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Mead Lovers Digest #1493
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1493, 10 October 2010
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1493 10 October 2010
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Pectin and methanol ("Bill Pierce")
First Time Mead Making Question (fivecat)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1492, 5 October 2010 ("mtripka")
Dwojinak/unhopped braggot. (Spam-a-holic)
Re: Anyone ever attempted Dwojniak? How about an unhopped braggot? (MeadGu...)
Re: Quick question on MEAD ("Kurt Sonen")
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Subject: Re: Pectin and methanol
From: "Bill Pierce" <BillPierce@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 18:54:29 -0400
In MLD #1492 (the Christopher Columbus memorial edition? ;-)) Dick Dunn
correctly mentions there is little worry about the toxic effects of methanol
produced by the metabolism of pectin in the body. Otherwise the consumption
of fruits high in pectin, including unpeeled apples and cranberries, would
also be toxic. As I understand it, e. coli bacteria reduce the pectin to
methanol, then to formaldehyde and ultimately to formic acid. At any rate,
it's all excreted in the feces. That may be more than you needed to know.
:-)
Brew on!
Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Burlington, Ontario
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Subject: First Time Mead Making Question
From: fivecat <fivecat@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 19:25:10 -0400
Greetings All,
I'm a seasoned ale homebrewer who is finally making his way into making
mead. I've read numerous books on mead making and feel I have a pretty good
handle on the basics.
My wife tried an Apricot Mead that she liked enough to ask me to try and
make one. Since it's my first mead and since money is a little tight
(danged money) I'm using the following two ingredients:
9lbs. Trader Joe's 100% Desert Mesquite Honey
1 gallon (4 bottles) Looza Apricot Nectar (Ingredients: water, apricot
puree, sugar. 40% juice)
Yes, I know this is decidedly low-brow mead, but I'm experimenting here.
Does anyone have any suggestions for additional ingredients? A specific
yeast to use? Predictions on how this will taste 3 months/6 months/a year
from now?
Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Tom
_________________________________________
Franklin, Ink: Writing on Writing & Reading
http://tommfranklin.blogspot.com/
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1492, 5 October 2010
From: "mtripka" <mtripka@hargray.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:48:46 -0400
<Anyone ever attempted Dwojniak?>
I made one 2 years ago. 10# honey, 10# water (1.5 gal) og =1.28 (calculated),
fermented with 71-1122 & staggered nutrient additions. FG= 1.072. Transfered
on to Star Anise. At 1 yr old, took 2nd place Specialty Meads in Valhalla.
bottling the remainder in a week or two. Plan to let it age another 2-3
years.
Mike Trikpa
------------------------------
Subject: Dwojinak/unhopped braggot.
From: Spam-a-holic <spamalot@catscoffeechocolate.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 21:55:20 -0400
> First, I recently read about dwojniak in Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing. He
> sounds as if all it takes is diluting honey 1:1 (and nothing else - no
> yeast pitch or anything) and letting it sit for 5 to 7 years. Has anyone
> ever tried this? How were the results? Did you use nutrients, pitched yeast,
> aeration, etc.? I'd like to try it but I don't want to find out in 7 years
> that I goofed up!
Well, you'd be basically looking for a "spontaneous" ferment, so it
would depend what it got contaminated with. That is, if you did this
with perfect sterility (which does not exist at a brewing/meadmaking
level of control - we only have sanitizing, when we keep the
undesirables down, and put in desirables at a higher concentration,
and let them keep everything else down after that) nothing would
happen. "Radical" indeed - if done in a reasonably clean environment
often used for brewing the contaminants might be more prone than
average to be yeast, but why go there? Perhaps he forgot to mention
stirring with the Viking's "magic brewstick" or some other crude
yeast transfer/storage device. I personally prefer to go with modern
methods of inoculating the ferment, having tasted too many BaaaaaaDD
meads made by aspiring SCAdians with no grasp of sanitation. At least
with grapes/apples there's likely wild yeast (which may or may not be
nice, but at least it's yeast) hanging around the ripe fruit. No such
thing with honey. DWYL, but more "radical" than I want to waste
pounds of honey and years on.
Certainly this Polish producer uses yeast:
http://autopodroze.pl/bez-kategorii/po-polsce-eng/there-where-mead-
flows/
> Second, has anyone made an unhopped braggot, and if so, did you (or others)
> like it? I once tried an unhopped beer (~5%) and it was pretty unpleasant,
> but I don't know if the extra gravity and honey would add enough to it to
> make it good.
Not I, personally. But there's a first place braggot out there that
has no hops. Probably more than one. Here's one:
http://www.brewery.org/cm3/recs/10_93.html
- --
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...Vices to live by.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Anyone ever attempted Dwojniak? How about an unhopped braggot?
From: MeadGuild@aol.com
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 16:51:19 EDT
Russ Riley _russriley61999@yahoo.com_ (mailto:russriley61999@yahoo.com)
wrote:
I have two questions, almost totally unrelated.
> First, I recently read about dwojniak in Randy Mosher's
> Radical Brewing. He sounds as if all it takes is diluting
> honey 1:1 (and nothing else - no yeast pitch or anything)
> and letting it sit for 5 to 7 years. Has anyone ever
> tried this? How were the results? Did you use nutrients,
> pitched yeast, aeration, etc.? I'd like to try it but I
> don't want to find out in 7 years that I goofed up!
I have seen various recipes for Dwójniak. Most called for
fruit and/or herbs. All used yeast, nutrients, and oak
aging. Because of the high SG (1.215), many discussed
incremental additions honey during primary fermentation
akin to additions of honey to apple juice when fermenting
a Cyser.
> Second, has anyone made an unhopped braggot, and if so,
> did you (or others) like it? I once tried an unhopped
> beer (~5%) and it was pretty unpleasant, but I don't
> know if the extra gravity and honey would add enough to
> it to make it good.
There are several beer styles where hops are low to none.
Having made several Braggots, both hopped and unhopped,
two things have become obvious to me:
1. The expertise required increases as ABV decreases; and
2. Experience is not a substitute for expertise.
For an unhopped, high ABV Braggot, consider a Scotch Ale.
Dick
- --
Richard D. Adams
Ellicott City, Maryland
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Quick question on MEAD
From: "Kurt Sonen" <KurtS2@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 01:27:56 -0400
> > Subject: Quick question on MEAD
> > From: anthonydykes@iendeavor.com
> > Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:48:52 -0400 (EDT)
> >
> > Hello, My name is Anthony Dykes. I am just getting involved in
I was at a local festival, and remember
> > having some "SPARKLING MEAD" a freind had homebrewed. I am
> > NOT quite sure on how this is done.
> You can find many web sites which
> will describe the champagne process in excellent detail, and
> this can be very similar if you decide to use the same methods.
That's a whole lot of work. It's a lot easier to force carbonate with CO2.
And generally, you can backsweeten and the C02 (and carbonic acid) will
inhibit further fermentation.
But you need the tank and regulator. The vessel can be a 2 liter pop bottle.
:)
Kurt
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1493
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