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Mead Lovers Digest #0980
From: mead-request@talisman.com
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To: mead-list@talisman.com
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #980, 21 December 2002
Mead Lover's Digest #980 21 December 2002
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Crown caps, corks, poly-corks (Adam Funk)
Pectic Enzyme in meads (was re: Debate!) (Ross McKay)
Montrachet metadata ()
too sweet! (Patrick Devaney)
re: resweetening using sorbate ("Bill & Ramona Kuhn")
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #979, 20 December 2002 ("Bill & Ramona Kuhn")
Artificial cork (LJ Vitt)
montrachet data ("chad. . . .")
Grapes and which honey? ("Kemp, Alson")
Acid question ("Kristopher Barrett")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #979, 20 December 2002 (Eevilmouse)
RE: Montrachet ("Kristopher Barrett")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Crown caps, corks, poly-corks
From: Adam Funk <adam.funk@blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 08:35:32 +0000
> From: David Chubb <dchubb@virpack.com>
> Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 10:23:14 -0500
...
> > So I've switched to beer
> >bottles and crown caps for everything -- beer, mead and even wine.
> > They're easy to seal (get a good double-lever capper), I don't have to
> > worry about cork problems and I have a variety of sizes (from 250 to 650
> > ml).
...
> I prefer the new "Poly-Corks". The kinda that are made from recycled
> plastic bags. They are very nice to use, easy to sterilise and you
> generally don't have to soak them in water to get the pliable enough to go
> into the bottle (unlike natural corks). I have switched over to using them
> entirely especially since they are also cheaper than the natural corks at
> our local brewers supply store.
>
> Check with your local brewers supply store and ask them to get poly-corks
> if they don't already have them.
Thanks for the tip, but I've already put all my wine bottles in the
recycling bank so I have only beer bottles now!
- -- Adam
------------------------------
Subject: Pectic Enzyme in meads (was re: Debate!)
From: Ross McKay <rosko@zeta.org.au>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 20:06:57 +1100
I've read a couple of posts in different places (no, *don't* ask me to
quote them, they're somewhere in my Fort=E9 Agent database) where people
are adding pectic enzyme to the must when there is no fruit. Doug
presents an example of this:
>Subject: Debate!
>From: DOUG BAILEY <BAILEY.O@xtra.co.nz>
>Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 09:01:23 +1300
>
>... I have even cut down my ingredients
>to just honey, yeast, water, pectic enzyme and nutrient - no acid, no
>tannin - and worked at stopped fermentation to get balances that I like.
>...
Being a complete novice who only has a couple of mini-meads (i.e.
testers) on the go, other than my first ever cyser, I can't claim to
actually know anything about the subject.=20
But I don't understand what part pectic enzyme has to play in mead
making, when there is no fruit in the must. Does honey contain some
pectin? Does the pectic enzyme play some other, presumably useful, part
in fermenting a straight mead?
Please help a novice understand what is going on here :)
regards,
Ross.
- --
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"I got to think less. I had thought that, actually."
- - John Cusack, "Pushing Tin"
------------------------------
Subject: Montrachet metadata
From: <vince@scubadiving.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 08:41:35 -0500 (EST)
OK, here is more about my Montrachet experience:
1 batch was fermented around 72 degrees, the other one around 60-62. Both
were pitched using a starter made with OJ and 1 tbsp of nutrient (Fermax)
for a few hours. Both were successful (no LF)
On the other hand I did a prickly pear melomel with Lalvin 1116 (only used
it once). Same conditions (72 deg). I got a bad sulfury smell (the taste is
real good, the color is a fun neon pink, but the odor ruins everything).
This is slowly disappearing with age. It did totally disappear in an open
glass in my fridge in about 2 weeks (don't remember duration for sure). It
does take longer in the carboy, though.
Happy holidays!
Vince Galet
------------------------------
Subject: too sweet!
From: Patrick Devaney <damien777@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 06:23:57 -0800 (PST)
Hi Everyone,
I experimented with something, and now I need advice
on how to fix it. I made a 5 gallon batch: 15 lbs
honey, 16lbs grape preserves. I wanted to see if the
overload of sugars would produce an even stronger mead
that was still very sweet. When it cleared, I racked
it and although it tastes good and is very clear, it
has the consistency of motor oil. Would simply adding
water to dilute be the way to go, or should I also add
fresh yeast and allow it to referment the obviously
high level of sugars still present? Thanks, and happy
holidays to all!
Patrick
------------------------------
Subject: re: resweetening using sorbate
From: "Bill & Ramona Kuhn" <kuhn@lobo.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:56:22 -0700
In MLD #978, Randy asked:
> Do you add potassium sorbate to stabilize and resweeten when you rack into
> secondary, or just before bottling?
