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Mead Lovers Digest #0854
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #854, 19 June 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #854 19 June 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Litwiski mead from Poland ("Matt_lists")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #853, 13 June 2001 (Steve Daughhetee)
High OG musts vs. feeding ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
Re: Green tea (Terry Estrin)
re Feeding / Sweetning (Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative)
apricot madness (Chuck)
Mead infection-need help ("redrocklover")
NOTE: Digest 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. There is
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Litwiski mead from Poland
From: "Matt_lists" <Matt_lists@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 14:23:10 -0700
Hi everyone.
I just got a bottle of Litewiski mead from Poland. I thought it was good =
but I wanted other opinions. It has sherry notes (nutty, vanilla), it is =
a sweet mead, and has a brownish color.
It is unlike U.S. meads so I was wondering what everyone thought. Please =
let me know if you have tried it and what you thought.
Matt Maples
Liquid Solutions
12162 SW Scholls Ferry Rd
Tigard, OR 97223
503-524-9722
www.liquidsolutions.ws (web site)
http://list.liquidsolutions.ws/scripts/lyris.pl (mailing list)
May mead regain its rightful place as the beverage of gods and kings.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #853, 13 June 2001
From: Steve Daughhetee <sdd6@cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 01:20:05 -0400
Ken suggested freeze-concentration and fortification of meads with
distilled spirits to obtain high-alcohol beverages.
Freeze-concentration is illegal, as it is considered the same as
distillation. Fortification is also illegal for the home winemaker,
even when tax-paid spirits are used. This makes no sense at all.
Lobby you congressman to liberate the amateur winemaker from these
absurd restrictions.
Steve Daughhetee
Trumansburg, New York
>Subject: Feeding the fermentation/Sweetening
>From: "Ken Schramm" <schramk@resa.net>
>Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 10:27:36 -0400
>
>
>Eis-mead might offer a way to boost ETOH levels,
>but that is a discussion best left alone. Another option that doesn't get
>discussed much among the amateur crowd that gets used extensively by the
>pros is fortification. Everclear is cheap, easy to obtain in many places,
>legal (same equivocation) and very easy to control. I'm not sure why it
>hasn't been embraced by the mead making set. The use of liqueurs has been
>advocated for some years now in the beer making arena. This just seems
>like a logical and very manageable way to go.
>
------------------------------
Subject: High OG musts vs. feeding
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke@merck.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 15:17:17 -0400
Joshua stated:
>I believe the key here is nutrients, and potentially more significant,
>*fruit* nutrients.
I couldn't agree more. Admittedly, I brew *much* more beer than mead, but I
have noticed the same with my few mead batches. I use about 3 lbs of honey
per gallon and I make 5 gallon batches. (Fool! When are you going to drink
all that?!?) In addition to the sugars you find in fruit, it brings
vitamins, minerals and proteins just not found in honey and water alone.
I don't even think yeast nutient is the best thing since in most cases it's
comprized of food grade urea and diammonium phosphate. The yeasts still need
to do a lot of "building" when it comes to utilizing these components to
make aminos & proteins required for growth. With the addition of fruit
there is less "building" from scratch and more "re-oganization" of what's
available. (Trying to keep it simple here and not bore anyone with
biochemistry).
I've noticed that my melomels (3 total) fermented in half the time as my
mead or metheglin (1 each). I haven't tried a braggot yet, but I am going
with the assumption that if good quality malt extract or an all-grain mash
were used, it would ferment in a manner similar to what we're talking about
here with the melomels.
Hrmmm... sounds like some experimentation is required. I'll just need to
make some more and investigate! I've been itchin' to do those one gallon
experimental batches ;-)
Carpe cerevisiae!
Glen A. Pannicke
glen@pannicke.net http://www.pannicke.net
75CE 0DED 59E1 55AB 830F 214D 17D7 192D 8384 00DD
"I have made this letter longer than usual,
because I lack the time to make it short." - Blaise Pascal
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Green tea
From: Terry Estrin <testrin@sfu.ca>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 15:47:32 -0700
Hi all,
Being something of a green tea aficionado, I couldn't help commenting on
the ongoing green tea mead thread. Two things come to mind. First, adding it
after the initial vigorous fermentation is probably a good idea. With green
tea you want to preserve its fresh taste. My other comment has to do with
how it is steeped: never, ever steep green tea in boiling water or it will
be astringent. Bring fresh cold water to a boil, but let it sit for a couple
of minutes before steeping, and even then, only steep for a minute or two.
