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Mead Lovers Digest #1503
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1503, 7 December 2010
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1503 7 December 2010
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010 (Lou Wilkinson)
Re: Simple Times for Simple Minds ("Joanna Bailey")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010 (Brent Douglas)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010 ("Dennis Key")
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010
From: Lou Wilkinson <LWilkinson@schilli.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 10:32:21 -0500
I have to say that my own experience matches this.
And what's really odd is that I was making mead occasionally (usually a
homebrewer) for a number of years without tasting any commercial
varieties...
...then, last summer, I got a chance to go to a commercial meadery and I
bought 1 bottle of each of their offerings, took them home, opened them
up.
Never have I felt so good about my own efforts as when I tasted what that
place was actually selling.
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Subject: Re: Simple Times for Simple Minds
From: "Joanna Bailey" <jbmail@isomedia.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 20:04:52 -0800
I have to confess to brewing things the same way. We brew beer, wine, cider,
fruit wines, and mead here, and it feels more ancestral and organic to go
with the seasonal flow.
In my early days as a brewster, I would measure everything, but the more I
brew the less I want to fuss with technical stuff. Most of what I brew is
for the household. We don't enter competitions, so it's not important to
have all that detail noted. And I've found that no matter how I try to
replicate a certain batch, it rarely comes out the same, not matter how
technical I get. Most of my ingredients are grown & produced on my own
place, and every season is different. If the bees make honey from my
blackberry patch it will make different mean than when they make honey from
the clover in my pasture.
It's great that people are working hard to come up with consistent results
though, and like Carol, I love reading about all the experiments here.
Having a place to share and learn is wonderful!
- -Joanna
www.seventreesfarm.com
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010
From: Brent Douglas <bdouglas@woh.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 08:44:25 -0500
Hi Carol,
I like your style on the process, but I think you could tweak it a
little and get a better product. Nothing drastic, nothing a druid
would frown on : )
It sounds like you leave your mead in the same vessel for the three
months between pitching and bottling - I'd like to see you slip a
secondary in there, preferably in glass. If you're shooting for
making a gallon, start off with 1.25 gallons, and after maybe 3 weeks
rack that into a gallon glass jug. Plan b would be to add a little
honey and water to keep the headspace (air) to a minimum. Get your
mead off the all the nasties...
Just a thought, but I think you'll get a cleaner tasting (looking)
mead, especially if you stretch the secondary a little - 5-6 months
total would not be bad.
I tend to start another batch on a staggered schedule; it doesn't feel
so long between batches then, and I can age more without waiting - at
least it feels like that (or I brew a beer to keep me busy - started
brewing to stop me from messing with my meads, really).
Good luck!
Brent
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1502, 1 December 2010
From: "Dennis Key" <dione13@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 15:49:28 -0700
I couldn't agree with you more! The KISS (keep it simple, stupid!)
principle is invariably the best approach to anything...
Dione Greywolfe
Mead maker for the past 20 years
> Contents:
> Simple Times for Simple Minds ("Henke, Carol A")
>>
> I am making a confession to you all: I don't care one bit about the alcohol
> content, percentages, proper naming conventions or adding in any chemicals
> or additives. I was taught to brew mead (as we like to call it) by an old
> druid and I have been pleased with the results and so have my friends so
> I just can't be concerned with the science of it all. I like to keep it
> simple and fun! So far my only true failure has been a one gallon batch
> of pumpkin spice mead which I added way too much spices and it became a
> syrup instead, a really gross syrup! I did not even attempt to ferment
> it.
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1503
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