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Mead Lovers Digest #1389
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1389, 11 September 2008
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1389 11 September 2008
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1388, 8 September 2008 (AFDoty@aol.com)
chilli mead ("Chris Yate")
Ken's email address, and question for the digest at large (Steve Scoville)
Re: Yeast starters for mead (Mail Box)
Re: cider gum (MeadGuild@aol.com)
Re: cayenne peppers (MeadGuild@aol.com)
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1388, 8 September 2008
From: AFDoty@aol.com
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 04:20:06 EDT
I'm doing a 2 gal experimental batch of a jalapeno mead. Started a plain
mead with Clover honey, SG was 1.110, PH 3.4 and used D-47 yeast. I took 6
jalapeno peppers, sliced length wise and seeds removed. Chopped in the blender
to a course consistency with about a cup of water. Everything went into the
primary. Removing the seeds removes the heat. So if you want hot leave some
seeds in. Racked out of primary after 2 weeks, out of secondary after 4
weeks. It's 8 weeks old right now. Cleared all by itself. SG is .998.
There's no heat and the taste of the peppers is very pronounced with NO heat.
Using a full pepper is like eating a full pepper.
------------------------------
Subject: chilli mead
From: "Chris Yate" <chrisyate@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 10:03:38 +0100
>Actually, I tried something like this with a few bottles of a homebrew ale I
>made many years ago. Just before bottling I went into our garden and picked
>four long, thin, red cayenne peppers and put one into four separate bottles.
>
>Months later, I opened one. The burn wasn't an "oh-so-good" burn. The burn
>was like trying to drink liquid napalm.
That is also my experience of chilli beer (Cave Creek chilli beer, I
think). If I remember correctly it comes with a Jalapeno pepper in
each bottle. It was quite undrinkable, I think only reasonable as a
'joke' product.
I think a hot chilli mead would only be good for spicing up a pot of
mexican mole, chilli beef, etc. And that might work quite nicely, but
worth trying with a pint bottle before you ruined a whole couple of
gallons of good mead!
Small amounts of chilli I added to a light ale (about 1 green chilli
pepper/5 gallons) along with some chopped ginger root did impart a
pleasant tingle, so if you go easy it could work.
Chris
------------------------------
Subject: Ken's email address, and question for the digest at large
From: Steve Scoville <Steve@scovilleandassociates.com>
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:37:54 -0500
Mead folk,
Below is a posting I made to the AHA TechTalk, but I have not seen any
responses.
Can any one explain the chemical changes that occur over time with the aging
of meads? Primarily what happened to the alcohols.
From my judging experience and the drinking of available commercial meads,
it seems that higher alcohols are germane to the higher gravity forms of
this beverage.
In the past couple of years, I have noticed in a couple of publications the
comment or suggestion that higher alcohols "age out" over time and may
change chemically into something else. While this chemical change seems
counter intuitive to me, I am no chemist.
Can anyone enlighten on this? If there is a chemical change in these
alcohols, what are the conditions that cause or hasten it.
Thanks,
The Earl of Sorta
BJCP National #F0134
To Ken Taborek,
The mead digest posts to my Apple Mac in different colors of text, with some
posts/responses seemingly out of sequence, and other unusual characteristics
that may be part of my spam filter. Not really sure. When looking through
the original post for your email address, I did not see an email address
that had what looked like it had your name or part of your name. So, I will
try the one that I think is you and see if it arrives.
I am not a spammer or a hacker or a wierdo. Just a pretty good brewer, a
mead newbie, and perhaps short on computer tech skills.
Thanks,
Steve Scoville
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Yeast starters for mead
From: Mail Box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:41:11 -0400
> Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1387, 4 September 2008
> From: brian white <odin_lives@live.com>
> Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 10:39:10 -0600
>
> I've only been brewing mead for about 2 years and was looking for some input
> on yeast starters for mead. I tried it for the 1st time using 1cup DME,
> 1000ml of watter, white labs yeast and 1 cup of honey.
Brian,
I'm not clear on what kind of input you're looking for. You're making a
starter, which is a Good Thing(tm) already. Your method is a bit
different from mine, but obviously you produce an active starter using
it. I make my 1 liter starters with 1/3 cup of plain old cane sugar,
right from the sugar canister on the kitchen counter top. After 24
hours I've got an active starter ready to pitch. Your method using DME
offers nutrients, but I believe those come in the White Labs tube
already. And I wouldn't use honey for a starter because it's a more
complex sugar, but that doesn't make it wrong.
I think the only practical differences between your method and mine is
that mine is cheaper, since a cup of DME and a cup of honey costs more
than 1/3 cup cane sugar. :)
Cheers,
Ken Taborek
------------------------------
Subject: Re: cider gum
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:01:34 EDT
circle mouse _circlemouse@yahoo.com_ (mailto:circlemouse@yahoo.com)
> any of you have any experience fermenting cider gum
> (Eucalyptus gunnii) sap?
I have not fermented Eucalyptus sap or honey. But I have sampled Meads
made from Eucalyptus honey at six Australian Meaderies. Eucalyptus has
a distinct medicinal aroma and flavor. Spices are added to mitigate these
medicinal characteristics.
I much preferred the spiced Meads to the Traditional Meads.
Dick
- --
Richard D. Adams, CPA
Moderator: misc.taxes.moderated
------------------------------
Subject: Re: cayenne peppers
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:17:36 EDT
fivecat _fivecat@gmail.com_ (mailto:fivecat@gmail.com) wrote:
> Actually, I tried something like this with a few bottles
> of a homebrew ale I made many years ago. Just before
> bottling I went into our garden and picked four long,
> thin, red cayenne peppers and put one into four separate bottles.
>
> Months later, I opened one. The burn wasn't an "oh-so-good" burn.
> The burn was like trying to drink liquid napalm.
>
> I tried a second one a few weeks later, trying to convince myself
> that it couldn't have been that bad.
>
> It was.
>
> I poured out the other two bottles that same afternoon.
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
- --
Richard D. Adams, CPA
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1389
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