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Mead Lovers Digest #0850
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #850, 28 May 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #850 28 May 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Competition Announcement ("Scott Stihler (AVO Analyst)")
Re: At the start of fermentation (Phil)
Mead-O-Sweet (Kristinn Eysteinsson)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Competition Announcement
From: "Scott Stihler (AVO Analyst)" <scott@giseis.alaska.edu>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 09:04:18 -0800 (AKDT)
Announcing the 4th Annual E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition!
This is an AHA sanctioned competition.
The grand prize for Best of Show is $500!!!
This year there will be a separate Class for Meads.
Six Classes will judged: Mead, Dark Ale, Light Ale, Dark Lager,
Light Lager, and Specialty/Mixed style.
Great prizes and custom medals will be awarded to the 1st,
2nd and 3rd place winners in each of the six judged Classes.
Entries will be accepted: July 3-11, 2001
Entry fees: Submit three 12-16 oz brown or green crown capped
bottles and a check or money order for $5.00 in U.S. funds.
Judging: The first round of judging will take place on July 13th.
The date and time of the final, Best of Show round of judging
is to be arranged once we know how many entries and judges we have.
Location: Fox, Alaska (~10 miles north of Fairbanks)
More information as well as Entry and Bottle ID forms may be found
at the following URL:
http://www.mosquitonet.com/~stihlerunits/ScottsDen/Beer/Events/Events.html
Should you have any questions please contact Scott Stihler at (907) 474-2138
or stihlerunits@mosquitonet.com.
BJCP Judges are needed!
Please forward this message to anybody you know that might be interested
in either entering this competition or helping out with the judging.
Cheers,
Scott Stihler
Fairbanks, Alaska
------------------------------
Subject: Re: At the start of fermentation
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 12:44:24 -0700 (PDT)
>I started my first batch of mead a week ago, mostly following the
>basic procedure in Mad About Mead by Pamela Spence. I'm using
>an open fermenter as suggested in the text. According to the book,
>I'm supposed to skim the surface foam daily "until the vigorous
>activity slows and the foam begins to recede, usually after the fifth
>day (more or less)," then siphon into a glass secondary fermenter.
I've never read Mad About Mead, but IMHO, this sounds
like a disaster in the making. When brewing beer, you
have that krausening/krausen foam-thing in a couple of
hours. This foam is a barrier that airborn yeasts
can't get into. You won't get this with a traditional
mead. The yeast works slower and you won't get that
krausening/krausen foam-thing to protect the batch.
In regards to skimming the foam for the first five
days, you're only leaving yourself open for infection.
And when I make a (non-fruit flavored) mead, I don't
any activity for the first four or five days.
>Here's my problem: there is no foam and no vigorous activity. I have
>no idea if it's doing what it should be doing. There are bubbles and
>I can smell alcohol when I peek at it.
It's definitely fermentation at this point, though
who's to say what yeasts are in there, doing the work.
Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but I'm hearing
bells and whistles in my head (and they're drowning
out the voices). Open fermentation for mead just
doesn't seam right.
You may want to pick up a copy of `Making Mead (Honey
Wine)' by Roger Morse.
Phil
=====
visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
http://www.pipeline.com/~dogglebe/nychg.html
------------------------------
Subject: Mead-O-Sweet
From: Kristinn Eysteinsson <kiddiey@ismennt.is>
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 13:06:52 +0100
I live in an area in Iceland where meadowsweet (Fillipendula Ulmaria) grows
in abundance. The Icelandic name for this herb is mjadurt which means
mead-herb. This is because the Vikings used it to flavor their mead. I
would like to try making a meadowsweet metheglyn this summer. Has anyone on
this list used meadowsweet in their meads? How much would you suggest I use
and what is the best way of extracting the flavor (put it in the primary,
boil it (make herb tea) or something else)? Also, what honey would you
recomend?
Kristinn Eysteinsson
kiddiey@ismennt.is
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #850
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