I generally sorbate and resweeten all of my "populist" meads, those
intended for sharing at festivals, etc. It allows me to keep the alcohol
content at a known moderate level and make an "easy", fruity, lightly
sweet mel. The feedback has been very positive, and I have never had a
batch restart fermentation. I have tried resweetening at bottling, and I
prefer to do it at least a month or two before. If not, and you are
using raw honey, you will end up with quite a bit of sediment in the
bottles. But either way, it tastes wonderful. Two caveats: 1) sorbate
will not stop an active fermentation, so you should be dead dry and not
working at all before resweetening. 2) Be careful with the honey, once
you have added the sorbate, if you get too sweet, too bad. You will not
be able to ferment out any of the excess honey
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #979, 20 December 2002
From: "Bill & Ramona Kuhn" <kuhn@lobo.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 08:07:31 -0700
In MLD #979, Kristinn asked:
> My first batch of mead has been bulk aging for a while now. I tasted it
> yesterday and it seemd a bit acid. I got out my trusty PH strips (can't
> aford anything more than that) and saw that it had a PH of between 3.0 and
> 3.5 while comercial wine that I've tested is between 3.5 and 4.0. I would
> rather not add chemicals if I can help it. Is there something else I can
> do that will reduce the acidity?
Well, all chemicals start out as something. Calcium Carbonate is what
you find in hard water, and it will buffer the acid nicely. My water is
at 19 grains hardness, and I rarely end up too acidic. My friends in
town with soft water often end up with stuck fermentations, I believe
because the acid level gets too high for the yeast. Another choice is to
stabilize and sweeten, which will balance the acid and make a pleasant
fruity mead.
Bill
------------------------------
Subject: Artificial cork
From: LJ Vitt <lvitt4@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:19:53 -0800 (PST)
I've used some artificial corks too. However, mainly for wine.
I usually put mead in 12 oz beer bottles with crowns, because
the size seems to be appropriate for most occasions. Sometimes
the whole 12 oz are not consumed - like when a number of meads
are opened by different mead makers.
The artificial corks I have used are coated in vinyl. They
require a flcorkeroker like Lane Locke describeHoweverever,
the brass jaw floor corker does not get it done. The cork
does slide out of the jaw into the bottle when compressed.
A different floor model corker with plastic coating over the
jaws works well.
=====
Leo Vitt
Rochester MN
------------------------------
Subject: montrachet data
From: "chad. . . ." <eclectic_solitaire@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 09:14:42 -0800 (PST)
Sorry folks,
forgot to mention that it was Red Star Montrachet.
Different purchases over the course of a year.
Temperatures ranged from 68 to 78 degrees F.
OG readings would vary from 1.050 to 1.100.
Listerine was never a problem, i think id welcome it
in exchange for my sulfides. Mouthwash or dirty feet &
paper-mill, which would you rather drink?
Seriously though, as mentioned previously, if only
honey water and yeast, i never had a sulfide problem
even during active primary. addition of other
ingredients would give me the sulfides. When present,
mattered not if was first, second, third, etc.
rackings. Only real fix i found was to add some
champange yeast and more honey or dextrose and let it
ferment a little more, well, now that i think of it, i
did find a cure. I stopped using montrachet yeast.
------------------------------
Subject: Grapes and which honey?
From: "Kemp, Alson" <alson.kemp@cirrus.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 09:26:36 -0800
Random question for those learned meadmakers: Which kind
of honey should one pair with which grapes in a pyment?
Chardonnay - Alfalfa? Orange Blossom?
Zinfandel - Wildflower?
Merlot/CabSauv - ??
What honey/grape combinations have worked well for you?
-Alson
------------------------------
Subject: Acid question
From: "Kristopher Barrett" <kbarrett@cotse.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 12:19:13 -0500 (EST)
(...)
> and 3.5 while comercial wine that I've tested is between 3.5 and 4.0. I
> would rather not add chemicals if I can help it. Is there something else
> I can do that will reduce the acidity?> Kristinn Eysteinsson
Crushed eggshells are mostly Calcium Carbonate.
Be sure to boil them in water first, as poultry products tend to harbor
salmonella.
- --
Regards,
Kristopher Barrett http://www.cotse.net/users/kbarrett
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #979, 20 December 2002
From: Eevilmouse <eevilmouse@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 09:37:18 -0800 (PST)
I have heard, and seen the plastic Corks, and Yet I do
not know where to buy them. Last time I was in my
local Brewshop they did not have them. Is there
anyplace on the internet I can get these from?
Kevin Porter
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Montrachet
From: "Kristopher Barrett" <kbarrett@cotse.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 12:56:09 -0500 (EST)
I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 champaign yeast for my last two runs. Both
have been melomels( one apple cider, the other Kiwifruit juice ). a little
grape tannin extract, acid blend, pectase, and yeast nutrient was added.
Sterilization was via campden tablets, and some low heat pasteurization of
the honey.
Both took off like rockets, and were clear and drinkable after a couple of
months and about three rackings. No off tastes ( the cyser was a bit too
acid, calcium carbonate took the edge off it a bit ). Both were aged only
about 4 months before consumption.
The only drawback was aggressive carbonation. The second to the last
remaining bottle of the cyser run exploded before it was consumed.
The Kiwi Melomel was cornelius kegged, and disapeared completely at a
party in about 20 minutes.
- --
Regards,
Kristopher Barrett http://www.cotse.net/users/kbarrett
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #980
*******************************
