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Mead Lovers Digest #1198
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1198, 9 July 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1198 9 July 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Anyone in the Portland, OR area? (Marc Shapiro)
Re: Moving with mead ("Lane Gray, Czar Castic")
Re: moving mead ("Joshua A. Laff, LMP")
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1197, 6 July 2005 ("Vicky Rowe")
Re: MLD #1197, 6/7/05 - Plastic Carboys, Moving, New Boysenberry questi ("...)
Make It Stop! ("Randy Wallis")
Re: moving mead (Charles Sifers)
Braggot Recipe ("Adam Boyle")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
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Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead
A searchable archive is available at www.gotmead.com/mead-research/mld
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Anyone in the Portland, OR area?
From: Marc Shapiro <mshapiro_42@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 12:54:14 -0400
I am moving from Nowheresville, WV to Portland, OR within the next two
months and I was wondering if there was anyone out there from this list.
- --
Marc Shapiro
mshapiro_42@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Moving with mead
From: "Lane Gray, Czar Castic" <cgray2@kc.rr.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 11:58:17 -0500
On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 10:03:34 -0600 (MDT), Mike Grau wrote:
>
> Subject: moving mead
> From: Mike Grau <mikegrau@yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 09:16:43 -0700 (PDT)
>
> hi mead lovers-
> i have a batch of blueberry melomel that's been in the carboy for about 5
> months. about a month ago, i racked and added 3 more pounds of blueberries,
> which are still in there. now my dilemma: i will be moving from central
> pennsylvania to missouri in about three weeks. i can't see if the mead has
> cleared because of the dark color the blueberry addition has imparted. what
> should i do with the stuff? i am going to rack it again and check it for
> clarity, then if it's okay, bottle it up and take it with me. i'm just
> wondering if it's not clear, i wonder if i could still try bottling it, or if
> that would be unnecessarily dangerous. i can always give the batch away to a
> fellow homebrewer, but of course i'm reluctant to part with it. anyone
> have any suggestions?
> thanks!
Last time we moved, I had two batches in carboys. I put the carboys in
the boxes they came in (if you still have them), set them on a moving
blanket, wrapped them in another blanket, and put them in the front left
and front right corners of the truck. They both survived just fine. If
your car has empty back seats, you could also just buckle them in, they
should ride just fine. I'd also thinkn about pulling the fermentation
lock and just putting in a regular stopper, assuming the fermentation has
slowed to a crawl or stopped.
- --
Lane Gray
Yes, I'm a minion of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial
------------------------------
Subject: Re: moving mead
From: "Joshua A. Laff, LMP" <jal@jallmp.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 09:46:26 -0700
> Subject: moving mead
> From: Mike Grau <mikegrau@yahoo.com>
>
> i have a batch of blueberry melomel that's been in the carboy for about 5
> months. about a month ago, i racked and added 3 more pounds of blueberries,
> which are still in there. now my dilemma: i will be moving from central
> pennsylvania to missouri in about three weeks. i can't see if the mead has
> cleared because of the dark color the blueberry addition has imparted. what
> should i do with the stuff? i am going to rack it again and check it for
> clarity, then if it's okay, bottle it up and take it with me. i'm just
Why not just take it with you and bottle it after you arrive? I've taken
full carboys across the country twice now. This includes the same batch
making both trips a year apart - the second trip finally got the yeast
bubbling nicely, and it turned out to be wonderful stuff. This would
actually be my main reason for suggesting bottling after the trip. Lots of
agitation will likely cause additional yeast budding, and if your mead is at
all still active, bottling before the trip will probably result in a less
than pleasant experience. Whereas if the stuff is still in a carboy with an
airlock, you'll open your moving truck / car to the wonderful smell of
blueberries. Of course, make sure the carboys are secure, and on top of lots
of bubble-wrap, towels, etc, so they don't break. I would suggest, though,
racking off the blueberries before the trip, into another carboy. Though
it's unlikely to happen, getting fruit caught in the carboy neck will also
make a big mess.
- - Joshua
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1197, 6 July 2005
From: "Vicky Rowe" <rcci@mindspring.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 15:34:11 -0400
>From: Sharon Labchuk <slabchuk@isn.net>
>Does anyone have a recipe - preferably tried by someone
>somewhere and recommended - for a rhodomel? The best roses in
>my area are blooming for another week.
Hi Sharon,
I've had luck with the following, in fact, I'll be
pitching another batch this weekend....here's my
brewlog from the last batch:
Ingredients: (5 gal batch) :
1 gal frozen heirloom rose petals
1 gal blackberry honey (although other
medium-light honeys will do
4 gal water
1 pkg montrachet yeast
Procedure:
Boil 2 gallons water, remove from boil and add
honey, stirring to dissolve. Pour remaining water
into fermenter. Add hot must, and pitch yeast when
temp is below 80 F. Shake must to oxygenate. Rack
onto rose petals.
