Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1084
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1084, 18 March 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1084 18 March 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Fw: Honey Weight vs. Volume (Talon McCormick)
First Mead Suggestions ("Johnson, Joshua (OPSKC)")
Re: First Mead suggestions ("Spencer Graham")
Re: MLD#1083, 16/3/04 - Pronounciation?; Pectic enzyme; ("Arthur Torrey (n...)
Notable Mead Folk ("Julia Herz")
Re: pronunciation (Dick Dunn)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1083, 16 March 2004 ("john doerter")
Chrysanthemum Mead ("Alan Duke")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1083, 16 March 2004 (JayAnkeney@aol.com)
A good honey for blueberries (chris herrington)
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: Fw: Honey Weight vs. Volume
From: Talon McCormick <nmccormick@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 12:23:03 -0800 (PST)
Mike Nalbone's original email snippet:
Subject: Honey Weight vs. Volume
From: Mike <Mike@nalbone.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 15:18:12 -0500
Hi Folks,
I just wrote a quick & simple Visual Basic program that converts back &
forth between honey weight (ounces) & volume (ounces).
My reply:
Mike, great job on the small app. I'd like to make a suggestion to add
radio buttons so that the user can choose between gallons or ounces, etc,
for those of us who are ultimately more lazy and don't want to overtax
our brains.
Thanks,
Talon.
------------------------------
Subject: First Mead Suggestions
From: "Johnson, Joshua (OPSKC)" <Joshua.Johnson@rspa.dot.gov>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:46:15 -0500
Melanie has asked for first mead suggestions and I'm sure she will get some
different opinions on what is best for first mead. My first mead (8 years
ago) was the Ginger Mead in the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing which is
probably the first Mead that a lot of us made. With a small amount of
experience I would suggest that one's first mead should have several
characteristics:
1. Be low enough gravity that it ages relatively quickly (Don't start with
a 15% alcohol monster)
2. Have some easily fermented ingredients to get the mead going and avoid
stuck fermentations
3. Don't use to many non-honey flavor ingredients so the flavor of the
fermented honey is evident.
Based on these criteria my choice would be to make a very simple cyser
(apple melomel). A basic recipe for this would be:
3.5 Gallons Apple Juice - Mott's or the like will work fine just make sure
there aren't any sorbates or sulfates listed in the ingredients
6 Pounds of Wildflower Honey from a Food Co-op, Farmers Market, or Homebrew
Store
1 Gallon of Water
Yeast Nutrient of some sort (use however much the package directs) - I also
tend to use some yeast hulls and yeast energizer if I can find them
in my stack of misc brewing supplies
Yeast - I would normally recommend D-47 or K1116 Dry Yeast but your Wyeast
Dry Mead Yeast will work great as well.
To ensure a good fermentation with the Wyeast, I would probably create a
yeast starter using a pint to a of apple juice. Add a pinch of yeast
nutrient and your yeast. If you have a flask or small bottle you could make
the starter in there otherwise you could just dump it your fermentation
vessel after it has been sanitized. Note you don't have to do anything to
the apple juice if it has been sealed up to this point - don't use a bottle
that has been sitting open in your fridge - Apple juice has been
pasteurized, most of the grocery store "ciders" have been chemically treated
and will be difficult to ferment.
Wait a day and boil the water - once it boils take the pot off the burner
and add the honey and stir until it is dissolved. Put the pot back on the
stove and heat it until it is at about 180 if you have a thermometer or
until it threatens to boil if you don't. Turn off the heat and let it set
for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes place the pot in a ice water
bath to cool the liquid - once it is down to around room temp add half the
juice to the fermentor, then the honey/water must, the yeast nutrient/hulls,
the yeast, and then the remaining juice - leaving some head space for
fermentation.
This should be kept cool (under 70 degrees - under 62 is better) and allowed
to ferment and racked to a new carboy when the fermentation has subsided.
Let age for a couple of months, racking again if you feel like it. When you
are ready to bottle if you taste the cyser it is going to be incredibly dry
and not have must flavor due to the Dry Mead Yeast (which I believe is a
Champagne yeast). To make this a more pleasant beverage get one more pound
of honey and treat in a pint of water as outlined above. Add potassium
sorbate (best to do about 8 hours before hand) to prevent renewed
fermentation (follow directions from your friendly supplies provider) and
then add about 1/3 of the honey mixture and gently stir and taste, if you
like it great, otherwise add a bit more and taste until it seams to be about
right. Bottle and wait a couple of months for your first bottle. Start
your second mead before this (a nice Orange-blossom traditional mead
perhaps) and make sure you keep a least a few bottles at least a year.
