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Mead Lovers Digest #1424
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1424, 23 May 2009
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1424 23 May 2009
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1421, 2 May 2009 (Chuck)
Pyment? (MeadGuild@aol.com)
A quick observation about oak and maple ("Louis LeBlanc")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1423, 12 May 2009 (mail-box)
Re: Honey squeezings (mail-box)
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1421, 2 May 2009
From: Chuck <wintermead@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 04:54:50 -0700 (PDT)
Sighhhhhhhhh...
In MLD #1422, once again some one said that freeze concentrating mead to
make it stronger is illegal in the US...
Hopping once again in the wayback machine, we go back to MLD #558 (1-May-1997)
wherein I wrote (in part):
In answer to Rodney's post, in MLD's #556 & 557, Dick Dunn, Spenser Thomas,
Bill Shirley, and Darin NLN all wrote to state, or in some cases imply that
increasing the alcohol content of a mead by freezing was (in the US)
illegal.
This subject was definitively covered by Dennis Davison in his _Zymurgy_
article on eisbock. Dennis' eisbock took a first (I believe) in the
AHA NHC and he wrote an article about the making of that beer. Dennis
went directly to the source, the BATF, and asked if freezing to
increase alcohol content by removing ice was illegal. The BATF said
that distillation (the *removal of alcohol* from a wine/beer/mead/
mash/etc.) without a license was illegal, but that *concentration* of
alcohol in a wine/beer/mead/mash/etc. was not illegal. As I remember
it (I'll check it tonight at home) the article gave legal citations
*and* the name of the person at BATF who would confirm the above to
the skeptical.
Considering that Dennis gave step-by-step instructions on how he did
it in a nationally distributed magazine, I'd suspect that we can make
and talk about making mead brandy, applejack, and other concentrated
victuals without going (Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink).
Yes boys and girls, the answers to all your mead questions have already
been answered, before, in the MLD, if you would just read them, but you'll have
to look up Dennis' article in Zymurgy for yourself.
Chuck
********
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Subject: Pyment?
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 12:45:54 EDT
Is a Pyment a Wine made with honey or a Mead
made with grapes?
Which is a Pyment?
1. A five gal Pinot Gris kit and 3 lbs of honey, or
2. 2.5 gals from the kit, 8 lbs of honey, and water, or
3. Both?
Dick
- --
Richard D. Adams, CPA (Retired)
------------------------------
Subject: A quick observation about oak and maple
From: "Louis LeBlanc" <brew@fayreforest.net>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 14:43:59 -0400 (EDT)
Hello everyone,
I've been anxiously awaiting a batch of maple mead, made with 9 lbs light
honey and 6 lbs maple syrup. 4 weeks ago, I added a bit of oak - one spiral,
supposedly suitable for 3 gallons, with 6 weeks to full extraction.
So I figured this would be just a bit of oak, and not too much. Not so. It's
not really overpowering, but it is on the strong side. Unfortunately it seems
to have been enough to essentially stomp on the maple. It seems to have
disappeared altogether.
Not that it's not really good, but you can imagine my disappointment when I
tasted it at bottling, and thought "Where's the maple?" Especially after
tasting it before the oak and finding it wonderfully present.
My only hope for this batch is that it comes back someday before I've drunk it
all. Hopefully, my observations here will prevent others from the same
experience. In retrospect, I'll be saving the oak for very light application
to traditional meads.
Cheers!
Lou
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1423, 12 May 2009
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 21:03:43 -0400
> From: "David" <diode21@msn.com>
> Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 08:06:54 -0600
>
> Ian Wrote
>
> ?So, my question is:
>
> * What can I do to the existing batch to "dry" it out?
>
> * Since it is fully attenuated, it isn't an issue of residual sugar, so
> would a different yeast give a drier flavor? (I plan on trying to make
> another batch for her) If so, what would you recommend??
>
> I have heard of bacteria Oenococcuc Oeni That will ferment any sugars left
> over to make the mead BONE dry. I have never used this Think it is also
> referred to ML. Good Luck
>
> Toma
That is used for malolactic fermentation, and won't have any noticeable
impact on the dryness of your mead. The effect of malolactic
fermentation is to convert a tart malic acid into a softer lactic acid,
and this might produce the opposite effect that you are looking for as a
sharper acid may present as being "dryer."
I think the advice given previously is best: Since you are fermenting
to dryness already, the things which will have an impact on the
perception of dryness will be tannins and possibly acids. And I'd go
with a good helping of tannins first, as an oaked dry mead can be a
wonderful thing. I don't do any acid balancing, so I can't comment on
how to best approach that if you wish to go that route.
Cheers,
Ken Taborek
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Honey squeezings
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 21:32:01 -0400
> Subject: Honey squeezings
> From: Paul Shouse <paulhshouse@gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, 7 May 2009 17:34:51 +0900
>
> While it's true that freeze concentration of mead is illegal, as it is
> considered to be a form of distillation, it is not a crime to talk about it.
>
> For example, cooling your mead to 25 to 30 degrees below zero will produce a
> slushy layer of floating ice crystals that can be strained out, so long as
> the fine screens used are equally cold. However, if you can cycle the mead
> through freezing and thawing several times without disturbing it, the ice
> will consolidate into a solid mass that can simply be picked out and
> discarded.
>
> I would certainly never encourage anyone to do any such thing, though.
>
> - -Paul
There is not one but three businesses local to me which sell dry ice.
I've bought some to help me in disgorging champaign, but I bet it would
work a trick in any theoretical freeze distillation process. I just
wonder how you avoid oxidation during such a process? The champaign
bottles are crown capped prior to disgorgement, no issues there. But a
carboy or a plastic bucket?
Cheers,
Ken Taborek
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1424
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