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Mead Lovers Digest #0884
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #884, 21 November 2001
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #884 21 November 2001
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: High Alcohol Sweet Mead (Bella)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #883, 17 November 2001: Starting a meadary (butcher)
Any ideas? ("Roel Toussaint")
new to mead and questions about pH levels (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Hrafnkell_Eir=ED...)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #883, 17 November 2001 (Gardengate32@aol.com)
a new meadery - Redstone Meadery, Boulder, CO (Dick Dunn)
bad precedent for commercial meaderies (Dick Dunn)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: RE: High Alcohol Sweet Mead
From: Bella <davispigeon@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 11:29:08 -0800 (PST)
Ah! my specialty (although not by design.) In my many
attempts to make a mead sweet enough for my partner in
crime's tastes, I have managed to brew some
exceedingly strong (15% and higher alcohol) sweet
meads.
First, start with a really vigorous yeast starter (I
usually use a 6 to 8-hour-old culture of yeast
rehydrated in 1 quart of honey water/apple juice). I
start with 15lbs of honey in a five gallon carboy and
"feed" the fermentation every time I rack. I wait
until the ferm has slowed down to one or two
bubbles/minute before racking. By "feed", I mean
replacing the amount lost from racking (usually about
1/2 gallon) with 3-5 lbs of honey in boiled water.
Keep racking and feeding until either (1) it's sweet
enough or (2) the yeast quit (they will, eventually
and you'll have what we affectionately term "rocket
fuel")
That's a sort of general scheme...I keep track of
specific gravity with a hydrometer and balance
tannnins and acid according to the individual brew.
Now, before I get slammed, I concur that "rocket fuel"
is not all that desirable and I've made much more
palatable brews that weren't as flammable.
Although passing around a bottle of it at camp on a
cold night with a bunch of fanatical Rennies is a lot
of fun.
Cheers,
pigeon
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #883, 17 November 2001: Starting a meadary
From: butcher <butcher@drizzle.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 20:49:34 -0800
I have a suggestion about the commercial side of mead making. Start
small. When I make mead these days I prepare for a start on 4, 5-
gallon batches. I can get through it all well before lunch pains. I
then "trade" out much of my mead. In our area there is a very old
barter system established. I don't suggest breaking any laws, but I
do say if your passion is in the making and sharing the mead; make
it, and share it!
One other suggestion, off topic, sort of. There are many
institutions in this country operating very legally, called
Underground Restaurants. Don't bother doing a google search on them
:) They work through word of mouth (often referred to others by
existing customers, or local waiters tipped off). There is no
required fee for the meal, but donations are accepted. Mead is even
served, tho it may be brought by the customers. I know one that has
been around for going on 20 years, and it is their sole source of
income. It is a vegetarian place and probably the best in all Berks.
I have been to 4 thus far and I can't think of a better environment
to share mead!
So, stir those bits around and see what you get.
Butcher
------------------------------
Subject: Any ideas?
From: "Roel Toussaint" <rmtoussaint@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 14:46:23 +0100
Hello Fellow Meadmakers!
I'm slowly getting ready to start a couple of new mead batches. And am very
much open for any new ideas or recipes to try! So my question is if anybody
feels like sharing some of these great ideas with me??? Would love that very
much!
One idea I already was was a very spicey mead made with pepers (or strong
spiced paprika's), does anybody have some experience with that? If so please
tell me about it!!!
Thanks in advance and enjoy your mead, I know I will!
greetings Roel
------------------------------
Subject: new to mead and questions about pH levels
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Hrafnkell_Eir=EDksson?= <he@klaki.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 23:22:13 +0000
Hi
I'm new to brewing mead.
My first go at brewing mead is now in the primary fermenter,
all 23 liters (about 6 gallons I guess, no couldn't get anything
smaller :)
I have a question regarding the pH level of my must.
First a description of what I have done:
Went to the supermarket, bought 13 cans of honey, 425gr each (0,9 lb).
Dissolved it in about a gallon of water and boiled for a few minutes.
Put it in the primary fermenter along with cold tap water to get
the 23 liters. Rehydrated a pack of Lalvin K1V-1116 yeast and added
that. Starting temperature was 23C (73.5F) and starting SG was
1.070. According to some webpages I have found that might be a little
low, but I don't want a high alcohol %. I added no acid. The current
ambient temperature in the room where fermenting is 25C (77F).
The plan is to ferment all of the sugar in the honey, then kill the
yeast and add honey and acid to taste. I'd like something semi-sweet
in the end (I think, never tasted mead before :)
Is this a silly plan?
After 48 hours in the primary fermenter the SG has dropped to 1.060.
The first 24 hours (of the 48) not much happened. The yeast is now
farting quite actively.
One thing worries me, the pH level. It is about 2.75 pH (or between 2.5 and
3.0 pH, the resolution of my pH test isn't better). This is sub-optimal
for the yeast? Should I do something about it? Create a buffer solution
and add? If so, how? Could I use natrium bicarbonate dissolved in water?
Would it have a negative effect on the taste? Or should I just not worry
about it and see if the fermentation continues at the current rate?
Any other hints for a mead-beginner (brewing beginner in fact,
I've only tried a white wine kit before) would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hrafnkell Eiriksson
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #883, 17 November 2001
From: Gardengate32@aol.com
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 18:25:08 EST
In a message dated 11/17/2001 7:39:02 PM EST, mead-request@talisman.com
writes:
<< Subject: High Alcohol Sweet Meads...
