Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1330
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1330, 8 July 2007
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1330 8 July 2007
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Back Sweetening Mead (Mail Box)
Spontaneous Sulphite Increase? ("Shaggyman")
Re: Volume Loss (Michael Faul)
Maple Syrup Mead ("Mitchell Omichinski")
Back Sweetening Mead ("Mitchell Omichinski")
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: Re: Back Sweetening Mead
From: Mail Box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:53:00 -0400
> Subject: Re: Back Sweetening Mead
> From: "Jones, Steve (IT)" <stjones@eastman.com>
> Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:46:54 -0400
>
> 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. This is
> much quicker than waiting till the mead is finished, then going thru the
> cycle of adding honey, waiting, adding honey, waiting, etc. until the FG
> is where I want it.
Not really. In the homebrew environment there are a lot of variables,
which are not so easily controlled. It's not as easy as saying it to
get your mead to finish where you'd like. Or, as a friend of mine used
to say:
In theory, theory and practice are identical. But not in practice.
On the other hand it is quite easy to design a must which you can
ferment to dryness, achieving an exact alcohol content, and back
sweeten, achieving an exact level of sweetness.
Besides, I like my mead dry, and my wife likes it semi-sweet. So by
fermenting it dry I can bottle half dry and half semi-sweet and we're
both happy. It's also nice to have what is essentially two batches from
every single batch made.
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Spontaneous Sulphite Increase?
From: "Shaggyman" <shaggyman@kc.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 11:06:04 -0500
I recently made a 5 gallon batch of pyment with Burgundy concentrate, using
the same recipe I have used for 50 or so batches. Everything went as
normal, with OG of 1.100 and FG of 1.010. When finished, I added
Sparkolloid and 5/16 tsp of potassium metabisulfite to kill off any
remaining yeast, as always. After clearing, I added 1.5 tsp potassium
sorbate and filtered with a .5 micron filter, bottling immediately after
filtering. Bottles were washed with an oxygen based cleaner, rinsed twice
with a strong sulphite/citric acid solution, then power rinsed three times
with hot water before drying. Everything SOP so far. After a couple weeks
in the bottle, it tasted fine, although expectedly a little rough for so
young a pyment made with red grapes. However, a week later, the stuff
tasted like it had 500 ppm sulphite- totally undrinkable!
After being recorked for several hours, when reopened there was a noticeable
hiss of escaping gas as the cork was removed, and it tasted worse, if
possible. I tried a couple more bottles with the same results. I double
and triple checked by logs to see if I had somehow double dosed or
something, but all seems normal.
AND the exact same thing happened with a batch of Chablis pyment made and
bottled at the same time, although the horrible taste is not so strong- but
it is still undrinkable.
In 15 years I have never encountered such a nasty turn of events.
Any clues on what is going on?
Is it worthwhile to purchase a test kit to measure the free SO2?
Is there something else that could cause such a horrible taste?
(Tearing few remaining hairs from head)
Lane O.
AKA: The Great And Powerful Shaggyman
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Volume Loss
From: Michael Faul <mfaul@rabbitsfootmeadery.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 07:43:05 -0700
Dick,
Don't forget to include the volume loss post-fermentation.
Typically you'll see a volume loss that is close to the same volume of
alcohol produced.
A good rule of thumb is alcohol=volume*(brix*.55)/100 and therefore the
volume loss due to CO2 production and subsequent blowoff is
CO2=volume*(brix*.45)/100
I don't know if you'll notice it in a 5 gallon batch much but you will
in a 3000 gallon batch. That's 3-400 gallons in a batch that size.
Mike
> 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
- --
Rabbit's Foot Meadery & Red Branch Cider Co.
Award Winning Mead & Hard Apple Cider
http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com
------------------------------
Subject: Maple Syrup Mead
From: "Mitchell Omichinski" <mitchell2@hugs.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 18:53:17 -0500
Subject: Maple Syrup Mead
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:49:45 -0400 (EDT)
I have successfully and unsuccessfully made Maple Syrup Meads. My conclusion
is to add the Maple Syrup after a traditional Mead has fermented dry. My
reasoning is that fermentation strips the flavoring from the Maple Syrup.
However, that technique may lead to other problems:
* If the yeast are not all deceased, they will have been
given a rich dose of sugar upon which they will thrive.
* Since Meads brewed for personal consumption do not focus on
clarity to the extent that Meads brewed for competition, I
have not evaluated how Maple Syrup will affect the clarity
of the end product.
Does anyone have some insights into brewing Maple Syrup Mead?
Dick
I have no insight, only a irrepressible need to experiment. I have made
maple sap (not syrup) wine from concentrated sap of Brix 10 and
sweetened with sugar to Brix 23. The results were favorable. I have a
batch (25L) on the go with sap initially at Brix 11.5 and finished with
canola honey to Brix 23 (sg 1.095). Fermentation with ICV D 47 just
completed with FSG of 1.000. First racking last week, let you know in
six months how it turned out. I have also 54 L batches of maple sap wine
on the go with initial gravities of 1.095. Two sweetened with sugar from
initial sap Brix of 11.5 and 19, and two 54L batches (different yeasts)
from sap concentration of Brix 24.
Mitchell Omichinski
------------------------------
Subject: Back Sweetening Mead
From: "Mitchell Omichinski" <mitchell2@hugs.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 23:15:23 -0500
Subject: Back Sweetening Mead
From: Ian <elkor@mindspring.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:03:13 -0400 (EDT)
>>Dave Drummer asked:
>>
>>I have some mead that I fermented from 1.087 down to 0.996 using
>>Lalvin D-47. It has cleared nicely and tastes good, but I want to
>>try sweetening it slightly with honey. Any suggestions on the best
>way
>>to add the honey to insure that it dissolves completely?
>
Dick Responded:
>Thank you for asking this question because I did know the
>answer and I had to think about it.
>
>Final.SG = ((128 oz * 0.996) + (X oz * 1.4)) / (128 oz + X oz)
>I wrote a 'quick & dirty' binary search program and got an answer
>of 3.2488 oz will raise the SG of a gallon from 0.996 to 1.006.
>For 5 gallons, that's 16.25 oz. of honey.
Ian Appends:
I agree with Dick's equation, but rewrote it to solve for X (I'm an
Engineer, math is fun for me).
Plugging the numbers into the following will give the answer:
V = Volume of Starting SG mead (volume ounces)
S = Start SG
T = Target SG
X = oz (mass) of Honey
X = V * (T - S) / (1.4 - T)
- - -------- OR ---------
X = V * (Target SG - Starting SG)/(1.4 - Target SG)
Naturally, if you divide X by 16 you'll get lb of honey per whatever unit of
liquid.
Regards,
Ian
For those to whom "math is fun", could you work out the metric
equivalent. where X is litres or kg of honey. this would help out some
deficient Canadians. eh!
Mitchell Omichinski
Portage la Prairie MB
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1330
*******************************
