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Mead Lovers Digest #0875
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #875, 17 October 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #875 17 October 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: New Mead Website ("Gregg Stearns")
How much fruit/gallon in a mel? (Bella)
a few mead questions (spg.tmg@juno.com)
RE: Cranberry Mead question (Janis Gross)
("sdbburn")
Smelly mead, NZ meadmakers and racking time issues. ("Dany P. Ghozali")
Re: New Mead Website ("Gregg Stearns") (Spencer W Thomas)
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: RE: New Mead Website
From: "Gregg Stearns" <gregg@ispi.net>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:38:28 -0500
[snip]
>> Hello list! I am launching http://www.meadhq.com on Oct. 2, 2001!!
> Great work Gregg! The software behind the site looks pretty powerful. Do
> you do application development for them?
Yes, I'm part of the Quality Assurance department, so I help develop
features, as well as find bugs and train new clients.
> I am in the process of creating my own mead resource site oriented to folks
> who have never heard of mead. I would like to link to your site, if I may.
Sure, add a link. Email me off list (gregg@ispi.net) and remind me to add
yours to my links article(s)
In case you haven't seen, I do have a searchable copy of the digest archives
hosted from my site at http://www.aboutmead.com/resources/mld.html .
- --
Christopher Hadden
[end snip]
Cool. My site search is a full text search...no keywords. It's a database
driven application. Very powerful software. Actually works like a
newsroom...there are some people who are correspondents...they write
articles, but only I can publish them to the site.
- --
Gregg
http://www.meadhq.com
------------------------------
Subject: How much fruit/gallon in a mel?
From: Bella <davispigeon@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 13:04:15 -0700 (PDT)
REPLY TO
>Subject: How much fruit/gallon in a mel?
>From: Russ_Hobaugh@erm.com
>Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 14:29:27 -0400
> Which is better, campden
>tablets or holding the fruit about 150 for 20 minutes
>or so?
I'd rather use campden tablets to sterilize
fruit...it's so easy to get tons of pectin when you
heat fruit (and we want mead, not jam).
That said, I have used the hot must (honey/water mix)
to pasteurize fruit for a melomel. I then make sure to
pitch a pint or more of a vigorous yeast culture.
That takes care of those wild yeasties.
Be warned: my meads are usually up over 15% alcohol,
even with one of those wimpy ale yeasts.
------------------------------
Subject: a few mead questions
From: spg.tmg@juno.com
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 02:26:37 -1000
i lean towards not wanting to use chemicals or filtration to manipulate
the natural fermentation process.good wine makers know that good wine is
made in the vinyard, in the soil and on the vine,not in a lab,and i tend
to subscribe to that philosophy to a certain extent,or at least to the
idea that,the less manipulation,the more the fine and good natural
properties imparted by the sun,soil,water and other enviromental factors
to the grape/honey/grain,etc., comes through, but as with all
things,there must be balance,and since i'm new at this,i'm open to any
and all information that i can find...now, on to the POINT at last ...
1.how bad are food service/baking yeasts for brewing, really? i've read
alot about the properties of alot of different yeast,and have ordered
some good wine and mead yeasts to experiment with.there's certainly alot
of good and fairly detailed information available about the varying
successes people have had making mead with the different wine ,ale, and
mead yeasts available,and what to do to get individual strains to work
better and faster. what about the standard yeasts that i mentioned above,
for example Fleischmanns Active Dry, Fleischmans Brewers Yeast(you
know,the ones that our moms and grandmas always had in the little paper
packets),or Red Star Active Dry Food Service Yeast.are they slow?are they
fast?unpredictable? what are the alchohol tolerances of these types of
yeasts? what are thier optimal temperature ranges,and what makes them so
bad for brewing that experienced homebrewers consider them taboo?
2.wheat germ; is it good for a yeast nutrient in mead? is it bad? it
contains folic acid,thiamine,phosphorus,acetate,vitamine e, the minerals
magnesium and zinc,and many many other vitamins,minerals
starches,sugars,etc. in smaller percentages,not to mention it probably
contains some tannins to (although that's only a guess on my part) it
will obviously have an effect on the flavor of the final product.i'd like
to know if you or anyone you know or have heard of has tried it and with
what results.
3.can small amounts of sodium bicarbonate and/or sodium carbonate be used
as a ph balancer as with some other salts (or 'carbonates' )
4.can bee pollen or royal jelly be added as a yeast nutrient,and if not,
why?
5.is the seeming, almost obssesive concern with clarity based more on
mead looking nice,or concern that the suspended matter is detrimental in
some other ways to the finished product? i doubt that Veeder Thormundson
and his band of pillagers cared 1500 years ago whether thier mead was a
little cloudy, as long as it tasted reasonably well, they got a good
buzz,and didn't get too sick from it.i tend to be of the same mind.i of
course understand the reason for racking often to remove dead yeast,and
agree,but why the concern to the point of adding more non fermentable,non
digestable 'stuff' just to clear out some things that may not neccesarily
be harmful.
sorry for the lack of brevity,hope you've got time for these,or can
direct me to the right source for detailed info on any or all of these
questions.