Others might have other ideas but this should work...
Joshua Johnson
------------------------------
Subject: Re: First Mead suggestions
From: "Spencer Graham" <Spencer.Graham@mail.wvu.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:45:43 -0500
Welcome to the great world of meadmaking! I suggest starting with a
plain mead the first time around. Once you experience what can be done
with the basic recipe then you can branch off into all the fun of adding
fruits, spices, etc. I just made a chocolate mead and it is now
beginning to clear. I had tasted one of these a while back that a
friend made and it was delicious. I also highly recommend Ken Schram's
book "The Complete Meadmaker". I ordered it from "Books-A-Million" (I
don't work there, so this is not a commercial endorsement.) It was a
great help in understanding the world of honey! It also had some
excellent recipes. My wife and I enjoy sparkling meads and our friends
always enjoy it when we pull out a special bottle of mead for them. The
best advise I can give you about meadmaking is to be very patient.
Unlike beers and wines, meads take longer, loving care not only to
ferment but to age. By all means invest in the book... it will serve
you for years to come! Take good notes as you develop your recipes so
that you can repeat them in the future. Make mead a couple times a year
so you never run out once you start tasting them. Keep your carboys
topped-up to minimize oxygen getting to the mead as you ferment and age
it. Pay particular attention to making sure everything is sanitized
that will come into contact with your mead. Don't use wooden spoons to
stir it up with since wood is porous and can harbor nasty little things
that can effect the quality of the mead. I use a stainless steel spoon
with a long handle. I also don't boil the mead; rather I raise the
temperature to 160-170 degrees (F) and hold it there for 15-20 minutes
so as to sterilize it, but yet not boil off the aromas we enjoy so much.
Much of this is covered in the book. Hope this helps!
Spence
Spencer W. Graham, II MBA
Media Specialist
West Virginia University Extended Learning
One Waterfront Place
1st Floor
Room 1500-D
P.O. Box 6877
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506
(304) 293-1305 Extension 3#
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving all
pretty and preserved, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used
up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming---"WOW! What a ride!" --
Anonymous
------------------------------
Subject: Re: MLD#1083, 16/3/04 - Pronounciation?; Pectic enzyme;
From: "Arthur Torrey (no spam please!)" <atorrey@cybercom.net>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 19:40:07 -0500
> ------------------------------
I will bow to other experts, but I've always gone with:
Mellow-mel
Meth-a-GLIN
PIE-ment
HIP-o-cras
sounds like "cider"
sounds like "bracket"
> Subject: Pronounciation?
> From: "W. Andrews" <wiandrew@cs.indiana.edu>
> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 15:20:19 -0500
>
> Though I've seen the major types of mead in print repeatedly, it occurred
> to me that I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce them! What are
> the pronunciations for:
>
> Melomel
> Metheglin (meh-THEHG-lihn?)
> Pyment (PIE-ment? PIEE-ment? PEH-ment?)
> Hippocras
> Cyser (sounds like "cider"?)
> Braggot (sounds like "bracket"?)
>
> Thanks!
> WB
>
> ------------------------------
Much snippage... I can't remember my attenuation chart off the top of my
head, but of the two Lalvin champagne yeasts, I've found that one (I think
it's 1116) will ferment just about anything to dryness - I started with 15 lbs
honey and 3 gallons of cider in a 5 gallon batch (OG around 1.120) and it ran
to 0.995 SG, or about 21%. I just rehydrated the yeast from the packet by
soaking it for about 10 minutes at 85*F, but didn't use any sort of starter
(Lalvin yeasts have been good to me that way)
My plan was to have the yeast quit around 18% and leave me with a semi-sweet
remnant but no, the yeast decided to make rocket fuel! I now use the milder of
the Lalvins (EC 1118?) and it seems to not go to quite the same level.
However don't count out 1116 as unable to start!
> Subject: Re: Pectic enzyme - Apple Cider Meads
> From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 19:09:20 -0700 (MST)
>
> My notes on John Doerter's comments on Mark Ottenberg's comments on
> "HerbMyst"'s recipe etc...
<major snippage>
> > ...The question is the Alchohol tollerance of the Lager yeast.
