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Mead Lovers Digest #1496
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1496, 25 October 2010
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1496 25 October 2010
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: pumpkin mead with a twist (Alex Flinsch)
Re: Pumkin Mead (JazzboBob@aol.com)
Re: Mead in a Pumpkin (docmac9582@aol.com)
Re: First Time Mead Making, and pectinase again (mail-box)
Re: pumpkin mead with a twist (mail-box)
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Re: pumpkin mead with a twist
From: Alex Flinsch <avflinsch@verizon.net>
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:27:09 -0400
On Oct 19, 2010, at 6:52 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
>
> This idea came to me today and thought I would throw it out here to see
> what others may think of the merits of it.
>
> I have a recipe for a pumpkin wine made in the pumpkin. what do people
> think of the idea of making this as a mead in the pumpkin. The wine recipe
> calls for water, sugar and raisins inside the pumpkin and the top is sealed
> with wax and a plastic tube is stuck through the top of the pumpkin stem
> and run into a jar of water.
>
> The question is what are your thoughts on a pumpkin mead made in the pumpkin.
I have made beer with the mash being done in a pumpkin, and also made beer
with the ferment being done in a large pumpkin (never tried doing both in
the same batch).
I don't know how well this would work. Meads tend to ferment longer than
beer, I would not want to risk the pumpkin going all 'squishy' halfway
thru the fermentation process.
Hmmm, pumpkin mead with a twist or Twisted Pumpkin Mead?
"Twisted Pumpkin" has a nice ring to it, reminds me of a 80's band...
--
Alex/AB2RC
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Pumkin Mead
From: JazzboBob@aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:06:06 EDT
I once considered making a pumpkin mead but never followed through with the
brew so I can only mention some things to consider from my memory in
researching the process. The Pamela Spence book Mad about Mead has a recipe
named Howling Jack: Honey Pumpkin Mead. You can find the recipe through a
Google search. The online recipe fails to mention Pamela's recommendation to
use the Pumpkin as a secondary fermentor. In other words, the inside of
the pumpkin is cleaned and prepared to be used as a storage vessel for the
finished mead. I think the alcohol in the finished mead may help preserve
the brew while it ages in the pumpkin although I imagine some further
fermentation of the pumpkin may take place during the two months of aging.
The paraffin wax bath is supposed to seal and preserve the pumpkin from air and
infection or mold. I think it might be easier to drill a hole for an air
lock then use a tube to vent any gas from the slow secondary fermentation. I
also think it would be a good idea to rack the pumpkin infused mead back
into a glass jug to settle and clear before bottling in case any residual
sugar and pumpkin flesh remains in suspension. I ultimately decided to not
bother brewing out of concern for the possible problems of leaks and mold
forming on the pumpkin. My guess is the recipe will make around a gallon of
mead. Incidentally, I quite often have used a pumpkin or hubbard squash
to make a fantastic vegetable soup for the holidays. I scoop out the
inside, then add the soup ingredients, and bake the whole squash inside a large
stainless steel bowl. It makes quite an impressive sight to serve the soup
right from the squash. So another approach for the pumpkin mead might be
to not bother with bottling and simply serve the mead directly from the
pumpkin at a party.
cheers, Bob Grossman _JazzboBob@aol.com_ (mailto:JazzboBob@aol.com)
Subject: pumpkin mead with a twist
From: hansvater@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:36:51 +0000 (UTC)
This idea came to me today and thought I would throw it out here to see
what others may think of the merits of it.
I have a recipe for a pumpkin wine made in the pumpkin. what do people
think of the idea of making this as a mead in the pumpkin. The wine recipe
calls for water, sugar and raisins inside the pumpkin and the top is sealed
with wax and a plastic tube is stuck through the top of the pumpkin stem
and run into a jar of water.
The question is what are your thoughts on a pumpkin mead made in the
pumpkin.
Brian Hakman
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead in a Pumpkin
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:35:22 -0400
Re: Making mead in a pumpkin "carboy"
Trying fermenting mead in a pumpkin sounds like fun. My only caution is
that all of the good pumpkin ales use ROASTED pumpkin and roasted squash -
otherwise the beer tastes vegetable. Actually some of pumpkin ales only
use the pumpkin pie spices and no pumpkin and that turns out good as well -
so might want to add spices with the honey water & yeast. Who knows how
it will come out? Sounds intriguing, wouldn't waste too much money/honey,
and would be fun to open up at a party. Perhaps some pumpkin spices will
overpower any vegetable taste.
