Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1018
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 #1018, 9 June 2003
Mead Lover's Digest #1018 9 June 2003
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
PTE update - Munton's - boiling ("Vince Galet")
Flavouring the mead ("Warren Jennings")
Spruce Mead (nlkanous@netscape.net)
Re: Pasteurization of honey (Marc Shapiro)
Mazer Cup Error (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
a searchable MLD archive at hubris.engin.umich.edu/Beer/Threads/Mead
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: PTE update - Munton's - boiling
From: "Vince Galet" <vince@scubadiving.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2003 08:50:26 -0400 (EDT)
Hi all,
Just wanted to chime in on a few current and past topics:
1) I checked on my 17 gal batch resting in a PTE conical fermenter for the
last 2 months. I used ICD 47 (in 1 gal starter) and 3lb/gal. At this time
there is no sediment on the bottom, the yeast is still active and in
suspension (that's slower than usual). The gravity went down to 1026. It's
still a little too sweet but the taste is really good and no off-taste
whatsoever. I just removed 3 gal that I added to pears to make a melomel
(in a PTE bucket). So far so good with PTE. I will wait until the bulk
ferments a little more to dispatch it over other fruits.
2) I tried Munton's yeast (with 3lb honey/gal). I did get some peachy
esters at the beginning (2-3 weeks) but now the peach taste is gone, the
taste is unremarkable and the mead is cloying sweet. I'll wait and see if
it ferments further or keep it for blending but I don't think I'll try
Munton's again, even with lower gravity.
3) about boiling honey: even when you make beer, you don't have to boil
the honey to death. Granted, some recipes call for boiling the honey with
the wort for about 1h, but other recipes call for an addition during the
last 15 minutes with the flavor hop. I tried the latter (using 1.5lb honey
in a 5 gal batch of beer) and it worked perfectly. Futhermore, the enzymes
involved are subject to cold break like the other proteins and are not
active at 60-70 degrees so they would not work in the fermenter or
bottles.
Beer makers are used to boil the wort for 1h, so some may tend to treat
the honey the same way, but I don't think this is necessary.
Mead on!
Vince Galet
------------------------------
Subject: Flavouring the mead
From: "Warren Jennings" <nimbar@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2003 15:56:35 +0000
Hi all,
I have 5 gallons of mean I want to turn into ginger mead. It has fermented
out already, and has dropped crystal clear.
My question: how should I add the ginger to the mead? Should I add the
ginger directly to the mead? Should I make a ginger tea? What have others
done? Do you have a recipe or advice?
Thanks in advance,
Warren
------------------------------
Subject: Spruce Mead
From: nlkanous@netscape.net
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 08:50:36 -0400
Anybody have experience, recipes, warnings about making a spruce tip mead?
nathan in madison, wi
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Pasteurization of honey
From: Marc Shapiro <m_shapiro@bigfoot.com>
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 13:50:40 -0500
Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net> wrote:
> Diastase in honey does cause problems in the food industry when
> honey is used in products containing starch. Diastic activity in
> honey goes to work on the starches in the food, most notably
> causing viscosity loss as well as changing the flavor profile. Beer
> wort, of course, contains starches, and using honey as an adjunct
> will alter the intended profile of the beer, including mouthfeel.
> Apparently, it takes a great deal of heat to deactivate diastic
> activity atogether, even when the enzyme is damaged, hence the
> long baking period at 176 F. I found a report that the University
> of Rhode Island has done some work on why diastic activity
> survives heat treatment but no publications other than a brief
> research report by a University of Rhode Island team noting
> that diastase enzyme activity peaks between pH 5.3 & 5.6, and
> recommending that enzyme activity could be controlled at pH 3.6.
According to Dr. Eva Crane in "A Book of Honey" (Appendix 2, Table 8)
Diastase has a half-life of 1 hour ast 176 F. Heating to this
temperature for 2 and 1/2 hours, therefore, would reduce the amount of
diastase to somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 of the original amount. I
believe that the actual amount would be slightly less than 1/5 of the
original. Presumably, this would be a sufficient reduction to not
create a problem with mouthfeel and body in the production of honey
beers and the entire question can be ignored when making mead, as has
already been suggested.
I also subscribe to the method of boiling a few gallons of water and
adding the honey while stirring after removing the pot from the
heatsource. Then I add water, or juice, to bring the total up to the 5
gallons that I am brewing.
Marc Shapiro
m_shapiro@bigfoot.com
http://www.bigfoot.com/~m_shapiro
------------------------------
Subject: Mazer Cup Error
From: Ken Schramm <schramk@mail.resa.net>
Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2003 19:57:09 -0400
I am truly sorry to have to make this post, but it must be done.
In preparing the Winners List for the '03 Mazer Cup, there was a
clerical error in the Open Combined Category, and all three announced
winners are incorrect. This error occurred as the list was being
compiled, and did not affect the Best of Show Judging, or any of the
other categories. The entry numbers were transposed by one entry number
as we looked at the category spread sheet. Arghhh.
The correct Open Combined winners are:
1st Place: Tony Simmons, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Raspberry Ginger Mead
2nd Place: James Johnston, Fox Point, Wisconsin, Hopped Braggot
3rd Place: Gordon Strong, Beavercreek, Ohio, Apple Pie Spiced Cyser
We are not asking the misidentified winners to return their prizes; it
was our mistake, and not theirs. Jim and I are working to get
additional mazers, and send them on to the correct folks. If we cannot
get additional mazers, we will work to provide medals or some other
appropriate recognition. We apologize for the error, and for any
disappointment this may have caused. It was an honest mistake, but a
very unfortunate one.
Again, my apologies,
Ken Schramm
Bill Pfeiffer Memorial Mazer Cup Mead Competition
Troy Michigan
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1018
*******************************