From: "Stan" <beorning@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 08:57:56 -0800
Hi all,
I'm a relatively new mead maker, with about 10 batches either bottled or =
bulk aging in carboys. The batches we've tried so far have ranged from =
(in 1 case) a resounding failure to not half bad (might even be pretty =
good in a year or two). But now my friends are making special requests =
and I need some advice.
My friends are requesting a mead or mel with a high alcohol content, but =
still being on the relatively sweet side. Now I'm assuming in order to =
get the alcohol content I'm going to need to use Champagne yeast. I'm =
also assuming that I'll need to start with an extremely high gravity =
must in order for it to finish sweet. I want to refrain from using =
chemicals, since one of my friends finds them REALLY disagreeable, to =
stop fermentation I'd like it to go until the alcohol itself is =
inhibiting the yeast's growth. I'm just getting used to using a =
hydrometer to track my meads (yes I was guessing before). What would be =
a good starting gravity, to get a champagne yeast to finish still, and =
still be mildly sweet?? Are there any drawbacks to doing this?? Any =
tricks or pitfalls I should be aware of?? Do you have any recipes that =
were particularly good that you might be willing to share??=20
I really appreciate the help.
Stan
>>
premier curvee, which i believe is the modern prise de mousse, has a really
high alcohol tolerance, which i think is about 16 percent, though i am not
sure. i think pasteur champagne dies at about 13.5%. i would start out with
a must like you usually use, and add honey as fermentation slows, bit by bit.
just keep adding until it totally quits, which is probably going to be a
while... taste it, and then add honey until you reach the desired sweetness.
i've made some cripplingly strong meads which others call liqueur. blackout
city... :)b
------------------------------
Subject: a new meadery - Redstone Meadery, Boulder, CO
From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 21:12:20 -0700 (MST)
I paid a visit today to a relatively new meadery: Redstone Meadery in
Boulder, Colorado. They've been operating for a few months, and I poked
around when they were almost new. Now they're set up with a tasting room
and a short daily tour, so I had a more "formal" visit today.
The meadmaker (?meadmaster?) is David Myers. He's been a homebrewer and
home mead-maker for some time and has done well in competitions...so he
decided to "go pro". The main equipment (tanks and such) came from a
brewery that went under. The batch size is 7 bbl (200+ gallons) if I
remember correctly. Sorry if I'm vague here; we did the tour and only
later did I decide to write up this posting.
They're currently making two melomels, which they call "nectars" in the
brand names. (Actually, they're not fermented on the fruit, so perhaps I
need a better term.) One is black raspberry, the other boysenberry. They're
putting these in kegs for distribution to local restaurants and bars,
and they are also available in half-gallon at the meadery. These are
easy-drinking, carbonated, young, and somewhat sweet. I believe they're
ready somewhere between five weeks and two months. Alcohol content of one
was 8% and I forget the other. They carry the honey and fruit character
well, but they're designed for wide appeal. In a sense they're the easy
way to get people interested in mead, and apparently it's working because
they've expanded their distribution in a matter of months. I sure saw a lot
of kegs coming into the meadery for re-fill.
They're making a melomel for longer aging which will be higher alcohol and
will be bottled still. It seems like it will be pretty dry. This looks to
be a while coming out.
They're making a "straight" mead (just a honey wine) which will also be
bottled. It will be still and dry. They're hoping that will be out in
January. I'm anxious to get ahold of some of that one.
The full-time staff seems to be just two people: Myers, and Julia Herz, who
was formerly with the Association of Brewers.
I think they've got an interesting and sound business approach for a
meadery: Put out your initial products as honest meads but made for wide
appeal, and build a base of interested customers as quickly as you can.
Then you can move on to the more serious meads--the ones *you* really want
to make--with some hope of selling them and staying in business. When I
talked to Myers a few months back, this was his Big Thing, that there's a
LOT of consumer education that has to take place. That plus some business
sense suggests he'll have a good chance of succeeding. And I say we need
all the successful meaderies we can get.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
Subject: bad precedent for commercial meaderies
From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 21:38:18 -0700 (MST)
What if you're one of those crazy dreamers, and one day you finally managed
to achieve your fantasy and open a commercial meadery...only to discover
that you could not call it a "meadery"?!?
That, apparently, is more than just a bad dream.
While visiting the new Redstone Meadery (see my most recent previous
article, probably in this same issue of the digest), I was told that they
had received a "cease and desist" letter telling them that they could not
use "meadery" as part of their business name! OK, I know you're thinking
that this is the result of some crazed bureaucracy...but it's not. It came
from another meadery: Rocky Mountain Meadery, also in Colorado.
I did a quick check, and in fact "MEADERY" is registered as a trademark in
Colorado, to Confre Cellars, which also operates as Rocky Mountain Meadery.
Seems to me there are two issues here. The first is that the trademark
never should have been issued. It makes no more sense than allowing a
business to register "WINERY" as a trademark, and then tell other wineries
that they can't use the word in their business name. As to why it was
allowed, I can only guess that the state government agency responsible for
registering such names didn't recognize "meadery" as a common noun.
The second issue, which troubles me a lot more, is why a meadery would pull
a stunt like this. It's not like the business of commercial mead is so hot
that it can afford having meaderies play lawyering games against one another.
Regardless of whether it is legal (i.e., whether it is ultimately found not
to break any laws), it's underhanded and it damages the common interest of
advancing the understanding and appreciation of mead.
Obviously there are "meaderies" in other states, and they've managed to
work out the use of the term "meadery" as the name of the business they're
in. In fact, there had been meaderies using that common term for years
before Rocky Mountain Meadery was founded. I feel a twinge of embarrass-
ment that this is happening here in my "home state".
I'd be particularly interested if any of the commercial mead-makers on this
list have comments on the issue.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #884
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