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Mead Lovers Digest #1184
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1184, 18 May 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1184 18 May 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1183, 13 May 2005 (tjharley762@aol.com)
Larger fermentation tanks (GreenManRN@aol.com)
high alc meads (Zertwiz@aol.com)
HOT!! too hot... (Kevin May)
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1183, 13 May 2005
From: tjharley762@aol.com
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 16:19:39 -0400
Having used a Buon Vino SuperJet filter for my last four batches of
mead, and I just filtered a batch of 15 gallons on Wednesday of this
week.
I can tell you that where one might normally us first the coarse 7
micron, then polishing 2 micron, then sterile 0.5 micron filters for a
grape wine, I have to run the entire batch through the coarse filters
twice, and the polishing filters three times, BEFORE I try the sterile
filters. Honey is full of pollen, and that combined with the yeast
proteins will result in clogged filters immediately if you are using
too fine a filter or haven't taken your time to filter two or three
times at each level. Be aware that the 7 micron filters seem to get
clogged at about the 5 gallon mark, depending on how long the mead has
been finished and whether or not the yeast cake is settled, forcing me
to change filters three times for each run..
If you've moved the fermenter around, you're likely to have filters
clog more often. A 15 gallon fermenter uses three sets of 7 micron
(coarse) pade for each run-through, so that's six sets for two passes
through coarse, another nine sets of the 2 micron (polishing) before
using 3 sets of the 0.5 micron (Sterile) filters to run the batch
through once at that level. This can add substantial cost to a small
run of mead, so the option is to let it settle for an additional six
months before filtering in place without moving the fermenter and
shaking up that yeast that has taken so long to settle into the cake.
Also, filter manufacture is not exactly a medical-level quality
control. I've had polishing filters clog instantly, only to replace
them and have them run the entire 15 gallons through another set
without reaching above 15lbs pressure. If you're willing to spend the
day doing it, rather than thinking in a hurry, you'll be OK.
The "rough" side of the filters must be facing the pump side, since the
"return" hose is fed by holes on the "clamp" side of the filter,
necessitating that the mead travel through the filter elements in that
direction before heading to the clean barrel. If you have the filters
reversed, you might get a gallon through before they clog, since the
rough side offers about 5 times the surface area for filtration.
I hope this all helps. Remember, I'm talking about the SuperJet, not
the Mini-Jet. If you're using the Mini-Jet for anything larger than a
single gallon, you're making life almost impossible for yourself. I
found the SuperJet on eBay NEW for about $200, but you may find a used
one, once in a while, for less. In the stores, these run over $250 new,
and sometimes over $300, depending on the store.
Peace
Tom
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Subject: Larger fermentation tanks
From: GreenManRN@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 11:26:36 EDT
Greetings all,
Anyone have any suggestions about where to get a larger fermentation
tank, preferably stainless? I want to make batches about 25 gallons or so.
I'm tired of running out of mead, so I want to step up production, within
the legal limits allowed for homebrewer, of course. ;)
Anyone out there have experience with such equipment? Any advice would
be welcome.
Greg Fink
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Subject: high alc meads
From: Zertwiz@aol.com
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 02:37:30 EDT
I have made several fortified meads with about a 18 % alc level I have never
had any trouble with bad cork taste and they have ben making port wine for
several centuries now and they are often aged for decades . now the cork can be
effected by theas types of wines but its normally just that it gets kina
crumbly and can be unsightly in your glass but I personally wouldn't worry
about it
chris anderson
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Subject: HOT!! too hot...
From: Kevin May <kcm7873@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 05:51:50 -0700 (PDT)
I have a rather unique problem. I made a mead this
past year using a very subtle ?secret ingredient?. It
is ready to bottle now and upon testing it I found
that while the taste and sweetness is exactly where I
want it, the alcohol content is high. I failed to get
a measurement, but I would guess it is in the
neighborhood of 15-18%.
Now I don?t mind the high alcohol, but I would like to
lower it slightly, say into the <12% range so that I
could give them out to others. Does anyone have a
method to do that wouldn?t destroy the delicate
balance of tastes and sweetness that I want to keep?
Thanks for a great list
Kevin May
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1184
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