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Mead Lovers Digest #1302
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1302, 29 January 2007
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1302 29 January 2007
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Novice Mead Maker needs advice ("robert.white4")
critique of "Basic Mead Recipe" (Dick Dunn)
Re: High alcohol fermentation (Was: Re: Question for any Lalvin K1-V111 (D...)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1301, 27 January 2007 (dan@geer.org)
High alcohol/low temperature fermentation (Phil)
(no subject) (TSeastrom@aol.com)
Lavender Mead (Jason Batey)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1301, 27 January 2007 (Dick Adams)
Novice Mead Maker needs advice ("robert.white4")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Novice Mead Maker needs advice
From: "robert.white4" <robert.white4@insightbb.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:19:56 -0500
To All of the Merry Mead Makers,
I have a couple of questions;
1. I started a 5 gallon batch of Pear Mead. My process was to rack 4
gallons of mead on to 1 gallon of pear juice (perry) after the primary
fermentation. This process turned my 5 gallon carboy instantly into a
volcano of foam! And by that I don't mean it exploded like a
"bottle-bomb" but the foam was coming faster than the mead was going in.
What could have caused that? I'm not aware of any chemical reactions
that would have caused it and I wasn't pushing the mead through a pump,
just a simple siphon.
2. I also started a simple Buckwheat Honey Mead. I used Ken Schramm's
basic recipe from "The Compleat Meadmaker" substituting the orange
blossom honey with buckwheat honey and substituting the Lalvin71b-1122
with Wyeast's Sweet Honey Mead smack-pack. I had a very good primary
fermentation and the secondary fermentation started but stopped after
about 12 hours. This has happened a few times in the past and I usually
re-pitch a stronger yeast and everything works out. I just wonder why
the Wyeast peters out 50% of the time.Does anyone else have this problem?
Thanks,
Rob W.
------------------------------
Subject: critique of "Basic Mead Recipe"
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:29:07 -0700
Jim (and Morissa) Fleming <flemingjim1953@gmail.com> posted a mead recipe
in the last digest...said they'd obtained it from "E C Kraus Inc."
Well, YMMV and de gustibus non disputandum and all that, but this looks
like a mead recipe from the bad old days. I -STRONGLY- suggest some
changes before you try this recipe...things we've learned over the years.
This is definitely NOT a criticism of the Flemings (who after all were only
posting a recipe given them), but it IS a criticism of the advice they've
been given.
> For 5 Gallons Of Mead:
>
> * 13 Pounds of Honey <--- we used processed honey, it's simpler this way.
> * 2 Tablespoons Yeast Energizer
That is a lot of nutrient for right at the start. Also, see Ken Schramm's
book on "energizer" vs "nutrient", and be sure you know which you're
getting since some shops still don't label their ingredients carefully (or,
more to the point, they repackage with a poor label).
> * 6 Tablespoons Acid Blend
Yow! or Pucker! That is (a) an enormous amount of acid, and (b) added at
the wrong time. If you use this much, the taste of the acid blend will be
the dominant taste of the mead! If you don't believe me, try this easy
test: mix 1/4 tsp of acid blend into a cup of water and taste it. That's
about the same concentration. This amount of acid is approximately the
same as you'd get from a moderately tart apple juice (for the nerds, about
4 g/l).
The corrections here are, first, that you don't need a lot of acid to pick
up the character of a traditional mead; you might not need any at all.
Second, you don't want the acid in the must at the start, because the poor
buffering of a mead must means you'll plunge the pH way below what the
yeast wants. Oh, they'll survive, and probably prosper, but they won't
like it.
> * 1 Teaspoon Wine Tannin
My own bias is not to use this stuff, at all, never again, nosiree, been
there done that didn't like it. But you may find that a traditional mead,
especially from a light or processed honey, could benefit from a touch of
tannin. The trouble is that "wine tannin" as you'll find it in a home
brew/wine shop is not very nice stuff. Yes, it contains the tannins you'd
like in a mead, but it is not "clean" or refined in any sense. It has a
"dark" taste...I don't know how else to describe it. Again, if you don't
know the characteristic, mix up an appropriate dilution and taste it.
