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Mead Lovers Digest #1521
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1521, 20 April 2011
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1521 20 April 2011
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
unwanted effervescence (dan@geer.org)
Oxygenation (Finger)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011 (mail-box)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011 (mail-box)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011 ("Dennis Key")
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011 ("Wayne Boncyk")
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: unwanted effervescence
From: dan@geer.org
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 10:20:33 -0400
I inquired on this phenomenon once before (quite some time ago);
consider this simply a report.
On Jan 31, I bottled a chamomile metheglin. It had been racked
thrice since fermentation, and was a fourth time 24 hours previously
to bottling. The second and third had shown no lees whatsoever,
and the color/clarity can only be described as straw/crystalline.
The time from initial ferment to bottling was 23 months. All tank
time was in glass. Initial SG was 1.024, final was .094, and that
final SG has been stable for 20 months. Yeast was D47. Bottling
temp was 60 F, as was all storage.
Now, 75 days later after bottling, they are effervescing. When
bottling, I used new bottles and new plastic lines, all of which
got a rinse in Iodaphar a half hour before commmencing. The corks
were also new, and floating in Iodaphor solution before insertion.
The taste is wonderful and the effervescence charming, except for
it being unwanted and evidently building up.
The reason for my last discussion of this topic was to ask "How is
this possible?" The answers were largely "You don't know what you
are doing," which while true is irrelevant. Nevertheless, this
latest batch again raises the question of "How is this possible?"
when sanitation is as good as I can get, the liquid is utterly
clear, everything that touched the product is new, it is two years
plus three rackings away from the active phase, the specific gravity
would imply that there is nothing to ferment, and the ABV (12.9%)
would similarly imply an inhospitable environment for ab initio
yeast growth.
I shall enjoy my effervescence and any answers.
- --dan
------------------------------
Subject: Oxygenation
From: Finger <johncleal@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:37:41 -0700 (PDT)
My understanding is that delaying anaerobic fermentation by stirring or
shaking, is because the yeast proliferates more readily and vigorously in
the presence of oxygen, initially. But of course the more stirring, the
greater the risk of infection. The trick is to find a balance. Personally,
I have found that two stirrings over 48 hours, then airlocking to start
the anaerobic fermentation, results in a very vigorous ferment
John Cleal
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:05 -0400
On 4/15/2011 10:05 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> 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
As to the why, it's because of what I've learned about yeast and their
need for O2. I'll never claim to be any kind of yeast expert, but what
I've read suggests that the yeast can use and does need O2 additions
after pitching, for a few days, before they go anerobic. And that any
excess O2 is scrubbed away during the fermentation. It's only after
fermentation stops that guarding against O2 needs to be vigilant. It's
been my practice for years to open and stir/blend my meads for a few
days after pitching. And my ferments are shorter than other mead makers
report, just a week or 10 days, and certainly not the months some folks
have reported.
And as for faux-sherry-like, I can't even get that when I use flor
sherry yeast. I recently bottled a mead I deliberately allowed to stand
with a dry airlock for months, and which I pitched with flor sherry
yeast. It was a sort of experimental mead, I called it "kitchen sink
melomel" because I used a lot of different fruits I just happened to
have available. Some kiwis and honeydew melon left over from breakfast,
a small quantity of blueberries left over from making a pie the night
before, a couple bananas that were getting past their prime that I cut
out the older portions of, and I think that's the list. The mead turned
out to have a very fresh, punchy flavor, and the non-mead drinker who
helped me bottle it called out the melon before I found my notes. I've
since had another mead making friend tell me how to encourage a flor
pellicle, which never formed in this mead, but after deliberately
exposing the mead to O2 was surprised that the flavor of this 2002 mead
was as fresh and fruity as it was. Admittedly, the amount of exchange
available in a still room and through a dry airlock may be trivial, but
after the stern warnings about the negative effects of exposure to O2
I've read about I was surprised.
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011
From: mail-box <mail-box@comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:10:14 -0400
On 4/15/2011 10:05 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> 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
>
>
This post made my ponder: Doesn't everyone use carboy caps?
I tend to age my meads and wines for often great periods of time. I can
claim it's a method, but mostly it is laziness. Bottling is my least
favorite part of the hobby. After I'm certain all fermentation is
complete, or if I am transporting (I buy in to my father-in-law's
winemaking crew, and need to move my portion of the wine from NJ to VA),
I'll snap on a carboy cap. They fit very tightly, so I do not fear O2
exposure, they have never popped off as a stopper with airlock has, they
cannot go dry if not tended, and they are cat-proof (the cats are not
allowed to go into the brewing room, which means that they primarily
want to go into the brewing room...).