My notes:
12-9 Pasteurized honey, poured into pail with
water and added yeast when cooled. Aerated by
severe bucket agitation
5-27 Racked onto 1 gal frozen rose petals, in mesh
bag.
6-5 Tasted, has a slightly oily mouth feel and a
really wonderful rose smell. Very dry.
7-15 Removed roses and added 10 oz Cortas Rose
Water. Tastes very like roses, but very dry
9-15 The oily mouth feel is gone, and the mead is
full bodied and still has a wonderful rosey color
and smell. Still dry, will probably add some honey
water to sweeten before bottling.
9-30 Added enough rose syrup (from World Market)
to sweeten to a slightly sweet batch
This batch was a hit at the renaissance faire, and
disappeared fairly quickly, so I'm doing another
batch, this time with acacia honey.
Wassail!
Vicky Rowe
The Gotmead Webwench
http://www.gotmead.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: MLD #1197, 6/7/05 - Plastic Carboys, Moving, New Boysenberry questi
From: "Arthur Torrey (no spam please!)" <atorrey@cybercom.net>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 16:45:54 -0400
On 2005.07.06 12:03 mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
I haven't tried the plastic water cooler carboys, but I agree there seems to
be much aversion to them. In addition to the oxidation concern, I've also
seen worries expressed about whether a plastic formulated for storing
relatively pure water might not leach some sort of chemical nastiness into a
blend containing significant amounts of alcohol. I've also seen comments that
the plastic carboys will stain, which suggests to me that the plastic isn't as
inert as one might hope.
I do recall some discussion about using some kind of plastic bags (PET?) to
line the carboys which was claimed to work well, but I forget the details.
There is also a company that makes a plastic carboy that is supposed to be
specifically for brewing, and made from an inert, non oxidizing plastic. I
think it's an outfit called 'BetterBottle' or something like that. I haven't
tried them though as there didn't seem to be a local source for them, and they
cost about the same as glass via mail order.
> Subject: plastic carboys
> From: "Kirk Hansen" <khansen567@hotmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 05 Jul 2005 09:29:09 -0500
>
> I am a new subscriber and a first-time poster. I have reading the archives
> and trying to absorb as much information as possible. There is an incredible
<Much snippage>
> both) that prevents the oxidation problems. There seems to be a general
> avoidance of the use 5-gallon plastic water cooler jugs for secondary
> fermentation due the fact that they might allow oxidation. It seems to me,
> however, that they rate of oxidation would be extremely slow. I would doubt
> that these jugs would oxidize mead any more quickly than oaken barrels.
> Since plastic jugs are much cheaper than glass carboys I am considering
> experimenting with them. Has anyone experimented with these jugs in the
> past? Is there anything that I haven?t properly considered?
>
> Kirk Hansen
>
> ------------------------------
It should be fairly stable, but I'd be nervous about moving it in a sealed
container at that age, plus it probably could use more bulk aging anyhow. I'd
say to get a strong leakproof container (perhaps a plastic garbage can?) that
will hold the carboy with LOTS of padding. Replace the airlock with a long
hose going into a bottle of water packed alongside the carboy. Then clearly
emphasize to the movers, in writing with an acknowlegement signed by them,
that the container is fragile and absolutely MUST NOT be tipped (There is are
special indicator labels (one brand is called 'Tip & Tell') you can get which
show a permanent record if a container marked with one is tilted - I'd use
one...)
> Subject: moving mead
> From: Mike Grau <mikegrau@yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 09:16:43 -0700 (PDT)
>
> hi mead lovers-
> i have a batch of blueberry melomel that's been in the carboy for about 5
> months. about a month ago, i racked and added 3 more pounds of blueberries,
> which are still in there. now my dilemma: i will be moving from central
> pennsylvania to missouri in about three weeks. i can't see if the mead has
> cleared because of the dark color the blueberry addition has imparted. what
> should i do with the stuff? i am going to rack it again and check it for
> clarity, then if it's okay, bottle it up and take it with me. i'm just
> wondering if it's not clear, i wonder if i could still try bottling it, or if
> that would be unnecessarily dangerous. i can always give the batch away to a
> fellow homebrewer, but of course i'm reluctant to part with it. anyone have
> any
> suggestions?
> thanks!
> - -m
>
> ------------------------------
New question....
I have a friend who just gave me a bunch of boysenberries picked from a
neighboor's tree. It is just about a gallon ziplock full, but they haven't
been cleaned of leaves, twigs, etc. yet.
I have them currently in the freezer and plan to add them to a batch of simple
I currently have brewing. I was wondering though about what sort of ratio I
should use (Is one scant gallon of frozen berries enough, for a five gallon
batch of mead, or do I need to add more.)
Also I haven't done anything with boysenberries before, are they good
straight, or should I mix them with some other sorts of berries?
