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Mead Lovers Digest #1093
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1093, 16 April 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1093 16 April 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: 1st batch of Mead : WARNING, sad story ahead! (MLD #1092, 2004-04- (R...)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1092, 12 April 2004 ("Joseph Toubes")
Tupelo mead won't clear (Chuck)
maple syrup mead recipe ("M.M.Meleen")
carbonation ("john mallon")
MEAD, second batch going good now. ("charles w jarvis III")
Chocolate Mead - Recipe for Chocolate Sauce ("kalliope10")
Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead ("Dan McFeeley")
RE: synthetic corks ("Brian Lundeen")
crystalized Ginger ("john mallon")
Australian Mead (Ken Schramm)
acid blend ("john mallon")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: 1st batch of Mead : WARNING, sad story ahead! (MLD #1092, 2004-04-
From: Ross McKay <rosko@zeta.org.au>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:41:11 +1000
Charles W. Jarvis III wrote:
>I decided to try a "Cyser" first. I found two gallons of clover honey on
>Ebay, (relatively cheap) and two gallons of fresh apple cider here in
>town.
>...
>I started with one gallon of boiling water ...
And this is the point at which I'd diverge from your recipe. Cyser is
best as apple juice plus honey, no added water. IMHO, you'd be better
off adding your 2 US gallons of honey to about 4 US gallons of apple
juice. This should give you quite a good cyser.
I note also that you say you have a sweet tooth. Pitching EC-1118 will
happily consume pretty much all of the sugars in the batch described
above, so don't expect it to be really sweet. For sweet meads, you need
to consider up front what the alcohol tolerance of the yeast will be, or
expect to stabilise with sorbate and sulfite before back sweetening.
Maybe first time out though, just go for that dry mead! You can always
add some apple juice at serving time to make it sweeter if you want.
>To make a long sad story short, I was carrying it by the handle ...
>... made it all the way to the second to last step and. ...
>Wanna try this again. Only, this time, I'm gonna have a death grip bear
>hug on that thing coming down stairs with it!
If you need to mix your must upstairs and then take it downstairs, I
strongly advise you to get a plastic barrel fermenter! From the bottom
step, it might even bounce! At the very least, you won't risk being
speared by a long, sharp shard of glass. Also, the fermenter is lighter
than a carboy so you might find it easier to carry. You can then rack to
your carboy downstairs, away from any steps, once it is ready for
racking.
Also, enlist other people to open doors and so forth, so that you can
keep two hands on that fermenter! (prior experience with doors, and a
now-bung wrist, attest to the wisdom in this)
As an aside, when I got my first couple of carboys I also bought those
red carboy handles, but have found them to be more of a hindrance than a
help. As long as I have clean hands (i.e. not slippery) I find it easier
to just put one hand around the neck and the other hand up its bum, much
as I treat unwanted visitors - very easy to control that way. Certainly,
don't go walking any distance with a carboy without a hand up its bum,
as it's likely to go wandering off as you found out.
cheers,
Ross.
- --
"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed." - Mahatma Gandhi
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1092, 12 April 2004
From: "Joseph Toubes" <toubes1@mchsi.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 06:10:44 -0500
I presently have 16 bottles of maple mead calming down in the cellar. One
batch is a bit sweet , using a 60/40 ratio of Canadian maple syrup to orange
blossom honey, using sweat mead yeast. Took quite a bit of time to do its
thing and clear, but sampled a bottle and it was great. The other which is
10 bottles, used a 30/70 ratio, backing off on the syrup. At bottling it
has potential, but needs to sit more. I also have a straight Maple wine
using only maple syrup, but it was bitter when finished, so I added some
maple syrup to bring it to speed. The jury is out on that one right now.
Kind of like the two bottle of Blue Agave mead - real strange taste to me,
but could be good some year.
Joseph Toubes
Des Moines, Iowa Weather and Climate
Some people march to the beat of a different drummer. Me? I hear the whole
band.
------------------------------
Subject: Tupelo mead won't clear
From: Chuck <wintermead@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 04:57:48 -0700 (PDT)
Chris herrington <asby0@yahoo.com> asked about:
> Subject: Tupelo mead doesn't want to clear
> Has anyone had problems with natural clarification
> of tupelo? I've used several single-floral source
> honeys and all will drop clear at the end of primary
> with one exception.... tupelo honey. I've done two
Back in the mists of time I experienced this same
problem. I queried the members of the MLD and every
reply indicated that this is the norm for tupelo mead.
After a year of cloudiness I said to hell with it and
used sparkoloid.
