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Mead Lovers Digest #0825
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #825, 2 October 2000
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #825 2 October 2000
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
On 'new age' ideas.. (Yacko Warner Yacko)
re: How Much Priming for a Sparkling Mead (Yacko Warner Yacko)
Re: Organic Honey (Potgold@aol.com)
My bad sense of smell ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
D-47 Slow or Stuck Fermentations (Rob)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #824, 20 September 2000 (peter.spinney@analog.com)
Peach Mel ("Spies, Jay")
sparkling mead (Jim Johnston)
Using 5L Mini-Kegs to keg mead ("Eric A. Bonney")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #824, 20 September 2000 (OxladeMac@aol.com)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: On 'new age' ideas..
From: Yacko Warner Yacko <yacko@mint.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 09:03:56 -0400
Just a thought to put into the mix on this whole 'crystals' and brewing
etc. etc.....
I think it's a great thing that someone has shared their experience in
brewing with crystals and that they told us how they did it and why. I
think it brings another bit of knowledge into the fold. However, what
bothers me is all the people that immediately dismiss it on this list as
quackery, which indeed, it may very well be, when this list is NOT a
list about new age vs. traditional. It's a list about mead. Hey, if you
don't wanna put rocks in your mead, I can't blame you. I, for one,
would strongly hesitate before putting any rocks inside my precious
glass carboys. However, I'm also the kind of person that brews on
particular celestial events. This would go for this Friday, the Autumnal
Equinox. I'll brew this Friday on the Equinox primarily for one reason:
Many of the friends I give my mead to are Pagan and celestial days like
that hols special significance for them. The mead that I give them for
use in their ceremonies is especially welcome to them because of when I
brew it. Do I have to subscribe to their beliefs or their religion? No,
but I'll do it for them because it's something friends do. And if there
is no matter WHEN I brew to the must for me, what's the big deal ? I've
killed two birds with one stone. I've made a mead for me, and a mead for
my friends who like the idea of it being brewed at that time.
I appreciate the comments of the people suggesting that they use
crystals in their mead for the same reason. If someone tells me they
want me to make them a 'healing' ead for example, I'd do some research
on herbs and ask them about crystal they might consider. Checking their
chemical composition for nasty things, I'd consider putting them in the
fermenter if they asked me to. And now, because someone brought it up on
the list, I might be able to make someone else happier.
Now, if I want, I have the knowledge to use. Whether I use it or not,
we'll have to see, but at least I know how. Thanks MLD for that.
So, perhaps it's worthwhile to chuckle at someone elses beliefs when
they post such a thing to this list, but what purpose does it serve to
flame them in the list? It helps nobody to denounce their beliefs as
quackery here. It does help to say 'do not do this with <blah> crystals
because they contain cyanide' or something, which is helpful.
Dunno... it was something I feel I had to say, for better or for worse.
Please feel free to call me a knucklehead in private email if you'd
like, but I don't know how appropriate it would be to do so on the list.
If it is, here :
John, you're a knucklehead!
OK, self-flaming, isn't that polite?
Have a great day everyone...
yacko
(aka john)
- --
... The things love can drive a man to -- the ecstasies, the
the miseries, the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious
failures and the glorious victories.
-- McCoy, "Requiem for Methuselah", stardate 5843.7
------------------------------
Subject: re: How Much Priming for a Sparkling Mead
From: Yacko Warner Yacko <yacko@mint.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 09:06:09 -0400
I think the general formula of 3/4 cup corn sugar (ack) to 5 gallons
brew would work here as it does in Charlies books. I don't know what
that would translate to in weight of honey for priming...
anyone else?
yacko
>To date, I've only made still meads. I want to try a sparkling sweet mead.
>What are the guidelines for priming when bottling for a sparkling sweet mead?
>I'm aware that I must use a heavier bottle and either cap or wire
>the cork. I don't know if it best to bottle before it ferments all the way
>down or add some honey or sugar like I would do for beer. Perhaps I should
>keg it and artificially carbonate. Has anyone done that?
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Organic Honey
From: Potgold@aol.com
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 09:32:45 EDT
In a message dated 9/20/00 4:16:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
mead-request@talisman.com writes:
<< I have enjoyed a certified organic honey from a company called "Really Raw
Honey." It's sold in health food stores on the East coast. At least I've
seen it for sale from Washington to New York. >>
NOT! Really Raw Honey is high quality honey, but, if they are claiming
it to be organic, that's nonsense. I know many of their suppliers.
Trust me, there are no truly organic honeys east of the Mississippi, and I
am skeptical of any from the western part of the country, even if they have a
certification stamp. There may be a few small beekeepers in isolated areas
that could produce a true organic honey. But they are not going to be able to
produce enough to market to health food store chains.
