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Mead Lovers Digest #0889
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #889, 10 December 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #889 10 December 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
2002 Northwest Mead-ing (butcher)
Re: Commercially (Irish) made mead? (Dan McFeeley)
Re: More commercial mead ("Ken Taborek")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #888, 7 December 2001 ("Chuck Wettergreen")
A Gathering ("sdbburn")
Smokehouse Winery in VA (Vicky Rowe)
Mead Gathering ("Julia Herz")
new/oatmeal ? ("Wendy")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: 2002 Northwest Mead-ing
From: butcher <butcher@drizzle.com>
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 00:57:53 -0800
Good suggestion Jay.
I will throw myself in to the arena and offer a summer
solstice mead-ing here in Seattle, Washington, US. There
are plenty of local brewers to make it a fine turn out
and it is a pretty place to have one.
Also, there is a park nearby that has handled the Hemp
Fest a few years ago and has some built in BBQs for
warming up the water. I assume we would want to make a
few batches while we are all together.
If 10 or more people say this is a good idea and like the
date and place, I will reserve the park area.
Butcher
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Commercially (Irish) made mead?
From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 13:50:06 -0500
On Sat, 1 Dec 2001, in MLD 887, Terry Holmes wrote:
> I'm new to the liste, & am learning the ropes of posting to this
>liste... anyhow, I have a question. Does anybody know if there is any
>commercially made mead from Ireland, & is it avaliable in the U.S.?
>I thought that I saw some advertised in an Irish magazine once a few
>years ago, but for the life of me I cannot locate the magazine now,
>nor recall the brewers name.
A hint of the old sod in an amber glass of mead would be a wonderful thing
but as far as I know there isn't anything available here in the U.S.
Bunratty meade has been warned about from time to time on this list and
sadly it's not the real thing.
True Irish mead seems to have belonged to the times and culture of the
Iron Age Celts, which slowly eroded away through the centuries. My guess
is that any importance of mead in the culture of the insular Celts of
Ireland would have cross-cultural links with the cup bearing rituals of
the Germanic tribes, who also favored mead. The banqueting hall at Tara,
the legendary seat of Irish kings, was also known as 'Tech Mid chuarda,'
the mead circling house, calling to mind the mead halls of the Anglo-Saxons
where the warriers gathered for the Symbel, or sacred oath swearing ritual
of the warriers. The Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill (anglicized as Finn
McCool) in one tale was greeted by a women bearing a cup of mead, recalling
Wealhtheow's greeting of Beowulf as she served the Anglo-Saxon warriers at
Heorot.
There is a tantalizing hint of what these ancient Celtic meads may have been
like in P. W. Joyce's translation of the Irish tale, "The Children of Lir."
Just before the four children, transformed into swans, left Moyle, Finola
chanted a song with these brief references to mead:
Ah, happy is Lir's bright home to-day,
With mead and music and poet's lay:
[....]
Yet oft we feasted in days of old,
And hazel-mead drank from cups of gold.
The hazel nut is symbolic of wisdom and poetic inspiration in Irish myth.
One tale speaks of Connla's Well, where grew the nine hazel trees of
wisdom, "out of which were obtained the feats of the sages." Those who
partook of the nuts that dropped into the well, or the salmon who ate
the nuts gained the gifts of seer and poet. Hazel mead served in the
banqueting hall of an Irish king would have been a royal beverage!
Some time ago I tried making my own hazel mead, using a flavoring agent.
It turned out well enough but could easily have stood some improvement.
I think someone tried a hazel mead with the real thing and posted the
recipe on MLD. An archive search should turn it up for anyone that is
interested.
There's a song sung by the late Micho Russell, Irish tin whistle player,
on an audio collection of his music which would be a nice accompaniment
to an Irish meading. Micho's music was drawn from the old folk music
players he learned from in his youth during the early 1900's and, along
with his exuberence and a unique gift and intuitive feel for Irish music,
captured audiences around the world. Micho would tour with the more well
known folk bands and there he would be, sitting alone among the tangle of
speakers, equipment and microphones, just himself and his tin whistle,
looking every inch the old Irish farmer contemplating his turf fire.
For many of these concerts people in the audience would cry when they
listened to Micho play, remembering their immigrant Irish grandparents
or great-grandparents.
