gallons of water. BTW, 1 gallon of honey weighs
approximately 12 lbs.
As far as racking goes, you'll probably find a myriad of opinions. My
opinion is to let the mead tell me when to rack and to rack as few times
as possible. The first time I rack is after the primary fermet, when
the fermentation rate has slowed way down. If I'm doing a mel, I rack
on to the fruit at this time and then off the fruit in about a week.
After this, I may only rack once more, just before bottling. I may rack
another time somewhere in between if there's a lot of sediment or if I
suspect that there are some fermentables left and a rack will stir
things up enough to get fermentation restarted. Some people recommend
racking more times to help clarify, but clarity has rarely been a
problem for me.
With regard to the fruit mush, I have a couple of suggestions. First,
my experience has been that strawberries disintegrate more than any
other fruit I've used. Next time, I would suggest putting them in a
grain bag. There will still be some mush, but you'll get most of the
liquid. I do not try to squeeze the last drops of liquid out by
whatever means for fear of contamination or oxidation. Also I don't
see any need to skin, dice and crush the fruit. Freezing the berries
whole has always worked well for me. For larger fruits like plums or
kiwis, I have cut them into halves or quarters and I did skin the kiwis,
but usually I just freeze whole, thaw and rack the partially fermented
mead onto the fruit. A practice that I have started recently for mels
is to put a small amount of the fruit (1# or less) in the primary. This
adds essential nutrients and results in a much healthier and faster
primary without the addition of artificial yeast nutrients.
When to bottle depends on a lot of factors. If it's the only mead you
have and you think it tastes good, bottle and drink it. If you need the
carboy for the next batch, bottle it. Since I have other meads to drink
and carboys to spare, so I usually like to bulk age in the carboy for
about a year. I'll be moving soon, so I'm going to bottle those batches
that are done but are still less than a year old and transport the ones
that are still fermenting in the carboys.
OK, that's enough from me for now.
Thanks Dan for the interesting history on Roger Morse.
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Matt D's questions
From: NLSteve@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 15:45:02 EDT
Some comments in response to Matt's mead-making questions:
If you are making a five gallon batch, for example, you don't add five
gallons of water to 13 pounds of honey or whatever. Instead, add water to
make a little over five gallons of must to start with. Personally, I mix
honey and water to get a certain OG at a little over six gallons, primary
ferment in a 6.5 gallon carboy, then rack to a five gallon and one gallon
(apple juice jar) container, then rack one final time to a five gallon carboy
and maybe a 1.5 liter wine bottle. This way, I end up with at least five
gallons and no carboy ever has too much headspace. It pays to have a few
small fermenting jars and rubber stoppers to choose from at racking times.
That's how I would answer your racking question too -- I rack once when
fermentation finishes, and again when the mead is more-or-less clear, then
age til very clear & bottle. To each his own -- my method isn't sacred.
No need to shave those strawberries.
Worrying about the SG now when you didn't measure the OG to begin with is of
limited value -- go ahead & do it for your logbook records so you get an idea
about SG & sweetness, but it sounds like you really can't guess what your
finished SG should be. Although if you're making a very dry mead, it will
finish under 1.000 and such a reading will pretty clearly indicate it's done.
Racking/filtering off of fruit during active fermentation will cause no
oxidation; yeast will metabolize the oxygen. But I wouldn't trust the
sanitation risks inherent with your method in order to save a little mead.
Racking later or otherwise monkeying around will encourage oxidation.
It is not impossible that your brew is ready to bottle, but two months is
certainly aggressive. Err on the side of bottling later -- most folks rack
once or twice after fermentation until no sediment layer continues to fall.
Hope that helps.
