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Mead Lovers Digest #1386
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1386, 27 August 2008
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1386 27 August 2008
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Relatively new to mead making, need advice on "back sweetening" (Mail Box)
Great mead/homebrew competition ("Michael D. Fairbrother")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1385, 20 August 2008 ("David Browder")
Found sponsor... ("Michael D. Fairbrother")
sulfiting a high pH mead must ("Aaron Linder")
Re: Stirring up debate ("Aaron Linder")
Call for entries: Muse Cup 2008 (Leonora)
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Subject: Re: Relatively new to mead making, need advice on "back sweetening"
From: Mail Box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:00:23 -0400
> Subject: Relatively new to mead making, need advice on "back sweetening"
> From: Steve Scoville <Steve@scovilleandassociates.com>
[snipped]
>
> Can anyone give me advice on the mechanics, methods, and amounts to use when
> adding honey back to a mead that has finished fermenting and has been
> stabilized with potassium sorbate?
Steve,
I'm glad to hear that you've had good success with strawberries,
apricot, and peach. All of those are fairly delicate flavors which are
difficult to have shine in a mead, and much less in a strong mead. Were
your purees commercial or did you puree fresh fruits? I've had fairly
miserable results with fresh peaches, using as much as 30 pounds of
fresh fruit in a 6 gallon batch and having the flavor be still very low.
I like my meads dry, but I recognize that many prefer some sweetness.
So I typically split my batch and sweeten half. This has the added
benefit of letting me make what is essentially two meads for every one I
ferment, since the dry and sweet versions have distinctly different
characteristics. I use one of two methods. I either split the batch
into different carboys while bulk aging (or rack half into a smaller
carboy and bottle the remainder), and sorbate and back sweeten one of
the two, or I bottle about half of the batch, and then sweeten and
bottle the other half. Due to container constraints and general
laziness the second method is more often employed, but I feel that the
first offers a better result as the sweetened half often generates more
trub and even though it is only a light dusting this is left behind at
bottling when you rack into a bottling bucket.
Split batch:
The half to be sweetened will receive sorbate and sulfite at the time I
split the batch into separate carboys, and then a few weeks later I'll
add the additional honey. More bulk aging, and then it'll be bottled.
Sweetened at bottling:
The entire batch will be sorbated and sulfited while bulk aging. At
bottling I'll bottle some portion that resembles half, and then add
honey I've warmed to reduce viscosity (typically by gentle heating in
the microwave, power 10 is right out), stir, and finish bottling.
As to amount, that is a matter of taste. I use about 1/4 cup in 2.5
gallons, and up to 1/2 cup is still semi-sweet to my tastes. I don't
have the sweetness tolerance for a highly sweet mead, but you could add
much more honey before approaching the sweetness of most commercial meads.
Me: >> My fermentations take about 10 days to go to
>> dryness from an OG of 1.8 to 1.95 or so (wine strength, and then
Mark: > I am assuming that you meant 1.080 to 1.095 (10.6% to 12.7% ABV).
Thanks for the correction, Mark. Yes, a 1.8 OG mead would be
a...challenge...to ferment, wouldn't it? :)
Cheers,
Ken Taborek
------------------------------
Subject: Great mead/homebrew competition
From: "Michael D. Fairbrother" <fairbrother@nhbrewers.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:12:44 -0400
First...
Brew Free or Die, and Southern Maine Homebrewers are please to announce
the 3rd Annual New England Regional Homebrewers Competition, to take
place on October 25th in Acton ME. Last year we had our largest
competition, and with the support of our sponsors, we were able to offer
a competition where we had over 250 entries from as many as 18 states.
This past year our competition ended up raising $2,000 for the American
Cancer Society. The goals of the competition this year is to raise
money for two charities, the American Cancer Society, and The Good
Shepard Food Bank of Maine.
This is a BJCP & AHA Registered/Sanctioned event and we will be judging
all 28 BJCP styles for this competition, using the 2008 BJCP style
guidelines.
