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Mead Lovers Digest #1117
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1117, 24 July 2004
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1117 24 July 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Bunratty Meade (Michael Faul)
first batch ("Greg Osenbach")
Re: Subject: black currants (and stranger fruits) (Phil)
mead in wooden casks / lees ("John P. Looney")
Beach Cherries for Pyment. (David Chubb)
Re: black currants (and stranger fruits) ("Ken Taborek")
organic nutrients ("phil")
Re: Re: Non-burning question ("Paul Shouse")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Bunratty Meade
From: Michael Faul <mfaul@rabbitsfootmeadery.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:14:15 -0700
There are several trademarks registered with the USPTO for the Bunratty
product. They are specifically for the logo design and the words
"Bunratty Meade"
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=a325u0.3.6
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=a325u0.3.5
This does not prevent anyone from using the words Bunratty or Meade
individually in their products.
Furthermore, it can easily be defended to use the term 'Meade'
in the name of another product as there are several historical
references to the spelling in many old manuscripts from the 13 - 16th
century.
Also note that Bunratty is not the owner of the Trademark. That is owned
by Camelot Importing Co. in New Jersey.
The reason that Bunratty had to change the label on the product for the
US market was because the product is NOT MEAD. It is a honey liquer
created from HONEY, WHITE WINE and HERBS. The BATF (TTB) forced them to
change the label for the US market becasue they are not allowed to call
it MEAD. Seems a little ridiculous to allow them the 'trick' the public
and allow 'Meade'. I have a petition with the TTB to force the strict
use of the words Mead, Mede, Meade, or dirivitives for the labeling of
products classified as OTSW (Honey Wine).
The booze regulations at home (I'm from Ireland) are much more relaxed
and they are allowed to use 'MEAD' on their label at the winery in
Bunratty and in the Duty Free shops, the only place you'll really find
MEad/e in Ireland.
Mike Faul, Owner
http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com
mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
>>IMO sulfites are not only unnecessary, but are dangerous and should
>>never be
>>allowed in something as wholesome and healthy as meade.
>>
>
> Wanna bet Bunratty puts 'em in their stuff (and, since they bought a
> trademark, they're the only ones supposed to use it, just like Paul Beard
> and Tim Scheerhorn can't make Dobros)?
>
> (Oh, and the terminal 'e' just looks pretentious)
>
> - --
> Lane Gray
> And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Gen
> 2:25
------------------------------
Subject: first batch
From: "Greg Osenbach" <greg@carecontrols.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:29:37 -0700
Hello everyone. I am new to this list as was wanting to make my first
batch of mead. I have two questions
First: I think I have the basic process down in my mind but I am sure
that there are some pitfalls that I am not aware of. Is there any
obvious mistakes that first timers commonly make that I should watch out
for?
Second: There is no lack for recepies. Can anyone suggest a good
recepie that would make a good first batch? Somthing simple and hard to
screw up? Thanks!
Spike
a.k.a Greg Osenbach
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Subject: black currants (and stranger fruits)
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 21:11:26 -0700 (PDT)
I tried making a melomel with road apples, but all my
friends said it tasted like shit.
Phil
------------------------------
Subject: mead in wooden casks / lees
From: "John P. Looney" <valen@tuatha.org>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:52:20 +0100
I'm looking to ramp up production, after my friends drank all the last
batch of my meads before I got them past six months old. So, I want to put
on some larger batches.
I've managed to get some old brandy casks (about 35 gallons each), and I
want to store the mead in that for maybe 12 months before bottling.
However, i'm not quite sure how to go about it.
Previously, i've racked the mead after a month, again after three months,
and left any other sediment in the bottle/carboy. However, racking
something 35 gallons in size would be difficult. Never mind washing out
monster.
I was thinking of making up the mead in 5 gallon carboys, racking in
that, after a month, leaving it another month, then transferring it to the
oak, and leave it (and the lees it'll make) until bottling. Sensible ?
I was at a fair in Templecombe, Somerset, and while I was chatting to a
trader, I noticed a demijohn of translucent liquid under her stall. In it
was some damn fine mead, that I managed to get a taste of. Plain, but
good, and quite sweet. I asked why it was so sweet, and she said that she
would take out a quarter of any demijohn, and then would just top up the
remainder with honey & water every so often, so it was a continous
process. She said that way, she didn't have to heat sterilise the honey or
add yeast.
Has anyone any opinion on this way of doing things ? Could it be doable
with a cask of mead ?
John
------------------------------
Subject: Beach Cherries for Pyment.
