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Mead Lovers Digest #1527
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1527, 20 June 2011
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1527 20 June 2011
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Honey is cheap (ish) (e9c6zum@aol.com)
Vanilla Pods In Mead ("Shaggyman")
Re: honey is cheap (Caroline Taymor)
Honey Prices (Vuarra)
keep it open, please (Michael McClatchey)
Re: honey is cheap! (MeadGuild@aol.com)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1526, 17 June 2011 (John McCue)
rhodomel or rhubarb mead ("Joanna Bailey")
Chocolate Mead (Paul Shouse)
when to back-sweeten (Jed Forbis)
Honey prices (Wilf How)
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Honey is cheap (ish)
From: e9c6zum@aol.com
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:05:22 -0700 (PDT)
Dick, you make some good points, but not that long ago (okay, 4-5 years ago),
I spent 18-20 for a full gallon of honey.
Partly I am now divorced, leaving me house-poor (and my band broke up,
taking away another 400/month, and steel players are in lower demand than
bassmen).
But partly I just wont make anywhere near as much when the cost of the main
ingredient has doubled.
Perhaps I'm just whining. Once money eases up, I WILL buy these 38/gallon
local honeys, but I doubt I'll buy as much when they're double (and probably
still half again after adjustment for inflation dilution
------------------------------
Subject: Vanilla Pods In Mead
From: "Shaggyman" <shaggyman@fairpoint.net>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:17:31 -0500
I've had the best results just dropping one pod into a completed batch, then
taste every few days (oh, no!) until the alcohol has extracted the desired
amount of flavor. Then remove the bean and yer done.
Lane O
AKA: The Great And Powerful Shaggyman
------------------------------
Subject: Re: honey is cheap
From: Caroline Taymor <caroskis@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:08:35 -0700
Regarding the price of honey, I agree that it is important to pay a
decent price for things, to enable the producer to make a living.
To me, however, the logic of comparing brewing it yourself and buying
it (mead/wine/beer) is strange. It's not an either or situation. If we
bought our alcohol, we'd only drink cheap tj's wine 3x a year, a six
pack of beer every three months, and a bottle of mead every other year
or so, between two of us. When I talk about it being too expensive, I
don't mean someone is overcharging for honey. I mean that there is
little to no room in our budget for alcohol, purchased or made, after
paying the rent, gas, and food. Do most people even when broke, spend
lots of money on alcohol, which could be cheaper made than bought? (I
take that back, I know folks who do).
It's not that honey prices are rising so fast, it's that this is an
economically horrible time to be a young person starting out.
- -Caroline
------------------------------
Subject: Honey Prices
From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:36:45 -0700 (PDT)
Dick, while I am not going to question your pricing, here's mine:
$40 CAD for 15# honey - yes, I use most of it for mead, which is why one
bottle is more than enough for me and the missus.
$30 CAD for grape juice, including taxes. Makes about 15% abv wine.
$35 CAD for malt extract, hops, and yeast for a session beer (and that's
10 USG, fair enough, Dick.)
Perhaps I should be re-thinking making mead. Last time, though, I went
for honey, the home apiary was charging $60 for 10 lbs. I'd have to go
commercial to get better prices, but what's better, commercial or home made?
I am more interested in the tone of the post. If supply is low enough,
and demand is high enough, *someone* is going to buy that honey. It's not
incumbent on me to buy it, or the place will go out of business. I can
vote with my dollars, can I not?
Don't take this personal. This is just about what I have perceived as a
tone in the posting. If that's not where you were going with it, sorry
about the tone of my post.
Vuarra
The world really isn't any worse. It's just that the news coverage is so
much better.
------------------------------
Subject: keep it open, please
From: Michael McClatchey <mmmcclatchey@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:01:51 -0400
I mostly lurk, and I mostly make cider and beer, but I may get around to
making mead, there are bees on the farm I live on. (Sake is next, though...)
But I've gotten valuable information from any number of posters (props to
Claude! Love that ice cider, even if it's astronomically overpriced, sorry!)
and I'd like having it there. I'll post more, even if it's just questions.
Save the list!
Best,
Michael McClatchey
------------------------------
Subject: Re: honey is cheap!
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:38:24 EDT
I agree with Dick Dunn. My honey comes from honey packers.
The current price of 60 lbs (a five gallon pail) of Orange
Blossom honey per DutchGoldHoney.com/store/prod_bulk.asp is
$115.80. That is $23.16 per gallon or $1.93/lb. Also that
is the price if you pick up it at the warehouse, So add in
a freight charge if you want it delivered.
Figure selling by the gallon increases the price and your
LHBS has to mark up it up further to stay in business.
Dick
- ---
Richard D. Adams
Ellicott City, MD 21042
410-465-6362
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1526, 17 June 2011
From: John McCue <john_mccue@verizon.net>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:06:23 -0400
Per using Vanilla bean pods:
I hate being wasteful when it comes to vanilla so I buy 2 good Madagascar
pods and then I slice them along their seam and then scraping out the seeds
and using them in a recipe calling for vanilla seed such as ice cream.
Then I add the 4 de-seeded pod skins to a 5 gallon batch of mead or beer
and it always seems about right. I then don't have to worry about the
seeds not being filtered out.
Hope this helps,
Q
Sent from my iPhone
>
> Does
> anyone have any suggestions using vanilla pods? If I just want a slight
> hint should I only use one, or will it be too little in 5 gallons? Should I
> mash it up, slice it, harvest the seeds/resin in the middle, or just toss it
> in whole? Anyone with experience like to share their thoughts?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> M. Graham
------------------------------
Subject: rhodomel or rhubarb mead
From: "Joanna Bailey" <jbmail@isomedia.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:25:45 -0700
Has anyone made rose petal mead?
