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Mead Lovers Digest #1169
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1169, 22 March 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1169 22 March 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Corking or capping ("Charles Gee")
re: BeeKeepers ("Dilley, Steve")
In desperate need of help (DIHarpster@aol.com)
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Subject: Re: Corking or capping
From: "Charles Gee" <cgee@mhtv.ca>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 10:45:53 -0800
Over the last number of years I have slowly changed my bottling process
to what I consider satisfactory. As it has something to do with
corking/capping I offer that experience to my fellow imbibers.
I started off with the usual hunt for used wine bottles which I
assiduosly cleaned, sterilized and reused. I ended up with about 600
bottles in circulation. To my horror I discovered that the corks I could
obtain were of a questionable quality with problems like corkage,
bleeding and leakage. I then went to a synthetic cork which whilst
satisfactory was very expensive 25 cents a pop!
About two years ago I started to rethink the whole process of bottling
and arrived at the conclusion that a change was in order. My wife and I
enjoy a single glass of something at our main meal of the day, which
happens to be at noon. I enjoy a glass of something just before bedtime
on most days. The problem is that I like to match the beverage to the
food and thus we found that there was an accumulation of partly used
bottles in the cupboard. I consider that a waste of time, money and
resources as very often the wine/mead was not at its best when consumed
after storage.
I was able to purchase for 15 cents a bottle the empties from our local
firehall (Miller Genuine Draft Bottles.) They are clear hold slightly
more than two glasses (355 ml) and are sealed with a crown cap. They
store very neatly on my shelving, can be prettied up with fancy labels (
courtesy of MS Publisher) and some shrink sleeves fit. The caps are
cheap, easy to reseal if one needs to keep a glass overnight, they can
be fully sterilized and removed with ease, true I do not have the fuss
of of the corkscrew or the satisfying pop of the cork.
I took all the empty wine bootles for recycling and found I had a load
of space in the cellar so I can make more mead and enjoy my latest
experiment of creating "Meritage"
Charles Gee
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Subject: re: BeeKeepers
From: "Dilley, Steve" <Steve.Dilley@pegs.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:13:03 -0700
Chris,
I started keeping bees because of my mead habit. I found a
local beekeeper so that I could save money and somehow I now
have 6 hives. I harvested 4 gallons of honey about 5 weeks ago
and more should be coming in soon. (I'm very afraid to calculate
$/lb).
I am in Arizona so can't help you out much, but I wouldn't limit
yourself to mead making beekeepers (or meadsters with bees?).
All the beekeepers I've met have been willing to bend over
backwards to help out people new to bees. I found a local club,
BACA (Beekeepers Association of Central Arizona) that has been
a tremendous resource - full of great people. I would look for
the local equivalent.
Oops - hopefully make that owner of 7 hives; I picked up a
swarm before work today.
Let me know how you get on. Be careful of your time; I have
10 carboys going of which at least 4 need to be kegged/bottled
and empty carboys waiting for a batch but never seem to find
the time now. I blame it on the kids, not the other hobbies.
I've wondered how many other mead makers have turned into
beekeepers - anymore out there?
Good luck
Steve Dilley
>hi all i dont want to take up to much time on the list but i
>know there are several bee keepers on here, id like to start
>keeping my own bees i live in the central valy of california
>if any one els keeps bees here it would be great to talk to
>them.
>
>Chris Anderson
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Subject: In desperate need of help
From: DIHarpster@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 22:04:05 EST
I am about to give up. I have tried every mead recipe I can get my hands
on.. including duplicating the sweet show mead from the "Complete Mead Maker"
and it all comes out like super rocket fuel after the first two months.
It never gets any farther before going bad. I use only the chem sanatizer
from my local supply shop, water that I boil the night before and then
chill over night, and 100% all natural honey from a local health food store.
Can a man get a break?
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1169
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