Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1067
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1067, 5 January 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1067 5 January 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: crystallized honey (David McDonald)
Re: Temperature of fermentation ("Lars Hedbor")
Milk Mead Recipes ("john doerter")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1066, 31 December 2003 ("M&DBrahms")
Re: Mini Kegs (Jim Johnston)
RE: racking mead question ("Joseph Mattioli")
RE: Subject: Mini kegs ("Joseph Mattioli")
racking mead question ("Alson Kemp")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1066, 31 December 2003 ("John P. Looney")
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: Re: crystallized honey
From: David McDonald <mcdonaldbees@att.net>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:58:14 -0700
Honey crystallizes quite often. It has nothing to do with the purity
of the honey, nor does it have to do with moisture content. It has to
do with the proportion of the various sugars in the honey, and that
will depend mostly on the floral sources used by the bees. Some honeys
are well-known among beekeepers for rapid crystallization. It's quite
possible to have an adulterated honey which will not crystallize.
And, so-called 'creamed honey' is simply pure honey which has been
treated in such a way as to encourage crystallization. The crystals
are uniformly small, hence the smooth texture.
(By the way, about moisture in honey: it's hygroscopic, meaning it
tends to absorb moisture. This is why you should store honey in a
closed container.)
You can make the crystallized honey liquid again by heating it gently.
But for meadmaking, use it as it is.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Temperature of fermentation
From: "Lars Hedbor" <lhedbor@barnesbay.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:41:36 -0800
> From: "John Reeves" <Vectorjohn@hotmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 09:34:49 -0800
>
> I was reading Russ' question about mead temperatures in the last digest,
> and it got me wondering. I read quite a few web sites about brewing
> mead, and I seem to remember that a few of them said that fermenting the
> mead at room temperature (~72 degrees F) was ok and possibly even sped
> the process along. However I also remember seeing wine making articles
> that suggested fermenting at a much lower temperature more like what
> Russ said (60 - 68 degrees). If mead is brewed at room temperature,
> could that cause incredibly negative effects on the flavor and methanol
> content of the mead? If so, I think that could explain the taste of my
> mead at the time, which seems like an odd flavor to me. I guess it
> might be time for me to start up a new batch! But thats no big deal, at
> least I don't make 20 gallon batches.
I'm fermented mead at a range of temperatures, and it's been my experience
that higer termperatures yield meads that require more aging before they're
palatable. In general, I try to ferment at the 50-55 degree F range these
days. Much lower, and you run the risk of retarding your yeast.
My understanding of the explanation for this phenomenon is that many yeasts
tend to produce higher alcohols (You remember from your high school organic
chemistry class, right? Methanol has one carbon atom, ethanol has two,
etc., etc.). These higher alcohols can combine with fatty acids to form
fusel oil, which has a nasty odor and flavor. Generally, fusel oil will
break down over time, restoring your mead to some form of palatability, but
it may be a pale shadow of the great beverage it was born to be.
For what it's worth, the higher alcohols and fusel oil are both implicated
in hangover incidence -- so there's another reason to ferment at a
relatively low temperature.
Hope this helps!
- - Lars D. H. Hedbor
Oregon City, Oregon
------------------------------
Subject: Milk Mead Recipes
From: "john doerter" <jdoerter@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 10:27:05 -0600
<snipage>
>
> Subject: Looking for a recipe
> From: "J. Russ" <Removed Email>
> Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 09:23:27 -0500
>
> I have searched the web and found nothing but the quick mention of Milk
> Mead. I haven't found any recipes.
>
> Anyone have one?
>
Here are three Archived Recipes for milk mead,
I haven't made one yet but will go with a 3 or 5
gallon version of bard's recipe in February.
- ---------- Archived Recipe #1 From Bard -----------
Back in February/March someone posted about
milk mead. Well I went and made a one gallon
batch soon after to see what it was like. This is
the report I should have posted a while back and
never got around to..
Bear with me because this was only my second
attempt at mead making.
