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Mead Lovers Digest #1095
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1095, 26 April 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1095 26 April 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: fireweed honey ("Spencer W. Thomas")
Re: hitting pasteurization temp (Randy Goldberg MD)
Re: crystalized Ginger and acid blend (Randy Goldberg MD)
Adding Acid to Mead ("Robert Farrell")
Dandelion Preservation ("Marion D Watts")
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Subject: Re: fireweed honey
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <spencer@jstor.org>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 01:29:23 -0400
>Subject: Single Floral Charactersitics
>From: chris herrington <asby0@yahoo.com>
>
>I just aquired a gallon of fireweed honey from a large
>distributer in the Northwest. ... I expected to receive a very light
>honey but the honey I received was ruby-amber in
>color.
Any honey is a product of whatever was available to the bees at the
time. Typically a beekeeper will label it according to the flower that
was the most common during the time the bees were making the honey. But
it is certainly not true that ONLY "clover" or "fireweed" or "orange
blossom" nectar went into any honey labelled as such. The only way to
make a honey that is 100% from a single flower would be to lock the
flowers and bees into a greenhouse for the duration... Clearly this is
not happening.
So, the honey you got was produced during the fireweed bloom. But there
were other flowers blooming at the time, and some of those will affect
the honey flavor and color.
I'd say, if you like the honey, make mead from it. If you really like
it, enter it in a competition. If you don't think it will do well as
"fireweed" then enter it as "wildflower". Which is true, by the way.
:-) Or, if you really, really like it, bogart it all and don't send any
to a competition. :-) :-)
=Spencer
------------------------------
Subject: Re: hitting pasteurization temp
From: Randy Goldberg MD <randy_goldberg@alumni.binghamton.edu>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:31:53 -0400
> Is there a straightforward way to calculate the drop in water temperature
> caused by adding fermentables (such as honey, maple syrup, etc.)? Or
> stated another way, to what temperature do you heat the water before
> adding fermentables? I'd like to reach the range needed for
> pasteurization of the must, and it would be nice not to
> overshoot the temperature (and lose volatiles) or undershoot (and have to
> heat the must directly).
There's a way, but it's not all that straightforward. First, if you're
looking to pasteurize your must, you have to hold it at 160F for 15 minutes,
or 180F for 7 minutes, so your question becomes moot. That being said, there
are formulae involving the specific heat of your liquids (water's is 1, but
I have no idea what the specific heat of honey might be).
My general approach for 5 gallons of must is 1 gallon of honey, three
gallons plus one pint of water (I generally use plain bottled "spring water"
from the grocery at about $0.69/gal) and 7 lbs of store-bought bagged ice -
which will melt down into 7 pints of water (hence the one pint of bottled
water, to make up the last gallon). I find this combination works to bring a
vat of 160F must down to about 90-100F by the time the ice is fully melted.
****************
Randy Goldberg MD
Random Tag: Crime does not pay...as well as politics.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: crystalized Ginger and acid blend
From: Randy Goldberg MD <randy_goldberg@alumni.binghamton.edu>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:35:21 -0400
> 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??
>
> 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.
Crystallized ginger is cooked in sugar syrup until the sugar permeates the
flesh. It will throw off your sugar calculations drastically, and doesn't
have quite the same flavor as fresh ginger. I'd stick with the fresh stuff;
it's cheap as dirt.
Acid blend is something I generally only use in "show" meads (honey, water
and yeast), and then only after some aging and tasting. Metheglins and
melomels rarely seem to need it. Of course, some meadmakers will swear that
you have to use it every time, but I don't think that's necessary.
****************
Randy Goldberg MD
Random Tag: File not found. You want I should make something up? (Y/N)
------------------------------
Subject: Adding Acid to Mead
From: "Robert Farrell" <bfarrell100@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 10:24:49 -0700
>>Subject: Acid Addition
>From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
>Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 07:24:33 -0700 (PDT)
>
> >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.
I don't add any acid during fermentation. However, I generally add it a
week or more before bottling. I believe it improves the taste--the best way
I can describe it--mead without acid can taste "flabby". I generally do it
to "taste"--if you want to be more scientific--your homebrew shop probably
carries an acid test kit and they should be able to tell you how to best use
it. Note-the test kit is not a pH meter or pH paper.
Our local homebrew shops carry an equal mix of tartaric, malic, and citric
acid as acid blend. I prefer the tartaric alone or a 2/1 blend of the
tartaric and citric. Mix the acid into solution before adding to your
carboy.
Suggest you experiement by starting with a three-five gallon batch without
acid and eventually transfer to 1 gallon bottles. After fermentation is
complete, add the acids individually, the acid blend, and/or perhaps your
own version of "acid blend."
Bob Farrell
Portland, OR
------------------------------
Subject: Dandelion Preservation
From: "Marion D Watts" <mdwatts@abingdon.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 15:07:02 -0400
Dandelions are in full-swing here, in SW Virginia and visions of Dandelion
Metheglin dance in my head. It's harvest time and all of my primary vessels
are active and new meads are carboyed through-out the domain. I need time
to empty a primary or two and organize a few things before starting the
Dandelion Delight.
I'm considering a harvest, rendering the pedals as usual and freeze the
Dandelion liquid until a later date. Has anyone had experience with this?
Are there other suggestions for Dandelion preservation?
Regards in Mead,
Marion D. Watts
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1095
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