I'm also now leery of trying to make any sweet meads because of
the dangers of in-bottle-fermentation, even when it's expected.

I've also got more gushers, a very nice cherry mead and
another good raspberry mead, bottled prematurely last year (I was
about to move across the state, and thought it'd be easier to
carry fewer full carboys). These are in champagne bottles, so
I don't worry about them too much; but the excessive pressure
is a real nuisance for opening them. Recapping them to vent
some of the pressure isn't much help, because 8 months later
they've built it back up again.

So, what I've decided to experiment with is pasteurization.
I took several bottles of mead, one from each batch that I've
got that's gushing, and put them in a canning pot. My canning
pot has a wire basket inside to keep the contents from sitting
right against the metal pot. I brought things to 140F in the
coolest part of the pot, and let it cook for 40 minutes. Soon
I'll do some blind taste testing to see if the pasteurization
damaged the taste badly. If the results aren't too objectionable,
I'll probably recap all of my gushers to relieve some of the pressure,
then pasteurize them all to kill off the yeast. I'll keep you
folks posted on how it all turns out.

• —

Jeremy York Projectionist "Immersed, I explore.
ThemeMedia Inc. VOX 425 602-3557 Text, not read, is understood.
jeremy@ThemeMedia.com FAX 425 602-3570 Words into wisdom."
vmail 425 298-5933 http://thememedia.com

But the one crop I CAN grow with incredible success is Dandelions. Acres
of them.

So I did a five gallon batch using Orange Blossom honey from Florida, and
about a gallon of fresh dandelion flowers. This was just the flower part,
no stem, but DID include the green stub that the petals are attached to.

I heard someone say that dandelions are poisonous. Back in Missouri where
I was raised, people ate Dandelion greens all the time, and I recall a
neighbor making dandelion wine as well.

On the other hand, I'd hate to be cooking up a batch of really great
tasting poison downstairs. I DID let the initial fermentation go for ten
days "on the flowers" so to speak before straining them off.

Another interesting aspect. I didn't boil. I didn't heat. I poured about
20 pounds of honey over the flowers and added tap water to the five gallon
level and stirred it up just to see what would happen. Added some tea bags
of course. And a couple spoons of acid blend. Nothing else.

It's fermenting away in a carboy now and looks clean. But will it kill me?

Jack Rickard
Boardwatch Magazine

> Subject: Tea meads
> From: Matt_Maples@ncshealth.com
> Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 12:14:49 -0700
>
> Anyone have any experience with using tea as the major flavor component
in
> mead. I know it has been brought up in the past but I can't seem to find
it
> in the archives. I would like to know things like what tea variety used,
> tea strength, FG, and the like. I'm thinking of using Earl Gray (or maybe
> Oolong) at full strength with 2 or 3 lemons, ending up with about 7-8%
and
> a final gravity of 1.008 to 1.012. Any info would be helpful.
>
> Thanks a bunch,
> Matt Maples
>

Matt:

I simply don't make Mead without it. I use about a dozen Twinings Earl
Grey bags in a 12-15 gallon batch and I ALWAYS use tea. Here's why. Mead
lacks tannins and tea gives it a bit of a tannic structure. I've tried
grape tannin and could never get the dosage right. Tea is gentle, but
tannic, and so you can add a bit of tannic structure to your wine without
going into mouth puckering tannins that have to be aged out for years.

In doing so, I discovered a major side benefit. I just wasn't having the
cloudy problems most mead makers reported. I thought for awhile that this
was because I boiled. But I've done several batches pasteurizing at the
150-160 degree range without boiling. I'm convinced at this point that the
story of boiling out crucial flavors using boiling is crap, but even in the
non-boiled versions – they drop clear within a week or so of the end of
fermentation – I mean crystal clarity.

I finally made a batch of pure straight mead for a baseline – Clarkson red
clover honey, no boiling, no spices, nothing. Straight purist mead. It
WAS cloudy. So I set up some experiments with polyclar, bentonite, a
couple of other odd clarifiers, and tea.

At this point, I'm a tea fan as a clarifying agent. I think most of the
haze in mead is entirely suspended proteins. Turns out that tannin is just
the electrolyte needed to bond with the proteins and drop them out.

Tea works best at this when included during the heating of the original
must. But I've even had some success in arrears. And it is terrifyingly
simple. If you have a five gallon carboy of hazy mead, draw off about a
half gallon in a pitcher. Add ten tea bags and let it steep for a bit –
this takes an hour or so because it isn't hot. Then pour the pitcher of
tea'd mead back in the carboy ;and stir the whole thing vigorously. Check
it a week later. It should be crystal clear, with lots of flocculate in
the bottom of the carboy – though the mead IS colored a darker amber.