4/3/02
I started with 3 pints water
4 pints of lactolite milk (UK variant of Whole
milk with enzyme added)
4 lbs generic honey.
formula 67 yeast (a high strength yeast/yeast food mix)
I decanted this into a one gallon demijon...
my first mistake......
as the yeast started reacting and creating alcohol
the milk curdles/seperates - and expands!
checked it the next day to find it fountaining all
over the demijon so not knowing how much had
been lost I decanted it into my 5 gallon bucket
and added an extra 2 pints of lactolite. left it for a week.....
checked it after the and the smell was AWFUL!
rancid milk ! and it had a thick porridgy crust....
oh dear thought I......
strained it off through a cloth and back into the
gallon demijon - just fitted
threw away the curds - I don't like cottage cheese -
even alcoholic honey flavoured
left it to ferment.
(no I didn't take any readings!)
I had a brewing competition to go to as part of
another event on the 6th July and people were
curious of the milk mead I had talked of.. so
the week before when activity appeared to have
stopped, I added campden tablets and then I added
an extra jar of honey to sweeten it and bottled it
2 days before the competition - knowing that it
was far too young really - but just to show people.
Took 3 bottles to the event
I was persuaded to enter a bottle in the competition
( just an amateur comp for people at the main event)
The comments from the judges were amazing - they
couldn't work out what was in it but thought that it
was a really smooth mellow tasting mead. It won
its class by a large margin and also scored the highest
mark in the whole competition!
The rest of the bottle was then passed around the
people at the event who all l thought it strange but
wonderful.
At the end of the event was a charity auction - various
stall holders etc contribute things for auction. And
traditionally the winners of the brewing comp add a
second bottle to it. so duly I gave over a bottle of
the milk mead. bidding was fierce!! and eventually
it went for £36 - to a non drinker!
hehehe.
Turns out she had heard the comments about it - had
a small taste and decided to buy it for her father who
would really appreciate it! to say I was gobsmacked
would be an understatement! I have had lots of requests
for more ever since so have started another larger batch.
So I heartily recommend anyone thinking of having a
go at this to do so - it is really worth it!
Bard
- --------------- Archived Recipe #2 ---------------
Your recipe seems fine though think you need
nutrinets or yeast culture, the milk keeps the
yeasties plenty busy, plus I recommend
Lactaid, see below.
I don't know exactly what bard did but here is my recipe:
Milk Mead (~1¼-1½ gallons)
4 pints water
96 oz Lactaid lactose free fat free milk
4.5 lbs honey (I used Orange Blossom)
1 packet of Red Star Champagne yeast
No real need for yeast culture or nutrient,
plenty of that in the milk.
Cooled and mixed well, pitched yeast,
and seperated into two 1 gallon jugs
(allowing for head space)
Primary for 10 days (wanted to do a
week but ya know life happens)
Strained into secondary, tried to siphon but
not too easy with the cheese head.
Still in the secondary (about 3 weeks now).
I cannot wait to try this after all the threads
I've seen as well.
- --------------- Archived Recipe #3 ---------------
"Bill G" <Removed Email> wrote in message
news:TAFp9.14327$r83.1553114@news1.west.cox.net...
> "Deano" <Removed Email> wrote in message
> news:uq6s7eh7h2n0f3@corp.supernews.com...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm planning on trying the milk mead recipe from
> > Zymurgy, and I thought I read a post on here that
> > the smell was bad during the primary. Has anyone
> > tried this? I usually ferment in my closet and I don't
> > want all of my clothes to smell like sour milk.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Deano
>
> I cannot find a copy of the mag here in Vegas.
> Would someone be so kind as to post the recipe?
- - 2 quarts lactose-free skim milk
- - approximately 2 quarts water
- - 1-2 pounds honey
- - champagne or dry mead yeast
Boil water to sterilize; add honey into hot water to
pasteurize; blend with milk and chill to pitching
temperature. Pitch yeast, cover and ferment for
a couple of days, until curd forms. Rack from
under curd (or remove curd); ferment to completion.
Bottle or keg still or sparkling, as you please.