Steve
------------------------------
Subject: Re: JLong's query on temperature ranges
From: NLSteve@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 16:02:52 EDT
In MLD 811, JLong asks about "optimal" temperature ranges for fermenting and
aging beer, noting that the "gurus" on the board hadn't responded to his
prior inquiry on that topic. Actually, a couple of us responded in MLD 809
(although I can't claim the "guru" title). The remarks may have been missed
because they were attached to a separate but related discussion. I'll repeat
my own comments but encourage JLong to look back at MLD 809 for Dave
Polaschek's. My comments were:
"My first answer (you might guess) is "it depends," but because an
overgeneralization is better than nothing, how about 65 deg. to low 70s for
fermenting. Higher "could" produce off-flavors and too much lower could
challenge or slow fermentation. For long-term aging, think like wine: 50-60
sounds good;
definitely keep under 70 degrees. Keep it fairly constant."
------------------------------
Subject: Elderberries!
From: Bob Sheck <bsheck@skantech.net>
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 19:04:15 -0400
In my little part of Eastern North Carolina, the Elderberries
are ready for picking.
I made an Elderberry wine about 6 yrs ago, and it is just now
getting terrific! At the time, I could only find one or two recipes
so I went with the one that seemed more robust.
Now I want to make an Elderberry mead (Melomel? - dunno if
Elderberry is a fruit or not).
Any advice is appreciated (either for wine or mead)
Bob Sheck
bsheck, me-sheck, abednigo! Greenville, North Carolina
email:bsheck@skantech.net or see us at:
http://www.skantech.net/bsheck/
(252)830-1833
------------------------------
Subject: Re:low gravity mead
From: JazzboBob@aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 00:20:13 EDT
This is a great way to make a low gravity mead. I've done it several times
when I want something very light and refreshing for a summertime drink. Your
metheglin should taste like a mildly alcoholic ginger ale. A few points to
be aware of. Wyeast "Chico" 1056 is a very clean yeast that does well with
meads that are below OG gravities of 90. The closer you get to a gravity of
90, the sweeter the mead will be because 1056 stops fermenting honey early in
the game. My same 90 OG mead recipes done with wine/champagne yeasts end at
.095 to 1.005 and are like dry white wines while Chico 1056 will stay up
around 20. If you start at OG of 50 to 60 you should end up a final gravity
near zero with a very well balanced light mead. It will not be too alcoholic
for the amount of honey and body. It will not have much strength or aging
ability. Enjoy these when they are young.
I like repitching onto the sediment from an ale secondary better then the
primary because the yeast residue is a lot cleaner and purer. Only do this
with a liquid yeast culture that you know is very fresh and free from
infection. I usually rack the beer or mead out of the secondary into a keg,
swish out the yeast with a bit of the new brew, and pour it into a new
sanitized fermentor. I'll only repitch a few times before starting the cycle
off again with a new culture.
Bob Grossman
<< What's your take on low gravity meads? I just made a Metheglin with an og
of
1.052, flavored with Ginger and Hops. (This is the one that had the carboy
smash up. 6 gal. all over the floor! It tasted Sooo Good at the transfer to
secondary, I had to try it again! So what if it cost my brew budget a
carpet!!)
What's the take on using ale yeast in mead making? I Directed this batch onto
a sediment of Wyeast #1056. Freshly fallen from a Pale ale's secondary. As I
did with the original.
>>
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mulberry Melomel
From: Terry Estrin <testrin@sfu.ca>
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 12:46:08 -0700
on 7/12/00 3:27 PM, Jason Milliron wrote:
>I was wondering if anyone had
> a good recipe for mulberry mead. I was planning on using 15 lbs of honey
> and 8 lbs of mulberries. Is this too much, and will it be sickly sweet?
It really depends on the yeast. I assume this is a five gallon batch? I
generally use a 4 lbs honey / 2-3 pounds fruit per gallon ratio for a
melomel, using Lalvin KIV-1116 yeast. It comes out slightly sweet, but
certainly not sickly. Try freezing the fruit first to burst the cells and
then squeeze it all through a nylon bag to get all the juice.
cheers,
Terry Estrin
Vancouver, BC
------------------------------
Subject: [FWD] THE TALE OF HEATHER ALE (long)
From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 17:35:43 -0500
This post appeared on a recent SCA list -- it looked like a subject
of interest to MLD readers, many of whom experiment with heather
honey. With Mike's permission, here it is below.