>
> Lager yeasts generally don't have especially high alcohol tolerance. I
> wouldn't be surprised to see some of them give up before they get to 10%
> abv.
>
> > >From personal experience O.G. 1.17 must will ferment
> > using lalvin k1-v1116 yeast. I pitched 1 packet dry
> > and it did the rest (i was in a hurry).
>
> K1V-1116 is a strong yeast with a high alcohol tolerance. And even though
> it will ferment from that OG, presumably it will _not_ ferment completely
> (dry)...not that you'd want to knock down all the sugar and leave 23%
> alcohol!
>
> > > I also don't understand the reason for the brown sugar.
> >
> > Brown sugar is a frequent flavor component in ciders.
>
> Actually not all that frequent...it's really only found in one regional
> style (New England cider) that's not especially common. The perception
> that it's a frequent addition comes from the bias of a couple US cider
> books. Plus, up against that 21 lb of honey, a few ounces of brown sugar
> will likely be a barely-noticeable accent in the flavor.
> - ---
> Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
>
> ------------------------------
I would suggest a cyser - my experience has been that they are fairly quick
to ferment, easy to do, and come out very nicely. I have an 'apple pie'
version that is one of my most popular brews.
The recipe is approx as follows:
12lbs local wildflower honey (from my hive)
1 TBS pollen
1/2 TBS propolis
1 tsp royal jelly (freeze dried)
2 3" cinamon sticks
20-30 whole cloves
~ 1 oz fresh ginger, chopped
2 whole nutmegs, crushed slightly (I use a garlic squisher)
Yeast nutrient
acid blend
2 gallons pasturiezed cider (local store brand) NOT apple juice!
pectic enzyme
water to make 5 Gallons
Lalvin EC 1118 yeast
The cider is already pasturiezed, so it doesn't need treatment. I mix about 2
gallons of water with the honey and heat it to 180*F, cool it as quickly as I
can, then dump it in with the cider and other ingredients, add water as needed
to top it off, and pitch the yeast when the temp drops below 80*F I let it
sit in primary for 2-3 weeks until it slows down, then rack to secondary for
6-9 months additional, racking as needed. I then bottle and let it sit for
another 2-3 months.
> Subject: First mead suggestions
> From: Melanie Moore <mellymel_hsv@yahoo.com>
> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 12:06:34 -0800 (PST)
>
> I'm brand spankin' new to this, and after much research, I ran into the
> digest and decided to join. I've been lurking for a few weeks with a tube
> of Wyeast Dry Mead Yeast (#3632) burning a hole in my fridge, I'm now rather
> anxious to get started. I wondered if anyone had a tried and true simple
> recipe that would be good for a beginner. I considered a wonderful sounding
> raspberry melomel recipe I ran across, but was concerned about it tasting
> like cough syrup (since I wouldn't know how to tweak and balance just yet).
> I'm thinking something more like a metheglyn for the first try. Seems there
> is less that can go wrong. I have all my equipment (although this morning
> woke to a broken hydrometer, thank you kitties, a new one is on the way),
> and am ready to get started. Any advise would be much appreciated!!
>
> Love and Light!!
> Mel
>
- -------------
Good luck,
ART
------------------------------
Subject: Notable Mead Folk
From: "Julia Herz" <info@honeywine.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 19:47:57 -0700
In response to Dan's posting below this is a great topic to bring up
right now as there is so much happening on the mead scene. As it should
be obvious from much of the great research we read on the digest, Dan
McFeeley should have added himself to his list of notable mead folk.
Dan, thank you for all you do!
I would like everyone who is interested to know what we see going on
with mead right now is the most activity the beverage has likely seen
since the B.C. days (Before Christ). Mind you, I feel the lines between
commercial and home made mead are blurring because of the increased
quality and availability of the commercial meads so when I refer to mead
I mean commercial and home made mead not just home made mead. To believe
this you'll just have to attend the third annual International Mead
Festival to happen in Boulder, CO November 5 and 6 where last year we
had over 60 commercial meads to taste from 7 different countries.
(www.meadfest.com <http://www.meadfest.com/> )
Without trying many of the commercial meads now on the market people
simply can't understand how good they are getting. That's why I started
www.honeywine.com <http://www.honeywine.com/> in 1998 which allows
people to order 20 different meads. It's fine and good to talk about
this amazing beverage being made by amazing home mead makers but we're
finally getting the food press to understand that commercial meads are
worth taking notes on too. Again this is a very exciting time.