Cheers,
Ken
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011
From: "Dennis Key" <dione13@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:31:51 -0600
Help protect your mail recipients from hackers by removing all email
addresses at the top and use Bcc: instead of To: like I did on this one:
Ken wrote (inter alia) in the last digest:
>
> >
> 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.
I sanitize the appropriate tubing and an aquarium air stone, connect it to
an oxygen tank, submerge the stone in the must and run it at a brisk bubble
for ten minutes just before pitching a yeast starter. After that, I
scrupulously protect the must from oxygen--the enemy of alcohol. I happen
to have access to medical oxygen but a small tank from a welding supplier
with an appropriate regulator works very well and doesn't require a
prescription. The yeasties just LOVE the oxygen-rich must to start off.
BTY, I almost always use Champaign or Cuvee' yeasts and have never had off
flavors from the yeast.
Dione Greywolfe
Dragonweyr, NM
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1520, 15 April 2011
From: "Wayne Boncyk" <wboncyk@design-group.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:26:42 -0600
>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.
[As Wayne indicates below, the results -were- on the web site. It's just
that the top-level page said they were yet to be posted. -da Janitor]
Hi, everyone!
I'm posting in reply to Dick's question about the Mazer Cup results. They
are on the MCI website (here: http://www.mazercup.com/mci_mead_results.htm)
, and they have been posted since late in the day on April 4, but let me
do a quick cut and paste into this message so you can have them here in
the digest as well:
2011 MCI Mead Home Competition Results
24A - TRADITIONAL MEAD, DRY
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Joshua Lindsey Joshua Lindsey CVBG
Silver Bill Cox Hot Mead ZING
Bronze Paul Peterson Blue Richard's Mead Black Dragon Inn
24B - TRADITIONAL MEAD, SEMI-SWEET
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Kyle Byerly Liquid Poets
Silver Brian Cooper Brian's Mead Day Mead 2010 Mad Zymurgists
Bronze Elspeth Payne Hydramelia MALT
24C - TRADITIONAL MEAD, SWEET
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Lawrence Wright Mesquite Mead BrewCommune
Silver Wesley Underwood Kashmir Dream KROC
Bronze Barry Weeg Meadowfoam Mead ASH
25A - CYSER
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Morgan Wolf Summer Surprise None Given
Silver Karl Vernon Driveway Cyser None Given
Bronze William Wilczynski Red-Ferm Cyser None Given
25B - PYMENT
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Glenn & Dani Exline Squishy Yellow Mead GMIB
Silver Mino Choi Viognier Pyment NBFB
Bronze Steve Fletty Chateau Fletty OBR SPHC
25C - OTHER FRUIT MELOMEL
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Ronald Scovil - Jr. Ren-Ai Colorado Wine Club
Silver Monique Scovil Shangri La Colorado Wine Club
Bronze Marek Leczycki Tr'jniak Tutti Frutti GMIB
25D - BERRY MELOMEL
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Medsen Fey Medsen's Mayhaw Mayhem GMIB
Silver Yancy Bodenstein 2010 Blackberry BURP
Bronze Thomas Evans Triple Berry None Given
26A - METHEGLIN
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Jon Talkington Basilisk DUH
Silver Steve Fletty El Diablo SPHC
Bronze Godwin Meniru Flavorburst Metheglin None Given
26B - BRAGGOT
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Ricky Hansing Honey CombOver None Given
Silver Alan Holowaychuk WayneB's Braggot-docio Yeast Wranglers
Bronze Paul Peterson Honey Wheat Braggot Black Dragon Inn
26C - OPEN CATEGORY MEAD
Medal Mead Maker(s) Mead Name Club
Gold Monique Scovil SLAM Colorado Wine Club
Silver Wesley Underwood Blasphemy at Gobblers Roost KROC
Bronze Kevin Hammons Oaked Macadamia Blossom Mead BrewCommune
Best of Show
BoS Ronald Scovil - Jr. Ren-Ai Colorado Wine Club
FULL CLUB NAMES FROM WINNERS LIST ABOVE
GMIB Got Mead International Brewmasters
SAAZ Scranton Area Amateur Zymologists
BUZZ Brewers Unlimited Zany Zymurgists
KROC Keg Ran Out Club
SPHC St. Paul Homebrew Club
ASH Arizona Society of Homebrewers
BURP Brewers United for Real Potables
DUH Delaware United Homebrewers
MALT Maryland Ale and Lager Technicians
ZING Zymurgical Initiative of North Georgia
CVBG Central Valley Brewers Guild
NBFB Northern Brewer Fermentation Brigade
- -----
Wayne
Wayne Boncyk
Home Competition Registrar
Mazer Cup International
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1521
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