One should also be aware that there are lots of different varieties, some
with jasmine, and some not. It's been a while since I made any mead, so
maybe I'll do a one-gallon batch using my favorite, organic Japanese
"Sencha" (unfermented green leaves, no twigs, no jasmine).
cheers,
Terry
------------------------------
Subject: re Feeding / Sweetning
From: Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative <Scott.Morgan@Sun.COM>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 09:17:53 +1000 (EST)
G'day all,
Been a long term reader of the MLD (the Rocks in mead discussions were
enlightening for this white boy from the Suburbs of Sydney!) and pretty
committed brewer who is slowly making more mead.
Seeing Kens last post I have a few questions...
snip one;
"Another option that doesn't get discussed much among the amateur crowd that
gets used extensively by the pros is fortification. Everclear is cheap, easy to
obtain in many places,legal (same equivocation) and very easy to control. I'm
not sure why it hasn't been embraced by the mead making set. The use of
liqueurs has been advocated for some years now in the beer making arena. This
just seems like a logical and very manageable way to go."
I thought fortification involved brandy and heat. I know nothing about this and
would like to hear more. Perhaps amatuers are not fortifying mead thru lack of
knowledge....so pls fill us in on the 'hows' and 'what you need' . Esp in Oz,
Fortified wines are still quite popular, even though market share is dropping in
Sheery's and traditional Tawny Ports, Muscat and Tokay are making a revival of
sorts. As well Sauternes and Botryotis wines sales are grwoing rapidly as the
depth of Australian wines grow, so a fortified or Liquer mead is a very
attractive thing.
next snip;
"The sweetening trick: kill off the yeast with 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate
per gallon a week before bottling. Add honey at bottling to sweeten,
figuring .007 to .008 of gravity/sweetness per pound of honey added. Yes,
it makes the beverage more viscous, but so are sweet wines. "
Ok, never knew this. Any other secrets that you want to let us in on. The couple
of meads I have made with champagne yeast have been way to dry and relatively
flavourless. I have switched to White Labs California Lager Yeast which left
alot residual sweetness and was more my thing.
As well, sorry but I am metric man, how much honey would you use approx to
sweeten in grams...figuring out 0.007 of gravity to pounds has got me a bit
lost...but I am afterall just a salesman....
Next Question. Not knowing about the Potasium Sorbate trick, I have had one mead
oxidise (white film on top) from when I racked off. I had a bit of a disater
with the tap in the plastic fermenter sticking, and a bit of splashing ensued.
Oxidised beer is a bad thing, reduces the shelf life and over all quality of the
beer. What about mead???
Ken, look forward to the lessons in fortifications and the following comment,
Scotty Morgan
Admin,
oz.craftbrewer.org
------------------------------
Subject: apricot madness
From: Chuck <meadmakr@enteract.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 07:51:42 -0500 (CDT)
Mead lovers,
Remember the 25 pounds of apricots I scored for $10?
Well, six days ago I made that mead. Twenty-three pounds
of apricots (after cleaning, slicing, and freezing),
thirteen pounds of honey, water to about 6 1/2 gallons,
two packs of Lalvin k1 V1116 and some pectic enzyme.
That's it, no heating, no sulfites, no nutrients, no
nuttin.
Well it's obvious that I should have added more honey
at the start because last night, after 6 days (SIX DAYS!)
the IG was 1.005. Actually, it probably took less time as
I used ice cold well water (probably about 55 degF) and I
noticed the airlock stop moving the day before yesterday,
but wasn't able to get to it until last night.
Cheers,
Chuck Wettergreen
Geneva, IL
Meadmaker
Beekeeper-whose new hives already have their first honey
supers half-filled.
------------------------------
Subject: Mead infection-need help
From: "redrocklover" <spiritflight@kachina.net>
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 11:17:57 -0700
I have what appears to be cloud or cottonball like stuff floating in my =
mead. There is no off odor or taste. How do cure it?
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #854
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