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Mead Lovers Digest #1242
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1242, 19 January 2006
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1242 19 January 2006
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
(Rodney Kindlund)
Re: How cold can it get? (Dick Adams)
Oxygen in the fermentation....... (Robert Keith Moore)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1241, 15 January 2006 ("Dennis Key")
Aronia mead? (PHREDLESS@aol.com)
Re: hydrometer vs refractometer (Eric Drake)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1241, 15 January 2006 (Patrick Devaney)
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Subject:
From: Rodney Kindlund <rodkraft@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:40:33 -0800 (PST)
A question for the group. Are there any competitions or mead judging in the
North Carolina area or on the east coast? I have been makign mead for a few
years and for the last four years hace concentrated more on "fine-tuning"
some of my recipes. I thought it might be time to enter some mead into
competition. Thanks in advance.........Rodney
- -----------------------------------------------------
Rodney Kindlund
Vulgar Viking Meads
rodney@rodkraftstudio.com
www.rodkraftstudio.com
'84 VW Wolfsburg Vanagon "VanGo"
'74 VW Super Beetle "No Name Yet"
------------------------------
Subject: Re: How cold can it get?
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:40:49 -0500 (EST)
Robert Keith Moore <Rob@ineedachef.com> asked:
> Here is a good one for you guys..
> My friend has all of his meads out in his garage. His unheated
> garage. I noticed the other day that the temp was 40 degrees.
> He has those stick on thermometers you attach on the outside of
> the carboys. Some of then still had little bubbles rising and
> some were 'still' with the fermentation locks sitting down
> instead of looking like they were trying to push through the
> top. How cold can the yeast get before it stops working and
> will it restart when it gets warm.
EC-1118 is rated by its producer, Lallemand, at 7C-35C (45F-95F).
See: http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/ec1118.html
There's a typo stating 39F-95F on one of Jack Keller's pages.
See: winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp
My interpretation is 45F-95F a recommended range. It's unlikely that
fermentation would cease at exactly 45F. I've had it continue for
several days at as low as 38F.
As for restarting upon warming, if you didn't freeze it, yes.
If you froze it, maybe/maybe not.
> I must add that they are all crystal clear, even the reds look
> great when we shine a light thru the carboy. Does the cold
> help the clarification?
It causes the yeast to drop to the bottom of the carboy if it's
cold enough long enough.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Oxygen in the fermentation.......
From: Robert Keith Moore <Rob@ineedachef.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 17:35:21 -0800
Hi,
At what point in the fermentation does oxygen have a bad effect on
the mead. Would the yeast do better if you oxygenated with a stone
before pitching and then once or twice a day for the first few days.
Thanks,
Robert
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1241, 15 January 2006
From: "Dennis Key" <dione13@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 09:34:20 -0700
> Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1240, 10 January 2006
> From: lazurus106@aol.com
> Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:12:49 -0500
>
> Greetings Kinsman,
>
> My thoughts on the labeling dates I sometimes will give more than one date
> particularly when it has bulk aged for more than a year I may give a month
> year of the start of the mead and a bottle date to help document that that
> helps me keep track of the differences in the end product without digging
> out my notes.
> Do what is useful to you, its nice to have a a beautiful label when you
> are gifting it to friends. but don't limit your documentation to what you
> see on commercial labels. I know a fellow who prints the federal warning
> labels on his wine. It just might be more accurate to just put scarry
> stuff on the front ;).
> He trys things that make even me shudder. Caterpillar wine !
> Just some thoughts,
> Dutch
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Reply to Better or Not & Labels
> From: "Randy Wallis" <vwbettle72@earthlink.net>
> Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:04:30 -0500
>
Labels: I always put, "Bottled on -----" on my labels as well as "Contains
Sulfites." I don't actually add sulfites to the must but I use it for
sanitizing and one can never be sure how sensitive an allergic person may
be.
Dione Greywolfe
Dragonweyr, NM
AKA Dennis Key
------------------------------
Subject: Aronia mead?
From: PHREDLESS@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 13:30:26 EST
Hello fellow meadmakers,
It's been a couple years since I made mead. I admit, I've sinned.
I moved to an area with plenty of high-quality grapes, and decided to
plant some myself. Since they've been bearing well, I didn't touch honey.
But now, a friend has gotten into mead-making and has been asking questions
and wanting to split honey purchases (we get it cheaper in 50# batches).
I've always loved melomels, and with three quickly growing aronia bushes,
I find myself thinking more about them as something that might make a
fine brew. Since each bush is producing 20-30 pounds of juicy berries,
I could almost use it strictly as the liquid. Does anyone have recipes for
aronia mead? I couldn't find any searching the internet or my mead books.
And, one problem, is that it some parts it's called black chokecherry,
black chokeberry, or just plain old chokecherry. Since there are a lot
of fruits called "Chokecherry," mostly in the prunus family, I can't be
sure of the chokecherry recipes I've found. They mostly don't use the
scientific name for the fruit being used. The bushes I have are Aronia
nigra also known as Aronia melanocarpa. Any ideas are welcome
Thanks
Doug Thomas
Northern California
------------------------------
Subject: Re: hydrometer vs refractometer
From: Eric Drake <drake.49@osu.edu>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 07:40:18 -0500
>At 06:13 PM 1/15/2006, you wrote:
>Subject: Subject: Re:hydrometer vs refractometer
>From: Robert Keith Moore <Rob@ineedachef.com>
>Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:49:59 -0800
>
>O.K.,
>Then lets discuss some of these other tools. Which is the better thing
>to use when it comes to PH and acidity? PH meter, litmus or PH paper,
>indicator solution? What then is best? At what point does the PH change
>that we should be concerned about it?
>
>Thanks
>Robert
I have bought litmus papers before and had them be duds. This has
lead me to distrust them. I also find the ambiguity of comparing
colors to an answer key colors my opinion of test strips. I have
never used indicator solution.
I purchased a PH meter from Hannah (testing equipment co... not a
personal friend). It is a little more difficult to use approaching
what some may say is a pain in the a**. It must be calibrated each
time you use it, calibration requires special test solutions, and it
must be stored with it's probe wet. I only concern myself with PH
when I know something is wrong, so going through all this does seem
worth it to me on the rare occasions in which I need it. I like to
keep my PH in the 3.7-4.2 range, and have only seen it get as low as 3.2.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1241, 15 January 2006
From: Patrick Devaney <damien777@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 06:34:47 -0800 (PST)
Hi Everyone,
Has anyone here sterilized their bottles in the dishwasher using bleach?
If so, any tips would be helpful. Would you suggest it to others? I'm
trying to speed up the process and now that I have a nice new dishwasher,
I wanted to give this method a try. Any advice?
Thanks!
Patrick
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1242
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