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Mead Lovers Digest #1026
From: mead-request@talisman.com
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Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1026, 11 July 2003
Mead Lover's Digest #1026 11 July 2003
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1025, 7 July 2003 ("Lars Hedbor")
Mead / Hangover / Sulfites / "Sulfur" drugs ("Munro, Tina HI0")
Another pectinase question ("Howard & Patty Curran")
Maple syrup question (Nathan Wallace-Gusakov)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1025, 7 July 2003 (Rick Dingus)
Re: Pectin (Galenflys@aol.com)
Astringency/Acidity (Robert Sandefer)
RE: Can You Keg Mead? ("Morgan, Brian (IndSys, SLS, Non-GE)")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1025, 7 July 2003
From: "Lars Hedbor" <lhedbor@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 14:51:03 -0700
> Subject: Can You Keg Mead?
> From: Joe Azzarello <environjoe@chartermi.net>
> Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2003 23:26:33 -0400
>
> Hello!
>
> I am new to making Mead and in fact have just started my first batch. I
> have been homebrewing for a while so I do have some experience with the
> process. My question is about the fermentation and bottling/kegging
> process. Do I need to leave it in a carboy for 2 to 6 months to ferment?
> Can I ferment in carboys for a couple of weeks and then transfer it with
> the priming sugar to a corny keg and let it finish off in there? I try
> to avoid bottles since they are so much work. Does anyone keg Mead or
> should I bottle it?
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
> Joe
>
I regularly keg my meads -- beats the hell out of the tedium of bottling,
and I can safely produce a sparkling mead (instead of the occasional bottle
bomb... I *still* have glass embedded in the kitchen ceiling from one
such...). HOWEVER, I only keg meads that are ready for consumption *now*
and which will not substantially benefit from further aging.
I bulk age all of my meads -- just keep them in the carboy for a year or
three, ensuring that the airlock still has water in it -- and the only mead
I've kegged to date is my party metheglyn (VERY popular, so I know it'll be
consumed quickly). Everything else I go ahead and bottle, since meads
continue to change and mature for years and years -- and I don't
particularly want to tie up a keg for that long. (Carboys aren't such a
problem, as I must have nearly a dozen out in the garage, half of which are
empty at present...)
HTH!
- - Lars D. H. Hedbor
Oregon City, Oregon
------------------------------
Subject: Mead / Hangover / Sulfites / "Sulfur" drugs
From: "Munro, Tina HI0" <tmunro@highways.gov.sk.ca>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 16:21:07 -0600
"A couple of things. First of all, there are no such things as "sulfur"
drugs. There are sulfonamide drugs that are commonly referred to as "sulfa"
drugs, but not "sulfur" drugs. This is a common misconception."
Thank you Nathan, you are quite right. My "sulfur" drugs was a mistype (not
a misconception).
:)
However, I do have what I personally consider a proven correlation between
"sulpha" drugs and the use of "sulfites". Although the two are not related,
24 out of 26 have practically "identical" allergic reactions.
BUT, I'm not a doctor, and this was not an official medical survey or
anything. My personal observations of the past 16 years are just that,
personal observations, not facts. And you can accept these observations, or
not, as you see fit.
And I certainly agree with all the other suggestions for causes of
headaches/hangovers.
But I've never used sulfites, and I've never had anyone complain of nasty
headaches. In fact, when compared with mead from other LOCAL mazers, my
mead is the only stuff that hasn't given nasty headaches. And after
investigation, the only real difference has been the use of sulfites. (Mind
that this comparison comes from multiple mazers making the same recipe
together.) I'm not sure what other conclusion would be possible. Certainly
high fermenting temperatures wasn't much of a factor as the recipe was all
fermented within a difference of 10 deg F.
Certainly, I have found this a useful correlation, and other individuals may
be interested in pursuing this, but I don't expect everyone to agree with
me.
Enjoy your mead!