As to taste, I was originally trying to create an alcoholic version of iced
tea. It didn't happen. The tea simply does not flavor it very strongly at
all. You will notice a gentle touch of tannic structure in the wine, which
I think is a good thing. But no real "tea taste."

At this point, I cannot imagine wasting honey on a batch where I didn't
include tea. It clarifies, it adds a delightful amber color, and it adds a
bit of tannic structure to wines that tend, on their own, to be a bit
limpid.

Jack Rickard
Boardwatch Magazine

>
> Subject: Clearing traditional mead
> From: "John D. Gosselink" <johng@kdsi.net>
> Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 19:02:23 -0500
>
> I have a traditional mead that refuses to clear. The frustrating thing is
> that the only meads that refuse to clear for me are traditional meads. My
> first mead was a TM. Finally about a year in the bottle the top two
thirds
> of the mead cleared in each bottle with a filmy bottom third. I still
have
> a couple of bottles left about 5 years later and it is the same. Tastes
> wonderful. I am now making my second batch of TM (did alot of
experimenting
> with other types). The recipe consisted of
> 12 # honey
> 2 oz. yeast nutrient(HB)
> 1 pkt. K-1 yeast
>
> My notes say that…
> Bring slowly to 150 deg. and hold for 15 minutes to pasteurize. Skim off
> any white scum on the surface as it develops. Pour into carboy containing
> cold water and top with cold water to 5 gallons. Pitch rehydrated yeast
> when cool.
> This was done on 10/10/97. Currently the SG is at .090.
>
> Why won't these things clear? What should I do to get it to clear? I need
> the carboy!
>
> John D. Gosselink
> Wind & Fire Development

Same answer John. Try tea.

Subject: Fermentation bubbles
From: Molly Harbaugh <dreda@tiac.net>
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:44:30 -0400

My brewer's deflowering is happening as we speak, with my very first little
glass jug of cyser fermenting away in my kitchen. The recipe I worked from
(this is the "Hangover Cyser" described in "Mead Made Easy") says that
fermentation should quit in about a "month or three." So I'm trying to
figure out exactly how to know that it's done.

It's been about three and a half weeks, and I get a little bubble through
the airlock every…oh, 15-20 minutes or so. Maybe longer. I've heard both
that I should wait until bubbles are 30-40 minutes apart (that's a lot of
staring at an airlock!), or until there are no bubbles in the mix at all.
There's a healthy pile of sludge at the bottom of the container already,
but I think that's pretty normal.

I admit that I'm a little impatient because I'm terribly curious, but I
don't want to accidentally bottle early and discover glass shards embedded
in the pantry walls because I didn't wait long enough.

Any guidelines?

Many thanks!

• Dreda

Dreda,

You should rack your mead at least once. This will get rid of the sludge
at the bottom and also get fermentation started vigorously again if there
is still a lot left to do. You may see it bubble away for a few days and
then drop off again. I bottled my first batches after 2 months and still
got a fair amount of pressure and a lot of sediment in the bottles. So
take your time, rack every month for 4 months and you will enjoy the
results much better. Mead requires patience.

BTW, after bottling, but it way for at least another 3 months. I tried
some of that first batch at 4 months old and then again at a year. The
difference was night and day. Mead must age. period.

• -leeam

Subject: Ale yeasts
From: PDWaltman <awapuhoq@mindspring.com>
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 22:54:44 -0400

I have had decent results using Wyeast 1056 in making mead/braggot of up to
1075 SG, which all have fermented below 1.000, and I have successfully made
sparkling, though for safety sake in one of them, I added more yeast at
bottling time (what I always do with beers that sit a long time in
secondary).

Unfortunately adding extra honey to sweeten the mead gets the ale yeast to
converting it to alcohol until it cannot do it anymore, and then it doesn't
carbonate the braggot/mead at all.

Dennis Waltman

Dennis,

When I want to sparkle a mead, I use a 2 to 1 sugar solution. I bottle in
Grolsh buttles, which are 18oz, and add one oz of sugar solution per
bottle.

BTW, I also keep them in a big cooler for the first month in case any of
them decide to granade on me. It hasn't happened yet, but it pays to be
careful. Imagine the mess!