I have tried this stuff in various meads and a couple ciders. I don't use
it. I keep a little container around because (a) I had it left over, (b)
I can mix up a bit to let people taste it and thereby decide not to use it,
and (c) I have some stupid hope that I might find a use for it.
This type of tannin is not extracted from a second pressing of Mouton
Rothschild, nor even Opus One. Rather, it is made from stems and/or
pips (seeds) of whatever grapes are available.
I recommend that you try your first mead without it. Then, if you're a
wine drinker and you understand the effect of a lack of tannin, try no more
than 1/4 tsp in 5 gallons of mead.
> * 5 Campden Tablets
What on earth for? This, along with the huge amount of acid, will
certainly stop any wild yeast, bacteria, mold, etc. But it doesn't take
anywhere near that much sulfiting to do the job. Moreover, a straight mead
isn't a particularly inviting medium for spoilage organisms in the first
place. You shouldn't need it. Many, if not most, meadmakers never touch
sulfites.
By the way, there is a fable that a Campden tablet per gallon gives 50 ppm
sulfite. Well, that's a standard Campden tablet and an imperial gallon.
A standard tablet in a US gallon would give 60 ppm, and some of the
misbegotten Campden tablets from US suppliers will go close to 90 ppm,
which is absurdly high. Aside from the "badditive" debate, if you get a
lot of sulfite and especially if it doesn't get bound up (which in a mead
it won't) you're going to taste it...and it is -not- a pleasant taste.
"Sharp" and "acrid" come to mind.
> * NOTE: If unprocessed honey is being used, it would be best to first
> cut the honey with water then heat it on the stove to about 180
> degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 5 minutes. This is to allow the
> pollen, wax and bits of bee to float to the top so that
> you can skim them off before using the honey in a recipe.
This is a backwards process...I know Jim and Morissa are new here, but
I thought the community would be able to give them better advice.
Specifically, in this case you want to boil the water and -then- add
the honey (*IF* you choose to heat-treat). That minimizes the cooking
time of the honey. Also, even with unprocessed honey, unless the beekeeper
was rather nonchalant, you won't have much grunge in the honey.
...
> - - Basic Process
...
> 1. Mix together all the ingredients listed above, EXCEPT for the
> yeast, in an open container (primary fermenter). Be sure to crush and
> dissolve the Campden Tablets. Cover with a light towel and
> let sit for 24 hour.
A *TOWEL*?!?!? OK, now we know why we need Campden tablets for this
recipe! (That's (a) to protect it against the gross exposure to
contaminants and (b) to protect it against severe oxidation!:-) No.
Don't -create- the problem and you don't need to -solve- it.
You don't need an open fermenter for a traditional mead; it's not that
rambunctious. You can start in a carboy. Or if you use a "pail" type
fermenter, use a lid with a fermentation lock.
> 2. After 24 hours, add one package of Lalvin ICV-D47 Yeast and allow
> to ferment 4 to 5 days or until your hydrometer reads around 1.030 to
> 1.040 on the Specific Gravity scale.
How about rehydrating the yeast (per the directions on the package)?
(skipping comment on steps (3) racking and (4) secondary fermentation,
except to note that if you have a multi-month secondary, you should use
glass rather than plastic)
> 5. Once the Mead has completely cleared, siphon it into a clean
> container and add a second dose of Campden Tablets at the rate of 1
> tablet per gallon. It is then ready to be bottled and aged.
This latter dose of Campden tablets is way over the top. Realize that
the number of people who -seem- to be sulfite-sensitive is much smaller
than the number who actually -are- so sensitive...many of the wine-type
reactions are actually to histamines or other problems. Nevertheless,
some folks are sensitive, and one way to hit them is an addition of
sulfites at the end of fermentation (where they won't be bound up).