Cheers,
Chuck
------------------------------
Subject: maple syrup mead recipe
From: "M.M.Meleen" <mmeleen@tiac.net>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:30:55 -0400
There is currently a recipe for Spirits Rising Maple Syrup Ostara mead
in the "mead of the season" section at www.mistymountainhandcrafts.com.
Hope this helps!
Melissa
------------------------------
Subject: carbonation
From: "john mallon" <vidapretas@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:20:08 -0400
I'm about to carbonate my cyser and it's my first time making a sparkling
mead.My question is after i prime the mead would it carbonate better if i
kept it at room temperature for a couple of weeks and then down to the
cellar ,or straight to the cellar??Also one more question I read somewhere
that all mead can benefit from adding some black tea,is this true because
maybee i"ll add some when I bottle THANK YOU..
------------------------------
Subject: MEAD, second batch going good now.
From: "charles w jarvis III" <charleswjarvis3@airdial.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:38:27 -0500
Wassail,
well, not one to give up I mixed up another batch in a 3 gallon
carboy I had as "back up". I basically used the same recipe as the
first, but cut back to fit the 3 gal. (3/4 gal of clover honey, 1gal
apple cider, water to make 3 gal) I also used a generic "red wine" yeast
that came with the carboy...didn't have any more EC-1118. Thank you for
all the "condolences", I look forward to an "interesting hobby" as the
wife calls it. We are not real big drinkers, but I got a sweet tooth and
wanted to give it a whirl at least. I never knew what Mead was until I
saw the movie "the 13th Warrior" ...they mention mead a few times and I
looked it up and found this group. Cant find any to buy local so I might
as well make it myself! I guess EC-1118 was a bit strong for a sweet
mead Ive been told. How about if I let it finish "perking", rack a few
times... then add a bit more honey to taste? yea, she'll be a tad
strong, but I should still be able to sweeten to taste after its done?
(I kinda ordered a box of EC-1118 off Ebay already!)
I have another 5 gal carboy on the way to get another (3rd) batch going
too. Not sure what I'll try next. really looking forward to this Cyser.
Any suggestions for a hopeless sweet tooth such as myself? and any
recipes for a quick mead would be great...did I mention I'm impatient
too?
for anyone with those red plastic coated metal handles....beware! as
they come they WILL slip off a fully loaded carboy if carried by just
the handle. I found that by taking it apart, spreading the handle part
open and squeezing the part that goes around the bottle neck closed on
the bottle more, then putting the handle part OVER the other part and
putting the long screw back through it....it fits really snuggly and I
dont think it will come off then. I can email a Pic to any body that
doesn't under stand what I just typed there... I had to re-read it my
self. Any body with those handles should be able to tell what I meant
though. Again, thanks for all the responses. looking forward to any
ideas for a beginner who wants to keep to the "KISS" method.
Charles
------------------------------
Subject: Chocolate Mead - Recipe for Chocolate Sauce
From: "kalliope10" <kalliope10@swbell.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 12:02:35 -0500
Upon reading the discussions between powdered cocoa and chocolate syrup.
(If you read the Hershey's can, it is chocolate Flavored syrup, with lots of
weird stuff in it) I found a recipe for a basic chocolate sauce that doesn't
have all the additives in it.
Basic Chocolate Sauce
2 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups sugar
dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Melt chocolate in a glass or an enamel double boiler.
2. Stir in butter, then boiling water, then sugar and salt. Cook,
stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
4. Either use immediately after making or reheat in a double boiler
for 10 minutes.
5. To store, pour into sterilized glass jars. Allow sauce to cool
before refrigerating. This sauce will keep for 6 months.
Variations:
1 teaspoon orange extract or 1/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon mint extract
1/8 cup crushed strawberries or raspberries, chopped raisins or nuts
1 tablespoon creme' de menthe, coffee liqueur, orange cordial or Grand
Marnier
1 teaspoon instant coffee
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 09:20:39 -0500
Hello Benny --
There was a brief discussion on the Oz Craftbrewing list on
eucalyptus honey -- in replying to that thread I came across
some opinions expressed in other posts on Australian honeys
used in meadmaking. Here's my post, with the info below.
- --------------------------------------[snip!]------------------------------
G'Day all --
Sorry for the late response to this thread -- our ISP was acting funky
and I couldn't get anything out for awhile.
Unfortunately, Australian eucalyptus honey has been given a bad reputation,
very likely due to Acton & Duncan's 1965 publication, _Making Mead_.
