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Mead Lovers Digest #1437
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1437, 11 August 2009
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1437 11 August 2009
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: New to making mead (Mike Faul)
Re: Subject: New to making mead (Nick Dian)
Tannin (Finger)
Re: Sour mead (docmac9582@aol.com)
Re: Report on a Sour Mead (mail-box)
Re: New to making mead (mail-box)
Buttered Honey-ala Malolactic Ferment (Brad and Annie Green)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: New to making mead
From: Mike Faul <mfaul@faul.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:40:35 -0700
Ken Schramm - The Complete Mead Maker
> Subject: New to making mead
> From: Peter Matra <peter@petermatra.com>
> Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:45:25 -0400
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> So as stated in the subject I am new to making mead. I made some 15
> years ago that turned out 'ok' but now I want to attempt to create
> something 'good' :) I noticed on the website that there are several
> books listed and I don't want to order all 5 of them. What book would
> you suggest I buy for a first time brewer? Obviously I plan to start off
> simple, but a book that is all encompassing from beginner to more
> complicated brews would be good.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Subject: New to making mead
From: Nick Dian <richard.neon@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 10:53:31 -0500
Peter,
The best book for you would be Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker
Nick
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
So as stated in the subject I am new to making mead. I made some 15
years ago that turned out 'ok' but now I want to attempt to create
something 'good' :) I noticed on the website that there are several
books listed and I don't want to order all 5 of them. What book would
you suggest I buy for a first time brewer? Obviously I plan to start off
simple, but a book that is all encompassing from beginner to more
complicated brews would be good.
Is there a repository of recipes?
THANKS
Peter
------------------------------
Subject: Tannin
From: Finger <johncleal@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:14:34 -0700 (PDT)
Do members add tannin to plain mead's - eg basic, honey only, unflavored
mead's ?
If so, what proportion per gallon ?
John Cleal
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Sour mead
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:40:00 -0400
My son made some naturally sour mead in Australia using Red Stringy Bark
eucalyptus honey.? Unusual, but good.? I would be willing to pay a premium
price for a pail of that honey to try to duplicate that mead, but I fear
international shipping would be exorbitant. ?It was one of three meads he
made at the time with WL720 yeast.? The Tasmanian Leatherwood honey mead
he made? was also good, with lavender/floral tase & aroma that might be
over powering if much were to be?drunk at one sitting.
For your problem mead, you might try adding a cup or two of actively
fermenting mead to see if the yeast might metabolize out the offending
compounds (even if it delays consumption date).
Carl McMillin
Brecksville, OH?
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Report on a Sour Mead
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:10:16 -0400
> A colleague in my LHBC specializes in brewing sour ale. A little
> more than a year ago, I gave him 15 lbs of Raspberry Honey. Six
> months ago he gave me two gallons that was at least six months old.
> It had a heavy fusel aroma and two ounces of it gave me a hell of
> a hangover headache. It has been in gallon jugs with air-locks
> since then. I racked both jugs on Monday. The fusel aroma is
> still there and so is "morning-after" headache even with about a
> half an ounce
>
> Has anyone else made a sour Mead? If so, what was your experience
> with the fusel alcohol?
>
> Dick
>
Dick,
While I've never made a sour mead, I've made sour ale. And of course I
make mead. This is a little bit of experience combined with a little
bit of guesswork, but I would not expect fusels in any mead fermented
within the stress tolerances of the yeast used, and according to other
good practices. The lactobaccilus and other non-standard (for non-sour
ale) yeasts and bacteria should not, in my estimation, produce fusels.
That said, sour ales (Flanders red, geueuze, etc) are often aged for
extensive periods of time, and a year is not too long to wait before
bottling. Which is also the advice for waiting out fusels. So you
might just tuck your sour mead away for another 6 months and give it
some time to mellow.
If the mead is stable, you might just remove the airlocks and seal the
jugs so there's no worry about keeping the airlocks filled. On the
other hand, what's the worst that can happen? Your mead goes all sour
on you? Ok, just kidding. You probably don't want a sour mead with
sherry notes from oxidation. :)
I'd also ask your colleague for his brewing notes, if he's willing to
share them. They may point to reasons why this mead is so harsh.
Cheers,
Ken Taborek
------------------------------
Subject: Re: New to making mead
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:41:18 -0400
> Hi everyone,
>
> So as stated in the subject I am new to making mead. I made some 15
> years ago that turned out 'ok' but now I want to attempt to create
> something 'good' :) I noticed on the website that there are several
> books listed and I don't want to order all 5 of them. What book would
> you suggest I buy for a first time brewer? Obviously I plan to start off
> simple, but a book that is all encompassing from beginner to more
> complicated brews would be good.
>
> Is there a repository of recipes?
>
> THANKS
> Peter
>
Peter,
Welcome to the hobby. I'd suggest Ken Schram's book The Compleat
Meadmaker. I own several books on mead making and if you're going to
start with one book (a very reasonable beginning) this is the book I
would recommend for the beginner, and it can also take you far beyond
the beginner level. If you stay with the hobby you'll own it eventually
anyway, so you may as well make it your first purchase. :)
For a repository of recipes, your mileage will vary greatly depending on
your specific interests. Mead makers are not a monolithic bloc, there
are many different interest groups within the hobby. Some want to make
historical meads, some want to eschew all "chemicals" (water is a
chemical, in case you care), some want "Yea olde Viking mead" aka "The
highest alcohol content I can possibly squeeze into a fluid beverage",
some prefer honey only meads, some prefer melomels (fruit meads), some
methyglyns (herb/spice meads), some like saccharine sweet meads, some
dry, and some at all ranges in between, etc, etc.
Regardless of your specific interests, this truth holds throughout. A
mead recipe typically follows this general recipe: Water, honey,
yeast. For 5 gallons, 4 gallons water, 1 gallon honey, 5 grams yeast.
You may add fruit in various quantities, you may add herbs or spices in
various quantities, and you may choose to follow practices such as using
sulfite, or not, as best suits you. There are a great many ways to do
it right.
If you want to mull over your options and come back to the group with a
general description of what you'd like to make, I'm sure you'll get some
recipe suggestions.
Have fun,
Ken Taborek
------------------------------
Subject: Buttered Honey-ala Malolactic Ferment
From: Brad and Annie Green <thegreens72@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:46:15 -0400
So, I have searched the archives for the answer to this and have come up
with a whole lotta not much! As far as Malolactic Fermentation goes, do
many mead makers do this? It seems that "butter" and honey would go well
together (at least on toast) so it would seem that a MLF would be a good
choice for it too. I have never actually done the MLF on a mead and was
wondering what the end result tasted like. Finally, would the MLF flavors
then be considered an "off flavor" in the final? None of the archives seemed
to have an answer. It seems as though it was a forbidden
question...although it had been asked...just unanswered.
Any help or insight would be great.
Thanks in advance!
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1437
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