In the Redstone Meadery offices we called 2002 "The Year of Mead" when
we saw Spin Magazine say that "mead is the next buzz". In 2003 when we
saw publications like the Washington Post featuring Smokehouse Meadery.
The Food Network covered Redstone for Bobby Flay's Food Nation and
National Public Radio's Splendid Table did a 3 minute interview with
David Myers, Redstone's Chairman of the Mead. U.S. News and World
Report quoted me and featured several commercial meaderies including
Ambrosia by Kristy with the headline, 'Coffee, Tea or Mead?'. Another
great one was when the Got Mead web site was a Yahoo.com featured site
of the week.
My favorite article that I've seen was the October 2003 issue of Wine
Enthusiast where they actually stated that "mead is the first fermented
beverage" and that "mead is coming back into vogue".
Whenever asked by the food press who are obviously more and more
interested theses days I explain that we estimate there are more than
100 meaderies globally with over 60 meaderies in the U.S. alone.
What's happening right now is historic. For example it was an amazing to
sit at the mead festival with representatives from over 15 commercial
meaderies and other industry folks like Ray Daniels and Paul Gatza
(Director of the Association of Brewers) to openly discusses how we as
an industry can help keep the momentum going. This is all very similar
to what happened with craft beer in the 80's.
So stay tuned cause we're just getting started.
All the best to everyone and remember to ASK for MEAD at your local
restaurant, bar or liquor store.
Julia Herz, Honeywine.com, Redstone Meadery and The International Mead
Festival
Subject: Notable Mead Folk
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 05:35:45 -0600
Over on the GotMead forums, James P. asked if someone could give a
summary of people who have made important contributions to mead and
meadmaking over the last 100 years, although he noted the spurt of
interest over the last 50 to 20 years or so. Below is my response,
crossposted from the GotMead forum.
I put together a brief post, and I'm sure I left a lot of important
people out. And of course, this is USA centric. Very little here aside
from UK home winemaking. Anybody else have ideas here?
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
------------------------------
Subject: Re: pronunciation
From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 23:46:51 -0700 (MST)
In the preceding MLD:
> Though I've seen the major types of mead in print repeatedly, it occurred
> to me that I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce them! What are
> the pronunciations for:...
Would it be unkind to suggest checking a dictionary? I suppose it's
entertaining to see how many MLDers have their own personal pronunciations
of these words, but at least a majority of the words have actually been
tracked through their etymology and have known pronunciations that can be
found in a sufficiently large dictionary.
My solution to the pronunciation problems (YMMV) is to be enough of a
curmudgeon that nobody talks to me. That way, all I need is to know
how to spell the words; I don't have to know how to pronounce them.
but anyway, for example...
> Metheglin (meh-THEHG-lihn?)
That's actually a good guess, in that most meadmakers seem to want to
stress the first syllable rather than the second. Also (and this tangles
us in the matter of trying to represent a phonetic alphabet in 7-bit
codes!) the "th" is as in "think", not as in "the". The derivation is
the Welsh "meddyglyn" (medicine); "dd" in Welsh is the soft "th" sound.
...or another...
> Cyser (sounds like "cider"?)
Yah. (tastes a lot like it too)
You didn't ask how to pronounce thalassiomel...not that one much needs to
know, since it's pretty off-putting (and I don't think that's just my
reaction as someone who doesn't live near the ocean).
Me, I want to know how to pronounce "omphacomel". Which syllable gets the
stress?
And while we're at it, has anybody noticed how hard it is to find a good
omphacomel in these degenerate times? Gayre didn't know the half of it!
And if people drank mead instead of (or in addition to) beer during
Oktoberfest, would the tuba player drink oomphacomel?
...but I digress...
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1083, 16 March 2004
From: "john doerter" <jdoerter@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:25:44 -0600
> Subject: Re: Pectic enzyme - Apple Cider Meads
> From: rcd@talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 19:09:20 -0700 (MST)
>
> My notes on John Doerter's comments on Mark Ottenberg's comments on
> "HerbMyst"'s recipe etc...
> The recipe was:
> > > >2 gallons apple cider, 21 pounds honey, 1 pkge lager yeast,
> > > >1 c brown sugar, 2.5 gal water, and the peptic enzyme...