Carl McMillin
Brecksville, OH
------------------------------
Subject: Re: First Time Mead Making, and pectinase again
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:23:32 -0400
Subject: Re: First Time Mead Making, and pectinase again From: Dick
Dunn <rcd@talisman.com> Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:22:00 -0600 Ken's
suggestions for an apricot melomel using apricot nectar... [snip]
>> Time 0 - Pitch yeast and pectinase;
>> Time 2 months - Rack, sulfite and sorbate, add more pectinase;
>> Time 4 months - Rack, add nectar to sweeten (1 bottle?), sulfite and
>> sorbate, add more pectinase;
>> Time 6 months - Rack to bottling bucket, bottle.
> Hold on here...the additives are out-of-whack with the timing.
>
> Pectinase goes in once at the start, and that's it. It is an enzyme which
> breaks down pectin, and that action won't be reversed, so one addition is
> enough. Moreover, the presence of ethanol inhibits the action of
> pectinase. (So if you want to use pectinase on the back-sweetening with
> nectar at 6 months, add it to the nectar and give it time to act -before-
> adding the nectar to the mead.)
I agree in principal, but in practice I have found that multiple
pectinase additions may be required to fully clear a mead. Also, I tend
to use a mass production process, whereby I walk the row of carboys and
add 10 drops of pectinase to each, regardless of clarity. It helps
those meads which require it, and does not hurt those meads which do not
require it. I've also thrown away more old pectinase (which has a shelf
life of 18 months according to my sources) than I've used complete
(tiny) bottles, so there is no waste to this method. And it saves me
time referring to my intentions for later fruit additions, which
occasionally do change.
Also, the inhibition of ethanol on pectinase may be a correct and true
chemical fact. However in practice I have found it to be of no regard.
I have added pectinase late to cloudy cysers and then wished that I had
taken daily photographs to document the radical clearing process which
ensues. In short, initial pectinase additions may be best practice by
the book, but they are not at all the only time to consider adding
pectinase for clearing your meads.
> Next: No sorbate until fermentation is done! Ken's suggestions above are
> surprising, since Ken is one of the people who's reminded us over the years
> that if you add sorbate while fermentation is still going on, you get a
> nasty geranium odor.
>
> Really, the additives need to be synced with events, not just the calendar.
Again, I agree in principal. Wine or mead needs to be made with regards
to what is happening in the wine or mead, and not by a rote schedule.
Taking SG readings, Ph readings, etc and then reacting to those
measurements is a fine practice. My suggestions follow my own mead
making timeline, which I can indeed reduce to a rote schedule due to the
lessons of experience. I pitch an active yeast starter into a wine
strength must, and follow up with an aeration schedule. This very
typically (I.E. nigh 100%) sees my meads being done fermenting (I.E.
fermented dry) within 2 weeks time. A first racking at 2 months time is
well in line with this experience, as the mead is both dry and has had
time to drop clear.
Another thing I've tried to emphasize over the years is this: There are
a great many ways to do it right.
No one has the ultimate authority to be able to tell you to change your
methods. There are a good number of best practices which will improve
your chances of making a good mead, and whose could be considered to be
a decent baseline for adoption. And there is a huge wealth of
experience available to anyone wi9lling to peruse it on furums such as
this. After that, tweaking this or that method and observing the
results in your own mead is something which I would highly encourage.
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: pumpkin mead with a twist
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:44:48 -0400
> Subject: pumpkin mead with a twist
> From: hansvater@comcast.net
> Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:36:51 +0000 (UTC)
>
> This idea came to me today and thought I would throw it out here to see
> what others may think of the merits of it.
>
> I have a recipe for a pumpkin wine made in the pumpkin. what do people
> think of the idea of making this as a mead in the pumpkin. The wine recipe
> calls for water, sugar and raisins inside the pumpkin and the top is sealed
> with wax and a plastic tube is stuck through the top of the pumpkin stem
> and run into a jar of water.
>
> The question is what are your thoughts on a pumpkin mead made in the pumpkin.
>
> Brian Hakman
>
>
Brian,
My first question would be: Are you interested in making a good mead,
or are you interested in conducting an interesting experiment?
To my mind, making a mead in the pumpkin is an interesting experiment.
It may be a fun exercise, but it doesn't have a decent chance at
resulting in a well received mead.
My experience with Hallowe'en pumpkins is that they decay within a
months time. And I'm not sure if using one for a fermenter would delay
this decay or hasten it. A good mead takes more than a months time to
complete. And so I find the two goals to be mutually exclusive. Why
not take the recipe and recreate it using better practices? Instead of
fermenting within a decaying pumpkin, why not add pumpkin puree or
chunks of fresh or roasted pumpkin to your fermentation bucket? Or
start with your pumpkin fermenter and rack to glass after the initial
fermentation is done? Another thing to consider is volume. The volume
inside your pumpkin is going to be rather restricted, and will vary from
pumpkin to pumpkin, which may cause issues when it comes time to rack to
a non-decaying container such as a glass gallon jug.
Regards,
Ken
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1496
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