In the worst-case badly-formulated Campden tablets, 90 ppm at the start
and 90 ppm before bottling is actually pushing the 200 ppm limit in the
law--not that you worry about that law if you're not a commercial producer,
but don't you think the legal limit on this point is something you don't
even want to -approach- if you're trying to make a quality mead?
A tiny addition of sulfite could help deter oxidation if a mead is going
to be aged for a long time (say more than five years). But good handling
is the better preventive here. Use at most -one- tablet (not one per gallon)
at this point, and bottle carefully.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: High alcohol fermentation (Was: Re: Question for any Lalvin K1-V111
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 04:26:49 -0500 (EST)
Dick Adams writes:
If you want an ABV of 15% plus, do the following:
- - Use twice as much yeast as the recipe indicates. That's usually
two packs of 5 grams up to 6 gallons and 3 packs for 7.5 gallons.
- - Add 1 tsp of yeast nutrient per gallon on the following
schedule.
* 1/2 of the yeast nutrient after pitching;
* 1/4 of the yeast nutrient 3 hours after pitching; and
* 1/2 of the yeast nutrient wheb the SG drops by 1/3.
- - Saturate the must with oxygen for 90 seconds after you add the
first dose of yeast nutirent.
- - Stir the must daily until you pitch the last dose of yeast
nutrient.
- - Cold ferment at 50F to 59F (10C to 15C) or as cold as your yeast
can take it.
============================================================
Bill Pierce replies:
This advice seems sound to me, save for the last point.
Dick, why do you recommend cold fermentation? This is
counterintuitive, as logic would suggest that warm or
at least the recommended temperature (70 - 75 F) would
increase the yeast metabolism and encourage more
complete fermentation.
============================================================
Three things kill yeast: Sugar starvation, Alcohol toxicity,
and Heat. Sugar starvation is good because it represents a
complete fermentation. Alcohol toxicity is inversely
related to heat which means if you want to increase the
alcohol toxicity threshold, you should decrease the
temperature of the must.
I have a fermentation fridge plus my basement is below 60F
in the winter. Should I get a stuck fernebration, I either
increase the temperature of the fridge or move the primary
to a warmer place.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1301, 27 January 2007
From: dan@geer.org
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:45:44 -0500
Made a batch of ginger mead with 1 tablespoon of your average
grocery store spice rack ginger per gallon added at the very
start and, one supposes, largely removed at first racking.
One year on, the product is insipid.
Thus leads to some hypothetical alternate strategies:
Add powder after the first rack, i.e., when the alcohol
(solvent) is up and the bubbling (blow off) is down.
Use fresh ginger slices instead of powder.
Wait three years and trust that time heals all meads.
I'd like to not have to rediscover what is already known;
so I ask here "What is known?"
Please and thank you.
- --dan
------------------------------
Subject: High alcohol/low temperature fermentation
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:39:28 -0800 (PST)
I visited the Lalvin site and 50 degrees is the lowest
you can go with this yeast. I think the ferementation
would take forever this cold.
Another problem you may encounter is difficulty in
racking. If the batch is cold, more CO2 will be in
suspension. Racking would take it out of suspension
and blow through the racking tube, stopping the mead
from going through.
I had this problem the other day with a batch that was
in the mid-sixties. There was so much CO2 that the
sypon wouldn't last more than ten seconds. I was
using an autosyphon and I had to stay next to it the
entire time.
Phil
> - - - Cold ferment at 50F to 59F (10C to 15C) or as
> cold as your yeast
> can take it.
> - -------------------------------------------
>
> This advice seems sound to me, save for the last point. Dick, why
> do you recommend cold fermentation? This is counterintuitive, as
> logic would suggest that warm or at least the recommended
> temperature (70 - 75 F) would increase the yeast metabolism and
> encourage more complete fermentation.
