Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #1393
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1393, 9 October 2008
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1393 9 October 2008
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: Go Ferm Question ("Vicky Rowe")
Re: Go Ferm question (MeadGuild@aol.com)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1392, 2 October 2008 (AFDoty@aol.com)
RE: Go Ferm Question ()
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1389, 11 September 2008 ("Dennis Key")
Re: More body (Mail Box)
Re: Glycerine for increased body (docmac9582@aol.com)
Re: More body (matt frey)
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: Go Ferm Question
From: "Vicky Rowe" <gotmead@gotmead.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:17:45 -0400
>I read some wine yeast rehydration instructions at morebeer's website
>that describe the use of Go Ferm in combination with Fermaid K as a great
>nutrient for wine. The gist of it is that Go Ferm is put in the rehydration
>water and the Fermaid K is added after 1/3 sugar depletion. This link is
>the full description: www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/whdra.pdf. Has anyone
>tried this with mead? Any noticeable improvement? Thanks for any feedback!
This is what I and a number of people on Gotmead do with all their meads.
My personal experience has been faster, cleaner ferments and a mead that
is nearly always drinkable right out of the fermenter once it drops clear.
I'm getting much more flavor from the honeys and fruits/spices left over as
Well, since my yeast is well-fed and happy.
I used to just pitch my yeast into the fermenter dry, but now I do this
every time. So far, I've been really happy with the results.
Wassail!
Vicky Rowe
Owner & Webmistress,
Gotmead.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Go Ferm question
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:24:23 EDT
Russ Riley _russriley61999@yahoo.com_ (mailto:russriley61999@yahoo.com)
asked:
> I read some wine yeast rehydration instructions at
> morebeer's website that describe the use of Go Ferm
> in combination with Fermaid K as a great nutrient
> for wine. The gist of it is that Go Ferm is put in
> the rehydration water and the Fermaid K is added
> after 1/3 sugar depletion. This link is the full
> description: _www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/whdra.pdf_
(http://www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/whdra.pdf) .
> Has anyone tried this with mead? Any noticeable
> improvement?
See:
_www.scottlaboratories.com/products/fermentation/nutrients.asp_
(http://www.scottlaboratories.com/products/fermentation/nutrients.asp)
Go Ferm and Fermaid K are both nutrients. The Go Ferm is
added to the rehydration water before the yeast at a 1 to 1.25
ratio. I use it and I see/taste a difference.
Dick
- --
Richard D. Adams, CPA (retired)
Moderator: misc.taxes.moderated
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1392, 2 October 2008
From: AFDoty@aol.com
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 15:09:41 EDT
< I would like to increase the body in my Traditional
Meads and Metheglins>
I've used Wine Conditioner, I got at the locale brew store, as a sweetener.
It's a glycerin based sweetener. Look at _WWW.rjspagols.com_
(http://www.rjspagols.com) ......But go slow. Try maybe a Tablespoon (or
less) per gallon. You can always add more, but you wont be able to
un-sweeten.
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Go Ferm Question
From: <deosmith@gatech.edu>
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 08:18:22 -0400 (EDT)
> Subject: Go Ferm question
> From: Russ Riley <russriley61999@yahoo.com>
> Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:11:16 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Hi all,
>
> I read some wine yeast rehydration instructions at morebeer's website
> that describe the use of Go Ferm in combination with Fermaid K as a
> great nutrient for wine. The gist of it is that Go Ferm is put in the
> rehydration water and the Fermaid K is added after 1/3 sugar
> depletion. This link is the full description:
> www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/whdra.pdf. Has anyone tried this with mead?
Any noticeable improvement? Thanks for any feedback!
>
> Russ
I did this early July this year with a pyment. You could say there was an
improvement; it was the best fermentation I've had in I think eight meads
(Though that's relative. Some of those meads had weak starters or
inadequate nutrients. Or popped their own corks in my basement). The
starter was really strong, and the fermentation was nearly finished before
I got around to adding the second dose of Fermaid K, but I added it
anyway. The important thing is that it worked well with no negative side
effects that I'm aware of.
