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Mead Lovers Digest #1065
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Errors-To: mead-errors@talisman.com
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To: mead-list@talisman.com
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1065, 30 December 2003
Mead Lover's Digest #1065 30 December 2003
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: crystallized honey (Sam Corpuz)
Worried about the mead ("John Reeves")
Re: Help! Fermentation never started! (Mark Ottenberg)
Newbie here ("nursebee")
Looking for a recipe ("J. Russ")
RE: First Timer (Vuarra)
Meadllennium 2004 ("Howard & Patty Curran")
yeast starters and fermentation temp (Russ Riley)
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: Re: crystallized honey
From: Sam Corpuz <scipiocornelius@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 10:16:56 -0800 (PST)
Hi! I can use some help about crystallized hoey.
This is a slight issue in my city here in the Philippines. Last April I
bought a bottle of honey from a tribal girl with the intention of consuming
it with our meals. It was normal for a couple of weeks. But gradually
it began to freeze and granulate. At first we thought it was because I
put it in the fridge, so I kept it on the dining room table from then on,
but it still hardened. that's when I realized that it wasn't freezing but
losing water. Dad concluded the honey I bought was fake, just brown sugar
dissolved in some water.
My pastor told a similar story too, in one of his sermons. He even mentioned
how he was talking to his wife about it-- how the honey still smelled like
honey even thought it wasn't fluid anymore. But he was convinced it was fake.
I've been a subscriber to this digest years before I bought the honey,
so I'm aware of honey crystallizing, but I never thought of making sure
that what I'm buying is genuine honey, the real deal. My questions are:
can honey be "faked?" Can you make a syrup and pass it off as honey? How
can you tell if what you bought is real honey or syrup?How often does fresh,
unprocessed honey crystallize? What does crystallized honey look like? How
do you keep honey from crystallizing?
Thanks guys.
Sam
------------------------------
Subject: Worried about the mead
From: "John Reeves" <Vectorjohn@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 12:21:44 -0800
My first batch of mead is nearing time to be bottled. Recently when
I racked it into the secondary fermenter, i kept a little bit out in a
wine bottle for tasting. When I tasted it later that day it had a
strange taste to it. It was sort of a musty taste, hard to describe.
I let the bottle sit (closed) in a refrigerator so that it wouldnt
continue to ferment and so it would clear, and tased it this christmas
eve. The strange taste was still there and I'm very worried that it
affected the whole batch. Does anyone have any idea as to what this
taste could be caused by? Thanks!
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Help! Fermentation never started!
From: Mark Ottenberg <mark@riverrock.org>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 14:51:26 -0700
At 10:17 AM 12/26/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> > From: "John P. Looney" <valen@tuatha.org>
> > Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:06:21 +0000
>[snipped]
>
> > The second, which was:
> >
> > 4 litres raspberry & cranberry juice
> > 700g of crushed frozen fruit
> > 8lb honey
> > 16 litres water
John:
To me this sounds like a pretty strong must. The problem could be that it
might be too strong for your yeast to take hold. (Too high of sugar
concentrations will kill the yeast.) Check the specific gravity of your
must (get a hydrometer if you don't have one). Your reading won't be
perfect because you have some fruit included, but it will give you an idea
of how much sugars you have in your initial must. I don't remember the
actual number, but from memory a reading close to 1.14 or 1.15 is often too
high for the yeast to take hold. You might need to split the batch with
more water to lower the specific gravity. You can always add more honey
part way through the fermentation if you want a very sweet finished
mead. Also, a larger, more vigorous starter will help when the specific
gravity is higher.
Peace,
-- Mark
------------------------------
Subject: Newbie here
From: "nursebee" <nursebee@juno.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 21:15:00 -0500
Hello and Wassail!, I have finished a 3rd year keeping bees and finally
gotten into some big mead making (for me, maybe not you). I am thinking
about competitions and general growth of my knowledge as I read this
list. So far I have read lots of the links and maybe 30-40 old digests.
I have several questions, please respond as able.
1. I came into mead judging by a comp that used BJCP styles. Beer had
examples for each styles, my guidelines did not have the same for mead.
Any suggestions on such?
2. Several sources I saw will not ship said meads to NC? Anybody
willing to skirt the issue and send me some vinegar ingredients?
3. Do you clarify comp meads? What an exercise is patience! How much
oak aging is going on?
4. What variety of roses are best for Rhodomels? Why?
5. Does anybody enjoy a good braggot? I have had one and Eeuch!
6. Any suggestion on good varietal honey sources? I have some (mostly)
cotton honey to trade or barter.
7. What is battonage?
Thank you. Joe Miller
nursebee@juno.com
------------------------------
Subject: Looking for a recipe
From: "J. Russ" <jruss@jaysbrewing.com>
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?
Cheers!
