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Mead Lovers Digest #1520
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1520 15 April 2011
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: One Gallon Batches (Dick Dunn)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1519, 5 April 2011 ("M. Graham Clark")
re "burnt rubber" (queenbee@gotmead.com)
Mazer Cup results? (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Re: One Gallon Batches
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 22:34:17 -0600
Ken wrote (inter alia) in the last digest:
> I'm not sure I understand the objections against picking up and shaking
> the jug. For my 5 gallon batches I'll open the bucket every day for 2-3
> days and stir in order to provide more O2, so why not do the same with
> the gallon jug? Pull off the airlock and swirl the sucker for a minute,
> then re-stopper.
I don't -object- to it, just don't know why you'd do it. Sure, rouse it
or oxygenate it once at the start (pitching)...but after that, why?
Don't give in to "more is better". Once you've given the yeast their
initial oxygen, anything they don't use up by the time they switch over
to anaerobic is just that much possible staling.
OK, I may be overreacting there, because I dislike meads that have gone
faux-sherry-like by the time they're bottled...plus I make a lot of
melomels, where excess O2 just shortens the best part of their lifetimes.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1519, 5 April 2011
From: "M. Graham Clark" <mclark04@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 12:35:34 -0300
> In my experience active Champagne yeast produces bad flavors that have to
...
> goodies to the carboy.
>
> Hope this helps,
> - -Paul
>
Thanks Paul. I wouldn't say its a burnt match or egg-y taste, more like the
smell I had when the fan belt on my car was loose before I replaced it. I
have lots of carboys, so I will keep aging away.
M. Graham Clark had a slight burnt rubber taste in his meads.
>
...
> year and limited tasting, I am not as sure as when I started the
> experiment.
>
> Carl McMillin, Brecksville, OH
>
>
Carl, I would be interested in the results of your expariment, but to be
honest I don't do any boil. I am on well water so there is no chlorine. If
its a cold day I will warm a bit of water up to get the honey moving, but I
try to minimize heat on my honey. There could be trace microbes, but like I
said I have never had a problem with beer, even when I only do partial
boils. I haven't tried any other mead yet at my new place, but I will in
the next month or so and see if its a pattern.
A "burnt rubber" smell is one of the descriptors applied to yeast
>
...
> did eventually go away.
>
> =Spencer in Ann Arbor
>
Thanks Spencer, I will do some reading on autolysis once I am done marking
final exams and have a little free time. Hopefully I can avoid it in the
future, if this is the case. I don't think I left it on the lees for any
extra amount of time, but maybe I got side tract. I will check my notes at
home.
> Graham,
>
> You may be smelling Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). The following site can help
> you identify the cause and the potential cures:
>
> http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/h2s.htm
>
> I hope this helps!
>
> Cheers,
> Ken
>
Thanks Ken. I tried the penny trick with no results. So I didn't think it
was sulfide problem, but maybe its too far gone. The flavor does seem to
mellow a slight bit with time, so maybe with more time it will go away.
Thanks everyone,
- --
M. Graham Clark
------------------------------
Subject: re "burnt rubber"
From: queenbee@gotmead.com
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:03:13 -0500
One off aroma and flavor I'm very sensitive to is contributed by the
use of a rubber stopper. It's just horrid. There are now universal
stoppers, made with a different material, which do not give off these
aromas that permeate the mead. Personally, I rarely ever do batches in
less that 3 gallons (mostly 5s) so I always use a carboy cap. It
doesn't cost that much more than a stopper, still well under $5-. And
no, it makes not one bit of difference if your stoppers are "new",
this does not mitigate the damages caused in any way. I know a lot of
folks can't catch this in their meads, but trust me, it's in there!
Cheers,
Deborah
------------------------------
Subject: Mazer Cup results?
From: mead-request@talisman.com (Mead Lovers Digest Admin)
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:58:16 -0600 (MDT)
Could someone affiliated with the Mazer Cup competition please post the
results or let us know what happened? I can't find anything online more
than that, at the official site, the results were intended to be announced
on 4 April.
- --
Mead-Lover's Digest mead-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1520
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