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Mead Lovers Digest #1091
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1091, 9 April 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1091 9 April 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: Thesis on development of an australian mead ("Mike Bennett")
Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead ("Dan McFeeley")
Weekly gas chromatography (DocMac9582@aol.com)
question (norma cross)
Re: Does headspace in a glass carboy matter? (Randy Goldberg MD)
Making Chocolate mead this weekend ("Mark Garwatoski")
Re: Thesis on development ("Robin Wilhelm")
Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead (Adam McPadden)
New England meads and honey ("phil")
maple mead? ()
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: RE: Thesis on development of an australian mead
From: "Mike Bennett" <mjb@efn.org>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 00:10:18 -0700
Hi Benny,
Here's some tips I've picked up from professional meadmakers that
might help (in no particular order).
1. Your must needs to be well aerated, preferably with pure O2.
2. Make sure you pitch enough yeast 2E6 cells/ml/Plato minimum.
3. pH is a major stressor on yeast. Buffer the must with CaCO3
to control the pH drop that you get during fermentation.
4. Control the temperature of your fermentation to get a cleaner
flavor profile.
5. Sterile filter your must before fermentation.
6. Sterile filter at bottling. It does away with needing
clarifying agents.
7. Use a "natural" yeast nutrient. Stay away from chemical
nutrients.
8. Crash cool your mead to speed clarification.
Most of these tips came from a professional meadmaker with wins
in the Mazer Cup and at Planet Buzz.
- --
Mike Bennett
Head Brew Dude, Southside Speakeasy, Salem OR
Recognized BJCP Beer Judge
[1958, 287.1] Apparent Rennerian
mjb<at>efn.org
....Give a man a beer, he'll waste an hour.
Teach a man to brew and he'll waste a lifetime....
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 09:21:25 -0500
On Thu, 1 Apr 2004, in MLD 1089, "Benny" wrote:
>Hi guys! I am doing a Bachelor in Food Technology and am
>developing a new australian mead for my final year thesis. Hope
>to draw from the experience of all you mead lovers out there!
>
Could someone help me with some questions I have until my
><Compleat meadmaker> arrives from the US?
>
>I have only until August/Sept to come out with a new mead and that
>includes fermentation. That gives me like 4 months for pri/secondary
>fermentation. Could that be done?
It can be done, but there's no doubt that this will be a rush job. :-)
More seriously, lots of meadmakers have made eminently drinkable
meads within that time frame. But -- there are a lot of factors that
you'll need to take into consideration. Be sure to use a yeast strain
that is a vigorous fermenter and can function well in low nitrogen
musts. Check the pH of the honey must -- you should be ok if
it is around 4.0. Be careful with your choice of honey/s. Light
honeys are lacking in vital nutrients, minerals, et. al., as compared
with the dark honeys.
When you say that you're working on developing "a new Australian
mead," what does that mean? Have you researched meads made by
other Australian meaderies, the methods they use to ferment their
meads, etc., and made comparisons with what you would like to
do? I don't mean this as a criticism -- I'm just a little confused on
what you mean here. If you could clarify a little more on this point,
we'd have a better idea of how to best respond.
Have you made meads, or other fermented beverages such as wines
or beers? Your experience in meading, vinting or brewing would
also give us better ideas of how to best respond here.
Maybe a fast and easy way to make an "Australian" mead, if you're
pressed for time, would be to work with the unique varietal honeys
that are to be found in Australia. Use basic techniques employed
in making a good mead, but chose varietal honeys that are unique
to Australia.
Hope this is helpful! Keep posting if you have more questions
and we'll do our best to help.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
------------------------------
Subject: Weekly gas chromatography
From: DocMac9582@aol.com
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 11:49:05 -0400
Normally, I think too much is made of limiting head space in mead - at
least early in the primary/secondary fermentations when some oxygen helps
the fermentation. But sampling weekly... I think I would flush the top
with carbon dioxide after each sampling. I would be interested to learn
what you find out from your GC analysis.
Carl McMillin
Brecksville, OH
------------------------------
Subject: question
From: norma cross <cross@cybermesa.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 11:57:33 -0600
Hi
I started ( 2) 5 gallon batches of mead on 3/7/04. The main
ingredients are the same, except I didn't use acid blend in #1 because
of the lemons. I did use 14 teaspoons in #2. (+ 15 lb honey, 4.5
gallons water, 3 teas nutrient, 1 teas tannin)
In batch 1 (aka "Dr. King's mead") I added;
3-5 lemons cut in half, squeezed over and then dropped into must_
12 oz roses sweetened condensed lime juice
1 T dried orange peel ( i used fresh grated)
1 oz stick cinnamon and 3 nutmegs
I transferred it into on 3/18 and it is fermenting nicely in the
carboy .
