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Mead Lovers Digest #0810
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #810, 26 June 2000
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #810 26 June 2000
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #807, 31 May 2000 ("Cindy M. Renfrow")
Re: Wood Barrels? ("Cindy M. Renfrow")
Quick Mead (was: Wood Barrels) (m_shapiro@bigfoot.com)
Re: Meadery in Ohio (DBJILBERT@aol.com)
Rosewater Rhodomel (Nathan Kanous)
Quick & Good Mead (Re: Wood Barrels?) (Elfboy0@aol.com)
Results of the cross-country mead transport (Elfboy0@aol.com)
RE: moving mead (Joe O'Meara)
RE: Sediment in must (Joe O'Meara)
Re: mead chat (w.w.mccormack@ev1.net)
re: r.c.b (Dick Dunn)
Re: Fwd: Mead Lover's Digest #807, 31 May 2000 (Jim Johnston)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #806, 18 May 2000 (Jim Johnston)
r.c.b. (Tim Bray)
Re: moving carboys, and that quick fermenting metheglin ("Lane Gray, Czar ...)
Yeast on caffeine buzz? (Sediment okay) (Elfboy0@aol.com)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #809, 18 June 2000 (Jim Johnston)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #809, 18 June 2000 (Jim Johnston)
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.
Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead, or
via anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu in pub/clubs/homebrew/mead.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Eric Brown" <apicoltore@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 23:00:56 PDT
Hello everyone!
I've just recently bought the equipment necessary to start making mead, and
as soon as we extract our first crop of honey (I work for a beekeeper) I
plan to give it all a go. I have some questions I hope you all can help me
with first.
I'm a firm believer in the potential beauty of varietal honey, and my aim is
to express that beauty in my mead in as pure a form as possible. Any
suggestions on how to really display the varietal character of the honey?
I'm also rather a purist, and I would prefer not to use prepared yeast
nutrient, pectic enzymes, sulfites, etc. What additives do you all think
are absolutely necessary and what can I get by without? Does anyone have
experience using bee pollen as a yeast nutrient? I've heard talk of it, but
that's all. Also, what are the most natural means of producing a clear
mead?
Eric
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #807, 31 May 2000
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy@thousandeggs.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 09:43:56 +0200
>Ryan Zwahr
> rzwahr@bigfoot.com
> says:
> in North Carolina, and we have pretty warm weather here. I don't have a
> basement, but I do have a crawlspace. It stay's fairly cool under
> there, although it does get chilly at night sometimes and it does need
> to be treated occasionally for termites. Our house is usually 78
> degrees or so, and I thought that might be too warm. I'd prefer to do
> it outside if possible, but I just can't think of a cool enough spot.
If your crawlspace has a dirt floor, you might try an historic solution to
your problem -- dig a hole large enough, & deep enough to fit your carboy
up to the neck. The dirt (if it's not exposed to the sun) should keep an
even cool temperature.
Regards,
Cindy Renfrow
cindy@thousandeggs.com
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.thousandeggs.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Wood Barrels?
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy@thousandeggs.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 09:43:50 +0200
>JLong@tcadvertising.com writes:
>1) Does anyone know of where I can buy wooden barrels at decent
prices? <snip>
You can try here http://www.interlog.com/~zaroski/
> 2) Does anyone know of any recepies for a quick & good mead that will
>be ready in between 30 & 60 days? I realize that the alcohol content will
>be very low, but I am afraid that the 30 gallons of mead that I am taking
>to Pennsic won't last the week.
I've left my personal recipe notebook in the states, sorry.
> 3) Does anyone know of any resources where I can find Recepies for
>mead & wine from the Medieval and Renaissance time period?
I've posted some here:
http://members.aol.com/renfrowcm/links.html - links to brewing history
resources, including recipes
http://members.aol.com/renfrowcm/mead.html - 1393 recipe
http://www.thousandeggs.com/sample.html - two 1669 mead recipes
Regards,
Cindy Renfrow
cindy@thousandeggs.com
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.thousandeggs.com
------------------------------
Subject: Quick Mead (was: Wood Barrels)
From: m_shapiro@bigfoot.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 09:50:42 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 9 Jun 2000 JLong@tcadvertising.com wrote:
>
> 2) Does anyone know of any recepies for a quick & good mead that will
> be ready in between 30 & 60 days? I realize that the alcohol content will
> be very low, but I am afraid that the 30 gallons of mead that I am taking
> to Pennsic won't last the week.
