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Mead Lovers Digest #0922
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Errors-To: mead-errors@talisman.com
Reply-To: mead@talisman.com
To: mead-list@talisman.com
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #922, 22 April 2002
Mead Lover's Digest #922 22 April 2002
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Cherry Vanilla Mead ("David Craft")
Re: Re: Length of initial fermentation? ("Dan McFeeley")
Re: Trading Meads ("Christopher Hadden")
use of canned fruit puree? (DarlaneL@aol.com)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #921, 20 April 2002 ("Stephen Murphrey")
pH (RE: Mead Lover's Digest #921, 20 April 2002) ("Stephen Murphrey")
Mouldy Mead ("Melissa Airoldi")
Question (Laezy@aol.com)
oak note (Dick Dunn)
Cyser Clearing (Arcturus)
unsubscribe (SpiritcatcherEJH@aol.com)
Re: Acid Blend (BillPierce@aol.com)
pH questions, slow meads ("Ken Schramm")
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: Cherry Vanilla Mead
From: "David Craft" <chsyhkr@bellsouth.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 11:14:39 -0400
Greetings,
I have come across several pounds of dried sour cherries. I would like to
make a typical dry mead with them. Cherry Vanilla sounds good to me. Does
anyone have experience with Cherry (dried) and Vanilla (extract or beans).
Regards,
David B. Craft
Battleground Brewers Homebrew Club
Crow Hill Brewery and Meadery
Greensboro, NC
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Re: Length of initial fermentation?
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 10:49:14 -0500
On Mon, 15 Apr 2002, in MLD 921, Chris Carpenter wrote, in reply to Tony
Karian:
>> 5) Never add acid at the beginning, only afterwards to taste. Acid can
>> slow the yeast down.
>
>OK.. now this confuses me. When I first started on the list, I was more on
>this thought level, for I have always strived to achieve the "Art" in the
>"Science", but what seemed to be concensus is that acids are added because
>yeast, especially Mead Yeasts, need an acid environment to thrive. Is the
>beginning not the appropriate time? What PH should one try to acheive for
>this balance of yeast environment vs. less acid taste in the end.
One reason why it isn't necessary to add acid at the beginning of the
fermentation is that the pH of the honey must is already close to ideal
levels. I haven't made a habit of regularly checking the pH of my meads
at the start but they're usually about 4.0. The late Roger Morse found a
pH range at which the fermentation does well, from about 3.7 to 4.6. He
suggested 3.7 as the best compromise for a pH level high enough to promote
vigorous yeast fermentation but still low enough to inhibit bacterial growth.
Another reason why early acid addition can impede the fermentation is because
acid additives will combine with the organic acids normally secreted by active
yeasts. This can crash the pH and slow the fermentation, as Tony noted above.
Morse found that the pH would drop as low as 2.9 if acid was added, causing
stuck fermentations.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
mcfeeley@keynet.net
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Trading Meads
From: "Christopher Hadden" <chadden@contecrayon.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 11:53:17 -0500
Speaking of trades, if anyone has commercial meads and is interested in
doing a trade, please let me know. The commercial meads that I've collected
thus far are listed at http://www.aboutmead.com/mpls_meading_2002.html .
Besides these meads, I also have the meads of Rocky Mountain Meadery. I'm
reviewing as many commercial meads as I can obtain and will be posting the
results at http://www.aboutmead.com .
Regards,
Christopher Hadden
- --
Search and browse the Mead Lover's Digest archives at
http://www.aboutmead.com/resources/mld.html . Over 1,325,000 words indexed.
------------------------------
Subject: use of canned fruit puree?
From: DarlaneL@aol.com
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 14:31:02 EDT
Hi all...
I am getting ready to make my first cherry melomel (previous brewing has been
traditional non-flavored meads and also beer) and I purchased online a large
can of cherry puree (Oregon brand), not realizing that it was juice or
extract that I really needed... (sigh) My question is, can I use the puree
or will I have a non-clearing mead since the pectins in the puree are no
doubt cooked to a fare-thee-well? Perhaps I can filter the puree in some
fashion? I'm thinking coffee filter paper might work? Or should I just forego
the cherry for now and get some nice fresh strawberries?
Many thanks to anyone who can help... I would gladly trade a bottle or 2 of
the finished product for some good advice! Feel free to contact me off-list
at darlanel@aol.com OR emtdarlane@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #921, 20 April 2002
From: "Stephen Murphrey" <swmurph@attglobal.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 21:37:15 -0400
>Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #920, 15 April 2002
>From: Darinbruck@aol.com
>Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 10:51:02 EDT
>This is my first melomel- strawberry vanilla - 15# Sams club honey, 10#
>frozen strayberrys, 1 shot of vanilla extract, yeast nutreint per five gal,
>flor sherry yeast, filtered tap water to make up difference. I disolved the
>honey in hot water and dumped in the strawberrys, and let to warm on the
>stove. let steep for 10 min. and pulled from heat. I skimed off the berrys
>and put them in the blender and hit liquifiy. This went on for a while (10#s
>worth) and everything ended up in a glass carboy. I didn't leave enough head
>space and got to show my kid what a volcano looks like. Now to my question.