- -- Dan McFeeley
- --------------------[snip!]-----------------------------------------
[SCA_Brew] Digest Number 170
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 23:59:25 -0700
From: "Mike Bennett"
Subject: THE TALE OF HEATHER ALE (long)
I gleaned this from "beer bits" a daily beer news post on
rec.food.drink.beer I thought some of you might find it interesting.
THE TALE OF HEATHER ALE
by Alan D. Eames , beer.com 7.1.2000
In the history of Western civilization, no brew has aroused so
much speculation and curiosity as the "lost" Heather ale of the
Picts. About the year 250 B.C., the Greek navigator and
geographer Pytheas first explored and wrote of the land that
we know today as Scotland - an area that was home to a
fierce, independent group of tribes collectively called the Picts.
Living in mound-like villages underground, the Picts were
ferocious enough that even Julius Caesar's legions could not
subdue these small, dark, warlike people. Heavily tattooed
with dark blue-black images of gods and fantastic monsters,
the Picts derived their name from the ancient word for 'picture'
- - literally 'illustrated' native people. Some historians trace the
folk-tale notion of 'the Little People', and the 'Leprechaun' to
late middle-ages survivals of these relatively child-sized humans.
In the year 361 A.D., the Emperor Julian witnessed the Picts
in battle saying of the wild, ale-drunken hoards - they sounded
like "the bellowing of oxen and the cawing of ravens."
Pictish, Heather ale was likely the first brew in the British Isles.
Others, including the Vikings, would also incorporate heather
into their beers - the Viking version called BEOIR-
LOCHLONNACH - meaning 'strong at sea' but it was the
Picts who made heather ale the stuff of myth and legend through
its famous potency and hallucinogenic power. Inducing visions
and a state of sheer ecstasy, it remains no wonder that heather
ale and the secret of its brewing became the stuff of myth
and legend.
Heather or ling is a general term for the many species of low
growing Evergreen shrub - the most common of which is
Calluna Vulgaris. These beautiful plants are found, in all
varieties, throughout the Scottish Highlands. Little factual
information has survived to tell how heather ale was brewed.
Historians of the first through eighth centuries describe the
recipe as the most closely guarded secret of the Pict chieftains.
It is known that Pict ale was brewed with the flowering tops
of specific heather plants whose blossoms were gathered,
washed and then placed into brewing vessels. Wort, the
liquid extract from malted grains, were then added being
drained over and through the steeping blooms. Two parts
heather to one part malt was said to give the resulting ale its
reputed narcotic property. At a time and in a culture where
hops were not a regular component in beer, the heather
doubled as bittering agent and preservative. Ancient authors
spoke of heather ale's extreme bitterness. Other accounts
mention seeing the Pict use of Bog-beans and Yarrow in the
brew; both of which would have served to further add
unusual units of bitterness. Both corn and barley were used
for malting and nearly all accounts agree on honey - combs
and all- providing fermentable sugars with ambient, air borne
yeast completing fermentation.
Until the early 19th century, some form of heather ale brewing
survived in isolated areas of the Scottish Highlands. Sadly, the
'real stuff' perished sometime in the 4th century when Scottish
King Niall led the extermination of the Picts in Galloway. There,
according to most accounts, the secret of heather ale died with
Trost of the Long Knife - last king of the Picts. Or did it?
As a Cultural Anthropologist, I've long realized that more than
one truth lurks deep within the wildest of tales and fables. In
years researching heather ale lore and legend, I had become
convinced that the notion of heather ale being somehow
narcotic in nature probably was true. Experience shows that
nothing gains the attention of writers - ancient or modern -more
than excess and it was obvious to me that to gain the universal
level of fame that heather ale achieved, it must have been truly
potent. Notwithstanding old accounts, my firm belief in the
narcotic properties of heather ale was met with much scoffing
from some few beer folk who thought my faith in old historians
foolish in the extreme.