• – leeam

Molly Harbaugh <dreda@tiac.net> wrote:

>My brewer's deflowering is happening as we speak, with my very first little
>glass jug of cyser fermenting away in my kitchen.

Felicitations! Congratulations.

> The recipe I worked from
>(this is the "Hangover Cyser" described in "Mead Made Easy") says that
>fermentation should quit in about a "month or three." So I'm trying to
>figure out exactly how to know that it's done.
>
>It's been about three and a half weeks, and I get a little bubble through
>the airlock every…oh, 15-20 minutes or so. Maybe longer. I've heard both
>that I should wait until bubbles are 30-40 minutes apart (that's a lot of
>staring at an airlock!), or until there are no bubbles in the mix at all.

The bubbling rate varies greatly with the mead. PH, nutrients and yeast type
have a great impact on the speed of fermentation. The way to tell when
it is time to bottle is to detect when fermentation is stopping. Whether
to bottle before or after the stopping of the fermentation is a brewer's
choice. I like to stop just before the end of fermentation, so that a
little fermentation will occur in the bottle, encouraging natural
carbonation.

>There's a healthy pile of sludge at the bottom of the container already,
>but I think that's pretty normal.

Yes, that is a good sign. This means fermentation has been active.

>
>I admit that I'm a little impatient because I'm terribly curious, but I
>don't want to accidentally bottle early and discover glass shards embedded
>in the pantry walls because I didn't wait long enough.

I have never yet had a mead explode. I did have glass shards embedded
in my pantry walls by a beer, which I had overprimed with sugar.
(Don't do that!) Then I had to disarm the rest of my bottles.
That was interesting. I thought about calling in the bomb squad
and telling them free beer was involved, but decided against it.

Mead seems to be more forgiving than beer in this way. I did have
one mead that pressed on its bottle caps until they looked like
a chipmunk with way too many nuts in its pouch… I opened them
in a towel, under water, and they still decorated my walls.

If you ferment until you get a slow down, and the taste is not
too sweet (preferably with detectable alcohol), then you are
approaching the end of your fermentation.

Another technique is to measure the specific gravity at the
beginning of the fermentation, and at the current stage.
This gives you a measure of how much alcohol has been produced,
by measuring the change in the specific gravity. I have had
meads end fermentation anywhere from 6% to 12% alcohol. 8%-10%
is my usual target.

May your first mead be every so tasty and enjoyable!

Wassail,

Darragh

Well, it's an art not a science, you see….

On a more practical note, there are two methods I use.

The first is highly scientific. I measure the gravity of the mead with a
hydrometer. For a recipe like Hangover Cyser, it'll finish up very near
or below 1.000 in gravity.

The second method is my more typical one. I let the mead ferment until I
think it's done (if it doesn't bubble once in the time it takes me to
microwave and eat dinner, that's a pretty good sign), and then wait
another week to be sure. At this point, it's either gotten mostly clear,
or there's enough suspended goo that I don't want to bottle yet. If it's
clear, it gets racked into a bottling bucket and thence to the bottles.
If it's cloudy, I rack it into another gallong jug (or into the bottling
bucket, and then back to the original jug, after making sure to wash it
out well), and let it sit until it does get clear.

The main points of the second method are: it's not still bubbling and
it's cleared.

Sometimes a mead won't clear. Then I grumble and hide it in the closet or
something and come back to it in a month or three. If it's still cloudy,
I shrug and bottle it cloudy. More impatient sorts add various items to
the mix to clear the mead, but that's another discussion.

>It's been about three and a half weeks, and I get a little bubble through
>the airlock every…oh, 15-20 minutes or so.

Sounds like you're almost to the "give it another week to be certain"
stage.

>There's a healthy pile of sludge at the bottom of the container already,
>but I think that's pretty normal.

Yep. You'll want to rack in a week or so (or perhaps just bottle), since
you don't want it sitting on that sludge forever. A couple weeks won't
hurt, but prolonged exposure can give your mead funky flavors.

>I admit that I'm a little impatient because I'm terribly curious, but I
>don't want to accidentally bottle early and discover glass shards embedded
>in the pantry walls because I didn't wait long enough.

I've actually never managed to explode a bottle. I hear it's possible,
but it's tough. On the other hand, I have had bottles that as soon as you
popped the top, a jet of foam shot to the ceiling and then the bottle was
empty. That's not much fun, either.

>Any guidelines?

Hopefully enough to soothe your angst.

