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Mead Lovers Digest #1568
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1568, 27 January 2012
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1568 27 January 2012
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Apricot Mead (Caroline Taymor)
Fun with mead (Captain Chuck)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1566, 20 January 2012 (David Vachon)
Re: Apricot Mead: First Impressions at Bottling (Help Requested!) (fivecat)
Re: Adding fresh Rosemary or Sage directly to a bottle a mead (Alex Flinsch)
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Subject: Re: Apricot Mead
From: Caroline Taymor <caroskis@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:17:19 -0800
Tom,
I don't have a lot of experience yet, but my first impression would be
that the apricot juice sounds very dilute, that there isn't a lot of
apricot in the juice, it's mostly sugar. It sounds like there was less
than 2 qts of actual apricot juice in over 20 qts of liquid, which isn't
much if you want a strong apricot flavor. I would suggest trying it with
fresh apricots or fresh apricots plus the juice. If you were brewing in
July, it might be a little late for fresh apricots, though it depends on
where you live. Out here (SF Bay Area), I've found u-picks that were
incredibly affordable for amazing apricots, if the price of the apricots
is an issue. I would also be curious about the added sugar content of
the juice, which might be impossible to measure, as the nutrient facts
will only include the apricot juice sugar and the sugar together. That
might be a factor in it coming out pale.
Caroline
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Subject: Fun with mead
From: Captain Chuck <captain_chuck@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:40:59 -0800 (PST)
Hi Folks,
I like to play with one-gallon batches of mead, trying different flavors
and combinations of honey and yeast. Currently, I have three batches
going. They are, Joe's Ancient Orange, with bread yeast, of course, a
mango mead, with Lalvin EC-1118, and a ginger mead, with Red Star Premium
Cuvee. I'm hoping the ginger ferments out a little dryer. I've never used
a yeast nutrient. Should I?
Thanks,
Chuck Dugan
Shillington, PA.
www.beershirtz.com
"It was as natural as eating and, to me, as necessary. I would not have
thought of eating a meal without drinking a beer." -Ernest Hemingway
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1566, 20 January 2012
From: David Vachon <vachon.david@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:37:46 -0500
On Jan 20, 2012, at 2:14 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> I've bottled this and shelved it until the summer for re-tasting. At this
> point I'm thinking that it might well need a good shot of apricot brandy
> poured into each bottle before I serve it to improve the taste.
It would be difficult if not impossible to determine how much apricot
brandy to use with each bottle, My suggestion would be to add some to
the whole batch, slowly, tasting as you go, and then bottle when you
have it just right. This way, you know what you are getting and each
bottle will be identical.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Apricot Mead: First Impressions at Bottling (Help Requested!)
From: fivecat <fivecat@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:13:34 -0500
My thanks to everyone who responded to my newbie request for help. Here
are the answers to the questions some of you asked:
> Tom. Did you taste the must before pitching? I'd expect that the
> apricot flavor intensity was about the same, except that the
> additional sugars made it seem that the flavor was more full.
>
I did not. Lesson learned!
> Take a quarter cup of the same apricot nectar that you used for this
> mead, and add a cup of water. This is close to the dilution that you
> have in your mead. This will give you a base from which to determine
> the flavor of your mead. Keep in mind though, that some of the flavor
> ingredients are going to be lost, and you'll want to add additional
> flavor to account for that. This is a good technique for formulating
> recipes.
Thanks. This is a great tip, one I'll keep in mind with future meads.
Other than using fresh apricots (clearly the best option), what would you
have suggested I do to add additional flavor?
============================================
> Sounds like a lot of 'nutrient'. What kind of 'nutrient'?
The "Yeast Nutrient" that my friendly neighborhood homebrew store sold.
(The label simply reads "Yeast Nutrient", but I'm guessing it's Diammonium
Phosphate)
> What was the O.G.?
> What was the F.G.?
In all my years of brewing, I've never been good at recording OG/FG. In
fact, I've stopped measuring.
> Early on this mead developed a yellow-ish ring around the top surface of
> the liquid.
>
> > Particles of Apricot perhaps?
It was too thin, too film-y for particles. I'm still not sure what it was.
> Apricot flavor is hard to get in a dry mead. As an experiment, I
> would try pouring a glass and adding a little sugar and/or honey to
> it, see if that improves the apricot flavor.
Interesting idea. My initial thought was to add a shot of apricot brandy
to each bottle after opening. I'll try adding a touch of something sweet
to the mead to see if that helps out with the flavor. Aside from using
whole fruit, what could I do next time to improve the flavor?
Many thanks again,
Tom
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Adding fresh Rosemary or Sage directly to a bottle a mead
From: Alex Flinsch <avflinsch@verizon.net>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:41:01 -0500
On Jan 23, 2012, at 11:19 AM, Henry Murray wrote:
> I am going to add fresh rosemary or sage to a bottle of mead [~14 ABV] and
> see/hope that the essence of the rosemary or sage can be extracted into the
> mead. The whole thing might make a nice presentation? Any thoughts or
> comments. How long should something like this set if it will actually
> work? I am also hoping that the 14 ABV will keep bacteria at bay.
I haven't done it with rosemary or sage but I have done it with a
lavender mead I made a few years ago. The addition of the fresh lavender
sprigs did not make much of a difference in the flavor or aroma compared
to the bottles that did not have them, but it did look pretty. I only
used the stems with leaves, not the flowers, they went into the primary
ferment directly.
- --
Alex Flinsch / AB2RC
My rechargeable batteries are revolting
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1568
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