My spiced cycer (apple metheglyn) ferments quickly and is drinkable by the time
it is clear. My normal recipe would probably not be ready by Pennsic, but if
you will accept the lower alcohol then use about 1 lb of honey per gallon of
must instead of the 2 or 2 1/2 that I normally use. The spices are up to you,
but I find that 5 to 7 cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and 1 or 2 thin slices of
ginger root per gallon work very well.
Make up- a healthy starter solution and don't let your must be too cool and you
should have a quick, healthy fermentation. I would guess that with only 1 lb
of honey/gallon that your fermentation should not take more than about 2 weeks.
Rack when done and continue to do so as needed to get the stuff clear.
This will probably ferment dry, so if you like it sweeter add some honey before
serving. Unless you use sulfites and sorbate the sweetened cyser will probably
start to referment, giving you a slightly crackling cyser (not necessarily a
bad thing, just be ready for it if you leave the sweetened stuff around for a
while).
> 3) Does anyone know of any resources where I can find Recepies for
> mead & wine from the Medieval and Renaissance time period?
>
I assume that you have checked the A&S links off of the SCA website.
HTH
Wassail!
Marc Shapiro m_shapiro@bigfoot.com
Visit 'The Meadery' at:
http://www.bigfoot.com/~m_shapiro/
"If you drink melomel every day, you will live to be 150 years old,
unless your wife shoots you."
- -- Dr. Ferenc Androczi, Winemaker of the Little Hungary Farm Winery
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Meadery in Ohio
From: DBJILBERT@aol.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 10:56:54 EDT
I would like to again take the opportunity to thank you for all your help in
my endeavor. We opened up our winery about 6 weeks ago, starting with 80
cases of honey wine. As of this morning we now only have 9 or so cases left.
The local grocery store chains now carry it. They have reordered several
times. We also have repeat costumers. The second batch we are starting this
weekend; probably about 100 gallons. Then we are going to produce a
melomel...raspberry in the mid summer. If you want to look at the winery we
just got on line. Look us up @ www.ohiohoneywine.homestead.com Thanks again
for all your help Dave Jilbert
------------------------------
Subject: Rosewater Rhodomel
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous@pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 10:01:42 -0500
Hi All,
I've recently stumbled into some flower petal "waters". Namely, rosewater
and orange blossom water. Has anyone had any experience using such in
mead, rather than using flower petals? Thoughts? Sweet vs. dry? Any info
would be appreciated.
nathan in madison, wi
------------------------------
Subject: Quick & Good Mead (Re: Wood Barrels?)
From: Elfboy0@aol.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 11:08:57 EDT
JLong@tcadvertising.com writes (and mutant__23@hotmail.com later similar
asks):
>Does anyone know of any recepies for a quick & good mead that will
>be ready in between 30 & 60 days?
Every berry mead (melomel) I have made has been ready extremely quickly,
without any external tampering by me. I have made them with dry mead yeast,
so they are high alcohol content.
For a 7 gallon carboy:
- - 22.5 initial lbs of honey
- - enough water to bring this to 5 gallons
- - 10 lbs of frozen berries (raspberries are what I usually use - I'd
recommend at least half of the berries raspberries and/or blackberries, plus
blueberries or strawberries if you like)
- - Dry Mead yeast (yes, *dry* - if you use sweet with this recipe, you'll make
raspberry syrup)
- - (You can also add some mint to the initial water - just boil it with the
water before adding the honey, like you would tea).
(You will be feeding the mead later with another 12.5 lbs for a total of 35
lbs for a 7 gallon batch).
Put berries through several freeze-thaw cycles. Leave last in freezer.