In batch #2 (Chipotle mead) I added 6 chipotle chiles after the
transfer on 3/18. The starting SG was 1.110, and at transfer was 1.060.
On 3/29 the SG was 1.040 and the fermentation was quite slow compared
to the other. I added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient a few days ago but
nothing changed and it is still at 1.040 with no activity, while Dr
King's SG is 1.005.
I have made this "chipotle mead" several times without problems. It
appears that I may have the dreaded "stuck fermentation". Should I add
more yeast nutrient?
I will be grateful (as will my friends who love this stuff) for your
help.
Thanks!!
Norma
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Does headspace in a glass carboy matter?
From: Randy Goldberg MD <randy_goldberg@alumni.binghamton.edu>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 17:19:50 -0400
> Can someone please tell me if the amount of headspace during secondary
> fermentation matter? Mine is a 11.5L glass carboy and I have to conduct
> Gas Chromatography on the mead weekly. So would drawing out samples and
> thus dropping the level of mead have a significant effect on the mead?
Sort of. It depends on how active your yeasts are, and how much you remove.
The problem with large amounts of headspace is the introduction of oxygen,
which can oxidize the mead and impart off flavors. If your yeast is good and
active and/or you are only removing small amounts, then the carbon dioxide
floating above your mead will protect it very well (carbon dioxide is
heavier than oxygen, so large amounts of oxygen won't enter the carboy when
you open it, unless you remove a significant amount of liquid).
****************
Randy Goldberg MD
Random Tag: Coming soon: Netware for Nintendo
------------------------------
Subject: Making Chocolate mead this weekend
From: "Mark Garwatoski" <Mark@food4dogs.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 18:54:38 -0400
Hello,
I've been lurking for a couple of months and this is finally my first
post. I tried a chocolate mead this past weekend at a HB competition and
it was pretty good. When I told the wife about this she was insistent
that I try to make one. I've done some searches and concluded that there
are 3 ways to go about this. Can someone tell me if any of these have
been successful for them or if one looks like it will suck?
My base will be 15lb of honey and WL sweet mead yeast. Would orange
blossom honey be too strong?
1) Add 16oz of good cocoa powder right at the beginning
2) Add 8oz hershey's syrup per gallon (My least favorite choice)
3) Add some chocolate extract post fermentation.
Thanks,
Mark
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Thesis on development
From: "Robin Wilhelm" <robinwilhelm@sympatico.ca>
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 21:26:03 -0400
Subject: Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead
From: Randy Goldberg MD <randy_goldberg@alumni.binghamton.edu>
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2004 05:38:15 -0500
> I have only until August/Sept to come out with a new mead and that
> includes fermentation. That gives me like 4 months for pri/secondary
> fermentation. Could that be done?
I have used a yeast for fast fermentation called Turbo Yeast, which will
ferment very quickly, allowing a longer aging process. I have not
personally used it for a mead, but there are several varieties of the
yeast available, for higher or lower alcohol levels, and depending on
the brand, will ferment in as little as two days, yes, 2 days. I've
found tht it doesn't seem to add a 'bad' flavour to the must either,
given the speed of fermentation, and if you've only got 4 months, I'd
want to devote as much time to aging as possible. The yeast is available
from www.brewhaus.com in the US or www.brewhaus.ca in Canada.
Robin Wilhelm
robinwilhelm@sympatico.ca
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Thesis on development of an australian mead
From: Adam McPadden <meadmaker@together.net>
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 09:19:08 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
Benny,
The fining agent won't help speed up fermentation, it's sole purpose is to
clear the mead.
Your only real opportunity to speed things up is to make sure you start with
a lot of yeast (make a starter) and maximize your oxygen content when you
pitch.
Good luck,
Adam
------------------------------
Subject: New England meads and honey
From: "phil" <pcwojdak@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:18:10 -0700
Hi All,
My wife is going on a business trip and would like to bring some =
local meads and honey back to California. She is driving from Wayne Pa. =
(just outside Philidelphia) to Washington D. C. and Fairfax Va. Do any =
of you know of any meaderies or aviaries along that route?
Phil W.
------------------------------
Subject: maple mead?
From: <ivey@uiuc.edu>
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 09:05:44 -0500
Greetings meadsters,
Have any of you experience or suggestions with respect to
making a maple mead? I've recently come across a bit of
maple syrup and thought it might go nicely in a mead. Any
thoughts about honey:syrup proportions or recipes would be
welcome. Does maple syrup require any special treatment when
used in a mead?
Thanks,
Chris Ivey in Champaign, IL
New address!
Christopher T. Ivey
Illinois Natural History Survey
Center for Biodiversity
607 E. Peabody Dr.
Champaign, IL 61820
ph: 217-355-4935
email: ivey@uiuc.edu
web: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ivey/www/
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1091
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