More details about the competition can be found at
http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC
Regards
Michael Fairbrother
3rd NERHBC Organizer
Second...
Anyone have any leads on potential Meadmaker of the Year sponsors? If
so please drop me a private note.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1385, 20 August 2008
From: "David Browder" <davidbrowder@lexcominc.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:43:47 -0400
Subject: removing water treatments
Not a chemist but I work at a Water Plant. A lot of small Water Works have
gone over to bleach (This ain't Clorox, it's a very stout solution.) to get
around the safety requirements for chlorine gas. You could just let it
stand out in the sun, leave the container open, for a day or two. If you're
in a hurry boil it, like just barely for a small time. Doesn't take much to
get rid of "CL2". I've brewed with water right out of the tap having a
residual of 2 parts per million before. No taste (Or odor.), issues what so
ever! Maybe the carbon dioxide generated during fermentation scrubs it
out??- Knowing a wee bit bout de "chemo" of both water and Mead, I'd be more
concerned about whether your water's P.H. is being adjusted with Sodium
Hydroxide (Caustic) or Lime than how it's being disinfected.
------------------------------
Subject: Found sponsor...
From: "Michael D. Fairbrother" <fairbrother@nhbrewers.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:37:45 -0400
I was able to find a sponsor for the New England Regional Homebrew
Competition's Meadmaker of the year!
------------------------------
Subject: sulfiting a high pH mead must
From: "Aaron Linder" <aaronlinderpk@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:38:26 -0400
I recently made a mead after a long break from meadmaking, and I discovered
something that I didn't think about before. I had planned to dilute my
raspberry honey, check the pH and add the appropriate amount of KMS powder
to get about 0.8 ppm of molecular SO2. According to the "sulfite
calculator" at http://winemakermag.com/sulfitecalculator/ to get 0.8 ppm of
molecular SO2 at the pH of my must (4.08) I would need 160 pm of free SO2!
My first thought was, wow, that is a ton of sulfite considering it is only
my first addition. Then, I realized that the effectiveness of sulfite drops
dramatically when the pH gets above 3.5 or so. I thought I could either
drop the pH of the must with some phosphoric acid ( i had it handy and use
it for brewing) or just omit the sulfite and make haste to pitch the yeast.
i decided to chill the must to 65F and pitch in my dry yeast.
My question is what do people do when they use sulfite to "level the playing
field" against microbes. Do you adjust the pH down? If you add the high
level of sulfite required at higher pHs does this mean that once the yeast
start fermenting, and the pH of the must drops (as is cautioned by all
mead-making sources), more and more molecular sulfite will be formed, thus
inhibiting the meadmaking yeast?
If i add 160 ppm of sulfite to my 4.08 pH must to get 0.8 ppm molecular SO2
for 24 hours and then add my yeast, won't the molecular SO2 level slowly(or
quickly!) increase to over 2-3 ppm SO2 once the pH of the must drops down to
3.5? Is this bad for my yeast?
Thanks for the time.
Aaron
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Stirring up debate
From: "Aaron Linder" <aaronlinderpk@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:27:40 -0400
Steven Butcher wrote
"I'm glad I was able to "stir up" some heated debate. The digest was in
mead...I mean...in need of some controversy. Makes things more
interesting.
Anyway, bravo Pete! I'm NOT saying anyone should stop mead making or
brewing "under a microscope"...if that's your thing, cool. I'm happy we
can agree that we can all disagree civilly and that opinions are
like...well...carboys...everybody's got one. To often people become
fascist about their process and try to jam their way down everyone else's
throat as "best and only" and that bothers me. Many times I see this from
the microscope brewing crowd. In the infamous words of the much beloved
home brewing icon, Charlie Papazian, "relax, have a homebrew!"
I just think that all the mead an beer styles we have come to know an love
were developed centuries ago by people who didn't even know what yeast was,
much less how it really worked...now we are trying to mimic those results
with all this science...just seems backwards to me...like reinventing the
wheel, but if that's how you "roll," then rock on, m'man!!!!"
