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Mead Lovers Digest #1297
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1297, 12 January 2007
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1297 12 January 2007
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Meadllennium 2007 ("OCurrans")
heating honey and braggot ("Spencer W. Thomas")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1296, 7 January 2007 (MichaelMaitland@aol.com)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1296, 7 January 2007 ("John Mealey")
Re: braggot, attempt two ("J Bailey")
milk (circle mouse)
NOTE: Digest appears when there is enough material to send one.
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Subject: Meadllennium 2007
From: "OCurrans" <OCurrans@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 07:57:18 -0500
What: The first Mead-Only competition of 2007. There are just five Mead-Only
competitions in the USA. We are the oldest, and some even say the "most
prestigious." For 2007, we have added a category for Historical Meads. This
is for the meadmaker that prefers to make his or her mead using ancient
recipes, and without the help of modern adjuncts. If you belong to the SCA
(Society for Creative Anachronism) this will be a familiar category. Their
help was instrumental in creating this category.
When: January 27, 2007. The deadline to get your meads to us is January 21.
Online registration and payment is available, and encouraged. (It cuts down
on errors registering your meads.)
Where: The University of Central Florida and the Rosen College of
Hospitality Management are allowing us to use their multi-million dollar
facility to evaluate your meads. The wine lab was designed, from the ground
up, specifically for wine evaluation, and we are thrilled to be evaluating
your meads there.
Why: Provide the home-meadmaker the very best evaluation of their mead, and
offer informative feedback about the qualities of their mead. AND, THERE ARE
ALSO OUR BEAUTIFUL AND DISTINCTIVE PRIZES.
How: Some of the best mead judges in the country will be here to evaluate
your meads. We are proud to have a number of BJCP National, Master and Grand
Master ranked judges and a wine sommelier to help us this year. And, the
Alliance of Sommeliers has graciously loaned their special, lead-crystal,
glasses to us again this year.
How Much: Still only $6.00 per entry
The BEST FACILITIES, the BEST JUDGES and the BEST TOOLS equal the BEST
Mead-Only competition for you to send your meads.
Check all the details, and find the forms at the new MEADLLENNIUM web page:
www.cfhb.org/mead
Howard Curran
Organizer - Meadllennium 2007
------------------------------
Subject: heating honey and braggot
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <hbd@spencerwthomas.com>
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:44:08 -0500
Dick Adams says "If you got the honey from a beekeeper, you should heat
it." without any supporting evidence. So, Dick, why?
I have always just added hot water to the honey (or vice versa) to get a
target temperature of about 160 to pasteurize the must before pitching.
But others I respect don't heat at all.
As for braggots, who says they have to have hops? I've had excellent
braggots with no hops. The only required ingredients in a braggot are
honey and malt.
=Spencer in Ann Arbor
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1296, 7 January 2007
From: MichaelMaitland@aol.com
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 10:07:12 EST
I made a vanilla cinnamon mead using about 1 full vanilla bean per gallon
and about 1 to 1/2 full cinnamon sticks (5 inches) per gallon. I can't really
taste the vanilla, but even a year later it seems like that was a bit too
much cinnamon. I like it because it has a "warming" effect while you drink it.
I added the cinnamon and vanilla at the start, and let it stay until the
first racking (4-6 weeks)
In a message dated 1/8/2007 1:07:37 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mead-request@talisman.com writes:
Subject: Adding vanilla and cinnamon - How much per gallon?
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 23:07:59 -0500 (EST)
The following question was received via email:
> I would like a sweet mead and want to split this into two
> batches, one straight and one vanilla/cinammon... but don't
> know how much or when to put the vanilla/cinammon in.
I have never used either. Does anyone have a per gallon range?
Better yet, does anyone know a URL for these two and others?
There are obviously numerous variables. My inclination would
be to add an ounce of vanilla to 5 gallons and test it a few
days later - but then I'm big on Quality Assurance Testing.