From: David Chubb <dchubb@virpack.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 09:08:02 -0400
> What can anyone say about sand cherries for mead? To be
> careful, I have some thought that name may apply to various
> plants, not sure. What we have here is a sort of
> windbreak/bird-food bush (_Prunus_ _besseyi_ if I believe the
> academics) which produces an almost-black fruit smaller than
> a grape. It's tasty but tart and somewhat tannic, which all
> seems good. I froze some last year but never got around to
> using them; we've got a reasonable "crop" coming up this year
> and I'm wondering if they are really worth making a melomel.
> (They're a slight annoyance to pick but a real pain to pit.)
We have those out here on the west coast and noone has the same name for
them (I have heard everything from Quahog (which is actually a type of
bivalve) to leather fruit.) Around here they are simply called "beach
grapes" and have a thick leathery skin and range from a golden color to a
deep purple color and are very very tastey (though the skins are a bit
bitter).
We have made wines from Beach grapes before and it turns out very well
(though it takes a very long time to pick enough grapes) and is a very sweet
wine (we usually leave out as much of the skins as possible from the mash)
that ranges in color from very light golden to a deep purple-red in color.
(I personally like the "white" variety more and it generally has a fruitier
nose and a lot less tannins.)
I think these would do well in a Pyment as they have enough sweetness to
keep up with the honey, yet have enough fruityness to not be overwhelmed.
- --David Chubb
------------------------------
Subject: Re: black currants (and stranger fruits)
From: "Ken Taborek" <Ken.Taborek@verizon.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:35:50 -0400
Dick Dunn wrote [snipped]:
> What can anyone say about sand cherries for mead? To be careful, I have
> some thought that name may apply to various plants, not sure. What we
> have here is a sort of windbreak/bird-food bush (_Prunus_ _besseyi_ if
> I believe the academics) which produces an almost-black fruit smaller
> than a grape. It's tasty but tart and somewhat tannic, which all seems
> good. I froze some last year but never got around to using them; we've
> got a reasonable "crop" coming up this year and I'm wondering if they
> are really worth making a melomel. (They're a slight annoyance to pick
> but a real pain to pit.)
Dick,
I would say go for it. I initially thought from your description that your
plant was the shore plum or beach plum (Prunus maritime), but after some
research I see that it's similar but different. If the fruit is anything
like the shore plum in flavor and character it will be well worth the
effort. The fruit you describe is much like shore plums in size, color, and
taste. Shore plums are perhaps a bit larger than the sand cherries.
I made a beach plum melomel last year, just three gallons as that was all I
had fruit for. It is my favorite out of all the meads I have made to date.
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: organic nutrients
From: "phil" <pcwojdak@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 08:26:39 -0700
Hi,
I have just been thoughtlessly buying "super food" from a home brew
shop.
On a mead news group, someone wrote...
"I'm not against pectic enzyme, the natural yeast nutrient (yeast
hulls), yeast energizers that are just sugar and vitamins (though I've
seen energizers that contain nitrates, which I won't do), grape tannin
powder, or even acid blends-- since those are all available from natural
sources... I COULD throw in raisins, sugar, vitamins, and squeeze in a
lemon for the same results, and I usually do."
Would you all share feeding ideas. One concern I
Have...I have just started a tupelo honey mead with coates des blances
yeast. I am making it at significant expense because I tasted some and
it had more complexity than any other mead I ever tasted. Do raisins
and such add much flavor to the mead? If one wants to just bring out
the honey flavors, is the organic feeding method a realistic option?
Phil W.
Pasadena CA.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Re: Non-burning question
From: "Paul Shouse" <paul_shouse@kmug.org>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 09:58:34 +0900
>> Has anybody besides me experienced a mead that tasted far less alcoholic than
>> it really was? ....(snip).......
>>-Paul
>
> There are many reasons this could be. It's all about fooling your taste
>buds. If you can give them lots of things to taste, they can't zoom in on
>one thing........(snip).........
>
>John
>
>
>phenols are the answer. the chemicals most associated with the "alcohol
>bite" or harshness. some strains of wine yeast produce more phenols than
>others and these phenols can be quite harsh. .......(snip)........
>
>steve
John and Steve, thanks for your replies. Both answers make a lot of sense and
are no doubt part of the answer, but I was thinking of a slightly different
cause. After all, grain alcohol in water tastes of alcohol, and the more you
add the stronger the taste. I have an old recipe for something called 'geology
punch.' The idea (and I am no chemist, so my explanation of this is no doubt
way off base) is to make ethanol react with citric acid to produce a odorless
and tasteless substance. The stronger acid in your stomach will cause the
compound to split into citric acid and ethanol again causing you to fall over
suddenly. I was wondering if the same sort of thing was happening with mead
because of the unique chemistry of honey. If so, the taste of alcohol would be
gone because the alcohol would be (temporarily) gone as well. Is this
possible???
- -Paul
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1117
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