>Floating on top (pushed to the top?) is a yucky pink foam. Is this bad?
>Will it spoil? If it's not bad how long should i leave it there? Any advice
>would be great! Thanks - D
If your explosion blew the fermentation lock off, there is a real danger of
infection. If it just started coming out of the fermentation lock, and you
installed a blow-off tube right away, then you're probably safe. I suggest
that your pink foam is simply a mixture of yeast and strawberry puree, and
that it will eventually sink. After that happens, and your primary
fermentation is over, then just rack into a secondary in the normal way. If
there is an infection, removing the pink foam now won't fix it.
As an aside, if you put the fruit into the primary (as I always do), I think
you should use much more fruit (perhaps 20 pounds, or a couple of gallons of
juice). You may find that you don't get much strawberry flavor with 10
pounds.
Steve Murphrey
------------------------------
Subject: pH (RE: Mead Lover's Digest #921, 20 April 2002)
From: "Stephen Murphrey" <swmurph@attglobal.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 21:49:19 -0400
> Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #920, 15 April 2002
> From: Christopher C Carpenter <chris.carpenter@ndsu.nodak.edu>
> Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 14:19:41 -0500
> - --On Monday, April 15, 2002 9:57 AM -0600 mead-request@talisman.com
wrote:
> > 5) Never add acid at the beginning, only afterwards to taste. Acid can
> > slow the yeast down.
> OK.. now this confuses me. When I first started on the list, I was more on
> this thought level, for I have always strived to achieve the "Art" in the
> "Science", but what seemed to be consensus is that acids are added because
> yeast, especially Mead Yeasts, need an acid environment to thrive. Is the
> beginning not the appropriate time? What PH should one try to achieve for
> this balance of yeast environment vs. less acid taste in the end.
> Thanks,
> Chris Carpenter
I've found that forcing the pH to 4 with calcium carbonate gives a vigorous
fermentation that starts right away (if I pitch a vigorously active
starter), and that starting with a lower pH just doesn't work at all (it can
go for months without starting). There are a lot of old Mead Lover's Digest
posts that go into great detail on this subject. My traditional meads seem
to start with a pH of around 2.3, even if I add no acid blend. I've been
pretty successful without using acid blend at all.
Steve Murphrey
------------------------------
Subject: Mouldy Mead
From: "Melissa Airoldi" <melairoldi@bigpond.com.au>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 10:05:36 +0800
Hello All,
I am very new to the mead making process, but I know mouldy when I see it!
My first batch of mead has developed a "lovely" sea sponge head with
green/black mould spots on top.
I am after advise on whether there is any way of saving the mead or do I
just ditch the lot and start again??
Thanks for a great digest!
Mel
Perth WA Australia
melairoldi@bigpond.com
------------------------------
Subject: Question
From: Laezy@aol.com
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 23:48:57 EDT
On October 4, 2001 I started a batch of mead using honey and apple cider. It
has been slowly fermenting since that time (today is April 20, 2002). How
lond does it usually take for the fermentaiton to complete. I am concerned
that if I botle it in a regular wine bottle It could explode if it ferments
too long or too much. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Andy Zuckerman
------------------------------
Subject: oak note
From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 23:08:29 -0600 (MDT)
Sort of a side note on using oak: If you're a woodworker and you're think-
ing "Hey, I've got all sorts of oak sitting around!", realize that what you
want is _white_ oak.
The predominant "lumber store" oak, at least in the US, is red oak. If it
isn't specifically marked, it is red oak. You can't necessarily tell by
the color of the wood. (You can tell by the porosity IF you know what
you're looking for--red oak is very porous.) Anyway, red oak is NOT what
you want. (I suppose you _could_ use it...but it's got a strange, strong,
somewhat sharp character, not at all the same as the mellow character of
white oak.)
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
...Mr. Natural says, "Get the right tool for the job."
------------------------------
Subject: Cyser Clearing
From: Arcturus <arcturus@accesscomm.ca>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 08:49:12 -0600
Greetings all:
Hi, its me again, the Banana Mead Nut - I haven't gone away, I've just been
lurking for the last year.