Lastly, how fanatical do I need to be about getting rid of all the leaves and
such? I know that when doing grapes, it is OK to leave some stems as they add
tannins. What about boysenberry leaves?
Thanks,
ART
------------------------------
Subject: Make It Stop!
From: "Randy Wallis" <vwbettle72@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 22:49:52 -0400
I have something that keeps fermenting no matter what I do. Couple months
ago I had a 3-gallon batch of muscadine melomel and a 5-gallon batch of
traditional. The 3-gallon was made with 1056 Ale Yeast and the 5-gallon is
Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast. Anyhow, a few months ago I received a free sample
of a little pack of something called ?Super Enzyme? (ingredients:
Malto-Dextrin, Pectic Enzyme) which said it was a clearing aid. Both of my
batches had quit fermenting at the time and were bulk aging. Well I had a
little haze in the muchidine so I figured I would add half of the pack of
the ?Super Enzyme? to it, well stupidly I added the other half to the
traditional. Well a couple days later both start bubbling again, very weak
but definite activity. Since I was about to start a strawberry melomel
with fresh Plant City strawberries in my primary and knew in about 3-weeks
I would need the 3-gallon carboy, I figured it was time to stop the show on
the three gallon and bottle, so I added Potassium Sorbate, a week later I
still had bubbles, so I figured maybe I had a strange wild yeast activity
going so I added Campen, week later still going. Well as a last resort I
froze it the night before bottling then thawed and bottled. Three weeks
later I found myself standing in my garage looking at the mess mead makes
when bottles are stored on their side and blow their corks, and I had
shrink-wrap on them. Anyhow, a month later the traditional is still going,
I sobated again and it still keeps going. I really want to stop it and
sweeten it but like I say it just keeps going. The taste is good, but
since this seems to be bending all the rules I worry if it keeps going it
is going to turn into vinegar or worst.
Randy Wallis
vwbettle72@earthlink.net
------------------------------
Subject: Re: moving mead
From: Charles Sifers <chazzone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 23:45:40 -0500
On Jul 6, 2005, at 11:03 AM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> Subject: moving mead
> From: Mike Grau <mikegrau@yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 09:16:43 -0700 (PDT)
>
> hi mead lovers-
> i have a batch of blueberry melomel that's been in the carboy for about 5
> months. about a month ago, i racked and added 3 more pounds of blueberries,
> which are still in there. now my dilemma: i will be moving from central
> pennsylvania to missouri in about three weeks. i can't see if the mead has
> cleared because of the dark color the blueberry addition has imparted. what
> should i do with the stuff? i am going to rack it again and check it for
> clarity, then if it's okay, bottle it up and take it with me. i'm just
> wondering if it's not clear, i wonder if i could still try bottling it, or if
> that would be unnecessarily dangerous. i can always give the batch away to a
> fellow homebrewer, but of course i'm reluctant to part with it. anyone
> have any suggestions?
> thanks!
> - -m
>
I wouldn't worry too much about it clearing. It'll do that in the
bottle, and you'll just need to take care in decanting. The most
important thing is to make sure the fermentation is complete, and
you'll just need to use your hydrometer for that.
Good luck on your move, and if you want, you can drop any extra
blueberry melomel off in Indianapolis...; )
- -zz
------------------------------
Subject: Braggot Recipe
From: "Adam Boyle" <adamtboyle@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:07:27 -0500
About ten digests ago someone had requested a Braggot recipe. Here is one I
just bottled a month ago, it turned out great!
1/2 lb. Carapils Malt
1/2 lb. Crystal 20 Malt
3lbs. Laaglander DME light
2 oz. Cascade hops
10 lbs. Clover/Wildflower Honey
2 tsp yeast nutrient
2 tsp east energizer
Lalvin D-47 yeast
1/2 c. honey (priming)
I made a 1 gallon starter for the yeast using two lbs. honey and water to a
gallon in an old water jug. It was ready after a couple weeks. Sooner if
you like but I wanted a strong yeast population.
For the must(wort) I put 2 gallons of water in a kettle and brought it to
around 155-165 degrees F. I steeped the grains for 1/2 hour. Then removed
the grains and tossed em. Add the DME next, remember to remove from the
burner and then stir in. I also added the hops at this point. I boiled the
must(wort) then for 1 hour. Last I removed the kettle from the burner and
added the honey(now would it technically be called must?). When it was
cool, I pitched the starter and added somewhere around 1 to 1 1/2 gallons
cold water.
Note: This was fermenting so fast five hours later that individual bubbles
could not be counted coming from the airlock. I brewed the batch on 5-21-05
and bottled it on 06-05-05. As soon as most of the honey for priming was
converted this brew was awesome, Ive drank half of it in a month. Would be
gone if the girlfriend liked my brews. Shes stuck on Bud Light, must come
from growing up in the sticks of Minnesota?
Hope whoever asked for a Braggot recipe likes this one,
- -Adam
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1198
*******************************
