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Mead Lovers Digest #1588
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1588, 29 May 2012
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1588 29 May 2012
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Funny symbol in UTF-8 (vuarra@yahoo.ca)
Re. Bulk Honey (dan@geer.org)
Bubblegum and fruit punch? (Mark Kornell)
Bulk honey (Steve Ruch)
XAgave ("Rick")
Honey Mead Making (1900 - 1950) ("Rosalyn O")
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Subject: Funny symbol in UTF-8
From: vuarra@yahoo.ca
Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 11:50:27 -0400
The symbol that we are not seeing is a failed evolution of the letter
's', where it has been stretched out and a very small bar has been added
to it. If you be American, you will be able to see it on the constitution.
Many of the interior esses are the 'new' symbol, while the following ones
are what we now call standard letters. From what I recall, the rational
for starting this was a way of making the letters more fancy, but the
rules a out it's use were a little confusing, so it died out.
Rich Kralick
Chateau Mars Home Brewery
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Subject: Re. Bulk Honey
From: dan@geer.org
Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 22:54:39 -0400
w.r.t. bulk honey -- the 5 gallon pail, known to
beekeepers and honey merchants as a 60 (lbs) is
the standard for pricing. Various price indices,
e.g., the market report in the "Gleanings" magazine
key off the 60 and the 55gal drum for wholesale
pricing. As a beekeeper, what I sell are 60s when
I am dealing with larger restaurants, brew pubs,
and packers. Generally speaking, you can get a
small price increase if the honey is liquid but
that price bump is approximately equal to the
electricity cost of remelting it. Not that it
matters, per se, but varietal honey mostly comes
from itinerant beekeepers doing pollination; for
them, honey is a marketable by-product. (For a
sense of scale, the Adee family of South Dakota
is the largest -- upwards of 75,000 hives.)
- --dan
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Subject: Bubblegum and fruit punch?
From: Mark Kornell <mkornell@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 21:32:02 -0700
I made a vanilla mead, bottled about 18 months ago. Four vanilla beans cut
up and left to extract in a cup of dark rum for two weeks, then added to
honey, water and yeast. Had a bottle about 6 months ago, and it was lovely.
Slight carbonation, light and with a nice vanilla presence. Figured it for
a perfect summer drink.
So, last weekend, a buddy was over and we decided to pull down another
bottle and see how it was getting on. Served over ice, it was very much
_not_ vanilla. Bubble gum nose and tasting like fruit punch. Only very
slight mead-ish undercurrents. It wasn't unpleasant, but not what I was
expecting. Something the kids might really enjoy. Well, I won't waste it on
the kids - might be good for a hot summer afternoon, served chilled, if I'm
in the mood for a fruity drink.
Anyone have an idea of what is going on here? Something to do with the
vanilla beans? the rum? Why would it change from vanilla to fruit punch,
and more importantly, will it go back?
Thanks,
Mark
------------------------------
Subject: Bulk honey
From: Steve Ruch <tattoo123@webtv.net>
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 14:52:04 GMT
A good place for honey is the local farmer's market, if they have a
honey vendor that doesn't charge up the wazoo. I checked out the local f
m a ouple of weeks ago and was shocked at how much he wanted: $21 for
three pounds and none of his varieties were anythng special. I ended up
going 50 miles round trip to a farmer's market I've gone to in the past.
I paid $15 for three pounds (still a bit pricey) of meadowfoam honey
which is very hard to find; buying 12 pounds saved more than enough to
pay for the gas. 12 pounds lasts me a year for my coffee and on pancakes
once in a while.
I used meadowfoam to make a mead 10 years ago, bu realized pretty
quickly that it was too spendy to use in a lot of mead.
If you can find a local beekeeper you may be able to get a decent price
from him or her.
Steve
"We ALL put the yeast in." Larry, Moe & Curly
------------------------------
Subject: XAgave
From: "Rick" <harlista@bikerscum.net>
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 19:13:23 -0500
Sorry if this is a little off topic but, I was at the local Sam's yesterday
and saw a bottle of XAgave it was 4.75 lbs for $15 plus tax. First thing
that entered my mind was I wonder if I can ferment that. Has anybody tried?
I was thinking it would go well in a 1 gallon batch. Would I use the same
nutrients as a mead? Ideas, suggestions?
Regards,
Rick
------------------------------
Subject: Honey Mead Making (1900 - 1950)
From: "Rosalyn O" <rosalyno@xtra.co.nz>
Date: Mon, 28 May 2012 12:18:11 +1200
Hello,
My grandmother (my mother's mum) used to make a Honey Mead recipe from
the bee hives grandma used to have on her farm. It is a very old recipe
(mum is now 83 years old), the recipe used grains such as wheat, barley,
maize, rye and hops, along with the honey, long before acidity
regulators, enzymes or campden tablets were ever invented.
Unfortunately the recipe was never written down (I come from a long line
of cooks where you just know how to make things, you don't have written
recipes), so the recipe for this particular Honey Mead was lost when
grandma died. Mum used to always tell us stories about the old days,
what it was like working on the farm during the war years, rations,
pumping petrol by hand, packing eggs in paper until midnight, and that
grandma was a bit of a hard taskmaster, and often this Honey Mead recipe
would crop up.
I have been searching for this recipe for many years, internet, books,
libraries, but I just can't find it, it could be that it was a special
recipe that only grandma knew. My mum is getting on in years now, she
had a stroke two years ago and lost part of her memory (she only
remembers parts of her life), do you know of anyone that might possibly
have this recipe, I would really like to make it for her, as she has not
tasted it in over 60 years. If I could make the recipe, the way grandma
used to make it, it might trigger or bring back parts of her memory that
she lost.
Regards,
Rosalyn Oakley
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1588
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