>
> Mark noted:
> > > 21 lbs of honey and 2 gallons of apple cider in a 5 gallon batch? Are you
> > > sure your recipe is right? [comment on high starting gravity]
>
> John corrected:
> > A few notes,
> > 2 gallons Apple juice
> > + 2.5 gallons water
> > + 21 pounds of hone
> > - -------------------------
> > 6.25 gallons of must ... not 5 gallons
> >
> > this means that honey is 3.5 #/gallon
> > While this is slightly higher than average,...
>
> I'd say more than "slightly".
> A rule-of-thumb for a middle-of-the-road serious mead is about 1 gal honey
> for a 5 gal batch. That is 2.4- lb honey per gallon; it gives a starting
> gravity of around 1.100 and a potential alcohol (% v/v) of about 13%.
> Wine-type yeasts can handle this with no problem.
That would be a rule of thumb for a Dry - semi dry mead.
I've alwavys considered the average straight mead batch
closer to 3lbs per gallon.
> (I think we're all using US units here, and I think John was using the
> same rough numbers I'll use--which is that honey is 1.500 SG and water
> is 8 lb / gallon. These are close enough and easy to work with.)
>
> But now...3.5 lb honey per gallon of must (ignoring the juice and brown
> sugar) will give 1.140-1.150, which is quite a substantial increase in
> starting gravity. That's 19% potential alcohol, and a lot of yeasts can't
> handle that--meaning two things: (1) the yeast may have trouble getting
> going, and (2) it may quit long before all the sugar is fermented out.
mostly (2) IME, thought I admit a limited knowledge of all the
yeast out there. I have successfully pitched must in the 1.17 range
> >...it is
> > not extreme even when the contribution of the
> > Apple juice is considered
> ...
> > Before the contribution of the Apple juice this must
> > will have a S.G. in the range of 1.116 - 1.136
> > depending on the honey used. Both the Brown sugar
> > and the Apple juice will raise the O.G. But probably
> > not too much... I'd guess O.G, in the 1.3 - 1.5 range
>
> (You can't have meant 1.3-1.5! I think you slipped a digit there; must
> have meant 1.130-1.150. 1.5 is pure honey.)
yes i slipped a digit, thanks for catching that
> John - I think we both need to check our own figures and each other's.
> I'll give you that it might be an OG in the (corrected) 1.130 - 1.150
> range...but that's up around 17-20% abv, which is a lot.
Typical champagne yeast fermented dry, or a nice sweet mead IMO.
> Let's see if I can get the whole calculation together. I'll use 1.500 for
> honey and 1.050 for the juice. The brown sugar is a tangle of questions
> because of variable moisture content and whether/how it's packed into the
> cup. (Brewing/meadmaking recipes should _never_ specify sugar measured
> by volume!) I'll just go on experience that roughly that much sugar will
> add roughly 3 points (0.003) to a batch of about that size.
I knew it would be relatively small.
> Working out OG on a recipe is a useful exercise for meadmakers just getting
> the hang of it anyway (especially if they can catch us out in a big
> blunder!). The idea is to add up the weights, add up the volumes, and
> divide (again, assuming the near-truth that water is one ounce per ounce:-)
> We've got:
> 2 gal apple juice = 256 fl oz, 269 oz avoir
> 2.5 gal water = 320 fl oz, 320 oz avoir
> 21 lb honey = 336 oz avoir, 224 fl oz
> Total weight 925 oz avoir
> Total volume 800 fl oz
> Predicted OG 1.156, + a few points for the brown sugar, so call it 1.160.
> That's 21% abv potential; almost *all* yeasts will have trouble with that.
This is surprising... I wonder if my must was still striated when i
measured 1.17. IIRC I had 15lbs honey in just over 3 gallons.
Promash gives a range of 1.13 - 1.15 based on honey chosed for
the range. before apple juice or sugar is considered
> (Even if you're not assuming that you ferment it all out, there's the issue
> of getting the yeast started in the first place, plus whether you can
> ferment enough of the sugar that the mead isn't too sweet.)
>
> > ...The question is the Alchohol tollerance of the Lager yeast.
>
> Lager yeasts generally don't have especially high alcohol tolerance. I
> wouldn't be surprised to see some of them give up before they get to 10%
> abv.
yes, again some people really love dry, some love sweet.
> > >From personal experience O.G. 1.17 must will ferment
> > using lalvin k1-v1116 yeast. I pitched 1 packet dry
> > and it did the rest (i was in a hurry).