Prepare must as usual. While must is preparing, crush fruit (I usually do
this while it's in the original packaging, bludgeoning the package with a
rolling pin - works great on raspberries and blackberries; blueberries and
strawberries I'd crush after the last thaw, *then* freeze). Dump fruit in
Really Big Plastic Bucket (I use a 6.5 gallon bucket). Dump in must (yes,
I've heard of the whole pectin/clouding thing - *never* had a problem). Put
on lid and airlock. When cool enough, pitch yeast. After 12 hours, shake
container for a few minutes, then clean up anything that came through the
loose fitting lid. After two weeks, prepare more must using 12.5 lbs of honey
and enough water to top off the 7 gallon carboy. Rack mead off of fruit into
carboy. Allow must to cool *a little*, but not completely to room
temperature. Yes, dumping hot must into the mead can potentially kill off
some yeast near the top. However, you're dumping a smaller volume into a
larger one, and the resulting temperature will be higher but still well
within the yeast tollerance. This causes the yeast to temporarily increase
production, seemingly significantly increasing yeast count (this is based on
experience and sediment, not scientific study).
You can let this ferment to completion - I have had these ready and bottled 2
1/2 months after start, including a final racking to take the mead off of the
sediment. Had I not been as concerned with racking off the sediment, I could
have racked sooner. They have been clear and extremely drinkable. They of
course improve with age, but it seems that either the mead is so sweet you
don't notice the alcohol warmth, or the yeast is so happy with the berry
nutrients that they thank you by making no-aging needed alcohol :). If
you're getting down to the wire and things haven't quite stopped, I've seen
lots of suggestions for killing yeast and clearing the mead posted here - I'm
sure you can get some. :) Again, I've let the mead sit for two weeks after
my final rack, before bottling, to make sure there is no further
fermentation. It is possible this two weeks makes a world of difference in
drinkability...
It would seem that the berries have extremely high level of nutrients, which
is why this mead completes so quickly. It was the first recipe I ever made,
and it completely mislead me on how long it takes to make mead. Had my first
batch been a straight mead, I would probably have lost patience and not tried
to do make more, instead of becoming completely addicted as I have. :)
- Joshua
------------------------------
Subject: Results of the cross-country mead transport
From: Elfboy0@aol.com
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 11:08:55 EDT
If anyone was keeping tabs, I just bottled two of my three batches of mead
that I transported cross-country. For reminders, I had one 7 gallon batch and
two 3 gallon batches going. They were all put in boxes with bubble wrap or
t-shirts on the bottom, bubble wrap placed between the carboys and box sides,
and packing peanuts added to fill the spaces. The lids were closed around the
neck, leaving the airlock poking out, and taped closed. The boxes were placed
on my car seats, which was placed on an auto-carrier being towed by a U-Haul
truck over some of the worst interstate in the country (as far as bumps in
the road). One of the batches I bottled had the airlock get knocked off by my
packing other things in the car (there were only a few drops that seemed to
make it out of the carboy!) I'm no expert on how over-oxygenation affects
mead taste (all batches still had a bit of time left), but both batches taste
quite wonderful, even *immediately* upon bottling!
- Joshua
------------------------------
Subject: RE: moving mead
From: Joe O'Meara <drumthumper_2000@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 10:29:14 -0700 (PDT)
Charles Terrell writes:
"We have a couple of carboys fermenting in a friend's kitchen. They are
almost ready for their first racking, but not quite. The friend is about to
move to a nicer place across town. Any suggestions for how to move the
carboys without damaging the mead?
Thanks!"
Just be sure not to take the stoppers/airlocks off
before you move. There should be enough CO2
blanketing the mead so air can't get in.
=====
Joe O'Meara
Mad Dwarf Brewery (AKA my kitchen and coat closet)
ICQ # 60722006
http://homebrew.4mg.com
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Sediment in must
From: Joe O'Meara <drumthumper_2000@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 11:10:40 -0700 (PDT)
Elfboy (Joshua) asks if the crystalization of honey
could lead to sediment in the must. Sorry Josh, but
this sounds like a classic case of infection. My
guess is that the culprits are the herbs/spices that
you used. Here's what I suggest:
Nuke it with a couple of campden tablets.