Anyway, here's the Gaelic chorus from the song with translation below:
Gra' mo chroi mo chruiscin,
Slainte geal mo mhuirnin,
Gra mo chroi mo chruiscin,
Agus biodh se lan!
My little jug is my heart's love,
A bright health to my darling,
My little jug is my heart's love,
And may it be full!
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Daniel mac Fithcheallaigh
mcfeeley@keynet.net
------------------------------
Subject: Re: More commercial mead
From: "Ken Taborek" <Ken.Taborek@Verizon.net>
Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 21:53:51 -0500
> Subject: Re: More commercial mead
> From: Terry Estrin <testrin@sfu.ca>
> Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 10:45:27 -0800
>
> Hi all,
>
> Since everyone's talking about commercial mead, I thought I'd add one
> more. In this month's issue of Saveur magazine (an expensive, but
> absolutely
> terrific food mag), on page 14, a sidebar describes the following:
>
> Dec. 8-9: Wassail Weekend at Smokehouse, Sperryville, Virginia
>
> "At Smokehouse Winery in rural Rappahannock County, set amid the Blueridge
> Mountain foothills of Virginia, thirsty travelers can fortify themselves
> with historic old-world beverages. Owners Jen Cable and John Halberg
> specialize in meads made of spiced juniper berries, wineberries,
> mulberries,
> blackberries, and even honeysuckle--all made from fruits grown here. This
> weekend, the winery invites you to experience its meads and ciders,
> accompanied by such nourishing fare as brunswick stew and homemade breads.
> Information: 540-987-3194."
>
> So if anyone's in the area, check it out and let us know what
> their product
> is like!
>
> cheers,
>
> Terry Estrin
Terry,
I've been to the Smokehouse Winery, and found it to be a very small
operation, but quaint and welcoming. The owner, John Halberg, is running
the meadery and b&b pretty much single handedly. He is suffering from what
a lot of small business owners suffer from... He has a good product, but
not enough time or knowledge to properly market and distribute it.
I've only had the pleasure of sampling one of his meads, the straight mead.
That's due to the fact that, the time that I and a couple carloads of
friends decended upon the winery (after contacting him and being assured
that visitors were welcomed), he only had the one mead on hand. He was able
to give us the names of a few retail establishments that sold his products,
but I've yet to visit any of those.
His straight mead is in the dry to semi-sweet range, and is quite good. I'm
looking forward to the opportunity of sampling his other meads, and he has a
very nice assortment of mead styles to choose from.
Their website is:
http://www.smokehousewinerybnb.com/
But, it appears to be down (at least, it's down at the time of this
writing).
You can also try:
http://www.virginiawines.org/wineries/smokehouse.html
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #888, 7 December 2001
From: "Chuck Wettergreen" <meadmakr@enteract.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 07:51:12 -0600
In MLD #888, "Kemp, Alson" <alson@corp.cirrus.com> replied to
Frank about tap water:
> >Read your reply to the stuck fermentation posting. Your
> >first item said "you did not use tap water" then I said
> >"uh oh" I'm new to mead/ making and did not read
> >anything that said do not use tap water. Is boiled
> >tap water OK? should I use bottled water?
> >Boiled bottled water?
>
> Metro tap water has (at least) chlorine and fluoride in
> it and is designed to stop bad things (bacteria, yeasts?) from
> reproducing. Boiling the water may drive off the chlorine and
> make the tap water brewable. Also, everyone's tap water is
This is true, if your water company uses gaseous chlorine. If
They use chloroamine, however, boiling won't remove it. Only
filtering with activated charcoal with take this nasty stuff out.
Personally I prefer using my own very hard tap water (aerated
to remove the gaseous chlorine). I believe (but have nothing to
support my position other than hundreds of sucessful, rapid
fermentations) that the yeast use the dissolved minerals to grow
and thrive.
If I didn't have access to my own hard water, then I'd use
store-bought
"spring" water from the machine at the supermarket.
Cheers,
Chuck Wettergreen
Mead maker
Beekeeper
Geneva, IL
------------------------------
Subject: A Gathering
From: "sdbburn" <sdbburn@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 14:43:29 -0800
Good idea.
How about doing regional gatherings?
