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Mead Lovers Digest #0982
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 #982, 31 December 2002
Mead Lover's Digest #982 31 December 2002
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Oxy-Clean as sanitizer? (Melinda Merkel Iyer)
RE: Grapes and which honey? ("Kristopher Barrett")
beginner seeking advice ("Benny Junker")
Too Sweet (Tom & Dee McConnell)
Varietals! (Bill Taylor)
Palate calibration... (Pete Diltz)
speaking of corks... (Jane Beckman)
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: Oxy-Clean as sanitizer?
From: Melinda Merkel Iyer <melinda@iyerfamily.net>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 08:52:26 -0700
I went to my local homebrew shop yesterday to pick up some
ingredients for a Christmas brewing. While there, I noticed a new
sanitizer for sale, a white powder packaged in clear plastic bags and
labelled "oxygen-based cleanser." One cup of this mixture was selling
for $5. It looked suspiciously to me like Oxy-Clean, which is
available at my local discount store for a fraction of the price. I'd
love to switch to this stuff as it cleans instantly and doesn't stain
like Iodophor. But it's hard to tell with them white powders. I want
to be sure before I switch, so I don't ruin a batch of mead :-) Has
anyone used Oxy-Clean as a sanitizer? Reports or concerns to share?
Happy Holidays to all, and to all good brewing!
Melinda
- --
Melinda Merkel Iyer
http://www.iyerfamily.net/
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Grapes and which honey?
From: "Kristopher Barrett" <kbarrett@cotse.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 14:14:45 -0500 (EST)
> As a question for the group, I have this batch and one or two others
> that are still in carboy which have fermented to be both extremely dry,
> and extremely high alcohol content. I'm not a real fan of chemicals,
> but will use them if I have to. What are my best options for both
> sweetening these up and getting them back down into a normal wine
> strength range (12-14%)?>Thanks,> ART
Rack it until no sediment remains, and let it age. It may be just fine as
a dry mead. If you want sweet mead, you should stand a better chance of
sweetening it once all of the yeast has settled and been racked out.
Either that, or shut it down with some sorbate compound.
You may also want to try Stevia extract. A very small amount can sweeten it
without restarting fermentation.
- --
Regards,
Kristopher Barrett http://www.cotse.net/users/kbarrett
------------------------------
Subject: beginner seeking advice
From: "Benny Junker" <bugman13@bellsouth.net>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 16:01:35 -0600
I am gonna try to make some mead. I have never ever made any type of
homebrew before. First question to those who make wine and beer also, Is
Mead a good thing for beginner to make first?
I am planning on ordering the 3 Gallon mead kit from Leeners.
It comes with the following:
2 - 3 Gallon Glass Carboys
Carboy airlock stopper
airlock
racking cane
siphon shut off valve
siphon hose
bottle filling wand
sanitizing chemicals.
What other equipment will I need?
Also what do you who have brewed mead a lot know now that you wish you would
have known when you made your first batch?
thanks
Benny
------------------------------
Subject: Too Sweet
From: Tom & Dee McConnell <tdmc@bigfoot.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2002 22:57:14 -0700
Reference the chap who has motor oil mead. Has anybody thought of
the OG? If we assume that jelly has the same SG as honey, then
there is the equivilant of ~30 lb of honey in 5 gal. That would be 6
lb/gal. Now if we assume that honey will add 0.035/lb/gal the OG
would be 1.210 !!!!!!!!! (about 105 from honey and 105 from jelly) If
that is all correct, then there is no way fermentation is going to happen
- - even if the jelly was completely preservative free. I would think that
dilution to a reasonable OG would be in order (like add 5 gal water for
an effective OG of 1.105 (ignoring dilution factors etc).
In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is
bacteria. - German Proverb
------------------------------
Subject: Varietals!
From: Bill Taylor <jazz@QNET.COM>
Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 13:00:06 -0800
Looking for a special kind of honey (of the bee-made kind)? I found two
sites that seem pretty useful: www.honeylocator.com and www.honey.com
Some of you may have been clued to these before, but they are new to me.
Happy Hunting and Make More Mead !
------------------------------
Subject: Palate calibration...
From: Pete Diltz <pdiltz@plutonium.net>
Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 09:37:52 -0600
(cross-posted to both MLD and the Yahoo Mead Digest)
Greetings to all, and many thanks for all the information
shared here.
I live & brew (mostly beer) in east central Iowa, and have been experimenting
with 1 gallon batches of mead. While the concept of relative sweetness/dryness
in meads is easy to understand, I have very little practical experience in
tasting and discriminating various styles, and figuring out what I like :)
So, a request for those of you familiar with commercial meads. My wife & I have
been enjoying a bottle of Lurgashall Special Reserve (16.5% ABV), and we would
like to know where on the scale of sweetness/drynees it falls.
(pucker, dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet, cloying) :)
My completely uneducated guess is semi-sweet.
Thanks in advance,
Pete Diltz
Trial & Error Brewery
------------------------------
Subject: speaking of corks...
From: Jane Beckman <jilara@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 15:32:33 -0800 (PST)
I've noticed quite a bit of discussion of corks. I
was wondering if anyone has tried recycling corks? I
use one of those two-prong pullers that leaves corks
intact, and have thought about saving wine corks to
reuse. Seems like a little boiling water, and they
could be good as new. Anyone tried it? Pros and
cons?
Jilara
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #982
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