In that book, the authors felt that many Australian honeys made good
meads but warned against eucalyptus blossom honey. Here is the
text:
"There are many excellent Australian honeys, both single blossom
and blended, but one needs to guard against the admittedly rare
chance of purchasing eucalyptus blossom honey, which has a
peculiar but typical bitter flavor. Most Australian honeys, it should
be emphasized, are entirely satisfactory. So, too, is New Zealand
honey, indeed it is in most respects similar to our own native
(i.e., English) honey. (p. 19)
It looks like this bit of advice, from written during the mid-1960's in
England, got passed around and passed around until it became a
blanket assumption of Australian Eucalyptus honey in general.
Nothing could be further from the truth. For folk outside the
Antipodes, with little knowledge of the unique flora and fauna
to be found in Australia, this reads as though Australian eucalyptus
blossum honey is a single varietal honey. Eucalyptus isn't a single
variety of plant, in fact, it is a general category much like the word
"pine" is used to describe a general category of evergreen trees.
There are about 500 known species of eucalyptus, the majority
of which are to be found in Australia. Some are good for brewing
and meadmaking, some may not be as well suited. Who knows
what kind of honey Acton & Duncan had tried?
Here's a good article on Australian honey, at
http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s491768.htm
Interestingly, the article notes that "Seventy percent of Australian honey
is produced in eucalypt forests. Probably a lot of the ground flora honey
goes to the export market because the countries over there, they haven't
got the same acquired taste to our eucalyptus species that us Australians
have here," Ken said."
There were a few posts on this subject on the hist-brewing list. Here's one
that should be helpful:
- ----------------------[snip!]-----------------------------------------------
http://www.pbm.com/pipermail/hist-brewing/2002/003332.html
hist-brewing: eucalyptus honey
Jones, Craig
Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:02:00 +1000
> I have to say that I disagree with that despite what I've heard as well.
> The one I did turned out wonderfully light in flavor with a hint of the
> eucalyptus 'twang'. Living in Australia I use Eucalyptus honey in beer
> and meads allatime. They come out fine, even after 18 months
> fermenting/secondarying/bulk aging
>
> Tom Smit
Also being an Australian brewer (mainly mead) I would have to disagree
slightly with Tom. I find that if you are planning a brew, the milder
honeys are much better. I found that some varieties of Eucalyptus make
for very objectionable mead which need extensive aging:
Good Varieties:
Red River Gum,
Mallee Gum,
Woolly and Stringy Bark.
Heavy Varieties requiring Aging: Blue Gum, all the boxes,
ESPECIALLY Yellow Box.
Just my Opinion,
Drake.
Ps. Patterson's Curse and Canola (although not eucalyptus) make good
mead, as does Leatherwood (but I alone in that regard...)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another one from the Mead Lovers Digest, MLD 1056:
- -------------------------------------[snip!]--------------------------------
Subject: Oz honey.
From: Ken Hopkins
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 18:59:05 +0800
One Australian honey that makes really good traditional mead is that made
from the plant Salvation Jane, also known as Patterson's Curse. It is a
species introduced to Australia that has been declared a noxious weed. Bees
love its deep purple inflorescences. The honey is a light amber colour, and
the mead from it has a superb colour not unlike a lager beer. The taste is
light but complex.
Another rather expensive one is that from the Silver Gimlet tree,
moderately rare even here in its home range in Western Australia.
Ken Hopkins
Fremantle
Western Australia
- -------------------------------------[snip!]-------------------------------
Hope this is helpful!
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
Kankakee, Illinois, USA
------------------------------
Subject: RE: synthetic corks
From: "Brian Lundeen" <BLundeen@rrc.mb.ca>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 10:17:22 -0500
> "Arthur Torrey (no spam please!)" <atorrey@cybercom.net> writes:
>
> >The only problems I have found with the synthetic corks ... in many
> >cases the corks will slide part way back out of the bottle,
> >apparently due to the pressure of air trapped in the bottle when
> >the cork is inserted (I only make still meads) It is possible to
> >push the cork back in by hand, and after a few cycles of this the
> >cork will stay put.
>
Unfortunately, the problem you are experiencing is part of a much larger
problem with synthetic corks that needs to be addressed. I use synths
(Supremecorqs to be precise) and the manufacturer admits that the
tighter sealing capability of te synths can contribute to premature
drops in free SO2 levels and early oxidation of the wines (or in your
case, meads). The most common explanation for this effect that I've
heard is increased headspace pressure forcing more trapped oxygen into
the liquid.
One recommendation made by Supremecorq was to use a vacuum bottling
setup.
Pause.
Nope, not really an option for most of us. Failing that, they
recommended increasing the amount of headspace left between corq and
liquid, which I do. My normal headspace now is about 5/8". As for Jeff's
thread idea, that might work if you have the patience to do that with
each bottle. I'm afraid I don't. I tried it once, and quickly decided
any positive effects on headspace pressure would be quickly offset by
negative effects on my blood pressure.