I just started a batch of rose petal wine, and hope to try a mead next
summer with our own honey. There aren't too many recipes online, but I'm
always game for an experiment.
How about rhubarb mead?
We have a very prolific rhubarb patch so I'm looking for interesting ways to
make use of it.
- -Joanna
www.seventreesfarm.wordpress.com
------------------------------
Subject: Chocolate Mead
From: Paul Shouse <paulhshouse@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:26:51 +0900
On December 17, 2008 I made two 3 gallon batches of mead. The first
used 1.2kg of Madhava Wildflower honey and 1kg of generic (probably
Chinese) honey along with 3 tsp of Fermax yeast nutrient. This made
for an OG of 1061=BA, and the Yeast pitched was Lalvin K1-V116. Despite
additions of yeast nutrient in January of this year and a fresh pitch
of yeast a few days ago, this mead is still in a state of active
fermentation, but only in a thin wispy layer near the top of the
carboy. I'm hoping the fresh yeast and slowly rising temperatures will
close out fermentation quickly.
The second batch was made with 2kg. of generic honey, nutrient and
200g. of Van Houten cocoa powder. The pitch was also K1-V116 and the
OG was 1060=BA. The notes recorded in my brewing log are as follows:
2/26/10 light, dry, slow strong cocoa aftertaste and nose
1/15/11 nutrient added
5/10/11 taste test: mellow honey taste becoming apparent, slight
alcohol burn, deep dark cocoa flavor almost chewy * nearly clear. age
more
6/11/11 Bottled: 500mlx20
Obviously, three years is a long time to wait for bottling, but this
has been my experience for meads made without fruit. The first batch
made on the same day is still active, but the chocolate mead finished
a while ago. The must was quite cloudy and dark. The darkness settled
quickly but the haziness persisted, only attenuating very slowly. It
also left a ring of friable cocoa fat on the neck of the primary
fermenter, and a much smaller one in the secondary. My reason for
leaving it in the carboy was that it never really cleared, it still
has a slight haze (which is usually a sign of active yeast) although
it is quite still and so far none of the bottles has shown any sign of
carbonation.
I'm coming around to the realization that a lot of aging can properly
be done in the carboy the only downside being that those carboys are
not available for new batches.
As far as taste goes, I count this batch as a successful experiment. A
week before bottling I filled a test bottle and passed out samples at
a small barbecue. Both of my adult male guests were puzzled to
identify the flavoring agent although they knew it was something
familiar. Once they were told what it was they quickly emptied the
bottle. The mead, when first sipped, has a light mouth feel and a
slight dry honey savor as one would expect from generic filtered
honey. After about a half to three quarter second delay, the cocoa
flavor comes to the fore, slowly building until it overpowers the
honey notes to a strong, gritty cocoa-powdery taste that is quite
pleasant. Another year in the bottle should make this on an
outstanding after dinner tipple. The dryness accentuates the
bitterness of the cocoa, and since I enjoy bar chocolate in the 80% to
99% percent range it's just about perfect for me. Of course, others
might prefer it sweeter.
I will definitely be making more of this recipe! My one major
criticism is that there is a detectable 'powdery' taste/feel that I
would like to find a way around, so I may try different brands of
cocoa although I doubt that will make much of a difference. Another
welcome addition might be a bit of vanilla bean, since vanilla and
chocolate is such a common mixture that I think most people would
recognize them together more readily than plain cocoa only. I might
also consider making a slightly sweeter batch despite the fact that it
has taken me more than a decade to learn to make consistently dry
mead. Chilies would go a long way towards countering sweetness, so
long as it doesn't wind up tasting like mol=E9. But then again, how bad
would that be?
------------------------------
Subject: when to back-sweeten
From: Jed Forbis <frozenimage@charter.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:11:34 -0400
Hello all,
I have been lurking in the background for about a year now. I
really have enjoyed all the debates and info that gets passed around. I
am on my third batch of mead and all have been a success, partially due
to this board. So thank you for all you help.
The question that I have is this.... I made a batch of mead 4 weeks
ago. The ingredients were - 17.75 lbs honey (bought from farmers
market), Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast, 3tsp yeast nutrient (fermax), water to
equal 6.25 gallons of mead. After 48 hours I added 1tsp yeast and
another 1/2 packet of yeast. At day 7 another 1 tsp yeast nutrient with
the rest of the yeast. I racked it to a glass carboy on day 14. It
tasted like heaven. I did my measurements and my math (and Beersmith's)
said that I was at 15% abv. I have since tasted it and the flavor is
less and less to my liking. It has stopped fermenting and is now just
clearing. I was thinking that I should throw in a couple of campden
tablets and then re-introduce couple of pounds off honey back in.
My question is tri-fold.
1. How many campden tablets are necessary for a 6 gallon batch of mead
(to kill all yeasties!)?
2. Should I back-sweeten with honey now or when it clears?
3. How is it that the yeast I used went well beyond it's alcohol
tolerance (it is now over 16% abv)?
Thank you all in advance, your help is very much appreciated.
Jed
------------------------------
Subject: Honey prices
From: Wilf How <wh@smmi.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:11:52 +0100
After reading Dick's comments on honey prices I thought that I might add
that this side of the pond in the UK the price of honey Is about £5 ($8)
per lb (British lb) so your US prices sound pretty good to me!
Having said that I've just been gifted 13lb's which I set off last night
and is bubbling away quite nicely.
It's going to be a dry straight (i.e. no spices etc) mead that I plan to
bottle condition in champagne bottles and on that note (although a long
way off) I normally bottle cider and beer with 2-3 oz of granulated sugar
but I'm unsure of the quantity of honey that I would use. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Wilf
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1527
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