I did reply that I would add them to the second racking. When
I reply again, I will tell him to add them to the carboy so the
Mead is racked onto them.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1296, 7 January 2007
From: "John Mealey" <Mealey@grandschools.org>
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 10:38:34 -0700
I recently bottled a batch of vanilla mead [my first try at using vanilla].
It's been a big hit with everyone with whom I've shared it.
I started with 12 lbs of clover honey using D-47 yeast for a 5 gallon batch.
It was fermented dry after 2 months. I racked it into a clean carboy and
added 6 fresh vanilla beans that I had split lengthwise. I left it in this
carboy until it cleared [about 4 months] and then bottled.
It isn't a sweet mead, but the amount of vanilla flavor is perfect. When it
first hits your tongue you think cr=E8me soda and then it's not sweet.
Keep Laughing,
John
<original message>
Subject: Adding vanilla and cinnamon - How much per gallon?
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 23:07:59 -0500 (EST)
The following question was received via email:
> I would like a sweet mead and want to split this into two batches, one
> straight and one vanilla/cinammon... but don't know how much or when
> to put the vanilla/cinammon in.
I have never used either. Does anyone have a per gallon range?
Better yet, does anyone know a URL for these two and others?
There are obviously numerous variables. My inclination would be to add
an ounce of vanilla to 5 gallons and test it a few days later - but then
I'm big on Quality Assurance Testing.
I did reply that I would add them to the second racking. When I reply
again, I will tell him to add them to the carboy so the Mead is racked
onto them.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: braggot, attempt two
From: "J Bailey" <jbmail@isomedia.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 18:02:21 -0800
I lurk on this list, but had to come out of hiding to comment. How cool to
come across another Early Irish Farming reader who also brews braggot! I've
only done 2 small braggot batches so far, one plain basic recipe and one
with nettles (used an ounce of some leftover hops from the fridge). Maybe a
gruit type herb/mix would be period for early Ireland.
http://www.gruitale.com/intro_en.htm
Anyway, I look forward to the responses to this question, as I want to try
more historically accurate recipes myself.
- --Joanna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Green Branch - Politics, news, sustainability, self-sufficiency, alternative
discussion forum.
www.7trees.org/phpbb Brand new - help us grow!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: braggot, attempt two
From: "John P. Looney" <valen@tuatha.org>
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 22:35:01 +0000
OK, so thanks to some of the advice on list, I made 10 gallons of rather
excellent braggot. All that's needed now is to fine-tune the recipe to my
taste. I went with a caramel malt, so it came out like a full-bodied ale,
that ended up with a light aftertaste.
However, a slightly different question for those that like their ancient
history...Fergus Kelly's excellent 'Early Irish Farming' book details how
Ocáire (cow herds with a small land grant) were expected to give their lords
a certain amount of 'food rent'. These foods included barley, malted barley,
and honey. Their lord/king would then use some of that to make braggot. The
idea would be that he would then throw parties where braggot would be given
away; hospitality was the main way to gain status in early Irish society.
He doesn't offer an idea of how to make a braggot however - hops weren't
introduced to Irish brewing in the second millenium, I think. How important
are hops to a braggot ? Could I use some other flower with anti-bacterial
properties, like heather ? Sound historical references for any suggestions
would be appreciated.
John
------------------------------
Subject: milk
From: circle mouse <circlemouse@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 09:34:23 -0800 (PST)
so, I went ahead and started a milk mead. here's my recipe:
1.75 gallons well water
local raw blackberry honey to 1.100 gravity
.5 gallon raw goat milk from a dairy down the road
ec-1118
with the milk, I measured 1.090 gravity. started 12.11.2006. at first
racking on 12.29.2006, gravity was 1.008. a taste reminded me of zotz,
a sour and fizzy candy that I liked growing up. I suspect that the lactose
did indeed sour, as somebody mentioned it might, but I'm rather pleased with
the result so far. I strained out the curds, hung them up in cheesecloth for
a couple hours and have been using the result on bagels like cream cheese.
tasty to me, though one friend nearly vomited when she tried some.
tel
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1297
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