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Mead Lovers Digest #1329
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1329, 30 June 2007
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1329 30 June 2007
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Searchable digest archive moves (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
Re: Back Sweetening Mead (Dick Dunn)
Volume Loss (MeadGuild@aol.com)
Re: Artificial Sweeteners (Marc Shapiro)
Re: Back Sweetening Mead (Adam Funk)
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 http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Searchable digest archive moves
From: mead-request@talisman.com (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:34:28 -0600 (MDT)
The searchable archive of back issues of the Mead-Lover's Digest has moved.
It is now at http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html
Thanks to Vicky Rowe for maintaining this archive, and for making the new
archive location easy to remember (as well as all her huge efforts with
the gotmead web site...go see it!)
As a reminder, the location of the archives can be found in the header of
each digest. You will also find a reminder of which address to use for
submitting articles and which to use for subscription changes.
- --yer spamwrangler
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Back Sweetening Mead
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:49:23 -0600
"Jones, Steve (IT)" <stjones@eastman.com> asked (in the midst of other
points):
...
> But instead of 'back-sweetening', why not design your meads up front to
> finish where you want them? The concept is to determine where the yeast
> will quit working (the generally accepted ABV tolerance of the yeast),
> pick the desired FG, then calculate the SG needed to begin with...
The quick, experiential answer to "why not...?" is "because it doesn't
always work". As Steve himself said later...
> Of course, yeast alcohol tolerances are not an exact fixed number - it
> will depend much on the health of the fermentation.
Yes, it's nutrient level, temperature (and temperature fluctuations over
the course of the fermentation), health of the yeast, probably oxygen in
the must, the particular batch of yeast and how long it sat in a warehouse
or truck along the way, PotM . . . who knows? You'll be lucky if the
actual final ABV stays within a 1% range of the nominal "expected" value
(that is, 0.5% either side of nominal). That corresponds to quite a bit
of difference in sweetness!
Does it matter, and if so, how?
Assuming you're careful to let it finish fermenting, you're not going to
have trouble with over-pressure bottles. However, determining that the
yeast have given up can be tricky. Some yeast go like a herd of turtles
and then just give up all of a sudden. That's nice. Other strains ferment
well at the start, then go slower and slloowwweerrr...and you're left
wondering whether it's gonna be a Rip van Winkle fermentation. You can
figure this out after a while and choose a yeast strain that has a nice,
quick fall-off in fermentation rate.
Next point: If you miss the target, which side of your target gravity do
you end up? If the yeast are over-achievers and ferment past the desired
sweetness, it's no big deal. You just back-sweeten up to the level you
wanted, and you're no worse off than if you'd planned the more tedious
back-sweetening from the start. BUT if the yeast give out before reaching
the intended ABV, the mead is sweeter than you wanted (perhaps by quite a
bit) and there isn't any clean remedy for this.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Volume Loss
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:30:17 EDT
Peter Green and I were discussing volume loss due to the sugar
in honey going into solution with the water in the must.
The simplest way to measure this loss is to measure the liters
in the fermenter after the honey and water have been thoroughly
mixed. It may be difficult to get a precise measure.
Another way is to measure (in metric) the weight and volume of
the water and the honey before combining. Then take the SG
of the must. The resulting equations are:
Volume.Must = (Combined.Weight.of.water.&.honey) / SG.Must
Volume.Loss = (Combined.Volume.of.water.&.honey) - Volume.Must
The problem I see is the need for precision scales and a
digital hydrometer. In my sometimes humble opinion, it is
difficult to imagine the loss being significant except in a
commercial environment.
BTW: If anyone has an extra digital hydrometer, I have a
loving home for it! <g>
God bless Mead Digest!
Dick
- --
Richard D. Adams, CPA (retired)
Moderator: misc.taxes.moderated
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Artificial Sweeteners
From: Marc Shapiro <mshapiro_42@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:14:10 -0700
From: "Eric Wescott" <eric.wescott@gmail.com>
> Now, if I want sweet, I go with preservatives like sulfites, real
> sugars, and time. Or, I go with lots of honey to start, and let the
> yeast give up against the masses of sugar (ABV attenuation).
>
You could also use glycerin. Completely non-fermentable and also
present in some amount in anything that has been fermented.
- --
Marc Shapiro
mshapiro_42@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Back Sweetening Mead
From: Adam Funk <adam@ducksburg.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:42:01 +0100
> Subject: Re: Back Sweetening Mead
> From: "Jones, Steve (IT)" <stjones@eastman.com>
> Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:46:54 -0400
>
> It isn't an artificial sweetener, but I'd try Xylitol (aka wood sugar
> or birch sugar).
>
> It is an all-natural, non-fermentable sugar alcohol that occurs
> naturally in many fruits and veggies, with no known toxicology, a 1 to
> 1 sugar substitute ratio, and it may actually be beneficial as far as
> dental health is concerned.
Just out of curiosity, how much of the sugar in birch sap is xylitol?
(I understand birch sap is fermentable. I've tasted some commercial birch
wine but never had the opportunity to try making it.)
Thanks,
Adam
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1329
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