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Mead Lovers Digest #1544
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1544, 20 September 2011
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1544 20 September 2011
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Cheap honey (hroth521@comcast.net)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1543, 13 September 2011 (Dave Chubb)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1543, 13 September 2011 (Adam Chatburn)
Re: MLD#1543 "Cheap" honey (arthur_torrey@comcast.net)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1542 (Paul Shouse)
Re: Use of Russ's lesser (inexpensive) honeys (docmac9582@aol.com)
lesser honey (Steve Ruch)
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Cheap honey
From: hroth521@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:29:48 +0000
The problem with cheap honey is much of it comes from China via India.
Chinese honey has been banned here because of heavy metal and pesticide
content. But there are sham companies shipping Chinese honey from India
to get around the ban. So you really need to know where your cheap honey
comes from before you buy it. Better to buy bulk at a farmer's market or
online if you can't identify the real source.
Subject: Using 'lesser' honey in meads with other ingredients
From: Russ Riley <russriley61999@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:51:06 -0700 (PDT)
I have a question, but just so you know where I am coming from here is a
bit of background on me: I've brewed much more beer than mead, but I think
my next few batches will be meads since they've really been capturing my
imagination lately. Having said that, I would like to stretch my money
as much as possible without giving up too much in the way of quality,
which leads me to my question...
Has anyone here used store-bought honey when making non-straight meads
(no snickering folks - I just mean melomels, metheglins, etc.), and how
did they end up? That is, when you tasted the final result, did you find
youself thinking 'I can't even tell I cheaped out on the honey' or 'Gross,
I'll never do that again'? Or maybe somewhere in between. This assumes
the main flavor components (fruit, spices, whatever) was high quality.
I suppose a related question is, if I do buy the cheap stuff, whether you
think I am better off paying a little more for organic or not. The Costco
near me has Dutch Gold for $2/pound and Dutch Gold Organic for $3/pound,
hence my line of thinking.
Anyway, thanks for any feedback you can give me. If you don't want to
admit to cheaping out on the honey, just say your "friend" did it :)
Russ
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1543, 13 September 2011
From: Dave Chubb <wyrdone@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:33:50 -0400
On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 10:44 AM, <mead-request@talisman.com> wrote:
> The Costco near me has Dutch Gold for $2/pound and Dutch Gold Organic for
> $3/pound, hence my line of thinking.
I've used the "Costco Honey" in many many batches. Don't look for a lot of
complexity but it's fine for making mead you're going to flavor with either
spices or fruit.
"Dreaming of the time back in the 90's when I used to buy bulk honey for
$1.07/lb from a local apiary. "
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1543, 13 September 2011
From: Adam Chatburn <achatburn@cssea.bc.ca>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:33:44 -0700
Using 'lesser' honey in meads with other ingredients
I've used cheap supermarket honey a few times and it's generally fine -
just watch out for cheap foreign honey that has been repackaged as domestic,
there can be some nasty stuff in there. Check the honey out online first -
the Dutch Gold should be fine - their website points out that they don't
make the honey they just buy bulk and repackage it in line with US Law.
A Chatburn
------------------------------
Subject: Re: MLD#1543 "Cheap" honey
From: arthur_torrey@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:57:59 +0000 (UTC)
No direct experience, as I've always either made my own honey, or purchased
from other local beekeepers (which is what got me into making my own...)
However I would be wary of low cost honeys, as many may be imports from
China (sometimes "laundered" by shipping through India) According to an
article linked from this digest not very long ago, the Chinese honey may
have problems with heavy metal and / or organic chemical (i.e. miticide)
contamination. Walmart was one vendor specifically mentioned as selling
this stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it at warehouse clubs as well.
At this point I'd strongly recommend checking the country of origin on any
store bought honey, and not touch anything from a non-US (or whatever your
local country is) source.
ART
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1542
From: Paul Shouse <paulhshouse@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:18:29 +0900
>Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1542
>From: "The Bannisters" <bannister5@shaw.ca>
>Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2011 12:13:06 -0700
>Re: Dick Dunn/Mike Faul and others
>As an extreme newbie to this wonderful world, I have been following your
>discussions with great interest. The following may be silly questions
>(if so, please forgive) but:
>If an application can be made to restrict semi-generic terms on wine
>labels, why couldn't an association representing Mead makers apply to
>have the use of the word Mead (no matter how you spell it) restricted
>for use on real meads? (I believe you mentioned this, Dick.)
>fter all, if the governments lists it as a wine then surely it should
>be given the same protection as products in its category. Since the
>vintners have laid the groundwork, it might be simpler than it seems to
>fix this.
<snip>
A mead maker in Hawaii told me, pursuant to a discussion of exporting their
product, that they were not allowed to call their product Mead since the
honey had not been boiled to death. Since they made mead from a fragrant
buttery macadama flower honey that carried the taste of the nuts and pollen
they were happy to call it Honey Wine and to be happy.
That debate has been fought over many times and can still only be decided by
personal taste. However, if the government regulations still prevent
raw-honey mead from being called what it is, they ought to be changed. Most
people wouldn't know cyser from their elbow but might think that mead with a
few cider apples thrown in sounds delicious. If it's only honey or only
honey plus whole fruits/spices fermented with yeast then call it Mead, but
please don't make me boil until I WANT to.
- -Paul
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Use of Russ's lesser (inexpensive) honeys
From: docmac9582@aol.com
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:43:27 -0400 (EDT)
Russ,
I started out with Sam's Club honey before moving on to a local bee keeper
coupled with specific honeys from around the country and around the world.
Some friends claim that the first Sam's Club mead was my best ever (perhaps
clouded by faulty long-term memory or the fact that any recent samples
are now aged 10+ years).
There is nothing wrong with generic honey for mead - even traditional, or
straight mead as you call it. If you are adding fruits, spices or other
flavorings, it makes even less difference. However, what you will almost
always get is a generic bland clover honey, without any special qualities
or flavors. The generic honey is also highly processed (strained/heated)
so that the aroma is generally subdued - a negative, but not too bad if you
are trying to get a nice raspberry aroma. The generic honey will make for
a good base mead and not impart other flavors that you may or may not like
in your melomels/metheglyns and will be very reproducible - as opposed to
using that rare bucket of bee keeper honey that you occasionally find that
has a very special spicy flavor. Several pales of Southern Ohio clover honey
from a bee keeper that I recently made into mead was very mild and similar
to my Sam's Club mead. And of course for variety, in addition to clover,
I have now made meads from orange blossom, buckwheat, golden rod (not my
favorite), blueberry flower, cranberry flower, tupelo, red stringy bark
(Australia) and other honeys - all of which have very different flavor
and aroma, But for most of my melomels and metheglyns I still use the
plain clover honey base - often by the 5 gallon pails from Dutch Gold.
By the way, it is nice to save a baby food jar of any honey you use for
comparison purposes to the resulting mead.
Carl McMillin
Brecksville, OH
------------------------------
Subject: lesser honey
From: Steve Ruch <tattoo123@webtv.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:55:36 GMT
I use costco honey when I make a mead that I want to feature a fruit of
some kind.
Steve
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1544
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