- - Doug Smith -
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1389, 11 September 2008
From: "Dennis Key" <dione13@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:01:07 -0600
I made a three-gallon batch of habenero mead a while back. I froze a pepper
then thawed, split it and removed the seeds then finely chopped it in in a
miniprocessor with enough vodka to process. I let it sit overnight to
produce an infusion then strained it into the primary which was already
fermenting. After a couple of rackings, I tasted it and didn't think it had
enough zip so I repeated the process with another pepper and added the zest
and juice of one large lime. I used a Cuvee yeast and pushed it with
additions of small amounts of honey whenever fermentation slowed to a crawl
and continued that until fermentation stopped. With that yeast, I had an
18-20% alcohol level. A couple of glasses left a good but not painful burn
on the lips and back of the throat and a nice citrus tang. At that alcohol
level, a couple of glasses is all one would want to drink at one sittling!
Dione Greywolfe
Dragonweyr, New Mexico
> Subject: Re: cayenne peppers
> From: MeadGuild@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:17:36 EDT
>
> > I had a bumper crop of Red Savina Habeneros in 2003. They were
> dried and crushed. I still have three jars of ground pepper
> left. When making a bowl of chili, one half of the flat edge
> of a chopstick is what is added.
>
> Last year I added the full flat edge of a chopstick to a Clover
> Traditional Mead. Three months later it was just a little too
> hot. So I racked it again. I finished it off slowly this summer.
>
> The trick with hot peppers is adding very little at a time.
>
> Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: More body
From: Mail Box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:39:17 -0400
> Subject: More body
> From: MeadGuild@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:11:27 EDT
>
> I would like to increase the body in my Traditional
> Meads and Metheglins. Someone suggested adding
> glycerine. At 70 cents an ounce for 4 fl oz,
> that's a little steep. And a web search did not
> identify a source for a quart. But if that is the
> answer, the next question is how much should be
> added be gallon of must?
>
> Someone else suggest boiling rice in the must. I
> presume there is a specific type of rice for this.
> Again how much is needed?
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> And no I do not boil must!
>
> Dick
Dick,
Maltodextrin is another option for adding body. Also, an off-dry or
sweet mead will often have more body due to residual sugars than a dry mead.
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Glycerine for increased body
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:03:20 -0400
The instructions from the sellers suggest adding 1 to 3 tablespoons of
glycerine per gallon to increase the body and mouthfeel of wine.? Obviously
start low.? Try 3-5 levels of increasing concentrations in small tasting
glasses to determine the best level for your taste.?
I have some glycerine?in my supplies, but haven't used it in years.? In my
experience, the lack of body and mouthfeel most often comes from too low of
sugar content (too complete of fermentation) coupled with a high alcoholic
"burn" taste.? The blending with?a little?higher sugar content mead (or
honey) will often increase the body and mouthfeel and also helps to bring
out the flavors and aroma of the mead.??{I prefer partially fermented
mead, thinking that the yeast metabolize some sugars faster than others
and using partially fermented mead instead of honey avoids any "raw honey"
taste in the mead.}? Aging will often also reducee the hot taste of the
alcohol.? Increasing the OG or changing the strain of yeast in future
batchs can leave a bit more residual sugars.
Carl McMillin
Brecksville, OH
------------------------------
Subject: Re: More body
From: matt frey <mfrey444@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 19:57:52 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Dick,
There is a winemaking technique often used with white wines where you
allow the wine to sit on the lees (dead yeast cells) for a few months and
periodically stir them. The polysaccharides get into the wine and add
a fuller body and mouth feel. I dont know if many mead makers do this.
I have let a cyser sit on the lees now almost a year but without stirring it.
Partially because the fermentation was slow and I wanted to experiment
with it. I tried it the other day and it tasted great! No off flavors
that people say you can get from leaving the mead on the lees. It did have
a bigger mouth feel than some of my past meads. Anyone else ever try this?
Matt
The following was taken from
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/glossary.asp
Autolysis:
The decomposition of dead yeast cells that can be favorable or unfavorable,
depending on the wine, the yeast, and the process involved. The favorable
process can occur in wines that are aged sur lie ("on the lees"). Certain
wines such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc benefit from autolysis because
they gain complexity during the process that enhances their structure and
mouthfeel, give them extra body, and increase their aromatic complexity.
Aging sur lie is usually done with an accompanying regime of periodic lees
stirring that can result in a creamy, viscous mouthfeel. See Lees and Sur
Lie Aging.
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1393
*******************************