THANKS!
sean garrett
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Cranberry Mead question
From: Janis Gross <jgross@rsinc.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 16:31:26 -0600
Ken,
I've made three cranberry-orange meads over the past 7 years, and here is my
recommendation.
There are actually a couple of ways to add cranberries to your mead, and
they accomplish different things. Also, I always spray the cranberries with
Fit in a colander, roll them around, and then rinse with water to clean them
before chopping. For my 5 gallon batches I've used about 3 to 5 pounds of
fruit during an entire fermentation process. It's always easier to put the
berries in a bag and do the fermentation in a bucket with a lid if possible.
If not, the racking is problematic.
First, put about 2 cups fresh chopped (I used a Cuisinart one time and a
blender the next) cranberries in a grain bag with your water and boil it for
10 minutes or so. Then remove the cranberries and throw them away. This
addition of cranberries helps to get the color in the mead, but you have to
toss the boiled berries so as not to introduce unwanted tannins in the mead.
If the color isn't to your liking, you can repeat this process any time
during the fermentation, racking on top of the colorizing solution each
time.
Second, chop 1.5# fresh cranberries (blender, Cuisinart, or individually cut
up) and put in primary fermenter. When you rack from primary you'll need to
use a clean and sterilized (non-soaped) Brillo pad or other scrubber on the
end of your cane and I even put an boiled and clean "hop" bag over that
secured with the draw string and a clean and sterile rubber band. This, or
some variation with allow you to siphon somewhat free of clogs from the
floating debris.
Third, chop 1.5 # frozen cranberries and add these to the secondary (in a
bag is best) and rack on top. The bag is always best used if the fruit has
been frozen because the cell structure is broken down.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Cheers!
Janis *8-)
------------------------------
Subject:
From: "sdbburn" <sdbburn@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 19:25:00 -0400
I started a my mead in August, the fermentation is nearly complete (very
little going on in there) yet, there is very little to no sign of
clearing. My first batch I put in Campden tablets as one recipe called
out and my mead cleared within a week. Do those pills effect the
outcome? Should I just let it be until it clears? Since I racked it
two weeks ago there is no sediment on the bottom of the carboy....
When is it time to bottle? When it is crystal clear I'd assume....
Thanks. Cheers!
Dean
------------------------------
Subject: Smelly mead, NZ meadmakers and racking time issues.
From: "Dany P. Ghozali" <d.ghozali@geol.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 21:58:16 +1300
> Subject: Smelly mead & Wettergreen's comment
> From: "Kemp, Alson" <alson@corp.cirrus.com>
> Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 12:50:19 -0700
>
> Charles Wettergreen wrote:
> >I've noticed that this yeast tends to
> >produce sulpher, especially when stressed.
> >But it still continues to ferment out just
> >fine. Once fermentation is complete, the
> >several rackings you will do as part of the
> >clearing process will cause the sulpher to
> >come out and your mead will smell fine.
I noticed this with mead only. Despite all the instructions in winemaking
books I have never been able to get rid of the rotten egg smell problem.
With my mead the smell just goes away - as you said - even without racking.
> We've had a number of very good experiences with K1V and
> a couple of very bad experiences. K1V is supposed to have "very
> low SO2 production", too. I'm trying 71B now in my New Zealand
> Manuka Honey Mead.
> With respect to the smell going away: the smell is
> starting to go away! We took a couple of samples to the local
> brewstore and had them tasted. The smell had somewhat
> dissipated. Unfortunately, the smell covered up what turns out
> to be a fairly mediocre mead. I kinda wish the smell were still
> around so that I could blame the smell for the poor mead.
You found that too, huh? I've got a large batch of pineapple melomel made
with manuka honey and it ain't smelling promising at all. No nasty sulfur
smell just not a nice smell I associate with mead/melomel. Perhaps it's just
the pineapple?!
Since you used NZ manuka honey, dare I hope you live in NZ? I've been
looking for fellow kiwi meadmakers and they seem to be very rare. I would
love to discuss local honey types, sources, etc.
I have one more question for you all. How long can one leave mead on its
lees? I have one batch that seemed to have dropped sediments very quickly -
well, quicker than other batches I've had. About half an inch of sediment
lies at the bottom after only 2 weeks in the secondary and the mead is
clearing nicely. One thing I have noticed is the aroma seem to have
strengthen in a nice way after sitting on the sediment for that time and I
am tempted to leave it longer.
Are there any reasons why I should not leave it longer? There are still
little bubbles rising to the surface in the jar but no bubbles and very
little difference in water level within the airlock.
Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
D.
- --
Dany P. Ghozali
Dept. of Geological Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8020
New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 364 2987 ext. 7301
Fax: +64 3 364 2769
Email: d.ghozali@geol.canterbury.ac.nz
------------------------------
Subject: Re: New Mead Website ("Gregg Stearns")
From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer@engin.umich.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 22:19:15 -0400
And, as another source (it's mentioned in the digest header),
I've got the whole run, from September 25, 1992, on my server,
searchable. Start from
http://hubris.engin.umich.edu/Beer/Threads/Mead/.
Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe
=Spencer in Ann Arbor
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #875
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