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Mead Lovers Digest #0871
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #871, 25 September 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #871 25 September 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Rhodomel (Nathan Kanous)
Foaming (mohrstrom@humphrey-products.com)
Re:Roses ("Matt_lists")
RE: roses and rhodomel ("redrocklover")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001 (Tess Snider)
rhodomel - which rose? (Jeff Peck)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001 (j/kbooth)
Too much sulphite inhibiting yeast? ("Geoffrey T. Falk")
RE: rhodomel - which rose? ("Da Jamster")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001 (MLCrary@aol.com)
Re: Cider question from David Herren (Rod.McDonald@facs.gov.au)
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Rhodomel
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous@pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 12:00:59 -0500
Hi Dick,
I'm speaking from absolutely no experience at all but will toss in a
thought. I've contemplated a rhodomel many times but just never
tried. So, what about adding rose water? I know where I can get rose
petal water and orange blossom water here in town. I've strongly
considered making a mead and just adding some of these. I'll try to get
over to the store to see what the ingredient list looks like and maybe I'll
try it out this fall. My father-in-law is just starting to harvest his
honey so I imagine I can threaten him with leaving his daughter with him
and get away with a five gallon pail AND my wife. I'll try to keep folks
posted. I would intend to make a straight mead and add the rose water or
orange blossom water at bottling.
nathan in madison, wi
------------------------------
Subject: Foaming
From: mohrstrom@humphrey-products.com
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 13:57:48 -0400
Just a data point to offer on foaming:
I recently made a mead that started off normally (based on the five or so
that I've made to date) Lots of fine, fleeting bubbles (pitched four packs
of rehydrated D-47 for a nook-leer ferment) for the first few days. Then,
I began getting huge, tenacious bubbles that climbed out of the airlock,
even with a half-gallon of headspace. These left a web on the carboy
walls.
Did the wax (I am of the no-boil camp) polymerize from the alcohol or acid?
Just curious ...
Mark in Kalamazoo
------------------------------
Subject: Re:Roses
From: "Matt_lists" <Matt_lists@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:05:02 -0700
>It seems like few people in the group here have made a rhodomel; even fewer
>have liked the result. So this is a long shot, but has anyone worked on
>what sort of roses to use?
>
>Dick
As I drive into work on Sunday mornings I listen to gardening shows on AM
radio, Why I don't really know as I am not much of a gardener. I recall the
subject of new Rose variety was on one day and they were talking about the
fact the trend for the last decade or two has been to developed varieties
that look good even at the expense of losing aroma. His point was that there
is a renewed interest in developing aroma back into the store bought roses.
>From that I would infer that the older / antique rose varieties might give
you better aroma, which I am assuming is 90% of what one is shooting for in
a rose mead.
Just my $0.02
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: roses and rhodomel
From: "redrocklover" <spiritflight@kachina.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 12:28:39 -0700
Hi Dick and all!
When I make a rhodomel, I smell and eat several petals. They are quite =
good in salads, teas, candied and such. I've found that the best =
rhodomels are made with roses that both smell and taste good, as you =
want both in your rhodomel. I personally like old fashioned tea roses.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001
From: Tess Snider <malkin@Radix.Net>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:37:43 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 17 Sep 2001 Ken Taborek wrote:
> I live in the DC metro area, and I'd love to hear more about Trader Joe's.
> Can you add a bit more information, such as just what 'good prices' are, and
> if possible, a contact number for this shop?
I don't remember the exact price I paid, but I do recall that it was less
than I pay per pound at the grocery store, and less than I pay per pound
on 3-pounders at MD Homebrew (where I usually buy my 12lb jars for large
batches).
Trader Joe's can be found in numerous locations in Connecticut, Illinois,
Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia. You can find out more about them at
www.traderjoes.com. They appear to sell lots of maple syrup, too, but I
haven't checked the prices on that.
I don't know if they have the same goods in all of their stores. Ours is
*tiny*, though, and I bet they have honey in most of them. The mesquite
honey appears to be their store brand. They have pretty eclectic store
brands, let me tell ya. :)
> Further on the general thread of good honey prices:
> As I've said, I live in the Washington, DC metro area.
