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Mead Lovers Digest #0834
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #834, 10 January 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #834 10 January 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Mead recipes (Rogers Michael B)
Re:Old Recipe Question (Dan McFeeley)
Adding more honey... (Phil)
RE: color and sparkaloid ("Matt Maples")
Re: reusing yeast (Russ Riley)
question (Charles Nelson)
Sweet mead to dry mead ("Russell, David (D.A.)")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Mead recipes
From: Rogers Michael B <avatar@hemc.net>
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2001 12:48:23 -0500
In my enthusiasm to put together as great of a collection of recipes
as possible, I have overlooked (or under-thought) one thing- Reproducing
someone else's work for whatever means is infringement no matter how you
spell it. The part I don't like is that I can't include a lot of really
good recipes (sigh). Appologies to everyone beforehand. I did not intend
to do anything that might generate any ill feelings.
I am still trying to put together as many good recipes as possible
to be freely shared. It will still be a text document so that it will be
easy to print out. I would also like to include cooking recipes using
mead. The collection will include a template so that everybody who
wishes can submit their recipes.
Cheers!
Ben Rogers
------------------------------
Subject: Re:Old Recipe Question
From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2001 14:13:13 -0600
On Mon, 27 Nov 2000, in MLD 832, Phillipa wrote:
>I am researching about a historical mead recipe and hope someone out
>there can help out with ingredients and suggestions for suitable yeasts
>to use.
>
>The mead is called Brushka, the spelling may differ. It was brewed in
>the Ukraine/China area. It was known to cause the drinker to be semi
>paralysed in the legs after a few glasses. It is an old drink that was
>brewed for 1000's(?) years. It was known as a health or tonic drink.
To which Mike Rogers replied:
> I don't know anything about this recipe for Brushka, but here are a
>few thoughts:
> It sounds to me like the missing ingredient(s) that cause the
>semi-paralysis is a question of either herbalism or a fungus in the
>grain used to make the bread.
[....] interesting stuff deleted for brevity's sake
> The bottom line: This recipe may actually be dangerous.
Maybe not. Other meadmaking traditions mention this, such as the warning
given by old time Polish meadmakers that abuse of mead "makes you drunk
only from the waist downwards, with suprising effects upon strangers who
discovery they are drunk only when they attempt to rise" (Robert Gayre,
_Wassail! In Mazers of Mead_ p. 53). Gayre also suggests that the old
Anglo-Saxon riddle on mead hints at this:
. . .I am a binder and a scourger; straightway I
cast a young man to the earth, sometimes an old
churl. Straightway he who grapples with me and
struggles against my strength discovers that he
must needs seek the earth with his back. . .
Many of these old time meads were sweet, sweet enough to mask the potent
alcoholic kick they had. One can picture inexperienced mead drinkers
sitting at the bench quaffing large amounts of mead, not realizing how
drunk it was making them until they stood up.
An old Kentucky proverb also says this about mead -- It has a kiss like
a woman and a kick like a mule. :-)
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
mcfeeley@keynet.net
------------------------------
Subject: Adding more honey...
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 07:43:50 -0800 (PST)
I have a batch of a spiced melomel fermenting merrily
away in primary that I would like to add more honey
to. The batch was made with 15 pounds of orange
blossom and is currently five gallons. I would like
to add another five pounds (pasteurized in a half
gallon of water) to bring the total volume up to six
gallons.
When would be the best time to do this? Should I
aerate this extra gallon of must?
Any help would be appreciated.
Phil
=====
visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
http://www.pipeline.com/~dogglebe/nychg.html
------------------------------
Subject: RE: color and sparkaloid
From: "Matt Maples" <matt_lists@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 08:17:14 -0800
I have never noticed any change in color in the finished product. Now be
definition the reason you are using it is because your mead has not cleared
yet. With this haze (yeast, protein or otherwise) your mead will look a
different color and when the sparkaloid does its work you will end up with a
finished mead that looks different (better). I know this is rather obvious
there you have it. I have been using sparkaloid for many years and my mead
usually have good color. I currently have a merlot / cabernet pyment that I
used sparkaloid with and it is a DEEP ruby red, no color problem here. I say
don't give it a second thought.
Matt Maples
Anagram: "Tap me malts!"
May mead regain its rightful place as the beverage of gods and kings.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: reusing yeast
From: Russ Riley <russriley61999@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 13:02:45 -0800 (PST)
Bill Pierce mentioned a method of scooping yeast out
of the bottom of the fermenter and storing it in the
refrigerator for an extended period of time. To expand
upon this:
I have read that when some professional beer brewers
harvest yeast for reuse, they only take the yeast that
settles in the middle of fermentation, as this is the
healthiest. As I recall, the article (in Brew Your Own
a few months ago -- sorry, I can't be more specific
right now as i don't have it with me) states that
yeast that settles during fermentation falls into
three categories: The first wave, which sits at the
bottom of the fermenter after primary fermentation;
this apparently consists of the weakest cells. The
second wave, the cells which fall during secondary
fermentation; these are presumably healthy cells that
simply fall to the bottom. And the third wave, which
settle after fermentation is complete. These probably
aren't desirable simply because they've spent most of
their nutrients and stored energy and are sitting in a
high-alcohol environment, which isn't good for their
cell walls.
How would a homebrewer, with a simple glass carboy,
collect only the middle phase of yeast? I've never
done this, but I would think that racking right after
primary fermentation completes would eliminate the
first phase and racking again when bubbling has almost
completely stopped (but before the mead clears) would
leave behind the middle phase yeast, which would then
be handled as Bill explained.
As I said, I've only read about this; I've never
harvested yeast before, so I don't really know how
necessary it is, or if using all the yeast on the
bottom is just fine.
Hope this helps (sorry for the long post)!
Russ
------------------------------
Subject: question
From: Charles Nelson <sweetswede@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2001 21:52:01 -0600
Greetings fellow mazers,
I am wondering if anyone out there has any experience with cane sugar
syrup, or molasses (which I assume is the same thing)? What does it do in
a mead? Any experience or ideas?
Charles
------------------------------
Subject: Sweet mead to dry mead
From: "Russell, David (D.A.)" <drussel3@ford.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 15:52:15 -0500
I currently have a Tupelo mead in the primary (5 gallons), for about 1
month. It has Whitelabs Sweet mead yeast. The fermentation has noticeably
slowed down. Now after the fact, I would have preferred a split batch, a
dry and sweet batch. Am I able to split this batch at this time, and add a
dry/Champagne yeast to 3 gallons of this currently fermenting yeast.
My thoughts were to split the 5 gallons to 2 carboys, secondary the sweet
(2.5 gallons), and 2.5 gallons pitching some Champagne yeast. Any thoughts?
David Russell
Ranger Fuel Econ./Perf.
Phone (313)33-72977 Fax (313)24-81636
E-mail: drussel3@ford.com
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #834
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