Let it sit for a couple of days.
Rack into a new carboy, and taking a hydrometer
sample.
Taste the sample after the reading. If it tastes like
no infection has taken place, pitch a new batch of
yeast.
At least, that's what I would do if I were in your
shoes. As for the herbs and spices, I like to soak
mine in either vodka or everclear for about two weeks
before puting them into the must/wort. I haven't had
a problem yet, knock on wood.
Then again, I could be totally wrong about this too
(I'm primarily a beer brewer, but my first mead is
almost ready to be bottled!).
Hope This Helps,
=====
Joe O'Meara
Mad Dwarf Brewery (AKA my kitchen and coat closet)
ICQ # 60722006
http://homebrew.4mg.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: mead chat
From: w.w.mccormack@ev1.net
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 13:07:46 -0500
On 18 Jun 00 22:22:08 MDT (Sun), you wrote:
David Houseman noted:
>Web based chat rooms and browser paradigm access is
>the rule. This may be a challenge for our hosts but that's the clear
>direction. Rather than mail, perhaps a portal to browser based chat and
>bulletin boards would help attact more participation?
This might indeed attract 'new' participants, but it is highly unlikely, if you
did npt continue this list as well, that it would attract 'more' participants.
I'm not trying to shoot the idea down, I think it might be an interesting
endeavour to try. I have never liked participating in 'chat rooms' and would
most likely go elsewhere if this list turned into one. Chat rooms also tend to
wander far away from whatever topic was intended.
However, having an MLD bulletin board for timely announcements and interesing
news might be a good move.
Will
<activate lurking unit>
W. W. McCormack
Reply to w.w.mccormack@ev1.net
------------------------------
Subject: re: r.c.b
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 19 Jun 00 16:52:45 MDT (Mon)
"Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman@unisys.com> wrote (among other ideas
and suggestions):
> ...But one additional suggestion
> is making venues like mead-lovers digest and homebrew digest more user
> friendly to everyone. Web based chat rooms and browser paradigm access is
> the rule. This may be a challenge for our hosts but that's the clear
> direction...
I don't see these as "the rule" or a clear direction. I do see them as
newer approaches (not all that new, but relatively) which are gaining
ground and finding their places alongside other approaches.
Chat rooms (if you mean the really "on-line/interactive" style) are
difficult. They tend to encourage high-volume and low-content. It's
hard to get the right people at the right time.
The digests are available on the web if you want to pick them up there. I
intend to improve that somewhat, and there are archives such as what
Spencer Thomas mentioned that are nicer (e.g., searchable).
>...Rather than mail, perhaps a portal to browser based chat and
> bulletin boards would help attact more participation?
I see no lack of participation on the MLD! Are we failing to reach people
who might like to see what we've got? Probably, but I think we're doing
OK.
Speaking for a moment as digest-janitor, I have no personal interest in
running a "chat room" setup. If somebody who likes that format wants to
get one going--fine. I think it could co-exist happily with the MLD. I
certainly wouldn't abandon the MLD for a chat-room because I personally
like the former but not the latter...and I know enough not to commit to
volunteer-work that I don't really believe in!
If I were to speculate on what directions the MLD might take in the
future, I think I'd look for something to give richer content and better
presentation (e.g., HTML), but still in "digest" style (multiple articles
per "issue"--I wouldn't go to message-per-article), and with the material
arriving on the web as each digest comes out.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Fwd: Mead Lover's Digest #807, 31 May 2000
From: Jim Johnston <tervale@mail.execpc.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 00 22:23:08 -0500
Ryan Zwahr writes
>I am interested in trying some home-brewing (mead in particular) and had
>a question. Where do most people ferment their mead, wine, etc. I live
>in North Carolina, and we have pretty warm weather here. I don't have a
>basement, but I do have a crawlspace. It stay's fairly cool under
>there, although it does get chilly at night sometimes and it does need
>to be treated occasionally for termites. Our house is usually 78
>degrees or so, and I thought that might be too warm. I'd prefer to do
>it outside if possible, but I just can't think of a cool enough spot.
