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Mead Lovers Digest #1209
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1209, 25 August 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1209 25 August 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Stuck Fermentation? (Charles Sifers)
Re: Small mead (Charles Sifers)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1208, 21 August 2005 (Michael Faul)
Re: Air Lock Question (David Chubb)
Question on Wyeast mead yeasts (Mike Peremsky)
Question of Refermentation (chris herrington)
Melomel (DIHarpster@aol.com)
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Subject: Re: Stuck Fermentation?
From: Charles Sifers <chazzone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2005 12:52:31 -0500
On Aug 21, 2005, at 12:24 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> This gravity had dropped
> to .998 I then racked into my sanitized glass 6 gallon carboy and added
> sanitized stopper and airlock. It then did not bubble at all for two
> days.
>
> A different brewmaster said it sounded like stuck fermentation.
If the gravity is all the way down to .998, then it's done. There is
little or nothing left for the yeast to consume. At this point, you
only have to let it age until it's drinkable.
- -zz
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Small mead
From: Charles Sifers <chazzone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2005 13:04:22 -0500
On Aug 21, 2005, at 12:24 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> Does anyone have good directions for an old-style small mead that could
> be made over the a two or three day weekend, that might be ready to drink
> on the last day ? What sort of materials/tools would I need, other than a
> barrel with a removable top ? Where would the yeasts come from, so I'd
> know where to place the barrel - anywhere with lots of rotting wild fruits
> & leaves ?
>
> John
>
Commercial beers ferment in a matter of hours because the brewers use a
large active yeast cake. There is no way "wild" yeasts could colonize
and ferment out even a small mead in a few days.
I'd recommend a demonstration of "making", then have a finished mead
set aside for tasting.
The mead you made could be kept and served the next year. There are
several breweries that do this type of thing (Eccentric Day at Bells in
Kalamazoo comes to mind), and it lends itself to tradition.
Also, if you want people to really appreciate mead, it'd be much more
appropriate, since it's unlikely what ever technique employed will make
a drinkable mead in just a couple of days.
- -zz
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1208, 21 August 2005
From: Michael Faul <mfaul@rabbitsfootmeadery.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:35:19 -0700
Mr. Looney,
you can make a 'really small mead' around 4%abv in a day or two but the
clarity won't be anything to speak of. Simply take enough honey and
water to get to about 10 brix and add your yeast. You'll need to have an
active yeast culture ready in a bottle, ideally, you can pull a small
bottle from a rapidly fermenting batch and use that. Store it in a PET
bottle that is squished to give it some head space during transport.
Pitch that in the new batch and let it rip. By the end of three days you
should have something swet and about 4%
You can add a bit of spice to it on the last day to make it more period.
Mike
mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> Subject: small meads - for show
> From: "John P. Looney" <valen@tuatha.org>
> Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2005 10:27:10 +0100
>
> Does anyone have good directions for an old-style small mead that could
> be made over the a two or three day weekend, that might be ready to drink
> on the last day ? What sort of materials/tools would I need, other than a
> barrel with a removable top ? Where would the yeasts come from, so I'd
> know where to place the barrel - anywhere with lots of rotting wild fruits
> & leaves ?
- --
Rabbit's Foot Meadery & Red Branch Cider Co.
Award Winning Mead & Hard Apple Cider
http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Air Lock Question
From: David Chubb <dchubb@virpack.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 10:54:59 -0400
> Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1207, 17 August 2005
> From: Lofty@aol.com
> Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 23:05:02 EDT
>
> In a message dated 8/17/2005 12:20:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> mead-request@talisman.com writes:
> Air lock question:
> I'm using a 5 gallon plastic bucket to brew and I've noted
> that sometimes the (4 or 5 times) it's like there is a
> reverse presssure
> and it seems to suck the lock all the way down. Like there
> is a total loss
> of pressure. It' returns to normal but since I'm not useing
> a bottle I can't
> see what's going on. It has not happen with other brews.
> Any Ideas?
>
> Dr. Jim Philly
>
Is the bottle/carboy in an area where the temperature swings a lot? I have
seen this happen when a friend stuck their carboy next to an AC vent and
when the temperature suddently got cold his airlock sucked air into the
carboy. Check the area you have your carboy in and try and find a spot where
the temperature doesn't change much. (Mine goes in the basement (on top of a
washer machine catch pan since I have had a few foam overs in the past).)
- --Dave
------------------------------
Subject: Question on Wyeast mead yeasts
From: Mike Peremsky <mperemsky@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:30:54 -0700 (PDT)
What is the difference between the Wyeast Dry and
Sweet mead yeasts? Is it just a matter of alcohol
tolerance? I would expect that, given the same
starting conditions, that one would end up dry and one
would end up sweet.
I would also expect that if I added more honey to the
dry mead yeast that I would end up with a sweet mead,
but with a higher alcohol content than if I would have
just used the sweet mead strain. Is this correct?
------------------------------
Subject: Question of Refermentation
From: chris herrington <asby0@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 10:38:57 -0700 (PDT)
I recently brewed a high gravity mead of 1.145.
Attenuation brought it down to 1.030. I want to bring
it down to around 1.015. It had stopped fermenting,
obviously reaching the tolorance of the yeast (Red
Star Montrechet). The alcohol is around 15%. It's been
reracked into secondary. I'm considering diluting it
with a little clean boiled water and applying another
high tolerance yeast, Lalvin 1116 to get a renewed
ferment. I want to aerate as little as possible
obviously. Am I waisting my time? I realize I should
have started this must at a lower gravity. I have
attenuated gravities this high down to around 1.015
with Lalvin 1116. I assumed Montrechet could attenuate
as well as Lalvin K1V-1116. It did not perform the
same, at least in this instance. I do not want to
spoil this mead. The honey is a fantastic light yellow
colored tupelo.
------------------------------
Subject: Melomel
From: DIHarpster@aol.com
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:16:59 EDT
I was wondering if anyone has ever added the fruit juice to their mead to
make a melomel; after the final racking, but just before the bottling; and then
bottled it? Does this work for the desired effect or does it have an undesired
outcome? - Daniel
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1209
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