Consume early -- from what I've read, this doesn't
age particularly gracefully. As I noted in the article,
this may be because of the latent activity of the
lactase in the milk, or it may just be due to degradation
of the remaining milk proteins -- or it could be
something else entirely.
The keys to success with this recipe seem to be
(1) fermenting in a bucket,
(2) getting the curd out as soon as practical.
No, I did neither -- the difficulty of getting at the
curd discouraged me, and the flavor contribution
of the curd is highly unpleasant. (The shocking
Mountain Dew green color in my batch defies easy
explanation.)
Good luck!
- - Lars D. H. Hedbor
Oregon City, Oregon
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1066, 31 December 2003
From: "M&DBrahms" <mbrahms@netins.net>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 15:27:22 -0600
Re:Crystallized honey:
Several of the answers about what to do with crystallized honey have some
correct facts in them and some have fabricated facts. ALL HONEY WILL
CRYSTALLIZE, IF IT IS IN FACT HONEY, some is just faster at crystallizing
than others due to the fructose and sucrose content of the nectar that was
gathered from different floral sources. Tupelo honey rarely does
crystallize. If the honey is kept in a refrigerator, that crystallizing
process is speeded up. The temperature when honey crystallizes fastest is 57
drgrees( in about 10 days), however, if kept in the refrigerator it might
take longer. If you wish to keep honey for long periods of time, freeze the
liquid honey to maintain the characteristics. Most countries in the world,
except Australia and the United States prefer crystallized honey, also
called Spun honey, Creamed Honey or Whipped Honey. To make this type of
honey a special temperature process is used to crystallize the honey to be a
desireable consistancy. It is not the same as liquid honey that has
crystallized. To use as liquid honey just heat the honey. The best way to
do it is to boil some water in a pan. Shut off the heat source and place the
jar of honey in the pan, cover and let set until it is cool. Check to see
if there are any crystals remaining by turning the jar over and examining
it. If crystals are still present, repeat the process. If the honey is
heated in the microwave or boiled for long periods of time, the
characteristics of the honey that were desired are destroyed. Use care not
to heat it too much. The more that you heat honey, the darker it becomes,
but it won't lose the flavor. Some of the recipes for making Mead call for
boiling the honey, there is a different reason behind that. Honey does
contain natural yeasts and they sometimes don't work well with the yeast
that is used for the mead. So boiling the honey eliminates the competition
of the natural yeasts. We have made Mead using both methods and one works
about as well as the other.
Honey DOES NOT NEED TO BE PASTEURIZED!! Bacteria can not grow in honey
and because of that fact, honey is used in hospitals for severe burn
patients, it is used to heal wounds because no bacteria can penetrate the
honey layer, among other uses. But we are here to talk about using honey for
mead making. To be able to make mead, you first need to understand about
the product that you are using as a key ingredient, honey. Honey can not be
duplicated in any form by humans, only honey bees can produce honey.
Adulterated honey has several components, including most often corn syrup.
READ THE LABEL, if it says honey sauce, honey syrup or is imported from
other countries through a packer, don't use that honey. The best source for
quality honey is a local honey producer. All honey labels will specify
where the honey is from. Large packers do heat the honey to make it stay
liquid longer for a longer shelf life, but there is no way you can state how
long honey will remain liquid, there are too many variables. There is
absloutely nothing wrong with crystallized honey. Just liquify it again.
Donna Brahms, President of the Iowa Honey Producer's Association
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mini Kegs
From: Jim Johnston <jim@tervolk.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 17:23:31 -0600
To answer Dan's question, I have never used the mini kegs for mead, but
did put a honey golden ale in one once, primed with honey. You can
carbonate in them if you use about half the priming sugar (they distort
and can explode under higher pressures). When I primed the beer with
honey in these, I had a nice dense, creamy head when dispensed. I
imagine that this would not be quite as dense in a mead due to the
lower protein levels, but would still have a nice presentation.
To Ken, 3 lbs. of ginger!!?? Wow! My last ginger had an ounce in 6
gallons, and I thought that was high. Keep us posted on this one.