Aaron is now writing (if you care!)
Initially, I wrote a flaming post to the digest in response to this
comment and the previous comments from Ken Taborek.
I calmed myself down and will now say this.
First, I fully support Spencer Thomas's comments about wanting to make
the best mead that he can make. If some of us want to spend a lot of
time worrying about small details, there is certainly room for that.
I don't think the others should criticize us for being more scientific
or detail-oriented. On the other hand, we can all acknowledge that some
people can seem to cobble together very nice products without much effort,
relatively speaking. If the more scientific and detail-oriented people
can contribute something through all of their efforts, then we should
all applaud that and use it to our own advantage. Of course, all of this
debate is really demanding that we compare the actual products of the people
involved to see if we can see a real difference in quality. At minimum, can
we see the benefit of some experimentation in some aspects of meadmaking?
I always think of Budweiser and others who have most likely spent millions
of dollars on research into the most esoteric aspects of fermentation, etc.
To belittle this research by saying that I make perfectly fine beer at home
seems to me to be short-sighted. There is most likely some benefit that come
out of this research, even if it only extends the shelf life a few weeks.
Whether it or our own research applies to our own fermenting hobbies is
for us to figure out under some sort of controlled conditions, such as
at the AHA conference or in our own communities. Let's not get lazy and
bad-mouth science and the scrutinizing of details. As others have said,
there is plenty of room for those who put in as much time as they want
or as little as they think they need. we can argue about the merits of
various procedures at competitions or in our own well-controlled experiments.
My main response to Steve's comments above is that we need not try to
replicate the meads of the past. I know that, especially in the meadmaking
area ( as opposed to brewing, though some people express this idea there
as well), some people really like to try to just do things the way that
they think things were done centuries ago. why should we use concentrated
oxygen, glass carboys, yeast sachets (take your pick as you could go back
all the way to just letting honey sit out in your back yard in a puddle of
rain and then slurping it up with your hands after a few weeks) or anything
else to improve our enjoyment of mead or beer? the reason is that we want to
try to make the most objectively pleasurable drink possible. we likely make
better beer and mead than that produced in past centuries, almost certainly.
science is a great way for us to improve our meads and beers. let's not be
ludites, unless we really want to pursue that avenue. if that's the case,
we scientific types will try not to look down on you traditionalists either!
to all of the ideas and methods of fermentation. may the best win out!!!
aaron
PS anyone every use Linden, russian olive, goldenrod, or bamboo honey
to make mead? any comments on the character imparted and best styles for
these honeys?
------------------------------
Subject: Call for entries: Muse Cup 2008
From: Leonora <foxryde@foxryde.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:37:24 -0600
1st Annual Muse Cup
Mead-Only Competition
Hosted by The Liquid Poets
September 28, 2008
Northern Colorado's Liquid Poets home brew club invites you to enter
Colorado's newest AHA/BJCP sanctioned mead-only competition. Mead
entries will be evaluated by experienced judges based on the 2008
BJCP Guidelines.
Hand-Crafted commemorative belt buckles will be awarded to First
Place winners. The winner of Best of Show will receive a special
Hand-Crafted commemorative belt buckle. Second and Third Place
winners will also receive an award.
Entries from BJCP categories 24, 25 and 26 will be
accepted. Additional catagories have been established for the 25C
Other Fruit catagory: Berry/Cherry and "Palate-buster" for the hot
pepper meads!
There are two non-BJCP categories in this competition - historical
and best varietal honey.
Medals will be awarded for the historical and best varietal honey
categories but entries will not be in Best of Show contention. For
the historical category, additional documentation regarding the
recipe and process must be attached to your entry. For the best
varietal honey, honey flavor/type must be noted in comments section.
For the best varietal honey category, meads may be entered separately
in the appropriate category for medal consideration (would be two
separate entries).
Muse Cup Rules
Categories
Each mead will be judged according to the 2008 BJCP guidelines. Meads
of similar styles may be grouped together to allow for manageable
judging sessions and reasonable competition. The top mead in each
category will be judged in a final round to determine the Best of
Show Mead. All meads will be judged at room temperature unless
specifically requested otherwise.
