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Mead Lovers Digest #1202
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1202, 25 July 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1202 25 July 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Pennyroyal ("Elaine Cunningham")
RE: Recipe Request: Orange-Camomile (Spike)
Re: Mint in mead (Dick Adams)
Re: Hot Chocolate Mead (Dick Adams)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1201, 20 July 2005 (jtollefson83@comcast.net)
Astringency problem (Dick Adams)
HBD: A Fortnight of Yeast 2005 ("Dan McFeeley")
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Subject: Pennyroyal
From: "Elaine Cunningham" <elainecunningham@cox.net>
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 00:58:19 -0400
In the last digest, someone mentioned they've flavored mead with
pennyroyal. Any mention of this herb always sets off a small alarm in
the back of my mind.
I've grown pennyroyal for its pleasing foliage and flowers, as well as
its medicinal uses. But pennyroyal is also an abortifact, which is
something to keep firmly in mind. Since most pregnant women are going to
stay away from alcohol, the issue is unlikely to arise, but if an
expectant mother decides to slurge on a glass of your minted mead, I'd
definitely recommend steering her toward spearmint.
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Recipe Request: Orange-Camomile
From: Spike <spikedmead@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:51:29 -0700
Thanks!!!!! That sounds great!
Spike
> Subject: RE: Recipe Request: Orange-Camomile
> From: bjfish7@netscape.net (Betty Fisher)
> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 09:59:48 -0400
>
> I'm giving away secrets here, but for the improvement of meads everywhere
...
>
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mint in mead
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 12:05:16 -0400 (EDT)
>> The recipe calls for 8 oz. of bruised spearmint leaves to be muslin
>> bagged in the secondary fermenter.
I used a hop sock, but I don't no how to bruise a spearmint leaf :)
>> I do not have access to fresh spearmint but I do have a lovely organic
>> patch of 'gingermint'.
>> {mentha x gracilis} which is described for use as 'culinary'.
>>
>> Does anyone out there have any experience with this mint and would it
>> be an acceptable substitute for the spearmint? In similar measure?
> In culinary applications, any variety of mint may be traded for any other
> one-for-one without mishap. Gingermint does indeed have a ginger-like
> gracenote in its flavor profile.
Accurate representation
> I have had very poor experiences with mint in mead. I find the mint
> flavor never comes through, whether I've added the leaves in primary or
> in secondary, in quantities up to 2 lbs in a 5 gal batch. I now reserve
> mint for my "fresh mint liqueur" and make my metheglins with other herbs.
My experience with mints is also very poor. I made the Spearmint
Mead recipe to which the OP is referring. I did not care for it,
but I did drink it. If you want the remaining Spearmint leaves,
email me at MeadGuild@aol.com.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Hot Chocolate Mead
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 12:18:15 -0400 (EDT)
> Anybody out there made a mead with hot peppers and chocolate?
> I am looking for a recipe. Thanks.
I made a chocolate mead using Hersey's chocolate. It came out
somewhat bland. Aging didn't seem to help it much. I grow
Red Savina Habeneros - we're talking extreme heat. Using the
beveled edge of a chopstick, I added less than a pinch to the
mead, waited two weeks, tasted it, added about a pinch more,
waited two more weeks, put it into the freezer for two hours,
and racked it. The peppers made it better.
Next time I will use chocolate extract.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1201, 20 July 2005
From: jtollefson83@comcast.net
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:22:28 +0000
> Subject: I can help fuel up the space shuttle!
> From: "Douglas R. Briggs"
> Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 13:39:46 -0500
>
> All,
>
> This was my third mead, and I need some help troubleshooting it, since it
> turned out differently from my expectation. I brewed in late August of last
> year, a fairly standard 3-gallon recipe. I pitched Wyeast #3184 (Sweat
> Mead). I racked it to secondary and added about 1.5 lbs of pitted, sliced
> cherries a couple of months later. Since then, I haven't touched it until I
> bottled it last weekend and primed it with a little corn sugar to hopefully
> get some carbonation in the bottles.
> What I got was flat cherry-flavored rocket fuel. It wasn't sweet and it
> wasn't fizzy. And it nearly took the varnish off the table when I spilled
> some.
> ABV was 11.27%, and the flavor is *HOT* (alcohol heat, not the good kind
> from spicy peppers). It's got plenty of cherry aromatics in the aroma and
> flavor, but I'm having trouble getting up the courage to hand it over to my
> normal brew-tasting crowd (mostly co-workers whom I don't want to poison).
> So here are my questions:
> 1. I think I left this on the yeast too long and I lost all the fermentable
> sugars. Does this seem reasonable? Could there be another explanation?
> 2. When should I have bottled this?
> 3. I'm making a blueberry mel right now and have the mead in primary and
> plan on adding the blueberries relatively soon. How long should I wait so
> that I don't have to worry about sterilizing the berries?
> 4. I think that the yeast went dormant after several months with no more
> sugar available, and that's why it didn't carbonate. Is this plausible? Will
> it carbonate (even a little) if I let the bottles wait?
> Thanks for any insight you can give me.
> Douglas.
> douglas.briggs@gmail.com
There are many things that could have caused this, including being in an
environment that was too hot for the yeast, but the problem is most likely
a lack of nutrient.
Maybe you added nutrient, but how much and of what kind? When I first
started I was using DAP and that's it, and my meads would always have that
gasahol taste. Later on I finally understood that the yeast need alot of
different kinds of nutrients to be happy. When I finally discovered Fermaid
K, a yeast supplement that contains all the nutrients a yeast could want,
I suddenly had meads that were practically drinkable when clear (a month)
and with no harsh flavors what so ever! It's too late to add nutrient in
now, but consider adding Fermaid K in your later batches, and maybe even
in your Blueberry Mel. As for the cherry mel, all you can do is age it
longer but it may never get better at this point.
1. No, you probably have residual sugar still but the hot flavors are a
result of stressed yeast.
2. When the mead is as clear as you can get it and not producing any
sediment.
3. Just rinse them, freeze them, and thaw them. It will break down the
cell walls of the fruit and make them easier to ferment. In this process
you have all the sterilizing you need.
4. The yeast die out at the end of fermentation when there is too much
alcohol for them to survive. How can you carbonate it if the yeast are
all dead?
Take care. Good luck on your blueberry mel!
Jeff Tollefson
------------------------------
Subject: Astringency problem
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 02:55:26 -0400 (EDT)
I brewed a braggot using 3-lbs each of DME, clover honey, and
sweet sorghum syrup. It is now six week old and in a secondary.
It has a nice aroma, but is very astringent. [too much syrup]
A review of the digest provided suggestions such as
1. Age and pray
2. Blend til you have a good compromise.
3. Clear with gelatins or egg whites.
4. Add a non-fermentable sweetner
It has to age at least a year so option #1 is already in effect.
Option #2 seems to me to be excessive work and unnecessary risk.
Option #3 seems to me to be too early to implement.
Option #4 looks good, but what are non-fermentable sweetners
and how much should be used?
Opinions appreciated.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: HBD: A Fortnight of Yeast 2005
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 08:47:24 -0500
The Homebrew Digest is once again hosting "A
Fortnight of Yeast," where digest subscribers
post questions on yeast to Dr. Clayton Cone,
along with some of his Lallemand associates.
This has always been a great seminar on all things
yeast, and the questions have been very technical.
Well worth a read!
For those not subscribed to the Homebrew Digest,
you can follow along on the HTML version at this
URL: http://hbd.org/hbd/
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
Kankakee, Illinois USA
"Meon an phobail a thogail trid an chultur"
(The people's spirit is raised through culture)
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1202
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