• -DaveP

Dave Polaschek – personal: davep@best.com or davep@mn.uswest.net
PGP key and other spiffy things at <http://www.best.com/~davep/>
Dave's Rule of Gun-Control: You kill it, you clean it.

This basic mead turned out sparkling, fairly sweet with low alcohol
(I'd guess about 3-4% – I didn't measure gravity at any point).

The recipe, as given to me by a friend, goes as follows:
5 lbs. honey
2.5 gal water
champagne yeast
Let ferment in a carboy for about 3 weeks, then bottle. Should be ready
to drink in a month.

I never got a vigorous fermentation (I presume because there were no
nutrients) and it was still bubbling when I bottled. It was wretched
after a month and gave me an instant headache after one sip. By six
months it had turned into a refreshing summery sort of drink.

Now that I know a little more about making mead, I am concerned that
this method is a little haphazard, and I certainly don't relish the
thought of exploding bottles. Does anyone have any ideas about how I
could make this precess a little "safer" and still have a final product
that is mild, sweet and sparkling? If said method requires a specific
yeast, please include a supplier if possible. Local brewing shops here
in Regina, Saskatchewan only seem to have three types of yeast and none
of them is a mead yeast.

Thanks,
Zena Charowsky

With my first batch off, and the blackberries blossoming, I am thinking of
my next batch – a blackberry melomel. I've found one recipe on the net and
I also have a recipe for blackberry wine:

3lbs. Blackberries
2.25lbs. Sugar
1 Gallon Water
yeast, nutrient, pectic enzyme

My question is if I take any fruit wine recipe and substitute the sugar for
honey, will I necessarily get a true Melomel?

Thanks,

• -Mike

I have a lovely strawberry-kiwi sparkling mead in the bottle deswtined for
New Year's Eve, 2000. I have a case reserved for the actual date, but
have been sampling the rest a bit at a time. The recipe was originally
posted here–I'm not sure by whom–my compliments to that person!

5 lbs strawberries destemmed, sliced, frozen and thawed.
3 lb kiwi fruit. Scoop the pulp out with a spoon and mash.
12 lb honey.

Dissolve the honey in an equal amount of water and pasteurize fruit and
honey at 140 degrees for 15 minutes. I didn't have pectin haze. I use a
large double boiler to prevent carmelization.

Pitch a yeast starter made from 2 packets Red Star Cuvee yeast when cooled
and make volume to 7 gallons. Add 1 1/2 Tbs yeast energizer (from
brewstore) and jump back. One month later, I added 3 cups of pasteurized
honey and adjusted pH to 4.0 with calcium carbonate. Fermentation was
complete in 3 more weeks and it was allowed to settle for a week. I
racked it into another sanitized container with 1 1/2 cups corn sugar,
stirred gently and immediately bottled in champaign bottles, plastic corks
and wires with a few going into bottles with crown caps.

I have since began using a nylon fruit bag to avoid the wonderful
challenge of racking with fruit. BTW I racked off the fruit at one month
when I added more honey.

Never Thirst,

Dione

<< Subject: Tea meads
From: Matt_Maples@ncshealth.com
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 12:14:49 -0700

Anyone have any experience with using tea as the major flavor component in
mead. I know it has been brought up in the past but I can't seem to find it
in the archives. I would like to know things like what tea variety used,
tea strength, FG, and the like. I'm thinking of using Earl Gray (or maybe
Oolong) at full strength with 2 or 3 lemons, ending up with about 7-8% and
a final gravity of 1.008 to 1.012. Any info would be helpful.

Thanks a bunch,
Matt Maples >>

I have had very good luck using tea to flavour meads. One of my favourites is
to use a peach / ginger tea with a demi-sec orange blossom mead. I make a
concentrated extract form the tea with my espresso machine and add that to the
mead. I have done this with both bottles and in the keg. THe results were/ are
wonderful.
Also the orange zinger is a classic tea-mead.

micah millspaw – brewer at large

John

My apologies to any and all offended or snipped in any way by my post. I
really had a smile on my face and no particular group of mead drinkers
in mind when I posted.

My personal experience has also been homebrewing some "hot, alcoholic
meads" that needed some sweetness to balance….and I was thinking
adding some honey at serving would balance the flavors in what might be
an otherwise disappointing beverage. I find that occasionally in my
home brewed products, blending at serving often creates a desirable
beverage out of dissappointing ones. The commercial meads I have been
able to purchase are sweeter then I prefer and at $15 bucks a bottle,
I'm reluctant to dump them, so I blend at serving.

wassail with sweetness…jim booth, lansing, mi