Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1155
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1155, 26 January 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1155 26 January 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1154, 23 January 2005 ("Lane O. Locke")
Report on brewing party (Susan Bondurant)
Shipping mead ("Lane Gray, Czar Castic")
aging mead ("Carl")
Re: pH and acidity ("Dan McFeeley")
RE: Introduction... ("Greg Osenbach")
Re:descriptors (Talon McCormick)
Steinberg / Rudesheimer ("david.lane ")
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1154, 23 January 2005
From: "Lane O. Locke" <shaggyman@kc.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:02:25 -0600
If you saw how Fairy Dew is made, you would probably avoid it......
Shaggyman
Got MEAD?
> A Paean to a Mead
> (aka, "Fairy Dew")
> by Joe Credit
------------------------------
Subject: Report on brewing party
From: Susan Bondurant <scribesub@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 17:06:14 -0800 (PST)
Greetings...
Thanks to the gentleman for the Pagan Polka ! Our
wild bunch will be singing it this summer around the
campfire!
Yesterday's brewing party went well -- we did
less mass tasting and therefore better recording in
the Brewing Diary *wink* and kept better track of
ingredients, etc. We made 6 gallons of pear mead --
it smelled GREAT while cooking so we have high hopes.
I'd like to encourage the gentleman who wrote
about defining descriptive words. I am not
experienced and in my little band of brewers, we are
struggling to do just that when we taste each batch.
We did several carboys of Cherry Berry
(blackberry and cherry) mead a couple months ago and
have been having some trouble with them. We racked
one carboy yesterday and it tasted thin, effervescent,
sort of watery, and not much flavor altho we liked the
effervescence. We threw in 1 qt. of sweet cherry
syrup in hopes that would build the flavor. When we
racked it we cleaned out the sediment and leftover
pulp.
Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted!
Susan
"Vinum scriptori reddatur de meliori"
save the best wine for the scribe
------------------------------
Subject: Shipping mead
From: "Lane Gray, Czar Castic" <CGray2@kc.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:19:03 -0600
On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 11:46:15 -0700 (MST), <mead-request@talisman.com>
wrote:
>
> Subject: International Mead Shipping
> From: "Daryl Fox" <flyingfox@sbcglobal.net>
> Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:28:28 -0800
>
> Every so often the question of shipping mead shows up here. However, it all
> seems to be related to shipping mead from one state to another in the USA.
> I'd like to send some (belated) Christmas mead to some friends in Canada.
> I'm in California and the mead would be going to Alberta and Saskatchewan.
>
> What are the regulations on this? What would I declare it as on the customs
> forms? Is it even legal?
>
I don't think you may lawfully ship it from within the US, as you can't
send it via mail, and need a license to ship it via common carrier. That
said, you could always wrap the glass bottle in bubble wrap and kraft
paper. I've shipped it to both NZ and Australia under the guise of
"soda." Of course, I also used Sioux City Birch Beer bottles. Didn't
look like they'd even cut the tape. In many of the other countries, it's
legal to send it via mail, so once it gets out of the country, you're in
the clear (at least for OZ, NZ and UK, don't know about canada).
- --
Lane Gray
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Gen
2:25
------------------------------
Subject: aging mead
From: "Carl" <cringler@verizon.net>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:06:26 -0800
I was considering making mass quantities of mead, but lack sufficient
storage area. How should mead be stored, ideally? Is consistent
temperature important, or is low (or high) temperature more important?
I've had great success with berry meads (primarily blackberry and
raspberry), but they tend to require years of maturation. What is the
ideal scenario for aging mead?
------------------------------
Subject: Re: pH and acidity
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 02:09:57 -0600
On Wed, 19 Jan 2005, in MLD 1154, Dr. Randy Goldberg wrote,
in part . . .