>Can anyone give me tips as to what they've done to ferment their
>home-brews? I am sure there are some creative solutions out there.
This temperature range is too warm for most beers (except weissbeer) but
is pretty good for most meads. I actually heve too cool temps in my
basement here in Wisconsin, which leads to slow or stuck fermentations.
Jim Johnston
Fox Point, WI
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #806, 18 May 2000
From: Jim Johnston <tervale@mail.execpc.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 00 22:23:07 -0500
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #806, 18 May 2000
Jeff Woods writes:
Options are :
1. Do nothing and let it complete fermenting and aging
2. Add more honey - I've read adding more honey after fermenting has
started has various effects. Is this recommended and if so what is the
basic procedure ? Should the honey be boiled to avoid potential bugs ?
3. Do any of the experts have any other recommendations ?
I do not consider myself an expert. I too come from homebrewing first,
and most of my meads are still fermenting. My question is what kind of
wine yeast did you use? Some of these can finish quite early, resulting
in a sweeter mead.
I would consider one of the following strategies:
1) Allow the mead to completely ferment out to the point at which the
wine yeast stops. The mead will clear, and you should rack it and leave
it for a few more months just to make sure. Add stabilizer (potassium
sorbate) after the yeast is done working but before it is aged to help
insure that there is no more active yeast in solution. Then sweeten with
more honey at the time of bottling (I add a pasteurized honey and water
solution to the bottling bucket a little bit at a time, 1/4-1/2 cup, stir
in and taste). When you have a taste that you like, go ahead and bottle
it.
2) You can stop yeast earlier by a combination of stabilizer and
chilling. Getting the entire must to as close to freezing as you can.
Again time at this range is helpful in dropping yeast out of solution.
Rack off of the yeast to a new carboy. It has been my experience that
stabilizer by itself is not effective in stopping fermentation. Draw up
a sample with a sterilized wine thief when you are nearing the finishing
gravity you desire and taste. begin this stabilizing and chilling when
the gravity is a little higher than you want to finish with and the taste
is a little sweeter than the finished product. The fermentation usually
continues a bit longer.
Jim Johnston
Fox Point, WI
------------------------------
Subject: r.c.b.
From: Tim Bray <tbray@mcn.org>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 17:27:11 -0700
> But one additional suggestion
>is making venues like mead-lovers digest and homebrew digest more user
>friendly to everyone. Web based chat rooms and browser paradigm access is
>the rule. This may be a challenge for our hosts but that's the clear
>direction. Rather than mail, perhaps a portal to browser based chat and
>bulletin boards would help attact more participation?
Just for the record - I hate this idea. For me, an e-mail digest or List
is just right. Not all of us have a T1 connection, ya know... ;->
Tim Bray
Albion, CA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: moving carboys, and that quick fermenting metheglin
From: "Lane Gray, Czar Castic" <e9c6zum@mwis.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 19:32:33 -0700
Just before ducking for cover, Charles Terrell said, "please sir, it's only
waeffer theen" and then stuffed this morsel into the mouth of my inbox:
>We have a couple of carboys fermenting in a friend's kitchen. They are
>almost ready for their first racking, but not quite. The friend is about to
>move to a nicer place across town. Any suggestions for how to move the
>carboys without damaging the mead?
I just did that very thing a couple of weeks ago. One of the carboys still
had the carboy box, and I put the carboy in the box, and just put it on the
floor of the Uhaul. The other carboy had not box (I think the box was being
used to hold other possessions), so it got put in the back seat of our car
with the lap belt going around it near the base, and the shoulder belt
wrapped once around the neck of the carboy.
Then Elfboy wrote:
>Upon looking this morning, I have a rather
>vigorously fermenting mead, and a sediment layer going nearly half-way
>up the carboy! Has anyone experienced this before? Any thoughts?
>Will this take care of itself? Is there something I need to do for this?