HL Pandora
mka Tina Munro
------------------------------
Subject: Another pectinase question
From: "Howard & Patty Curran" <OCurrans@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 20:18:33 -0400
I have been following the pectinase discussion - it has been very
informative. I have used it in all of my melomels, with good clearing
results. But, to date, all of my melomels have had the fruit added to
the primary. In the next few batches, I plan to put the fruit into the
secondary. Should I add the pectinase to the secondary? Should I use the
same dose I use in the primary?
Thanks,
Howard Curran
------------------------------
Subject: Maple syrup question
From: Nathan Wallace-Gusakov <velocity11@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 17:37:10 -0700 (PDT)
I'm a relative beginner to meadmaking from NE
Vermont(and quite grateful for this list). My
question: Does anyone know of a word for fermented
maple syrup (honey--->mead, sugarcane--->rum,
syrup---->????)? I just bottled a gallon fermented
from syrup I boiled this spring. Ingredients were
maple syrup, yeast, and water. Alcohol is about 8%,
color is wonderful tawny gold, and taste is a bit
young, but very distinctively a product of syrup. With
some aging, I'm confident that it's going to be a
treat. I just don't know what to call it.
-Nate Wallace-Gusakov
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1025, 7 July 2003
From: Rick Dingus <rick.dingus@ttu.edu>
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 20:26:37 -0500
> Subject: Can You Keg Mead?
> From: Joe Azzarello <environjoe@chartermi.net>
> Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2003 23:26:33 -0400
>
> Hello!
>
> I am new to making Mead and in fact have just started my first batch. I
> have been homebrewing for a while so I do have some experience with the
> process. My question is about the fermentation and bottling/kegging
> process. Do I need to leave it in a carboy for 2 to 6 months to ferment?
> Can I ferment in carboys for a couple of weeks and then transfer it with
> the priming sugar to a corny keg and let it finish off in there? I try
> to avoid bottles since they are so much work. Does anyone keg Mead or
> should I bottle it?
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
> Joe
I regularly serve my mead from corny kegs and it works great. (It's not
uncommon for wineries to cold condition tart wines for extended periods in
stainless steel tanks, so why not mead?) With kegs you can choose between
using only enough CO2 to dispense as a "still" mead, or force carbonate it
for "sparkling." I don't use priming sugar, even if I want sparkling,
because that delays the process and requires an additional couple of weeks
at room temperature to ferment and condition. Although I've heard the
arguments about how "natural carbonation" is better, I perceive no
noticeable improvement in "natural" over forced carbonation, especially if
you allow the forced carbonation as long to condition as the "natural" would
have taken. Plus, you don't have the extra haze and clearing of all that
new yeast to deal with.
My kegs are stored at about 40 degrees (in a temperature controlled chest
freezer), and the cold conditioning this allows seems to aid the clearing
and smoothing of flavors. Even so, mead is not as quick as beer. Because
of the higher alcohol, it takes longer to taste its best. It's drinkable,
sometimes even pretty good, within a few months of brewing, but it really
tastes better if you wait at least 6 months to a year or more. I usually
transfer from the primary (after 2-4 weeks) into a 5 gallon secondary. I
let it clear there at least a month or two, or longer (up to 7.) After a
month or so in the secondary, I move the carboy into the freezer, too, if
there is room.
You can speed the clearing some with a fining agent like gelatin, bentonite,
sparkaloid, etc. Super Kleer supposedly works well with Traditional (honey
only) Mead. Although you could probably ferment directly in a corny keg I
never have because it's easier to see and clean plastic buckets and/or glass
carboys. (Kegs have lots of little places you can't see where gunk might
hide.) Some people like to transfer several times to aid the clearing and
get the mead off of the lees as soon as possible. I don't, because I'm lazy
and also because I don't like the idea of allowing more oxygen to come in
contact with the mead during every transfer (unless I'm after a "sherry"
style of mead.") I've also read of artisan wine making where "sur lees"
conditioning leaves the wine intentionally in contact with the (secondary)
lees for several months to add complexity to the flavor and insure a more
complete fermentation. My experience is that you don't seem to get the same
harsh off-flavors from mead lees that you can get from beer trub, so its not
as critical how long you leave it in contact. It will usually clear
eventually, whether its in the carboy or the keg. In the meantime, if it's
in the keg, you can sample it from time to time and note how the flavors
evolve, and whether or not any haze that may be present seems to affect the
flavor.