For example I live in Masschusetts. A page of States and contact for =
each could be posted. May be a little more do-able so to speak.
A date would be set by the host, a time, a place and a deadline to =
signup.
Dean
Easton, MA
------------------------------
Subject: Smokehouse Winery in VA
From: Vicky Rowe <rcci@mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2001 21:00:34 -0500
I have visited Smokehouse and sampled their wares. The juniper and
wineberry meads are wonderful. I've had a sip of the honeysuckle (it
sells out *quick*!) and its to *die* for.
When I went there, I mentioned to John that I made mead as a hobby,
and was immediately dragged out to his shop to see the production
line. They use lovely tall thin bottles with the label screen printed
directly on the bottle. His setup is pretty straightforward, using conical
fermentors and a pretty simple bottling machine. He spent an hour or
so 'talking shop' with me (while my friends sampled his wares out in
the tasting room), and I was very impressed.
He told me how he and his wife brewed their own mead and made
jams and jellies and other things for holiday gifts, and so many people
told them they should go pro, so they did!
I highly recommend their wares. Its about 4 hours from my home
here in NC, and it is well worth the drive.
Vicky Rowe
www.gotmead.com
> Since everyone's talking about commercial mead, I thought I'd add one
>more. In this month's issue of Saveur magazine (an expensive, but absolutely
>terrific food mag), on page 14, a sidebar describes the following:
>
>Dec. 8-9: Wassail Weekend at Smokehouse, Sperryville, Virginia
>
>"At Smokehouse Winery in rural Rappahannock County, set amid the Blueridge
>Mountain foothills of Virginia, thirsty travelers can fortify themselves
>with historic old-world beverages. Owners Jen Cable and John Halberg
>specialize in meads made of spiced juniper berries, wineberries, mulberries,
>blackberries, and even honeysuckle--all made from fruits grown here. This
>weekend, the winery invites you to experience its meads and ciders,
>accompanied by such nourishing fare as brunswick stew and homemade breads.
>Information: 540-987-3194."
>
>So if anyone's in the area, check it out and let us know what their product
>is like!
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Gathering
From: "Julia Herz" <julia@honeywine.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 08:45:28 -0700
Jay,
Good news! Ray Daniels, creator of the Real Ale Festival and editor of
Zymurgy magazine, is looking into holding a commercial mead competition
that involves homebrewers, in the Fall of 2002 in Chicago! (He's also
talking about involving cider and perry). I'm sure once things get more
firmed up (sounds like in late March) he'll let us know the details.
Cheers,
Julia Herz
- -----------------------------------------
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned here or in rec.crafts.meadmaking
lately (there was a thread a few months ago), but I'll mention it
again...
I think it would be great if we could have a mead gathering of sorts
next year, a place where we could try commercial meads like White
Winter, Heidrun etc, and we could also bring our own homemade meads,
trade tips, recipes, etc.
Since I live in Scottsdale, I think Arizona would be a perfect place for
such a gathering, but I'd also love to attend a mead gathering in New
England or possibly the Northwest or other scenic parts of the country.
Does any intrepid soul want to get the ball rolling on this? :) Does
this sound like a good idea to you guys & gals? This may be a way for us
non-Pennsic folk to try the real thing! :)
------------------------------
Subject: new/oatmeal ?
From: "Wendy" <wendyk@clrtech.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:05:44 -0800
I'm new to the list, although after spending the last few weeks reading
*all* of the archives, I feel like I've been around for a while. I've been
making mead for just over a year, and some of them are getting to be very
nice. I'm wishing now that I'd made bigger batches...
I had a thought drop into my head today, and I'd like some opinions. Even
just shoot me down right away if I'm completely off the wall. Let me preface
this by saying that I have absolutely no experience with beer-making or
brewing with grains whatsoever.
I made some yummy oatmeal-nut waffles last night that got me thinking. Since
I've already got a batch of hazelnut mead in the works, the next logical
thought was, what about oatmeal??? I do have a recipe for Atholl Brose, a
drink made from oatmeal, heather honey, and whisky...
So, has anyone ever put oatmeal into mead? What would happen? What would it
taste like? How would I have to treat the oatmeal? Is this too bizarre to
even consider?
Advice and/or opinions are welcome!
Thanks :)
Wendy
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #889
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