>The herbs I used, if it will matter, were cardamom, clove,
>cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, black tea, and amchur
>(all kept in a muslin bag). I've used this same batch of honey
>before (it wasn't quite so crystalized at the time), and there didn't
>seem to be a problem then - the sediment layer was a little higher
>for that batch than I'm used to getting, but sitting at 3 inches for
>7 gallons I didn't find it unusual for that batch. Additionally, that batch
>used dry mead yeast and 35 lbs of honey, so if the honey were the
>problem in my current batch, I should have definitely seen something
>with the previous batch (unless the problem is the crystalization).
I suspect that it is a fermentation made vigourous by the ginger, the black
tea, and perhaps the armchur (I have to admit, I don't know what that is),
and there is no problem, just rack it in a little while. I was making a
coffee mead (you may recall my mentioning it about a year and a half ago),
and it had a very violent fermentation. So violent that it should have used
a blowoff tube, except that I used a one gallon cider jug for it, and was
unable to find one for that size. This mead, which I later reported here
(at least I think I did) smelled strange but interesting as it
fermented,tasted nasty at bottling time, and was pronounced "Death in a
Bottle" by those in our battlegroup. I took a bottle to Ragnarok (our major
national battle) and asked a fighter who has always had a willingness to try
any of my creations. I was afraid to try it,even after a year of mellowing.
She took a swallow, and said "very good." It now tastes like a very strong,
very sweet cup of thick coffee, with a bit of that woody, acidy taste of a
strong cup of coffee allowed to cool. It is now rather nice, and if anyone
wants the recipe, let me know, and I will try to dig it up.
- --
Lane Gray, dobroist(http://members.aol.com/e9c6zum/shesgone.wav), mead
maker, steel picker, Dagorhirim, husband, soon-to-be-ex-procrastinator.
I want my jetpack! see www.solotrek.com
"Bother!" said Pooh, and set to field-dressing Piglet
------------------------------
Subject: Yeast on caffeine buzz? (Sediment okay)
From: Elfboy0@aol.com
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 01:41:42 EDT
Yes, another one - this will be short (relatively speaking) :).
The batch I just started, the one with the now-gone sediment problem, is
intended to be a Chai Mead. Really, a metheglin. The herbs in it are
cardamom, cinnamon, clove, black pepper, ginger, and black tea, and amchur
(powdered mango). 3 gallons, 9 lbs honey (wildflower), White Labs Sweet mead
yeast, 1 1/2 t. yeast nutrient, 1 1/2 t. yeast energizer. I have *never* seen
mead ferment this actively, and I always use live cultures! Even with my
raspberry melomels, I get an airlock blip every 3 or 4 seconds. I am getting
3-4 airlock blips *per* *second* right now! I know that the herbs can
contribute to the nutrients for the yeast, but this still seems quite high.
Is it possible that the caffeine from the black tea is contributing to the
yeast hyperactivity?
- Joshua
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #809, 18 June 2000
From: Jim Johnston <tervale@mail.execpc.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 00 18:55:46 -0500
Nathan from Madison writes:
>Lots of peonies in bloom right now. I've thought of floral meads before
>but not tried one. Anybody ever tried to use peonies in a mead or beer?
>I also think a nice scotch ale would work well. Any thoughts or suggestions
>would be appreciated.
Never tried that one. Sounds interesting. I have made heather ale with
dried heather flowers and that is a favorite, and I'm trying to save
enough rose petals for a 3 gallon run of rose petal metheglin. If you
don't try it, you'll never know...
Jim in Fox Point, WI
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #809, 18 June 2000
From: Jim Johnston <tervale@mail.execpc.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 00 18:55:54 -0500
Charles Terrell writes:
>We have a couple of carboys fermenting in a friend's kitchen. They are
>almost ready for their first racking, but not quite. The friend is about to
>move to a nicer place across town. Any suggestions for how to move the
>carboys without damaging the mead?
I would probably rack first, then move. You would tend not to mix the
dead yeast back in this way, and it would not set back the time to clear
as much. Otherwise, just keep airlocks on and out of direct sunlight and
everything should be OK.
Jim Johnston,
Fox Point, WI
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #810
*******************************
