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Mead Lovers Digest #1284
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1284, 12 October 2006
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1284 12 October 2006
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
competition announcements (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
Re: Jim and Morisa Racking (Edward Martin) ("Jim Fleming")
Re: Jim and Morisa Racking (Marc Shapiro)
Silicon Valley Mead Tasting ("Daryl Fox")
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1283, 5 October 2006 ("Len Wenzel")
filtering mead ("diane denis")
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 at www.gotmead.com/content/category/9/43/69/
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Subject: competition announcements
From: mead-request@talisman.com (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 21:28:12 -0600 (MDT)
Please, if you're announcing a competition here, plan to limit yourselves
to no more than TWO announcements for any given event. Make it one well
in advance and one close to the entry deadline.
You need to realize that (1) the digest is worldwide, so a lot of folks
couldn't enter even if they wanted to, and (2) a lot of people have no
interest in competitions even if they -could- enter. So you've got a
limited audience.
I'll start checking competition announcements after this and I'll follow
the two-notice rule.
(And don't even THINK about a shill posting sub-rosa re-announcement for
a competition. We had one of those a couple years ago and it REALLY
over-torqued some folks.)
da janitor
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Jim and Morisa Racking (Edward Martin)
From: "Jim Fleming" <flemingjim1953@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 04:43:40 -0400
Ed and the rest of you wonderful Folks...
Well.... We guess we've committed the most common sin of winemaking
and winemakers...
Specifically not enough patience...!
We've bottled our mead back on 06 Oct 06... It's a very clear,
(surprisingly enough!) light golden brew. The taste is very "orangish"
but amazingly hot with alcohol. When we first made the must on 17 July
06 we didn't have a hydrometer, just like the ancient folks didn't.
And we also forgot to measure the SG when we bottled it. It's actually
pretty good so far, and considering how young it is.
We just can't get over how friendly you mead lovers have been! We're
also highly impressed with how knowledgeable you folks are! At first
when we started reading the archives, (dating back to 1992) we got the
impression that we were going to be doing a lot of catching up, now we
know it's not the case!
We're going to wait for a few months to try the Ancient Orange
again... Meanwhile, we're making other wines, and over the winter Jim
has decided that we're going to make at least one five gallon batch,
(he'd prefer three!) of simple sweet show mead... We just got a nice
looking recipe from E. C. Krauses Mailing list. (They call it Honey
Wine... Heh!)
Thanks Folks, we appreciate it, and we are trying to gain patience everyday...
Take Care,
Jim & Morisa
> Subject: Jim and Morisa Racking
> From: Edward Martin <kitkatnedrat@sbcglobal.net>
> Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 17:40:42 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Hi Jim & Morissa,
>
> I always viewed racking as an ongoing process. I might rack my meads up
> to 5 times a year. Evertime you rack you get rid of some of the yeast.
> The settling process takes weeks to months. The closer the cane gets to the
> bottom will ensure sucking up more yeast. Just try to be patient and rack and
> rack till you can't rack no more -about 9-12 months when you first started.
>
> Remember you can't hurry the process and enjoy the cleansing process of
> your mead.
>
> Ed
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Jim and Morisa Racking
From: Marc Shapiro <mshapiro_42@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 08:33:58 -0700
Edward Martin <kitkatnedrat@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I always viewed racking as an ongoing process. I might rack my meads up
>to 5 times a year. Evertime you rack you get rid of some of the yeast.
>The settling process takes weeks to months. The closer the cane gets to the
>bottom will ensure sucking up more yeast. Just try to be patient and rack and
>rack till you can't rack no more -about 9-12 months when you first started.
>
> Remember you can't hurry the process and enjoy the cleansing process of
>your mead.
>
I, too, am a firm believer in successive racking, as opposed to
filtering. I have found that usually, all that is necessary is three to
four rackings, not including the final bottling. Occaisionally a mead
will need more, but not too often. My first racking is usually a few
weeks after fermentation ends. The next, about a month later. Further
rackings are usually two to three months apart and may leave only a
paper thin layer of sediment. The result is somthing that I can read
standard black print on white paper through a five gallon carboy.
- --
Marc Shapiro
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.
What?! Look, somebody's got to have some damn perspective around here.
Boom. Sooner or later ... boom!
------------------------------
Subject: Silicon Valley Mead Tasting
From: "Daryl Fox" <rts.cts@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2006 14:03:35 -0700
[Sorry for the short notice... again.]
Once again, it's time for the semi-annual Silicon Valley Mead Experiment
Mead Tasting. We have 12 different meads (plus a few more if I manage to
hit Rabbit's Foot) and they all need to be tasted.
You can get a recap of the previous events at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingfox/sets/939097/
or
http://www.insanitech.com/mead/april2006.html
They planned date is: Saturday, October 14. (This coming Saturday)
Food (snacks) and mead will be provided, just bring yourself. Nothing too
formal here. Let me know if you are planning to attend and I'll forward you
the super secret location and directions (San Jose area).
- -Daryl
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1283, 5 October 2006
From: "Len Wenzel" <lenwenzel@cogeco.ca>
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 06:26:48 -0400
Hi Tim, was wondering what sort of quantities of mead were you making back
then, was it gallon, 2 gal, 5 gallon or? I have to tell you I don't boil my
honey, I find generally speaking that there is more flavour without boiling.
I was fascinated to discover that galangal root is a close cousin to ginger,
and like ginger it is well thought of as a food, and medicinal herb; now to
find some in my local asian market. (Hildegarde of Bingen used it in many of
her medicinal treatments.)
Len Wenzel
- ------------------------------
Subject: Herbs for Metheglins
From: "Timothy Maxey" <suttonwho@verizon.net>
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 07:46:06 -0400
Hello! I have been watching with interest the discussions on herbs for
metheglins, and I would like to put my two cents in. Two of my
favorites are rosemary and galangale root. Now, I used these back in
the early 90?s when I was still in the ?boil? phase, so my technique was
somewhat primitive. With both I just filled a stainless steel tea ball
with the herbs and suspended the herbs in the must for a =BD hour boil.
Couldn?t quibble with the results, however, and after sharing with
friends, it all vanished quickly. Rosemary in particular surprised me-
it was a sack metheglin, and the flavor and bouquet were?well, all I can
say is that the sum was greater than the parts. Tim Maxey
Sutton, WV
------------------------------
Subject: filtering mead
From: "diane denis" <gagnond@endirect.qc.ca>
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 01:03:29 -0400
I modified the filter,(buon vino)or rather added a 1/4 inch metal plate
behind the plastic plate in order to get even pressure throughout the
filters. With the plastic as back plate, I found that it bulged out in the
middle, decreasing efficiency quite a bit. Wetting the pads and filling
hoses before will get the job done nicely.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1284
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