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Mead Lovers Digest #1612
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1612, 30 November 2012
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1612 30 November 2012
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Dispensing Mead Similar to Beer (Vuarra)
re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container (Steve Piatz)
Re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container ("David Houseman")
Subject: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container (Micah Millspaw)
Re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container (Alex Flinsch)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1611, 26 November 2012 ("M. Graham Clark")
Re: Mead in kegs (JazzboBob@aol.com)
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Subject: Dispensing Mead Similar to Beer
From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:40:52 -0800 (PST)
The only downside I can see with your system is that nitrogen also dissolves
in water, and that you will still have a sparkling mead, but with nitrogen
bubbles which are smaller than CO2 -- I remember hearing about the size
of the gas from several of my beer sites, not from my own experience.
If you're okay with a sparkling (or semi-sparkling) mead, then it's fine
with either gas. If you depressurize the mead after each dispense, you can
minimize the effects, just letting the compressed gas push it out. But you
will never get to a point like that where the product is completely still.
Vuarra
Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur. (That which is said in Latin
sounds profound.)
------------------------------
Subject: re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
From: Steve Piatz <sjpiatz@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:43:12 -0600
Henry asks about serving mead from stainless steel. Yes you can, almost
all my meads are in the "standard" 5 gallon corny kegs widely used for
homebrewed beer. I have both a nitrogen regulator and a CO2 regulator. I
have been using a "beer gas" blend in the nitrogen system for still and low
carbonation beverages and CO2 for sparkling ones. I have had no problems
leaving meads in kegs for several years; just make sure there is enough gas
pressure to maintain a seal on the lid. If you are serving an acidic mead
or wine you do want to make sure to use all stainless steel or plastic taps
and associated equipment as the acids tend to eventually eat the nickle
platting on the chromed taps.
As for putting gas pressure on a carboy, it sounds like a bad idea to me as
carboys are not designed to take pressure. I've heard of folks using gas
pressure to start a siphon but the idea of high velocity glass shards
scares me.
- --
Steve Piatz sjpiatz@gmail.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman@verizon.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:52:08 -0500
I have kept and served mead from typical stainless steel corny kegs that
homebrewers use. No problems at all. Kept it refrigerated. Even filled
bottles from the keg later. Like all kegging, just let it settle, and
fine, in the carboy so you aren't carrying over much in the way of yeast
that will settle out later. Low gravity hydromels are particularly
suitable for kegging since they are very quaffable. You can serve on
nitrogen or even "beer mix" or "party mix" a combination of CO2 and
Nitrogen. As I recall the same regulator and connectors are used for that
since it's not pure nitrogen.
Dave Houseman
------------------------------
Subject: Subject: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
From: Micah Millspaw <MMillspaw@Silgancontainers.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:58:38 +0000
Subject: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
To address your question: >I got to wondering if anyone has tried a system
similar to kegging beer - where a 5 gal batch can be stored all at once in a
stainless steel beverage container and be delivered a glass or two at a time.
I have been using stainless kegs for mead for the last 30 years (as well
as stainless fermenters) it works great.
I generally age mead in the 5 gallon soda kegs but have used 15 gallon beer
kegs as well. The kegs are nice for doing
Sparkling meads and are easy to filter and CP bottle off of.
The longest I have aged a mead in a SS container is maybe 20 years.
I frequently have meads on draft, especially in the summer. I use a 70/30
nitrogen - CO2 mix to pressure the system.
Micah
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
From: Alex Flinsch <avflinsch@verizon.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:56:26 -0500
On Nov 26, 2012, at 12:45 PM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
>
> I called a local gas supplier and they do sell nitrogen gas in "5 lbs"
> containers. The CO2 regulator needs an adapter but can handle nitrogen as
> both are non-flammable.
>
> Any one have experience with mead in a stainless steel beverage container
> for say 6 to 8 months - or what ever length of time it takes to consume a
> batch of mead?
>
I do it all the time. I just use the same corny kegs as I do for beer,
and the same co2 tank. The only difference s that I only keep a minimal
amount of co2 in the mead & wine kegs, just enough to keep a blanket of
gas over the mead/wine, but not enough to dispense the beverage with.
When it comes time to pour a glass, I just hit the keg with some
additional co2, and dispense as many glasses as need. Once done serving
I release the pressure in the keg. Doing it this way, the wine or mead
keeps for a long time - I have some in that have keen in kegs for 2+
years without any problems - but the liquid does not get carbonated as
it would if stored at higher pressure.
--
Alex / AB2RC
http://ab2rc.net
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1611, 26 November 2012
From: "M. Graham Clark" <mclark04@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:51:06 -0400
Last Digest Hal asked if anyone has used kegging equipment. I have and
find it works really well. I am a brewer as well, so I have the equipment
on-hand. I like just a slight carbonation, but I don't see why you
couldn't turn that up. It would be hard to keep it still, since you would
have to disconnect and purge extra CO2 every time you finished with your
keg for the day. I recomend trying it if you have the equipment. I also
have a counter-pressure filler for bottling that sparkling mead, which
comes in handy.
Cheers,
Graham
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead in kegs
From: JazzboBob@aol.com
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:06:12 -0500 (EST)
I have successfully packaged and bottled sparkling mead in 5 gallon
stainless corny kegs. I didn't detect any flavor or aroma from the keg and
wouldn't expect it to be a concern. However, bear in mind that the necessary
co2 pressure to keep away oxygen and allow the keg to remain sealed will
eventually carbonate the mead. I wouldn't recommend dispensing and using
pressure to serve mead from a glass carboy. They are not designed to hold
pressure and could create an bad situation if they break with a volume of mead
exploding.
Cleaning bottles doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. Fill up
a big plastic tub or bucket with the bottles and your choice of cleaner
(B-brite, bleach, tsp, BLC,) and let them soak for a few days. The labels
will come off easily. Rinse the bottles well and proceed to sanitize them
before bottling. You can't sanitize dirt or labels so I like to clean
everything before filling used bottles.
Bob Grossman
_JazzboBob@aol.com_ (mailto:JazzboBob@aol.com)
Subject: Mead directly from a Carboy or beverage container
From: Henry Murray <henry.h.murray@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:06:06 -0500
Any one have experience with mead in a stainless steel beverage container
for say 6 to 8 months - or what ever length of time it takes to consume a
batch of mead?
Is there an adapter or system that allows deliver of mead directly from a
carboy - after the last racking of course - perhaps with a small bit of
nitrogen pressure.
Bottom line, trying to get away from washing those wine bottle that I
recycle.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Hal Murray
- - --
Hal Murray
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1612
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