Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1212
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1212, 10 September 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1212 10 September 2005
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
experimental piscamel results are in ! ("robscott@freeshell.org")
Beach plum melomel ("Elaine Cunningham")
Cranberry melomel? ("Elaine Cunningham")
Re: Beach plum melomel (Robert Keith Moore)
sand cherries (Dick Dunn)
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe/admin requests.
Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead
A searchable archive is available at www.gotmead.com/mead-research/mld
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: experimental piscamel results are in !
From: "robscott@freeshell.org" <robscott@freeshell.org>
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:46:20 +0000 (UTC)
I thought I had detected a studied disinterest for my March 28 questions
about raising fish and making mead in the same aquarium --- now I realize
that you mazers probably thought I was drunk. My hypothesis was that fish
manures would provide valuable fertilizer to the yeast, the aquarium
bubbler would keep O2 levels high, and the fish would get a nice honey
drink.
The result, instead, was 3 "piscamels" flavored by rotting fish.
Description follows.
I prepared three 15-gallon aquariums with 7 gallons of water, and 20
tilapia, bullnose catfish, and goldfish respectively. All fish were ~1oz.
and well acclimated to the aquarium environment. Next I added 3 gallons
(~30 lbs.) orange blossom honey to each for about 10 gallons total volume,
for an OG around 1.130. At this stage the tilapia and goldfish were
visibly distressed, trying to feed at the surface (?) I now suspect they
were dying of low dissolved oxygen, or honey poisoning or some shit.
Anyway, within 24 hours all the fish were dead, and I hadn't even added
the yeast! I made sure to put the fish in a nylon bag before proceeding. I
used Lalvin EC-1118 for a dry finish.
Fast-forward 2 months and I've got 30 gallons at FG~1.000 and I'm racking
off a huuge ammount of sediment (including scales, etc.) in what could
only be described as a nauseating siphoning process. With all the solids
removed, I had a sip. Tastes disgusting, but hey, all young meads are a
little rough, right?
The goldfish piscamel has some kind of jellyfish-like thing growing in it
and I think it is vinegarizing. Lovely dark brown and hazey.
The catfish were preserved by the alcohol (or something) and are now in a
large mason jar. I will donate them to science. The catfish piscamel is a
delightful pink.
The tilapia tastes the best of the three (still: horribly rancid) and is a
sort of swampy green.
If the goldfish batch becomes a balsamic-like vinegar, it might be the
only salvagable output of this disaster. I might try distilling the rest,
or selling it as a weapon to be used in the domain of smell. If you tried
to fight someone, and the catfish piscamel got on you, you might puke.
I will never ferment fish mead again!
Rob Scott
------------------------------
Subject: Beach plum melomel
From: "Elaine Cunningham" <elainecunningham@cox.net>
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 15:23:45 -0400
Ken,
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I'm looking forward to making the
melomel!
I have a couple of follow-up questions, if you don't mind. First, was 3
pounds the measurement of whole fruit, or did you pit them first? For
that matter, did you pit them at all?
Which leads me to a general question for the forum: how best to handle
stone fruit. I've read contradictory advice--leave the stones in, pit
the fruit. Any advice?
Many thanks,
Elaine
------------------------------
Subject: Cranberry melomel?
From: "Elaine Cunningham" <elainecunningham@cox.net>
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 15:27:16 -0400
Has anyone made a cranberry mead, and if so, would you be willing to share
your advice?
I'm planning to start with cranberry honey, as I absolutely love the flavor
of this variety and I'm interested to see what it brings to the mead. I
found a small apiary on Cape Cod that has bee hives on a cranberry bog
and sells raw cranberry honey at a very reasonable price.
Thanks!
Elaine
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Beach plum melomel
From: Robert Keith Moore <Rob@ineedachef.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:38:21 -0700
hey,
what is up with all the sulfite. The recipe sounds good except for the
chemicals. Was this a special occasion or do you always add sulfite like
that. WOW! I have been making wine and mead for over ten years and I
have only used sulfites once, and that was because of a Candida that
started growing in a rhubarb melomel. You should be adventurous and try
not sulfiting. :) What is sorbate for? How could that possibly a needed
ingredient?
I am always amazed at the use of all these chemicals in a beverage that
was being made since....... Did the Vikings use sorbate? Did the
ancient Ethiopians use sulfites? When I sit down and drink one of my 5
year old meads, I never missed the sulfites..
------------------------------
Subject: sand cherries
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 22:49:51 -0600
Ken Taborek asked...
> I'd like to know if Dick Dunn ever made his batch of sand cherry (Prunus
> besseyi) mead, and if so, how it turned out?
Sorry to have to admit that I haven't made it. The berries are in the
freezer still. I've been pulled by lower causes (keeping my day job)
and higher causes (cider) and just haven't gotten back to it.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1212
*******************************