> I've found that prices on the web are generally in the range of
> $1.50-2.50USD/pound for honey in 5 gallon lots, less shipping, which can be
> considerable. I like to split these batches with a fellow meadmaker, to get
> the bulk price and share the shipping cost.
Let me know if you don't find another meadmaker to split with. Honey
seems to be the most pricey part of our work (though I spend a lot on
bottles sometimes, too). I've been sticking to smaller batches lately,
because I have to buy all my brewing water, which is a hassle. I'd *love*
to use my well water, but it's *way* too sulphury, and I don't think
there's much demand out there for brimstone metheglin!
Oh yeah, and I think I'd like to trade some bottles with local folks who
make mead. I find it a good exercise, because:
1.) It gives me a chance to try other meads, so I have a standard
of comparison for my own. Because of the screwed up alcohol laws
around here, it's hard to get your hands on anything that's not
the Berrywine Plantation (AKA Linganore) basic mead, so we
amateurs are worth our weight in gold!
2.) It gives me a chance to have my mead critiqued by someone else
who actually knows what they're talking about.
3.) It lets me get ideas for things I might want to try.
4.) I'm technically a novice. Prior to this year's blueberry and
orange-ginger batches (and the batch I've started since then), I
had done one batch of (amazing, my friends tell me) mead back
around 1996, and that was it. So, I have a lot to learn!
So, if you'd like to do any trading, we should meet up some time!
> I can buy honey from local apiarists for right around $1.50USD/pound, and
> they don't change the price per pound no matter if I'm buying 1 gallon or 5,
> but the selection is dependant upon the season and their inventory. There
> is the added benefit of dealing with a knowledgeable beekeeper, with a lot
> of great stories to tell. And, these guys and gals are some of the nicest
> people I've had the pleasure to meet.
I haven't had the good fortune to meet any apiarists yet. Do you know any
out my way, or are they more towards the hills, for the most part?
> The local CostCo sells 5lb bottles for just under $1USD/pound, but it's a
> very processed and bland honey. This is fine, but I always have to wonder
> if (for example) an unprocessed orange blossom honey wouldn't make a better
> mead... I purchased my CostCo membership after discovering this honey price
> was available there, but I've since made back the cost of my membership in
> other household foods and goods.
That's a pretty good price, but bland honey is no fun. I suppose it'd
probably do fine for large mel batches, where you want the fruit flavours
in the foreground.
> These are my current choices for honey purchasing, but I'm always on the
> lookout for other options, especially for honey's that I've yet to try out.
> I'd be very interested to hear where others have found good quality honey,
> good prices, or hopefully both at the same time. :)
If you want to do some very small experimental batches with unusual
honeys, Fresh Fields has some interesting off-beat honeys available, but
they can run a little pricey. They also sell liquid spice concentrates
(cinnamon and a few others) and *very* attractive organic produce (I
usually buy my mel fruit there). Recently when I was there, I found
food-grade rosewater, and I'm tempted to see if I can make a teeny batch
of rhodomel with it. There are a number of Fresh Fields around,
including one in the District.
Tess
------------------------------
Subject: rhodomel - which rose?
From: Jeff Peck <lyulfr@home.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:00:54 -0700
My wife is the expert on roses, not me, I've a couple in the yard that
smell like they'd be excellent, I'll ask what there called when she gets back
from her trip.
One thing I do know to watch out for, though: Don't use petals
from a rose that's had a systemic used on it. The least it will do is
make you nuasious.
J.H. Peck
> Subject: rhodomel - which rose?
> From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
> Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 19:47:39 -0600 (MDT)
>
> On a pleasant summer late afternoon a few weeks ago, we were sitting on the
> porch enjoying the scent of roses on the breeze. I told the friend who was
> visiting to come around and sniff the various roses..."see how this one is
> almost like peach?"..."this one has almost no scent"..."this one is spicy"...
> "this one is just like raspberries".
>
> It took a while to think about that in the context of mead. (I've often
> wanted to make a rhodomel but I've never done it.) But finally I got around
> to thinking: What sort of rose(s) would you use to flavor a mead? I can
> imagine that if you just grabbed all the petals you could get, the result
> could be a not-so-pleasing hodge-podge.