Jay
www.jaysbrewing.com
703-298-4705
------------------------------
Subject: RE: First Timer
From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 09:28:34 -0800 (PST)
Quote:
I recently started my first batch of mead. A friend
and I got a 5 Gallon Carboy and an 8 gallon primary
fermenter. The first batch we did was a simple one,
with water and 10 pounds of honey making a total of 5
gallons. It has been a little over a month now, and
we have already racked the mead once, into the glass
carboy.
I had a couple questions though. The bubbling has
nearly stopped now, and the yeast is beginning to
settle to the bottom, and I was wondering if leaving
it like this for too long can affect the flavor.
V: Some people enjoy the flavours of mead (or wine,
for that matter) that sits on the lees. If you have a
hydrometer, you may wish to see what the Specific
Gravity is... if it's below 1.01, then your mead is
mostly fermented, and it should be fine to rack. If
it's over, you may be removing too much of the yeast
by racking it now, slowing the fermentation down
significantly. I found a hydrometer for under $20 CDN
at a local brew shop; it was French, but I didn't hold
that against the manufacturer :)
Quote: Should I rack it again as soon as possible to
avoid this? Also, I was wondering when would be a
good time to bottle for aging? Would it be ok to
bottle while the mead is VERY slowly bubbling, or
would that be a bad idea (glass shrapnel and what
not).
V: I would not recommend bottling until fermentation
has completely stopped. I'm sure someone else can
suggest how to prime for sparkling mead (I prefer
still, so I can't suggest what to do). I had a mead
that I thought was finished, but a few months later, I
was deluged by people who said their bottles blew the
cork; I'm very thankful that the corks were
sub-standard, as I probably could have been sued for
damage from bottle bombs.
=====
Vuarra
Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound.)
------------------------------
Subject: Meadllennium 2004
From: "Howard & Patty Curran" <OCurrans@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:10:02 -0500
There are 33 days until Meadllennium 2004. I hope one of your New Year
resolutions is to enter your best mead in the first Mead-only
competition of 2004. You might win one of their beautiful etched
glasses. The entry deadline is Tuesday, January 26th.
All information is available at: http://www.cfhb.org/ - then click on
the Meadllennium link in the left frame.
All of the entry forms can be downloaded from this site. You can enter
online and pay online, too. It is only $6.00 per entry. They will be
judging all mead sub-categories, again this year.
Traditional Mead
Varietal Honey Traditional Mead
Cyser (Apple Melomel)
Pyment (Grape Melomel)
Other Fruit Melomel
Metheglin (spice and herb)
Braggot / Bracket
Modified / Experimental - including ingredients of 2 or more mead
sub-categories
So, if you have a mead that is the "Nectar of the Gods", or just want to
see how your mead stacks up against similar meads at one of the largest
mead-only competitions in the US, get registered and start packing. They
get meads from all over the US, from as far away as Alaska, and this
group is very good at getting the score sheets returned to you quickly.
If you are lucky enough to be in Orlando on Feb. 1st, the score sheets
will be there at the CFHB club meeting.
Best of luck,
SLAINTE and WASSAIL!
------------------------------
Subject: yeast starters and fermentation temp
From: Russ Riley <russriley61999@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:48:56 -0800 (PST)
I have two questions for the experienced meadmakers on
the list, if they would be so kind:
1. What is a good medium for a yeast starter? Ken
Taborek mentioned using a yeast starter in the last
issue (#1064), although he didn't go into any detail.
I tried to look for past discussions on these topics,
but couldn't get the searchable archive to work
(sorry). Although I've brewed one batch of mead, I'm
much more familiar with brewing beer and would like
some pointers on how to make a yeast starter
specifically for mead.
>From what I've read in various sources, a disadvantage
that honey has versus malt, fruit and most other
fermentables is that it is very low in protein, so I
wonder if honey is the best sugar source to use for a
starter. One thought that occurred to me is using
citrus juice, probably orange juice. I figure it
should have the protein content necessary to get a
healthy yeast population going and might also add some
acid to the mead (possibly enough to avoid adding acid
mix?). One possible drawback to this is the effect
that the orange juice might have on the taste of the
mead! If I add a 2 quart starter to 5 gallons, a
common starter size in beer brewing, that's 10% -
probably enough to effect the taste. An alternative
would be to decant the juice and add only yeast, but
then it comes back to not adding any acid or protein
to the must.
Hope that's not too long winded! What have some of the
experienced meadmakers used to get a large, healthy
yeast population to pitch into their must? Thanks for
any info you can add!
2. What is the preferred fermentation and aging
temperature range for mead? For brewing ales, 60-68 is
preferred to avoid unwanted flavors and hang-over
inducing fusel alcohols that can accompany brewing at
higher temperatures. Does this hold for mead? How
about temperatures for bulk aging?
Thanks again for any info/experience you can share,
Russ
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1065
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