A question to all. Has anyone tried to make a papaya melomel? Just
wondering because this fruit is very high in papain, a protein
degrading enzyme (currently using this on a dog with pancreatic
insufficiency). I wonder if this would inhibit or destroy yeast at
all. The pineapple I made a couple of years back (also containing some
proteases) fermented very actively and quickly, finishing very dry and
without any pineapple flavor at all once it cleared. It was only when
mixed in equal quantities with a mango melomel that the pineapple came
though again, albeit very subtly.
Jim
------------------------------
Subject: RE: racking mead question
From: "Joseph Mattioli" <jmattioli@fuse.net>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 19:58:50 -0500
>From: Sue Bentley <sue_bentley@shaw.ca>
>Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 09:07:59 -0800
>I racked my 5 gallon mead batch a couple of weeks ago, and there is an air
>space of a few inches (maybe 4-5") in the top of the carboy. Do I need to
>"top-up" the batch? and if I do, what do I top it up with?
If it is still working with CO2 bubbles there is no need to worry
about the 4-5 inches as it will shortly be filled with CO2. If it is
finished fermenting, I do 1 of 5 things to top it off depending on the
current alcohol content and taste. 1. Add some distilled water. 2. add
some honey water mixture. 3. Add some finished mead from another batch
or kept in small container from an overage in this batch. 4. Add some
juice if it is a melomel. 5. Fill the carboy with CO2 from a CO2 tank
or cartridge.
Other options include adding sterilized marbles or using smaller
bottles to rack into. Hope this helps.
Joe
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Subject: Mini kegs
From: "Joseph Mattioli" <jmattioli@fuse.net>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 19:46:48 -0500
The minikegs can be used for mead or beer and the people I know who
use them say they don't leak They run about 5.95 to 6.95 ea. They tell
me they are a bit difficult to keep clean because of opening size and
construction. They are relatively cheap to replace and they can be
pressurized but the attachment and dispenser to dispense the contents
runs about $50.00 or more. They use the small CO2 cartridges to keep
carbonated and to dispense. Some beer users say they are great and I
agree but I personally went the extra for a regular Keg system with
regulators and a 5 lb CO2 tank for a couple hundred dollars.
------------------------------
Subject: racking mead question
From: "Alson Kemp" <alson.kemp@sloan.mit.edu>
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 11:48:54 -0500
Sue,
>there is an air space of a few inches (maybe 4-5")
>in the top of the carboy. Do I need to "top-up"
>the batch? and if I do, what do I top it up with?
You _should_ top off the carboy. Definitely. No
doubt. White wine is pretty susceptible to oxidation and
that little bit of air can oxidize the wine or provide
sustenance for acetobacter (yummy... vinegar).
You can top up with any number of solutions:
acidulated water (to maintain acidity in solution), other
mead, wine. My favorite topping solution is plain
RO-distilled bottled water. You might need to add 0.1 or
0.2 gallons to a 5 gallon mead. That's a 2% to 4% dilution
of the mead. Alcohol goes from 12% to 11.76% or 11.52%,
etc. Considering the variations in the honey that you get
for meadmaking, this 2%-4% change is not a big deal.
-Alson
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1066, 31 December 2003
From: "John P. Looney" <valen@tuatha.org>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 15:27:33 +0000
On Wed, Dec 31, 2003 at 07:49:09PM -0700, mead-request@talisman.com mentioned:
> While the yeast are degrading, they form a reductive
> environment. If left too long, this reductive environment
> can cause some off characteristics in the wine. But
> stirring the wine/mead will distribute the reducing power of
> the lees into solution and remove excess oxygen, thereby
> preventing some oxidation.
What sort of time periods are we talking here ? Usually, I decant my mead
from one carboy to another every eight days, until it looks reasonably
clear, then bottle it; it usually takes three, though sometimes four.
This time, due to christmas and not getting the time, I've left it 14
days between rackings.
Is there a rough guidline for the minimum/maximum time the flocculated
years should be left at the bottom ?
John
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1067
*******************************