>As you add hydrogen ions to a sample of pure water (in the form of a
>crystalline acid, for instance), the pH drops in linear relation to the
>amount of acid you add. Buffers are compound which can both absorb and
>release hydrogen ions. Bicarbonate ions are a good example; they can absorb
>a hydrogen ion to become a molecule of carbonic acid, or release one to
>become a carbonate ion. When a buffering substance is present, the graph
>takes on a characteristic S-like shape. The pH shifts very little when the
>buffer far exceeds the amount of acid; the buffer simply soaks it up and
>the concentration of free hydrogen ions doesn't change much. It also
>doesn't change much when the amount of hydrogen ion far exceeds the
> amount of buffer; the solution is more-or-less saturated with hydrogen
> ions, and the buffer has absorbed all it can hold. As the pH approaches
> the "acid equilibrium constant" (pKa) of the buffer (the balance point),
> the pH drops dramatically with only a small addition of acid.
Hello Randy --
Thanks for the explanation! Good stuff -- for non-techies, however, it
might be rough going. Could you elaborate a little more on what pKa
is, and how it functions as an "acid equilibrium constant"? That might
be helpful.
Thanks!
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Introduction...
From: "Greg Osenbach" <Greg@carecontrols.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:14:40 -0800
Welcome! Nice to see some other Washington brewers on the list!!
- -Spike
Subject: Introduction...
From: Susan Bondurant <scribesub@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:39:32 -0800 (PST)
Hello all,
I have just joined the list. I came across mead
in the SCA and I am starting a mead brewing group in
my area -- the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State,
USA.
IN a few hours, some folk are coming over to rack
some previous brew and make some perry, which I have
never done. I am using the basic mead -- er -- melomel
recipe, and throwing in pears and spices.
Anyway, I'm glad to have found this list.
Susan
"Vinum scriptori reddatur de meliori"
save the best wine for the scribe
------------------------------
Subject: Re:descriptors
From: Talon McCormick <nmccormick@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:05:06 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
I have one descriptor which I will describe to you and let you all agree
if it fits;
I made an Orangeblossom traditional mead which to date is, in my opinion,
my best work. It is very flavorful where the honey flavor comes through
whereby you feel like you're there opening a jar of honey that has the
comb still in it when you take a sniff from the glass. This memory brings
many back to their childhood times where they would stick their fingers
in the honey. But because it's orangeblossom, on the first sip, images of
fields of blossoming orange groves come to mind where your memory dredges
up thoughts about what people have told you about orange groves and their
adventures or misadventures in them as you visualize the fragrant white
blossoms. Also thoughts and memories of the wonderful times in childhood
come rushing back when you would peel open an orange and smell that spray
that invairably shoots up your nose as the peel is pulled back and tickled
the inside of your nose. An ever so slight tart taste creeps in on the
back of your tongue that gives hints of grapefruits and lemons or limes
but doesn't linger long enough to bring forth thoughts of those memories
even though they dance in the shadows of your mind eluding the spotlight
of your attention.
I call that orange-citrus because the orange flavor comes through with
hints of other citrus fruits that are most commonly known.
Talon.
------------------------------
Subject: Steinberg / Rudesheimer
From: "david.lane " <david.lane@utahisp.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:10:02 -0700
I've gotten a couple of answers to my questions about
White Labs Steinberg Geisenheim or WYeast Rudesheimer
yeast on the brewing board I read.
And according to The Compleat Meadmaker -
"Rudisheimer (Wyeast 3783) The traditional Riesling yeast,
producing fruity, aromatic wines with an alluring balance
of sweetness and acidity in the finish. Excellent choice for
traditional meads or white wine pyments in which a balance
of sweetness, acidity, and fruitiness is desired. alcohol 11%-14%
Steinberg (Red Star, Wyeast 3237, White Labs WLP727) German
yeast strain used in making whites with high levels of both
residual sugar and acidity. Suited very well to traditional
metheglins or pyments seeking big, fruity aromas and mouthfeels.
Pushes tropical fruit esters."
With that knowledge I think I'll assemble the following:
12 lbs clover honey
4 gals Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice
5 tsp yeast nutrient
WYeast Rudisheimer yeast
Comments?
David
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1155
*******************************
