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Mead Lovers Digest #1626
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1626, 7 March 2013
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1626 7 March 2013
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Wild Yeast (Spam-a-holic)
Re: Wild Yeast (Chazzone)
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Subject: Wild Yeast
From: Spam-a-holic <spamalot@catscoffeechocolate.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:25:53 -0500
> Wild yeast.
> I was just wondering if any one had done a wild yeast mead and if so how it
> turned out what were some differences good or bad that you noticed in time,
> taste, and quality of the final product? There are a couple ancient recipes
> out there i would like to try that are wild yeast and I'm looking for some
> pointers
> Adam
Beware the ancient recipe, for it may date back, yea, unto
1970-something AD
Terrible mead "recipes" have been around approximately as long as either
the internet, or the SCA, or both, or may even predate both. Most of the
SCA types I knew (quite a few) who got themselves an "ancient recipe"
and no understanding of sanitation produced vile crap that nobody wanted
to drink, even when desperate, even if they had made the stuff. Of all
the SCAdians I knew in college, there was exactly one who made decent
mead. There were a lot who took a swipe at it and wasted some perfectly
decent honey...
If you actually find a recipe that's authentically "ancient" consider
that writers and meadmakers of ancient times may not have been the same
people, so it's still highly suspect - like getting car repair
instructions from a lawyer, say - someone who really doesn't understand
the process. On the off-chance they were the same person (probably a
monk) you might still suffer from translation errors and unwritten
secrets.
Cider and winemakers (more commonly than the rest of us) tend to go
there sometimes, but the results are highly variable. When I've dumped
$50 in ingredients plus my time into a carboy, I am much more
comfortable also putting in a dollar or two packet of known yeast,
rather than hoping I get a good one from random air currents. If you
wish to play that lottery, feel free - I'd rather make mead I'm
reasonably sure will end up drinkable in a few years than gambling. I
don't mind you gambling, but i think you should at least be aware that
you are gambling, and that you should beware the origins of your
"ancient recipe" unless (or even if) you happen to be an authentic
ancient historian.
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Subject: Re: Wild Yeast
From: Chazzone <chazzone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:17:26 -0500
The big problem with wild yeast, is the wild bacteria that comes along
for the ride. Sure there are plenty of wild yeasts to do the job, but
there is also abundant acetobacter and lactobacillus to turn all that
fermented goodness into vinegar.
I have fermented plenty of fruit juices with the intention of getting
vinegar, apple, blackberry, etc. and they make a fine salad dressing
and cooking adjunct, but unless you find a way to deactivate the
freeloaders, this is where you'll end up.
In fact, I cultured my sourdough starter using unpasteurized apple
cider and stone ground local flour.
There are a lot of things to explore with wild fermentation, but a
stable mead is not one of them.
- -zz
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1626
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