I have a question for anyone who has been doing Cysers - I have a Cyser that
has finally stopped fermenting after a long, bubbly session in a glass carboy
(put there September 20th) but is extremely murky. What is the best clearing
agent for Apple Meads? When itis an Apple Mead is it still pectin haze I am
lookin at, or some other kind of haze? Also, I read somewhere on the WWW that
you should not cook your apples when you are making Cider, but I ignored this
and
boiled the heck out of my apples to make this batch of Cyser. I can't see any
problems with what I have done and everything seems to be going fine. Do you
other Cyser makers try to squeeze out the Apple Juice without resorting to
boiling them? Why, exactly, is it better to not cook the apples?
Thanks in advance everyone.
- --
*--Arcturus--*
http://www.accesscomm.ca/users/arcturus/mead/index.htm
My problem may be ignorance or apathy
Frankly, I don't know and I don't care.
------------------------------
Subject: unsubscribe
From: SpiritcatcherEJH@aol.com
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 15:17:17 -0400
unsubscribe unsubscribe unsubscribe unsubscribe
unsubscribe unsubscribe
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Acid Blend
From: BillPierce@aol.com
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 21:34:11 EDT
In MLD #921 Chris Carpenter asks about the addition of acid blend. In
general this only needs to be used in sweet meads and it is recommended to do
so at bottling. The reason to use acid blend is to balance the cloying
sweetness of some meads. There are kits sold at winemaking shops to test the
acidity of wine and mead (which is technically different from the pH), but
the truth is that it is easier and just as effective to add acid blend to
taste. In my experience with sweet meads, this has been anywhere from 2 to 5
teaspoons per 5 gallons.
Another reason not to add acid blend to the primary is that it lowers the pH.
Honey is already rather acidic. A pH of below 4.0 will inhibit the yeast
and contributes to poor fermentation. This also can occur in melomels that
use acidic fruit. In those cases the solution is to add calcium carbonate to
raise the pH above 4.0.
Acid blend is also the answer to Pearl Warzecha's question about how to
reduce the cloying quality of her sweet mead. It is available from many
winemaking and homebrewing suppliers.
Wassail!
- -- Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Highwood, IL
------------------------------
Subject: pH questions, slow meads
From: "Ken Schramm" <SchramK@resa.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 09:42:27 -0400
Chris Carpenter asks about pH: The yeast will slow if pH drops below 3
(3.5 - 4.2 is actually a better target). Yes, yeasts do prefer an acidic
environment, but it is a matter of degrees, and since pH is not linear,
acidity can be deceiving. Most do best between 4.5 and 5.5. Honey has a
pretty good complement of acids (starts around 3.2 in most instances), and
very little buffering capacity, much of which is consumed by the yeast in
the reproductive phase. Holding off on acid additions until the fermentati-
on is complete can make the fermentation move along more rapidly.
Ben Snyder is concerned with his mead. Not to be too Papazianesque, but
I'd lay back a while and see what develops. Many yeasts have phases
during which they throw a lot of sulfur, and you may just have hit a nasty
jag. I haven't had any trouble with meads going to vinegar if traditional
sanitation procedures are observed, even if no boil or sulfiting have been
used. Mead does not "skunk" as a rule, unless hops have been added.
Skunking results from additional isomerization of hop humulones that
occurs when beer is exposed to light at wavelengths emitted by fluorescents
or sunlight. Again, additional relaxation may be required. Try mead.
Jay; I don't think meads _require_ a long fermentation. They may have
one if nutrients are not used, or pH gets out of range, but it is more of
a conditional result and not a necessity. Good mead can certainly come
out of many different types and speeds of fermentation.
Pearl;
Cloying is the result of too much sweetness without the balance of acidiy.
Try adding some citric or malic acid. You can do an easy tasting
experiment by simply using an eye dropper to add lemon juice to a glass of
mead. That will give you a feel for the balance. I often add dried
mali/tartaric acid blend in half teaspoon increments to my mead at
bottling/kegging to adjust the sweet/tart balance. It will become more
rounded with time, but it gets you in the ballpark.
Joshua;
Try rehydrating 10 - 15 grams of a new yeast (I'd try Lalvin 71b; it seems
to have a pretty high gravity - osmotic pressure - tolerance), and adding
it with a couple of teaspoons of DAP and one of yeast nutrient. If you
can get your hands on some of Lalvin's balanced blend of yeast nutrients,
use per package directions.
D's Strawberry Mel:
You're fine. Let it sit until you have a nice separation, and then use
some cheese cloth on the end of your racking cane. I don't puree fruit
any more. I do use inordinate amounts (3-5 lbs per gallon), do freeze
some, and let the mead sit on the fruit until the fruit looks "blanched"
by the alcohol. No problems.
Best of luck to all,
Ken Schramm
Troy MI
where the cherry and plum blossoms are out,
we're expecting a frost tonight
and there is snow on the ground. Arghh.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #922
*******************************