>
> It seems like few people in the group here have made a rhodomel; even fewer
> have liked the result. So this is a long shot, but has anyone worked on
> what sort of roses to use?
>
> Dick
- --
lyulfr@home.com |
But woe to those who break our sleep,
And woe to those who Dare,
To rouse the Buffalo from his keep,
Or the wild Boar from his lair. > R. Kipling
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001
From: j/kbooth <jameshbooth@worldnet.att.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 17:57:49 -0400
Yeast starter.....As I understand it is best to rehydrate dry yeast in
plain warm water which can than have sugar added shortly there after. But,
8 hrs or so is needed for the yeast to multiply significantly.
jim booth
------------------------------
Subject: Too much sulphite inhibiting yeast?
From: "Geoffrey T. Falk" <gtf@cirp.org>
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 15:50:53 -0600 (MDT)
I just started a 2-gallon batch of cranberry mead, which I'd hoped to
have drinkable by Christmas. This was made with 2 jugs (2 US Gal) of
Safeway Cranberry Cocktail, and 1 kg of honey. SG is between 1.090 and
1.100.
I made a starter last night using 2 pkt of Lalvin 1122 yeast and some
cranberry juice, and it was bubbling away this morning. But after I
pitched it, there is no visible sign of fermentation.
I am afraid that I used too much sulphite (1/4 tsp per 2 gallons) and
this is somehow inhibiting the fermentation. If so, what should I do?
Will it recover? Or do I have to throw it out and start over? It smells
wonderful :)
Geoffrey
------------------------------
Subject: RE: rhodomel - which rose?
From: "Da Jamster" <dajamster@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 07:47:35 +0000
Hello All,
First time in a long time I've had time to read the newsletter and first
time I've ever posted.
My second batch of mead was a rhodomel. I have a very old, half-wild
rosebush in my back yard. I never spray it or anything. The flowers are
not as pretty as the newer variety, but the scent is lovely.
I pruned all of the flowers off of the bush, and boiled just the petals
until I had enough 'rose water' to make a 5 gallon batch. Added honey,
raisins and an orange. My life got a bit hectic and it sat in my closet for
6 months. Then in early December, I remembered it and checked it out...
It was incredible. It tasted the way the roses smelled. I do a pretty
heavy mead, so it was akin to rose brandy. This is my favorite mead and I
try to make at least one batch every spring.
I agree, it would be best to stick to one kind of rose. And try to pick one
with a very nice aroma.
Good Luck!
Jamie
May the dragon of life only roast your hot-dogs and never burn your buns!
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #870, 21 September 2001
From: MLCrary@aol.com
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 18:42:55 EDT
Hello, meaders,
Dick's inquiry about rhodomel reminded me of a question I had. Rose
hips. Has anyone made a rosehip mead? How did you make it, how many rose hips
for a 5 gallon batch, and how did it turn out? Would this also be called a
rhodomel, or is that only if you use petals? I have some new friends who have
about 400 different types of roses, many of them the old-fashioned kind.
Although they say it was a terrible year for gardens here in Colorado (we had
snow in May), I think there will be more than enough rose hips for a mead,
but how many is that? I remember reading somewhere that one should harvest
rosehips after the first frost for rosehip jelly; would this also hold true
for mead? Becky and I would appreciate any information from our fellow
meaders,
The second question; Steve from Australia mentions a lavender mead. We
have one in the carboy, I'd be interested to hear how much laverder was used,
did youu make a tea or steep it in the must, and how did it turn out.
Thanks for any input
Marcia
Unicorn Unchained Meadery
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Cider question from David Herren
From: Rod.McDonald@facs.gov.au
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 10:29:34 +1000
David asked a qn about watery cider - it sounds to me like it might be due to
not having the right mix of apples making up the juice. David, perhaps you could
re-post the question with more info about your preparation process (type of
juice for eg.) to cider digest - you are likely to get a definitive answer
there. Dick, can you put the cider digest subscription details here?
Rod
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #871
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