------------------------------
Subject: (no subject)
From: TSeastrom@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:29:29 EST
I'd like to ask the Digest members for any advice they could offer. I'm
used to making wine and this is my first attempt with a mead. My nephew started
bee keeping this year and ended up with 14# of surplus honey which he gave
to me for use in making a mead. We started with a five gallon batch (the
honey, 2 gallons of white grape juice and water). I racked it after a month an
noted that there was still some level of fermentation (unlike my wines which
finish in a week or two). Since I racked it to my 6 gallon carboy I topped it
up with 2# of honey and water - held at 160 for 15 minutes prior to adding.
That was a month and a half ago and it still shows a very slow fermentation
with an airlock bubble about every 15 minutes.
I've got a number of questions.
Should I rack it off the lees or doesn't this matter with a mead?
Should I just let the fermentation continue until the yeast gives it up?
I usually use some sorbate along with chitosan for my last racking - I've
not seen mention of that with the mead articles - do you use any of that?
I add a little bit of metabisulphite prior to bottling some of my lower
alcohol wines, would this be advisable with a mead or does the higher ABV
solve that?
My initial thought is to just to rack it when it finally quits and to see if
it will clear well on its own.
Any help you could provide would appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom
------------------------------
Subject: Lavender Mead
From: Jason Batey <jbatey05@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 09:07:02 -0800 (PST)
Greetings all,
Let me start by saying that I'm an herbalist with several years experience
but have never brewed anything though I'd like to start. I would recommend
getting lavender, or any other herb for that matter, from Mountain Rose
Herbs. (mountainroseherbs.com) I have been using them as a supplier for
years. Their herbs are all organic and of excellent quality and freshness. As
far as storage I recommend that any herbs be stored in a glass container
in a cool dark place ie. a pantry until they are needed. Failing that a
ziploc. The two first things that can ruin good herbs air and sunlight. Now
on to prep. I wouldn't advise anyone to boil lavender. It is a flower bud and
some what delicate. To extract all the constituents I recommend heating the
water to 185-195 for about 20-30 min then straining out the lavender. In
this manner you will get out all the water soluable ingriedients. This
is what I would say for any leaf or flower "tea" or extraction that you
are doing. For roots or barks that are much harder like cinnamon then a
good simmer to medium boil for about 20 min would be a good idea. This
is due to the nature of the stock you are dealing with. Again as I said
my experience so far is more with using the herbs medicinaly and not with
brewing. I'm hoping to change that soon though :) I hope this helps.
Take care.
Jason
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1301, 27 January 2007
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 16:30:22 -0500 (EST)
"Bill Pierce" <BillPierce@aol.com> wrote:
> logic would suggest that warm or at least the recommended
> temperature (70 - 75 F) would increase the yeast metabolism
> and encourage more complete fermentation.
I should have added to my previous reply that fermentation
should start out at 77F (25C) (for exactly the reasons you
have written above) and moved to a cooler place (50F-59F or
10C-15C) to push the alcohol toxicity level.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Novice Mead Maker needs advice
From: "robert.white4" <robert.white4@insightbb.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:19:56 -0500
To All of the Merry Mead Makers,
I have a couple of questions;
1. I started a 5 gallon batch of Pear Mead. My process was to rack 4
gallons of mead on to 1 gallon of pear juice (perry) after the primary
fermentation. This process turned my 5 gallon carboy instantly into a
volcano of foam! And by that I don't mean it exploded like a
"bottle-bomb" but the foam was coming faster than the mead was going in.
What could have caused that? I'm not aware of any chemical reactions
that would have caused it and I wasn't pushing the mead through a pump,
just a simple siphon.
2. I also started a simple Buckwheat Honey Mead. I used Ken Schramm's
basic recipe from "The Compleat Meadmaker" substituting the orange
blossom honey with buckwheat honey and substituting the Lalvin71b-1122
with Wyeast's Sweet Honey Mead smack-pack. I had a very good primary
fermentation and the secondary fermentation started but stopped after
about 12 hours. This has happened a few times in the past and I usually
re-pitch a stronger yeast and everything works out. I just wonder why
the Wyeast peters out 50% of the time.Does anyone else have this problem?
Thanks,
Rob W.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1302
*******************************
