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Mead Lovers Digest #1333
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1333, 27 July 2007
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1333 27 July 2007
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Rasberry Mead (Michael Fairbrother)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1332, 24 July 2007 ("Bill Pierce")
Re: Water (Drew Lawson)
working with pears (Dick Dunn)
Re: Water (Dick Dunn)
IMA / BJCP Mead Exam ("Julia Herz")
Soft water and mead (docmac9582@aol.com)
Mead Day is Saturday, August 4th ("Janis Gross")
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
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Rasberry Mead
From: Michael Fairbrother <fairbrother@moonlightmeadery.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:55:57 -0400
Tom,
I always have frozen my raspberries prior to using in a mead. I add the
thawed raspberries to the mead once it's reached secondary, and then let
it the fruit sit for several months.
Michael
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1332, 24 July 2007
From: "Bill Pierce" <BillPierce@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:02:07 -0400
Dick Adams asks about water in meadmaking. Here are some basics
gained over my years of brewing and meadmaking:
Distilled water lacks trace minerals that are essential to healthy
yeast reproduction.
Chlorine (and more persistent chloramines) added to disinfect water
can have an effect on flavor, but may not be a problem if they
cannot be detected (by odor or taste) in the water. Boiling the
water or filtering with a granulated activated carbon (GAC) filter
does a good job of removing chlorine, but is much less effective
with chloramines. The easiest method of removing chloramines (this
also works with chlorine) is to use one-half campden (potassium or
sodium metabisulfite) tablet per 10 gallons of water. Crush the
tablet, stir it into the water and let it sit for a minute or two.
Water is more critical to brewing beer because of the complex
chemistry involving pH and the conversion of starches to sugars by
malt enzymes during mashing. In mead, of course, the sugars are
already present and concentrated, due to the good work of the bees.
- -- Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Burlington, Ontario
- -----Original Message-----
Subject: Water
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:56:21 EDT
We all know a few things about Mead and water:
1. Do not to use distilled water and
2. Boil your water or just let it sit overnight to remove chlorine.
Can anyone tell me why soft water vs. hard water is not supposed
to make a difference when making Mead when it makes a world of
difference in making beer?
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Water
From: Drew Lawson <drew@furrfu.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:04:49 -0400
> Subject: Water
> From: MeadGuild@aol.com
> Can anyone tell me why soft water vs. hard water is not supposed
> to make a difference when making Mead when it makes a world of
> difference in making beer?
Hard vs. soft water makes a difference in beer making for a couple
(I think) reasons, and they don't apply to mead. One is hop
extraction efficience. The other (which I may be wrong on) is an
effect on the mash extraction chemistry.
Few meads use hops (though I've seen it) and the fermentables are
already extracted.
Having said that, I don't know whether or not water hardness has
any effect on mead. I can see similar issues with metheglyns.
- --
|Drew Lawson | Mrs. Tweedy! |
|drew@furrfu.com | The chickens are revolting! |
|http://www.furrfu.com/ | |
------------------------------
Subject: working with pears
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:21:35 -0600
Some of the advice in the most recent digest re pear melomel is stuff
I'd really try to avoid.
The best way to handle pears IF you can find someone with the equipment
is to chop/grind them and press the pulp to extract juice. Even a small
fruit press will work, and in a pinch you can chop enough for a batch of
melomel with a food processor. Try for a chunky texture; don't over-
process.
Both Ken Taborek and Dan McFeeley suggest freeze/thaw to release juice,
BUT both also note that this creates a mush. If you add pears to the
ferment this way, it makes the first racking an incredible mess, so avoid
that if possible. If you can freeze/thaw and extract enough juice that
way (e.g., drain/strain), far better to use just juice than to add the
pulp to the ferment.
Even with a press, pears are a challenge because they're slippery and
don't extract all that well. Slightly under-ripe pears are much easier;
over-ripe pears are terrible.
Dick Adams suggested "Skin off, discard pear seed, add juice and pulp to
secondary". It's not necessary to remove either the skin or the seed;
that's just extra work.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Water
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:23:31 -0600
Dick Adams wrote in the last digest:
> We all know a few things about Mead and water:
> 1. Do not to use distilled water and
Ummm...I don't think we "know" that! People will tell you not to use
distilled water, but why? One common explanation is that it doesn't
contain any minerals--which isn't a good reason because -any- water
source may be deficient in any particular mineral. You can't count
on your water source to supply trace minerals.
> 2. Boil your water or just let it sit overnight to remove chlorine.
Yes, although if your water supply is treated with chloramine rather than
chlorine, it's more difficult to get rid of the chlorine content.
> Can anyone tell me why soft water vs. hard water is not supposed
> to make a difference when making Mead when it makes a world of
> difference in making beer?
First off, very hard water can give off-tastes in mead. But as long as
it's within reason (presumably Burton-on-Trent's water wouldn't make a
great mead) it's OK.
Brewing involves a couple matters affected by water character that we
don't do with mead. One is hop extraction effectiveness, which figures
in overall flavor profile of the beer, but I'd expect few meadmakers to
be using hops and even fewer to be using a lot. Another is the effect
on pH during the mash (conversion of starch to sugar in the grains), and
we don't have a mash step.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: IMA / BJCP Mead Exam
From: "Julia Herz" <jherz@honeywine.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:34:37 -0600
On Sun, 15 Jul 2007, in MLD 1331, Dick Adams asked:
>>Does anyone offer Mead Courses and/or textbooks similar to those
>>offered by Siebel Institute for Beer?
The International Mead Association and the BJCP are working on a joint
project to create a mead judge exam. We are hoping to have something
available by the February 8-10, 2008 mead festival along with a study guide.
There is a joint committee working on exam questions as we speak. We will
announce on MLD when we have specifics.
Cheers to all.
Julia Herz of Honeywine.com
and
International Mead Association
www.meadfest.com / www.meadfest.org
------------------------------
Subject: Soft water and mead
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:59:51 -0400
Question: ??Can anyone tell me why soft water vs. hard water is not
supposed to make a difference when making Mead when it makes a world?of
difference in making beer???
am not sure that there is not a difference in mead making, but the "world of
difference" in beer comes from the composition, buffering, and pH of the water
having a major effect on what and how much is extracted from the malted grain
in the boil or mash ?? which obviously is not a step in mead making.
Carl McMillin, Brecksville, OH
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Day is Saturday, August 4th
From: "Janis Gross" <janis@brewersassociation.org>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:31:03 -0600
Hi everyone,
Mead Day is only 10 days away; have you registered your Mead Day site
and/or purchased your ingredients? To view the Official Recipe, go to:
http://www.beertown.org/events/meadday/recipe.html=20
The first Saturday in August is Mead Day, a day when homebrewers host
other homebrewers, friends, family, and anyone interested in mead and
the process of mead making. It's a day when we can all share the love,
so to speak, and share our mead. This year we have a registration site
for you to register your Mead Day site, or to find a Mead Day site in
your area.
To register, go to: http://www.beertown.org/apps/mead/mead_reg.aspx
Note: Be sure that what you've written in your registration is what you
want to appear on your registered site BEFORE you click the Submit
button; you will not be able to edit it after you click Submit.
To view registered sites, go to:
http://www.beertown.org/apps/mead/meadday_select.aspx Note: Sites are
listed alphabetically by State.
For more information about Mead Day visit:
http://www.beertown.org/events/meadday/index.html
Let's see how many gallons of the Nectar of the Gods we can make on
August 4th! Mmmm... mead!
Cheers,
Janis Gross
Project Coordinator
American Homebrewers Association
janis@brewersassociation.org
www.beertown.org
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1333
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