For honey, organic claims are merely a marketing device.
But honey does, as I've pointed out, have a self-cleansing mechanism, in
that bees which process contaminated nectar die, which is bad for the hive,
but keeps the honey very clean.
Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com
------------------------------
Subject: My bad sense of smell
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke@merck.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 10:23:07 -0400
>Glenn Pannicke, I'm not picking on you, by commenting on your submissions
>two-in-a-row,
Yes you are ;-)
>Metabisulfite does not smell like rotten eggs.
Rotten eggs, burnt match, they both have a stinky odor I guess I just
catogorize as sulfury. Hey, it's been a while since I've last thrown... I
mean SMELLED... rotten eggs. I would never throw them... not me...
>Hydrogen sulfide smell does occur in some cases when some yeasts grow and
>metabolize in a low nutrient environment, like most meads, but the source
>of sulfur is the sulfur containing amino acids in the must - not sulfite.
>To cure this, use yeast nutrients in your mead.
Dave, you raise a good point here. There's enough amino acid & protein talk
in beer to bore most people to tears, but what about mead? I really haven't
seen any AA or protein anaylsis on honey. I guess this is why I'm sticking
to melomels for now. I'm not really looking forward to any stuck or slow
fermentations.
Carpe cerevisiae!
Glen Pannicke
http://www.pannicke.net
"He was a wise man who invented beer" - Plato
------------------------------
Subject: D-47 Slow or Stuck Fermentations
From: Rob <rob@nurwibsco.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 10:51:18 -0500
I've just switched from Champagne yeasts to Lalvin D-47. It makes a
superior mead that is drinkable very early, but always has a problem
with very slow and sticking fermentations no matter what the recipe is
or how the nutrients or other ingredients are adjusted.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what can be done to guarantee a good
consistent fermentation?
Does anyone know of an equally mild yeast that is more vigorous?
Thanks, Rob
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #824, 20 September 2000
From: peter.spinney@analog.com
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 09:35:33 -0400 (EDT)
Dave Burley wrote:
> On the subject of elderberries I believe I read that the stem and roots of
> this plant are poisonous. Can anyone confirm this?
>
> We used to strip elderberries from the stems with a fork for making pies.
>
> Based on my pie eating and elderberry wine drinking experience, I can say
> that eldeberries are not flavorless as the correspondent writes, but do
> have a very fruity "berry" flavor and contribute more than color. Perhaps
> the berries used were underripe? Like grapes, elderberries color very
> early, but take a while to ripen. Acid drops, sugar rises and the berries
> soften as signs of ripening.
I don't know about toxins in the stems or roots - it could be. I have
eaten small bits of stem in the course of consuming berries right off the
plant and not noticed any ill effects, but I certainly wouldn't take that
as the last word on the subject.
I have a friend who also strips berries with a fork - I find that I break
too many of them of them that way and prefer to use fingers. Gives me a
bit finer control over the process and since my berries go from there into
bags to be frozen I like to have as few broken as possible - less messy.
I didn't mean to say that the berries were flavorless - they definitely
have a fruity/berry flavor as you said, but its a very delicate flavor
and a bit non-descript. For example, sniff blueberries or raspberries
or strawberries and the aroma is distinct and it carries into the final
product - not so true of the elderberry. I've sampled them all across the
range from underripe to overripe and have also observed the acid drop and
sugar rise and certainly a softening, but not a huge increase in aroma.
Bob Grossman wrote:
> I've never had problems with Elderberry sap. They just ferment for me like
> any other fruit.
> They add a lot of color and flavor to my meads. I suspect that any
> weakness
> in flavor would come from using unripe fruit or from weak plants. I also
> made a Ebulum (old style historic elderberry ale).
This is interesting . . . First, I have talked to other people who live in
my area, who confirm the sap problem from their own experience. I have
read that there are different varieties of elderberries that grow in
different areas . . . this could explain both the sap thing and the flavor
thing. Flavor could also be affected by soil conditions. I can't say
there is anything "weak" about the plants I harvest from and they grow in
several towns spread over about ten miles. Dave and Bob, where do each of
you live? I am in Middlesex county in Mass., a little Northwest of Boston.
Also, I had occasion to sample some elderberry wine made by a man in New
Hampshire and while it was very good, I couldn't say that the aroma was
any more distinctive than stuff made in my area. He didn't mention
anything about the sap and I didn't think to ask him. Another possible
factor is rainfall, but last summer was very dry and hot here and this one
was cool and moist and quite honestly, I didn't notice any difference in
the berries. Is there anybody in U.K. that can confirm the sap thing in
your local berries?