>
> K1V-1116 is a strong yeast with a high alcohol tolerance. And even though
> it will ferment from that OG, presumably it will _not_ ferment completely
> (dry)...not that you'd want to knock down all the sugar and leave 23%
> alcohol!
I didn't mean to suggest it would, I was aiming for a target and hit it.
I mispoke, I meant tolerance for high gravity pitching. I was making
a Grapefruit mel and wanted high residual sugar to balance.
> > > I also don't understand the reason for the brown sugar.
> >
> > Brown sugar is a frequent flavor component in ciders.
>
> Actually not all that frequent...it's really only found in one regional
> style (New England cider) that's not especially common. The perception
> that it's a frequent addition comes from the bias of a couple US cider
> books. Plus, up against that 21 lb of honey, a few ounces of brown sugar
> will likely be a barely-noticeable accent in the flavor.
Didn't say it would be a strong strong flavor. we can debate weather
frequent means in the majority or just seen often enough not to surprise
people who have researched cider recipes. I'll admit that I have done
limited research that may have been over emphasised on new england
cider, and may not have givn me a good overview of hard-cider in all
it's wonderous variety.
------------------------------
Subject: Chrysanthemum Mead
From: "Alan Duke" <aduke@comtechpst.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:55:44 -0500
Greetings All,
I have recently tasted Chrysanthemum tea for the first time and like
everyone else in a brewing frame of mind, I wonder how it will
be as mead. I do have some reservations. First of all, I'm not even
sure anyone should be drinking Chrysanthemum tea as it is a
prime source for pyrethrin (as in natural insecticide). Second, brewing
it into a mead may only serve to concentrate the pyrethrin.
Searches on the web confirm that pyrethrin derived from Chrysanthemum
kills most bugs by attacking their little central nervous
systems. However most sources note how safe it is for us mammals. Of
course there just as many web sites that extol the pleasures
of drinking the tea. It is a very pleasant tea. Has anyone made
Chrysanthemum Mead? Is anyone really sure it's OK to drink?
Not losing any sleep over this one,
Alan Duke aduke@comtechpst.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1083, 16 March 2004
From: JayAnkeney@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 14:29:56 EST
In a message dated 3/16/04 11:30:17 AM, mead-request@talisman.com writes:
re: First mead suggestions by Mel
<< I have all my equipment (although this morning
woke to a broken hydrometer, thank you kitties, a new one is on the way),
and am ready to get started. Any advise would be much appreciated!! >>
Mel,
If you really want a simple mead recipe, try this:
First, the day before you brew heat a teakettle to boiling and pour the hot
water into a clean Tupperware jar. When it cools to room temperature, put the
jar into the freezer to make a 2 quart sterile ice cube.
On brew day, put as close to 5 gallons of water as you can into your brewing
pot and raise it to 170 degrees. Then add 15 lb. of the best honey you can
find and keep the combination, now called "must", at around 170 degrees for 10
to 20 minutes.
Take it off the stove, and plunk in that sterile ice cube to cool the must as
quickly as possible.
Pour the stuff into a carboy (like a spring water bottle) leaving about 3
inches of headroom for the inevitable foam. Add your yeast. Put on an air trap.
Sit back and watch a thick layer of foam develop over the next 12-24 hours. A
couple of days later, once the foam has dropped down, top the carboy off with
pre-boiled and cooled water.
Now wait three months and bottle.
Along the way you can take hydrometer readings if your kitties will let you.
But to be honest, I rarely do. Mead takes a long time to ferment properly so I
just let mine do its stuff. Many meadmakers believe in racking the must from
one carboy to another, but again I leave that to the fussy ones and personally
rack the must off the trub only just prior to bottling. Then, after the
finished mead has sat in the capped storage bottles for a month or so I decant
it into a dispensing amphora-shaped dispensing bottle and let it reside in the
fridge until served.
Simple enough? Works for me.
Jay Ankeney
------------------------------
Subject: A good honey for blueberries
From: chris herrington <asby0@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 11:40:34 -0800 (PST)
Blueberries will be ripening in four months and I want
to prepare a mead a few months in advance for the
later addition of the fruit. What would be a good
honey to compliment blueberries? I've considered
snowberry since it's suppose to be light in color.
I've heard it has a good flavor. Any experienced
suggestions would be appreciated. I plan to do the
initial ferment with a sweet mead yeast on a high
gravity must then after the fruit addition pitch with
a higher attenuating yeast such as Lalvin K1V-1116.
Chris
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1084
*******************************
