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Mead Lovers Digest #1283
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1283, 5 October 2006
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1283 5 October 2006
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Filtering Mead (dan@geer.org)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1282, 28 September 2006 ("A. J. Rawls")
Re: /buon Vino Superjet (Eric Drake)
Herbs for Metheglins ("Timothy Maxey")
Split Rock 2006 HB Competition - Great Brews of America ("Al Hazan")
Jim and Morisa Racking (Edward Martin)
Final reminder: Valhalla Mead Only Competition ("David Houseman")
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Filtering Mead
From: dan@geer.org
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:00:14 -0400
In reply to the question on filtering mead, as a beekeeper I can say that
filtering honey loses flavor and the anti-allergy properties of suspended
pollen. I suspect ya'll know this, but to be sure: Light honeys, which
are officially higher grade than dark, tend to granulate far faster than
dark honeys. In consequence, almost all store-bought light honeys have been
heated and filtered so that they stay liquid on the grocery store shelf.
A few honeys, notably tupelo and sourwood, tend to just never granulate.
I have found that purple loosestrife honey is very slow to crystallize and
has nice flavor -- I'm making mead with that now. Some honey will granulate
with the crystal precipitating out of solution leaving a body of liquid
over the solid; that body of liquid can sometimes support surface molds as
the sugar concentration falls (precipates out). My guess (guess) would
be that honey that crystallized in the form where a precipated separates
from a remaining liquid might need good pasteurization before mead is made.
Sorry if this is old, boring, and not news.
- --dan
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1282, 28 September 2006
From: "A. J. Rawls" <ajrawls@gci.net>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:00:48 -0800
Hi Dick:
I think a SuperJet is overkill for 5 - 10 gallons. I use a SuperJet and
find that I have to be careful not to introduce excess amounts of air. A
SuperJet empties out a 5 gallon carboy in a very short time and then will
suck air. Maybe you should consider a MiniJet.
Later,
A. J. Rawls
> Subject: Filtering Nead
> From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
> Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:16:38 -0400 (EDT)
>
> I bought out another home brewer at a fire sale price and am
> about to sell some the excess equipment so I can buy a Buon
> Vino Superjet Filter.
>
> My situation is that I make 200 gallons of Mead from September
> thru May. This is necessary so that production exceeds
> consumption.
>
> Som simple questions:
> 1) Is the Buon Vino Superjet the right tool for 5 to 10
> gallons at a time. If not, what is the best tool?
>
> 2) Where can I get the best price on a Buon Vino Superjet
> or what you think is the best tool?
>
> Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: /buon Vino Superjet
From: Eric Drake <drake.49@osu.edu>
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:46:57 -0400
At 09:02 PM 9/28/2006, you wrote:
>1) Is the Buon Vino Superjet the right tool for 5 to 10
> gallons at a time. If not, what is the best tool?
I have used the product with what I call success, but dealt with
issues along the way. First I'd like to mention I borrowed it from a
friend. It is a three filter plate style that runs in parallel. I
had imagined that running filters in series would be preferable, but
I have little experience with plate filters, so what do I know? There
are two screws at the bottom with hand grip attached, and I found
that it was hard to crank down the screws enough to limit leaking by
using hand power. I got out my robo-grips and finished the
job. While hand-cranking I managed to cut myself on a worm drive
hose clamp that my friend had added to it on the high pressure side
of the pump to replace a plastic hose clamp that wasn't performing up
to expectations. I returned it and got my friend one of those rubber
strap wrenches (to avoid tearing up the handles on the screws) for
Christmas. So I am saying it can be made to work, but I found it not
up to snuff out of the box. I apologize for not being able to
recommend a better tool.
Thanks,
Eric
------------------------------
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 ½ 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: Split Rock 2006 HB Competition - Great Brews of America
From: "Al Hazan" <hazan@ptd.net>
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2006 11:03:35 -0400
Subject: Split Rock 2006 HB Competition - Great Brews of America
This is the second announcement for the homebrew competition to be held on
Saturday, November 18th, at the Split Rock Resort in Pennsylvania's Pocono
Mountains, which is held in conjunction with their annual Great Brews of
America - Micro Brew Festival.
This is a sanctioned competition judging all beer, mead and cider styles.
Entries should be shipped to The Resort at Split Rock, One Lake Drive, Lake
Harmony, PA 18624, Attention: Shelly Kalins Lutz, for receipt from November
6th to November 17th.
Entry fees of $5.00 per entry will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
By simply entering, you will be helping this charitable organization help
others. Checks should be made out to: The Resort At Split Rock.
Two (2) brown or green bottles with no markings are required. Please use
rubber bands to attach bottle labels. No tape, please. Any standard
homebrew competition entry and bottle identification forms, identifying the
brewer/brewers and the appropriate entry category/subcategory are
acceptable. The 2004 BJCP Style Guidelines will be used for this
competition. Get this from the BJCP web site at www.bjcp.org.
Judges are needed and they should contact me to secure a position. Judges
and Stewards can hand carry their entries if they pre-register with payment.
All judges and stewards are required to be present by 8:30, so we can get
started promptly at 9am. Judges will receive an entry to the beer festival
or entry to the beer dinner for their efforts and need to indicate which
they wish when they commit to participate.
The BOS winner will receive a complementary weekend for two at next year's
Split Rock Beer Fest, as well.
More information is available at the Split Rock web site:
http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/.
<http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/>
Al Hazan
Competition Organizer
hazan@ptd.net
------------------------------
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: Final reminder: Valhalla Mead Only Competition
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman@verizon.net>
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:58:57 -0400
This is the final reminder and call for judges for the Valhalla - The Meading
of Life mead-only competition, October 14, 2007, at the Iron Hill Restaurant
and Brewery in West Chester, PA. All mead styles from the BJCP 2004 Style
Guidelines will be judged. Entries are due by October 7th. Mail entries
(one 12oz bottle larger bottle) can be sent to Home
Sweet Homebrew (www.homesweethomebrew.com). Drop off locations locally at
Home Sweet Homebrew, Keystone Homebrew Supply, Iron Hill West Chester, Brew
Your Own Beer-Winemaking Too!, and Wine, Barley & Hops Homebrew Supply.
Additional information can be found at www.valhalla-mead.com. Contact
Suzanne McMurphy (mcmurphy@mail.med.upenn.edu) or Tim Ackerson
(Theimann@verizon.net) for answers to questions about this competition.
Judges and stewards should contact David Houseman
(david.houseman@verizon.net) to judge this event.
A number have contacted me; that's great, but we still need a few more.
Judges should be at Iron Hill West Chester by 9:00 am. We will conduct a
brief mead judging refresher course for judges prior to the beginning of
juding.
Directions can be found at www.ironhillbrewery.com.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1283
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