I have an experiment under way to propagate some wild plants from cuttings
which will be pampered, watered and fertilized and well see in a couple of
years how they do. New England is famous for its poor soil, but I can
overcome this on a small scale in my own yard.
- -pete
------------------------------
Subject: Peach Mel
From: "Spies, Jay" <Spies@dhcd.state.md.us>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 10:16:41 -0400
Hey all -
Just got an unexpected gift from the father in law (who fancies himself
"Keeper of the Mead") of a gallon of clover honey and (8) 20 oz cans of
peaches (no preservatives or nuthin'). So, mead it is!!!
My question to the bee-worshipping collective is this: what can I do to
spice up this mel recipe a bit? My yeast strain will be Lalvin D-47, but
I'd like to add a bit more variety. Spices? DME? Bueller? Ideas would be
appreciated.
At first blush, I'm thinking cinnamon, since that would seem to mesh well
with the peach/honey, but I'm open to other suggestions. It will be a 5
gallon batch, and I'm thinking that with 12 lbs of honey and ~ 1.25 gallons
of peaches/juice that my OG will be at least 1.100. BTW, I also have about
3/4 of a bushel of apples...hmmm...
Thoughts, O wise ones?
Jay Spies
Wishful Thinking Basement Brewery
Baltimore, MD
------------------------------
Subject: sparkling mead
From: Jim Johnston <tervale@mail.execpc.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 20:50:23 -0500
To date, I've only made still meads. I want to try a sparkling sweet mead.
What are the guidelines for priming when bottling for a sparkling sweet
mead? I'm aware that I must use a heavier bottle and either cap or wire the
cork. I don't know if it best to bottle before it ferments all the way down
or add some honey or sugar like I would do for beer. Perhaps I should keg
it and artificially carbonate. Has anyone done that?
I started a light sweet mead last July, 2# orange blossom
honey/gallon (O.G.: 1.076), using the Wyeast sweet mead yeast. It
stopped fermenting pretty early (1.028), and I added potassium
sorbate and Sparkolloid in late spring. I just kegged and
counter-pressure filled some bottles of it. It turned out nicely,
the carbonation offsetting the sweetness well, and at 6% ABV doesn't
knock you out.
My question is, has anyone had this particular yeast stop this early?
I'm not complaining, I actually want to be able to reproduce this one
some time.
Jim Johnston
- --
- --Jim
------------------------------
Subject: Using 5L Mini-Kegs to keg mead
From: "Eric A. Bonney" <ebonney@fuse.net>
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 20:49:25 -0400
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried using the mini kegs to keg any
mead? Any good results at all? Has anyone ever just plain kegged their
mead at all? Thanks for the input. I have a vanilla mead that I will be
bottling in the next few months and was looking into an alternative.
- -Eric
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #824, 20 September 2000
From: OxladeMac@aol.com
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 20:56:55 EDT
In a message dated 9/20/00 3:06:19 AM Central Daylight Time,
mead-request@talisman.com writes:
> Subject: How Much Priming for a Sparkling Mead
> From: "Michael Winnie" <mwinnie@worldnet.att.net>
> Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 11:33:50 -0400
>
> To date, I've only made still meads. I want to try a sparkling sweet mead.
> What are the guidelines for priming when bottling for a sparkling sweet
> mead? I'm aware that I must use a heavier bottle and either cap or wire the
> cork. I don't know if it best to bottle before it ferments all the way down
> or add some honey or sugar like I would do for beer. Perhaps I should keg
> it and artificially carbonate. Has anyone done that?
>
I'm pretty paranoid about sparkling meads for one simple reason - wine yeasts
are much harder to predict than beer yeasts. Too many of my friends have
made sparkling mead by mistake. Too many of them have cleaned mead off of
the walls and ceilings. It seems that the simple act of racking and bottling
wakes long dormant yeasts up. I _never_ bottle less than 1 year old, even
then sometimes the yeastie beasties wake back up.
If you're shooting for a dry mead, this shouldn't be too big of a problem -
ferment it completely dry, then add back in about 2/3 of a cup for a 5 gallon
batch - just like priming beer bottles.
Your suggestion of force carbonating it is something I intend to try. I've
got all the stuff, I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. It seems
like the safest way to me -assuming of course that you are absolutely sure
the yeast is dead. (Otherwise bottling will start it off again, and you end
up with bombs.)
BTW, I refuse to use chemicals. If you're not adverse to them, I'd say add a
little potassium sorbate to the keg after racking into it, force carbonate,
and go to town.
Ox
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #825
*******************************