Enter a young Scottish brewer -Bruce Williams - who,
interested in replicating ancient beers, decided to brew heather
ale himself. Working from a late 18th century farmhouse recipe
book, Williams succeeded with a wonderful ale he dubbed
'Fraoch' from the Gaelic 'leann fraoch' meaning, heather ale.
This brew has enjoyed great success both in the United States
and throughout Europe but, more importantly, in the process
of crafting his beer, Williams made a discovery of great
consequence to historians. While harvesting heather for the
first experimental brews, an associate of Williams from
Cambridge University told the brewer of the presence of an
ergot-like fungus which was to be found under the leaves of
nearly all heather plants. Hallucinogenic in the extreme, this
LSD-like material is easily and thoroughly removed by simple
washing - a step carefully followed ensuring no unwanted
effects from this excellent bit of bottled history. Nonetheless,
the point of this discovery is obvious...the old legends were
true - the ancient ale of the Picts was narcotic and that fact
goes a long way toward explaining its appeal to our ancestors.
After all, times may change but the desire of humans to alter
their consciousness seems eternal.
Many authors have celebrated the legend of heather ale but
one account must remain the best known and most romantic.
I refer, of course, to "HEATHER ALE", penned by
Robert Louis Stevenson:
>From the bonny bells of heather
They brewed a drink longsyne,
Was sweeter far than honey,
Was stronger far than wine.
They brewed it and they drank it,
And lay in a blessed swound
For days and days together
In their dwelling underground.
There rose a King in Scotland,
A fell man to his foes,
He smote the Picts in battle,
He hunted them like roes.
Over miles of the red mountain
He hunted as they fled,
And strewed the dwarfish bodies
Of the dying and the dead.
Summer came in the country,
Red was the heather bell;
But the manner of the brewing
Was none alive to tell.
In graves that were like children's
On many a mountain head,
The Brewsters of the Heather
Lay numbered with the dead
.it continues.visit the web site:
http://www.beer.com/news/bee/bee/2000/07/01/962425229017.html
- --
Michael Bennett
aka Ld. Brenainn MacCuUladh (Barony of Adiantum, AnTir)
------------------------------
Subject: Yeast vs. My Lower GI
From: "Spence" <drwlg@coollink.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 18:51:49 -0400
I have a delicate, yet no less serious inquiry to make. I am wondering if
others in our fraternity have experienced "gastrointestinal distress" from
drinking their homemade beers and wines and meads? I think that I have
conducted some reasonable tests and hypothesize that maybe my little
yeasties are setting up camp in my gut and waging war with the natural
critters that normally occupy the territory. It appears that the yeasties
are the better fighters, and tend to win the battle. Of course, I am the
one who ends up paying reparations for the price of the war. I am sure
there are some of our bretheren out there versed in such delicate discourse.
I am not merely speaking about the "Winds of War"... but as in "opening the
floodgates". Wonder if there is any scientific reason that supports my
theory? Suppose I could use PeptoBismol as an adjunct... maybe
Kayopectate... might add a lovely pinkish patina to the must or wort... but
figure it will still be dark in the end.
Spence
If you're not bleedin'... you're not having fun!
------------------------------
Subject: RE: varietal honey, no-chem meads
From: "Wout Klingens" <wcm.klingens@quicknet.nl>
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 09:10:08 +0200
Holly Allen Wites:
> So, if anyone could provide a good recipe for a
> honey-only, sweet, simple tasting, no-chemicals
> mead, that would be great. In other words:
You know, over the years lots of people have asked for a recipe like this.
And I often wondered about the advice given:
Mix water and honey to an SG of about 1.100 add Lalvin K1 yeast, let it rip
until the SG comes down to 1.010 or so and add honey to an SG of
1.020-1.030, depending on how sweet you want your mead. Repeat this process,
until fermentation stops.