Bottles
In an effort to be sensitive to the fact that mead is an expensive
libation, an entry shall consist of one (1) bottle, 10 - 22 ounce,
either corked or capped. Bottles must be clean of all paper, printed
or enameled labels, label adhesive, misc. debris, or any other
distinguishing features. Clear glass, and oversized (22 oz. or
champagne) bottles are also acceptable. Printed crown caps are
acceptable but must be blacked out completely with black marker to
assure anonymity. Bottles will not be returned to entrants. Every
effort will be made to re-cap the bottle with a tasting cork after
the first round judging. If an entrant is concerned about the
sparkling nature of a mead being lost, please send two bottles.
Online Registration
Each entry must have a single entry form (
<http://www.flbrewer.org/muse/Web_Entry.htm>http://www.flbrewer.org/muse/Web_Ent
ry.htm)
completed containing brewer and complete recipe information. Each
bottle shall have a bottle identification form (print from online
registration) attached with a rubber band to facilitate collection of
forms; glue and/or tape are unacceptable. Please complete online
forms and pay for entries either using PayPal or enclosing a check
made out to Liquid Poets with your entry. Enter your mead according
to the 2008 BJCP classifications; please see the BJCP website for a
copy of these classifications. Please fill out the entry forms
completely. Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that
must be specified per the BJCP Style Guidelines. Failure to note such
ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.
Volunteers
Anyone interested in judging should contact the judge coordinator,
Aaron Heaton
(<mailto:Aaron.Heaton@centerpartners.com>Aaron.Heaton@centerpartners.com).
Anyone interested in being a steward should contact the head steward,
Emily Heaton (<mailto:emhud2@hotmail.com>emhud2@hotmail.com).
Limitations
This competition is open to amateur mead-makers age 21 or
older. Mead-makers are not limited to amount of entries per BJCP
subcategory.
Entry Fees
An entry fee of $6 per entry will be collected on all entries. Either
attach entry fee to the Entry and Recipe form or use the PayPal
system online. Please make checks payable to Liquid Poets.
More Rules
All entries become property of the Liquid Poets. Infractions of these
rules may disqualify any entry. Disqualified meads may still be
judged but will not be eligible for awards. The judges may decide to
not award any or all places in any category. The decision of the
judges is final.
Where to Enter
Entries will be accepted from September 8th through close of business
September 18th. Below is a list of shipping and drop off points.
Shipping Location:
Liquid Poets Muse Cup
c/o Hops & Berries
125 Remington Street
Fort Collins, CO 80524
(970) 493-2484
Email:
<http://www.hopsandberries.com>www.hopsandberries.com
Drop Off Locations:
Hops & Berries
125 Remington Street
Fort Collins, CO 80524
(970) 493-2484
<http://www.hopsandberries.com>www.hopsandberries.com
Hop to It!
2900 Valmont Rd. #D2
Boulder, CO
(303) 444-8888
<http://www.stompthemgrapes.com>www.stompthemgrapes.com
Beer at Home
1325 W. 121st Ave
Westminster, CO 80234
(720) 872-9463
<http://www.beerathome.com>www.beerathome.com
Judging
Judging will be on Sunday September 28, 2008. Judging sessions will
be held at a location to be announced, beginning at 9:00am. You do
not need to be a registered BJCP judge to participate. If you have
any questions about judging, please contact the Judge Coordinator,
Aaron Heaton. Lunch will be provided for Judges and Stewards.
Additional Information
Please contact the Competition Co-coordinators, Pamela
(<mailto:lp.treasurer@gmail.com>lp.treasurer@gmail.com) or
Sheron/Leonora (<mailto:foxryde@foxryde.com>foxryde@foxryde.com) for
additional information.
Webpage:
<http://www.grotegang.com/liquidpoets/2008Muse.html>http://www.grotegang.com/liq
uidpoets/2008Muse.html
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1386
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