My Ferrari corker also seems to have difficulty with the faster rebound
rate of the synths. In other words, they return to their uncompressed
state faster than natural corks as they exit the jaws, and for the
longest time this was causing me grief with corks jamming on the lip of
the bottle. Chilling the corqs before insertion helped, but did not
eliminate the problem.
I finally realized the problem occurred with smaller diameter neck
sizes. I soon discovered that any bottle neck where I could insert my
index finger easily up to the second knuckle would not cause me
problems. So, gauging finger in hand (snicker), I set about sorting all
my bottles by neck size. Of course, now I have several dozen bottles of
rejects that I shall have to look at trading with someone who does not
concern themselves with this issue, but again, my blood pressure greatly
appreciates being able to get through a corking session without any jam
ups.
One final note about synths. I've heard comments from people that over
time the natural lubricant on the corqs seems to "weld" itself to the
neck, making extraction extremely difficult. Personally, while they are
a bit stiffer, I have not had any undue problems even with corqed
bottles several years old. Possibly my practice of giving the corqs a
dip in high-test alcohol (Everclear is one brand) before insertion might
be helping there.
And on a completely separate topic, I don't think I shared my bottle
washer with the folks in this forum. So here it is. Beats hand
washing... Umm, hands down (snort) if you happen to have an extra
dishwasher kicking around. ;-)
http://tinyurl.com/3xla7
Cheers
Brian
------------------------------
Subject: crystalized Ginger
From: "john mallon" <vidapretas@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:23:33 -0400
I'm making a metheglin 2.5-3 gallon batch 10lbs rasberry honey.I'm thinking
about cinnamon and ginger in the secondary for the spices.I already have
cinnamon sticks but I was wondering if a high quality crystalized ginger is
worth trying??
------------------------------
Subject: Australian Mead
From: Ken Schramm <schramk@mail.resa.net>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 10:59:33 -0400
Benny;
This sounds like a wonderful challenge. Sorry I didn't get back to you
earlier. I had a commitment I had to give my full attention.
I am in agreement with the comments made earlier: Lots of yeast cells,
plenty of O2. I don't know as I totally agree with the filtration. I
have had many very clean meads made by ultrafiltration, but I have a
completely subjective opinion that sterile or ultrafiltration can remove
some of the colloidal compounds that create the terrific complexity that
is characteristic of the worlds finest honeys. That very complexity is
what makes the Australian honeys I have tasted - Eucalyptus, Blue Gum,
Pink Ash, Leatherwood, Macadamia Nut, for example - so incredibly
appealing. I am of the opinion that if you want a mead that will be
good early _and_ will also have the staying power to age with dignity,
leave as much of that in as you can.
I'd use about 15-18 lbs of honey, and enough water to get you to 5.5 US
Gallons. You'll have some considerable sweetness when finished, but
that will also allow you to present a mead with recognizable honey
character. DO NOT add any acid before fermentation, no matter what
anybody tells you.
I'd look to use a yeast that will not push any edgy aroma or flavor
notes. Forgive my repeating myself, but that means I'd go with Lalvin
71B-1122 (Narbonne), which is meant to create wines that are consumable
quickly. I'd recommend 3 grams per gallon. Use a source of nitrogen
that will get you to at least 250 ppm of Free Amino Nitrogen (I use
diammonium phosphate, AKA DAP), _and_ a yeast micronutrient source. I
have been using Lallemand's Fermaid K, but there are several others that
will do the job. My pattern for a 5 gallon batch is to add half a
teaspoon of DAP and a quarter tsp Fermaid K with a vigorous
aeration/stir (I have even used an electric mixer) each day for the
first four days of the fermentation. This process is much easier in a
plastic fermenter. If you are using a particularly light honey, you can
boost to 1 tsp DAP and 1/2 tsp Fermaid K on the first day, and reduce to
the normal amounts for the subsequent days. After four days, I do not
disturb the must until the fermentation has slowed or stopped. If you
can, try to ferment the mead at a temperature around 60F.
Shoot for a fermentation that takes two weeks or less. Get the mead off
the lees quickly, and taste a sample when you rack. Feel free to
contact me directly if you want further comments.
Good luck,
Ken Schramm
Troy, MI
------------------------------
Subject: acid blend
From: "john mallon" <vidapretas@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:42:39 -0400
I'm kind of new to making mead.I used to brew beer.My question is are you
supposed to always use an acid blend when making a mead.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1093
*******************************
