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Mead Lovers Digest #1238
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1238, 1 January 2006
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1238 1 January 2006
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
frozen apple juice ("Jonathan Bastian")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1237, 26 December 2005 (Phil)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1237, 26 December 2005 (Michael Faul)
Maltodextrin is NOT a non-fermentable sugar (to Dick Adams) (docmac9582@ao...)
Re: Controlling Alcohol in Mead (Kenny Jacobs)
Zymurgy -- Mead Articles ("Dan McFeeley")
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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A searchable archive is available at www.gotmead.com/mead-research/mld
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Subject: frozen apple juice
From: "Jonathan Bastian" <jonathan@bastian-net.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:45:10 -0500
Hi Everyone,
Hope all of you are having an enjoyable holiday, and best wishes to the New
Year!
My question is not exactly mead related, but it is a wine making question,
since this is the only list I subscribe, perhaps someone can be of
assistance.
The first week in Dec. a friend gave me a 50 gallon drum of pure
non-pastured or preserved apple juice. I was just far too busy to do
anything with it, so it got stuck outside in the freezer. It's been frozen
90% of the time. Specific gravity was around 1.6, my hope was to add sugar
and bring up my alcohol content. Yesterday I final had some time and cracked
the drum.... wow I guess it started to go! It is currently a 50 gallon
slushy. I still would like to salvage the juice and bring up the alcohol
content if possible? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Jonathan
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1237, 26 December 2005
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 11:26:20 -0800 (PST)
Re: Commercial racking
> Could some of the commercial people explain how they rack? Is it done?
> How often? What is the process? It would be interesting to hear the way
> the commercial people do it.
Commercial meaderies, much like commercial breweries usually use conical
fermenting tanks. The sediment falls to the bottom of the tank where
it is removed through a valve. The batch remains in the same fermenter;
the sediment does not.
Phil
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1237, 26 December 2005
From: Michael Faul <mfaul@rabbitsfootmeadery.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 19:59:38 -0800
Racking for me is a bit different. It depends on which tank I a
fermenting in. I have two 3000 gallon sloped bottom, one 1000 gallon
sloped bottom and three 450 gallon conical bottom tanks.
With the 3000 gallon tanks I'll normally 'rack' from one tank to the
other once before filtration and bottling.
With the 1000 gallon tank I rack or filter into the 450's
With the 450's I simply drain off the sediment from the bottom of the cone.
How often do I rack? Well that depends on the mead. I typically ferment
in under 10 days. 7 being the usual. Then I filter and bulk age.
Mike
mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> Subject: Commercial Racking
> From: runedog@grandecom.net
> Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:11:45 -0600
>
> Greetings,
> Could some of the commercial people explain how they rack? Is it done?
> How often? What is the process? It would be interesting to hear the way the
> commercial people do it.
> CEN
------------------------------
Subject: Maltodextrin is NOT a non-fermentable sugar (to Dick Adams)
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:02:25 -0500
Beware, maltodextrin is non-fermentable, and gives a nice mouth-feel to
root beer and has many other uses. However, it is NOT a non-fermentable
sugar or sweetener. If you look at the FDA classification, maltodextrin
is SPECIFICALLY listed as a non-sweetener, for good reason. If you
taste it, maltodextrin has a very slightly sweet taste, but it would
take significant quantities to provide any sweetener effect. What you
really want may not an "artificial sweetener" such as the high intensity
sweeteners including aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, or saccharin.
Better are are the POLYOLs, such as xylitol, sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol,
maltitol, and so forth. My favorite of these (when trying to make a sweet,
non-fermentable raspberry ale to bottle commercially without making bottle
bombs) is the xylitol because it is able to be substituted one for one
for sugar and has a flavor profile very close to sucrose. When it has
crystals (in non-liquid products), the xylitol crystals dissolve in the
mouth giving a slightly cooling effect (e.g. chewing gum). But in any case,
maltodextrin will NOT make good non-fermentable sugar.
Carl McMillin, PhD
Scientist
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Controlling Alcohol in Mead
From: Kenny Jacobs <meadmaster71@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 07:29:09 -0800 (PST)
I just wanted to thank everyone for the great responses to my question.
I still have a lot to learn. I feel like I learned more from the last
several issues of the Mead Digest than I have since I began 2 years ago.
Ken Jacobs
Daphne, AL.
------------------------------
Subject: Zymurgy -- Mead Articles
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 09:09:43 -0600
Two new articles on mead in the latest Zymurgy!
"T'ej Ethiopa's Imperial Mead" by Chris O'Brien was a feature article,
covering some of the history of T'ej as a royal drink and the author's
experiences with T'ej in contemporary Ethiopia.
This was a good article and touched on some of the cultural aspects
of T'ej that are little known here in the USA. For instance, T'ej is
traditionally served in "birille," a vase shaped glass with a narrow neck.
It is filled to the brim so the drinker can quickly flip out any bits of
honeycomb floating on the surface.
Unfortunately, in many circles the age old tradition of T'ej seems to
have fallen on hard times. The author notes that some producers of T'ej
might supplement the honey with sugar, putting out a product that is the
drink of choice for those who can little afford it. Not all have fallen
to these standards. Some, like Ato Dereje, are making efforts to produce
a quality beverage that echoes the ancient traditions of T'ej making.
Again, a good article, but for a really well rounded perspective on T'ej, I
would strongly suggest taking a look at the article written by Miriam Kresh
(also an MLD subscriber) on GotMead (http://www.gotmead.com) titled "Tej:
Ancient Honey Beer." Go to the home page, scroll down and you'll see it.
Read both articles and you'll see a broadened picture of T'ej in Ethiopia.
A shorter article was by Charlie Papazian in his regular column World of
Worts titled "Letting the Genie out of the Bottle." This was a tasting
review of an extremely rare mead -- a sack metheglin made by Col. Robert
Gayre in 1944. A nice article, but even nicer if you have old copies
of Zymurgy at hand. Dig out vol. 22/no 4, July/August 1999, turn to
Charlie's World of Worts "Castles and Mead" and read about his visit to
Gayre's castle in Scotland, where he obtained the 1944 sack metheglin.
Nice to see the coverage of the mead scene in Zymurgy, and even more
interesting considering what it says about the brewing scene. Brewers are
more than people who love beer, they are Zymurgists, interested in the
general lore of fermented beverages and the cuisine and culture associated
with them. Brewers brew, but they also vint, make cider and mead, and
explore the traditions behind these beverages.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
"Meon an phobail a thogail trid an chultur"
(The people's spirit is raised through culture)
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1238
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