When I want to bottle, I dispense directly from the keg and use 3/8" OD X
1/4" ID vinyl tubing a bit longer than the bottles. That size tubing fits
tightly into a standard corny dispensing spout and reduces foaming/
oxygenation so you can pour directly into the bottom of your bottles, just
like a regular bottle filler. If you want sparkling, just increase the
pressure to about 15 lbs, sanitize your bottles, and cool them to the same
temperature--all a a day ahead of time. If everything is cold, and the same
temperature, and you cap as soon as it's poured, you won't lose enough
carbonation to matter. I use regular or bomber beer bottles with crown caps
because I already have them and they work fine, too.
Happy Mead Making!
Rick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Pectin
From: Galenflys@aol.com
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 21:41:42 EDT
Everyone's had a lot to say about pectin, so I thought I'd throw in my 2
cents worth. It's not about mead, but those of us who process fruit in any way
are going to run into pectin, for better or for worse, simply because it goes
with the territory.
Some years ago I had an urge to make a liqueur using wild raspberries, which
here in New England are called blackcaps. I'd been searching the roadsides
for places where they grow, and had located a good supply, so on a Saturday I
went out and picked a quart of 'em. I tossed them in a good-sized pot, mashed
'em, and added a quart of water. When it came to a boil I added 3 or 4 cups
of sugar, and held it to a slow boil for ten minutes. Used a sieve to strain
out the seeds and much of the pulp, then ran the sweet, ruby-colored syrup
through a cloth filter. When it was cool I added grain alcohol (190 proof)
to it.
( 2 parts syrup to 1 part alky will yield (ballpark) 65 proof)
It was beautiful, delicious and colorful.......and when it was consumed it
left little flecks (globs) of tasty jelly on the inside of the glasses!! How
embarassing!! My guests kept trying to lick the stuff out of our beautiful
Danish stemware!! What a classy lot of pals, eh?
Remember that pectin has a useful place in the overall scheme of things, we
have to add the stuff to make jams and jellies, after all, and where would our
toasted bagels be without that?
Galen A. Davis 17 Fred Jackson Rd. Southwick, Massachusetts 01077
------------------------------
Subject: Astringency/Acidity
From: Robert Sandefer <melamor@vzavenue.net>
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 00:52:11 -0400
Belinda Messenger writes:
> Hmmm...tannins, you think? I don't know. It seems more
> sour/tart to me although I had a judge call it
> astringent (and acidic).
Well, given the pH reported in your first article, it does seem tannin a
better culprit than acidity; however, I'm not an expert and you have tasted
the product in question :)
If acidity is the problem:
In future batches, you could:
1. Use less fruit per gallon of must (to decrease the amount of acidity
contributed by the fruit)
2. Use less acid blend/tartaric acid/lemon juice/etc (if you use these
additives)
3. Switch to a less acid cherry variety (are you using pie/sour or
eating/sweet cherries?)
For a current batch, you could:
1. Age it and hope it changes
2. Blend it with a low acidity (higher pH) beverage (e.g., another cherry
melomel, a berry melomel,
a straight mead) either in the glass or in the fermenter
3. Add a nonfermentable sweetener to help balance the acidity
Hope this helps.
Robert
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Can You Keg Mead?
From: "Morgan, Brian (IndSys, SLS, Non-GE)" <Brian.Morgan@indsys.ge.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 23:00:48 -0500
Joe Azzarello asked about kegging mead...
I make a dry, sparkling, cranberry mead that I keg - and force-carbonate. I
leave it in the primary (on the cranberries) for 2 weeks or so - the longer,
the better the color. Then I leave it in a carboy for 3-4 weeks to clear,
then keg and force carbonate. Obviously, waiting longer will make it a
little clearer.
Brian
Cincinnati
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1026
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