With or without chemicals this will make you a very strong (15-18%) sweet
mead. Nothing wrong with that, I even like them if well aged, but I like a
lighter, more subtle mead. And you can drink more of it as well :-)
First of all something about this K1 yeast:
The manufacturer promotes this to be a yeast especially suited for
low-nitrogen (nutrient) must.
In plain lay-men's terms: this yeast will ferment the h*ll out of your mead
and will not leave any residual sugar.
Secondly about the flavor of mead described above:
Meads made with the technique of feeding taste completely different from the
one I'll try to describe below. This is due to the fact, that glucose is
easier to ferment than fructose. So you'll have more glucose in your fed
mead, than in others. I suppose the byproduct profile will be different too.
Now let's look at cider making and late harvest or ice wines. People go
through lots of troubles just to keep nitrogen levels low in order to get a
sweet end-product. Yeasts are specially selected, suited for these purposes
to avoid unwanted off-flavors such as sulfur.
So let's aim for the best of the best: a great Sauternes wine. People in
Europe have often reported the use of this yeast strain in mead.
So here's my recipe.
Make must with a gravity of 1.110 for a medium, 1.120 for a sweet and 1.130
for a *very* sweet (FG 1.045) mead.
Add rehydrated Sauternes yeast.
Wait a few months for it to finish.
Wait another 2 months before racking (age on lees).
Fine, bottle, enjoy.
As you can see I don't like racking. Especially with small batches the risk
of oxidation is too great. I use just one racking, namely after the fining.
Also a Sauternes is a very slow fermenter. *Very* slow!
Be careful about mixing honey and water and reading the gravity. Honey will
sink to the bottom and you'd wind up adding more honey than necessary. A
rule of thumb: honey has 80-82% of sugar. I'd rather calculate the SG than
measure it.
> whether extra steps should be necessary to
> promote adequate fermentation. It has already
No extra steps, except working as sanitary as you possibly can, using
detergents especially suited for winemaking.
> been said that darker honeys aren't good for
> honey-old meads, but which light honeys have
> given people the best results?
Dark or light makes no difference in my few. Taste the honey. If you like
it: use it.
Wout.
------------------------------
Subject: Bottling, degassing meads
From: Chuck <meadmakr@enteract.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 08:33:45 -0500 (CDT)
In weeks past on Rec.Crafts.Winemaking there
have been discussions about de-gassing wines
just prior to bottling. I'm not sure why they
do it, except that the dissolved CO2 may add an
unwanted flavor component.
For those not familiar with what I'm talking
about, fermented beverages like mead, wine, and
beer are all saturated with one atmosphere of
CO2. You can see this by shaking your carboy
and you'll see your airlock go crazy with the
release of CO2.
Thus far I've not de-gassed any of my meads
prior to bottling, but occassionally, when I
send a bottle to Wout Klingens in Holland, he'll
mention that the mead had a slight sparkle on
opening. He also mentioned to me that plastic corks,
inserted using a floor corker, sometimes add a
little "carbonation" to his meads because the corks
fit so tightly.
One of the reasons I have not de-gassed my meads
prior to bottling is I believe that the dissolved
CO2 offers some protection against oxidation. Now
those R.C.W folks all seem to use sulfites in their
wines, which would offer some protection from
oxidation, if you wanted to put sulfites in your
meads. I don't.
Anyone here de-gas their meads prior to bottling?
Anyone think that a slight"sparkle" in their meads
will lose them points in a contest (when they
entered their mead as still)? (I do.) I would like
to see some pro/con discussion of de-gassing meads
here.
FWIW, the best method of degassing appeared to be
to take a small diameter wooden dowel and cut a slit
in one end with a hacksaw. Then take a plastic soda
straw and insert the middle of the straw in the slit
in the dowel. Sanitize the whole thing, then insert
the dowel into the carboy, put the other end in the
chuck of an electric drill and let'er rip!
Chuck Wettergreen
meadmakr@enteract.com
Geneva, IL
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #814
*******************************
