As I understand it, acid bland is typically added to mead musts
because honey dissolved in water does not create the optimum pH for
yeast to ferment at. Something must be added to bring the pH down
into the acidic range that yeast prefer.

When grains are added to water (in beermaking), they create their own
acid environment and no further adjustment is necessary.

Acid blend is what is typically used for mead musts. Lactic acid can
also be used. I have started using real lemon juice instead of
either acid blend or lactic acid…It is a more natural product, and
I am also trying to shorten the time that my finished mead needs to
age before it is drinkable.
The use of acid blend has everything to do with yeast health and
fermentation, and less to do with the finished flavor of the mead.

Hope this helps…
Curt Speaker
Biosafety Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
speaker@ehs.psu.edu
http://www.ehs.psu.edu

>per lb and what about prices for crystallized honey. how much does a typical 5
>gallon batch cost for a true mead?

I've heard of bulk, straight-from-the-beekeper prices as low as 60-70c/lb, but
so far I personally have been stuck with the local health food store. Prices
have ranged from just over a dollar a pound at gallon (abt 12#) quantities to
maybe $1.75/lb for gallons, depending on honey variety and apiary conditions
(there's some sort of crud killing off hives, so honey prices are up right now)

I haven't found cheaper prices for crystallized honey, but maybe that's because
I haven't looked hard enough..

• —

John R. Murray murray@indigo2.scri.fsu.edu http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~murray/
FSU Aikido Club/North Florida Aikikai home of Miko's Aikido MPEGs and the
Tallahassee, FL WWW Aikido online calendar of events

• Reality is the murder of a beautiful theory by a gang of ugly facts –

I would add that as long as a healthy yeast pitch is made, and the mead is not
too weak (<2 lb/ gal), this has been my experience as well.

> BTW, If you attempt to brew _beer_ with similar
> sanitation you'd best be into P-lambics (that is, your wort will be a nasty
> infection waiting to happen).

i would attribute this to the strength, for barley wines this isn't the case,

> 2, I get a much faster fermentation if I add the honey gradually, starting
> with a rather thin must. … It was a rather graphic demonstration of
> honey's antiseptic properties 🙂

actually, the osmotic pressure on the yeast inhibits them,
this is why the success for this method, particularly for 3+lbs/gal

> I certainly didn't originate these techniques, but they've served me
> extraordinarily well.

simple and effective, you gotta like it,

> One question and I'll shut up and go away for a few more years 😉

• bill

• —

Bill_Shirley@FannieMae.com
"For a quart of ale is a dish for a king."

• name that quote

1) Don't go back to lurking. I like seeing others who avoid the
excessive use of chemicals. I admit that I do not go as far as you do.
I do use sulfites for sanitizing equipment, but I generally avoid using
it in the must, itself. It just isn't necessary.

2) Yes, honey is antiseptic. Even just too much sugar will cause the
yeast to be unhappy and possibly leave you withy a stuck fermentation.
Progressive feeding, as you suggest, is a good way to induce happy yeast
and force the alcohol tolerance upward (if that is your desire).

3) A fortified blueberry melomel sounds good to me. I would suggest
using a moderate quality vodka, however, instead of everclear. The use
of everclear is likely to induce a harshness that does not want to go
away. Don't use the cheapest vodka that you can find, but you also
don't need to get the most expensive, either. As long as the vodka has
no taste of its own to impart then you don't need to worry.

Honey actually is fairly acidic, itself, so the yeast rarely feel any
need for additional acid to be added. If you make a traditional mead,
you _may_ find that it lacks character once it is finished. If so, a
little added acidity at this time can sometimes be beneficial.

• —

Marc Shapiro mn.shapiro1@mindspring.com

THL Alexander Mareschal Canton of Kappellenberg Kingdom of Atlantia

Visit 'The Meadery' at:
http://www.mindspring.com/~mn.shapiro1/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1265/index.html

"If you drink melomel every day, you will live to be 150 years old,
unless your wife shoots you."

• –Dr. Ferenc Androczi, Winemaker of the Little Hungary Winery

Do all melomels have to be sparkling, or do they just taste better that

way? I haven't seen a recipe for a melomel that doesn't call for priming
before bottling. I have two melomels and one basic mead batches running
right now, and I was wondering which would be the best route to go with all
of them. Any input would be appreciated!

Micheal F. Fox

Micheal and Linda Fox – A Subscriber at Internet On-Ramp, Inc.

> From: Unlisted <THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>

The cheapest I've ever seen was 94 cents a pound, for light
wildflower on bulk at a granola shop in Nashville. I'm used to
paying about $2 a pound, and I tend to gravitate towards
varietals and bulk, if I can get it. The last stuff I bought
was clover at a little over $1.50 (I forget the exact price).

• -R

David Brattstrom
Plymouth CA
Happy Beekeeper,Mead maker, Beer maker, and all around nice guy
Gold Country Brewer Asso