I started a batch of a basic mead 2 1/2 years ago. I used a new local beekeper's
raw unfiltered clover honey, complete with some comb and a few bug parts, tap
water heated to aid mixing in the honey, but not boiled, some orange and lemon
juice for a bit of acidity, some yeast nutrient, a pinch of grape tannin, Red
Star Montrachet yeast, and a starting SG of 1.095. After Primary fermentation, I
racked it into a 5 gal carboy, and, considering it had the taste of Listerine,
decided to just let it be for a while. It cleared quite rapidly, so I racked it
again at about 3 months, and it has dropped no sediment since, so I've just let
it age.

I tried a sample last night, and it has mellowed remarkably, still just the
slightest hint of listerine, but for the most part, it has matured into a fairly
dry wine with a subtle hint of honey, but not a lot of body, and the bad part,
absolutely no aftertaste. I mean zilch. Once you swallow, the residuals are akin
to tap water.

I have never had this happen before. I usually have decent luck by keeping my
recipes simple, and letting nature just do it's thing. I know this is a huge
question, but what went wrong this time?

Mike Evans

On Wed, Sep 17, 2003 at 09:51:08AM -0600, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
> If you *do* pasteurize, you're going to have a pectin problem–and most
> apples have a LOT of pectin,

Am I correct to infer from this that you don't need to worry about
pectin if you use unpasteurized apple juice? (I'm just about to
start in on my first batch of cyser tonight or tomorrow, you see…)

• —

The freedoms that we enjoy presently are the most important victories of the
White Hats over the past several millennia, and it is vitally important that
we don't give them up now, only because we are frightened.

• Eolake Stobblehouse (http://stobblehouse.com/text/battle.html)

</lurk>

I brewed a prickly pear mead last September, my first melomel. I just
farted around in the kitchen with no real recipe and made lots of
guesses, which fortunately resulted in a great success rather than an
undrinkable swill. Fortunately, I also kept good notes, so am able to
share the recipe:

Melinda Iyer's Prickly Pear Mead

6 1/2 pounds fresh prickly pear fruit
4 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 pkg. dry Flor Sherry yeast
3 gallons reverse osmosis water
15 pounds Sonoran Desert wildflower honey

Wash the prickly pear fruit well, then boil (whole or halved) with
water to cover until fruit is falling apart. Strain well to produce
126 ounces of juice. Set juice aside. Rehydrate the yeast with 1
teaspoon of the nutrient in 1/2 cup warm water. Warm the honey with
the set-aside juice and the remaining nutrient. Mix with water and
pitch at 95 degrees. Corrected SG should be 1.1. Expect fast and
furious fermentation and a highly perfumed cellar area. I let sit in
primary 3 months, then chilled for 2 days (outdoors, around 40
degrees) to drop sediment. I racked to secondary and then directly to
bottle on the same day. Ending SG = 1.012, 12% ABV.

Notes:
1) I bottled this a little too early. The lack of activity in the
airlock fooled me into thinking it was done, but lots of residual
sugar and a bit of active yeast produced a ferment in the bottle. I
should have let it sit in secondary a month or so to finish ferment
for a still mead. Fortunately it worked out right and I wound up with
a lovely sparkling mead instead of 2 cases of glass grenades.
2) Fresh pricklies are a pain in the patoot but worth it. Just get
yourself thick gloves, a chinois or other good quality fine-mesh
strainer, and a heavy long pair of tongs.
3) The gorgeous magenta color – almost like Kool-Aid – ages out,
sadly. It will wind up a light-tinged peach.
4) FTR, I have not had any problems with people being sensitive to,
or getting sick from, this mead. On the contrary, it has been a great
hit – one of my most popular brews. People are constantly asking for
a glass of it when they come over… and another glass, and another
glass… so the type of sickness that results is usually a hangover

😉

<lurk>

• —

Melinda Merkel Iyer
http://www.iyerfamily.net/

I too have been trying to verify the rumor of prickly pear wine causing
near death experiences to no avail. Web Winery is actually Webb Winery,
and was bought out by some brewery. They apparently don't respond to
email. There is no mention of the sickness in the newspaper archives
for the Tucson Cageliner or whatever their name is. In Mexico, PP juice
is boiled down to a paste and then fermented into something called
"coloncha", so maybe the boiling does do something. The book written by
Charlie Papazian, "NJOHB", is The New Joy of Homebrewing. It's a great
sourcebook for brewing beer, and should be everyone's first book on beer
making. I couldn't find any reference to cactus fruit in the index.

Someone asked about using sage honey.

I have used sage honey to made many batches of mead (when I lived out in
CA It was readily available). It is the most delicate honey, and does not
taste or smell like the spice sage. The sage meads finished with the colour
and clarity water, great stuff.

Re: Dick's advice on cider;

I don't know about adding a whole can of worms to your cider, but I have known
Some old cider maker who swear by using the wormiest apples in with the rest,
Saying that is where the flavour comes from. And the cider does taste good.
But a whole can of worms? How big is the can? What kind of worms?

Micah Millspaw – brewer at large

I want to do a cyser this fall, but I don't want to
waste my time and money if the end result is going to
be mediocre. I don't know of a good local source of
true cider apples (my trees are going in next spring).
If I use locally produced cider made from more
"normal" apples, am I going to end up with an end
product as bland and boring as the hard cider I buy
from the store?

Thanks,
Scott Slezak

First a little about me, I=92ve been making mead and reading
the MLD for about 3 years but this is my first post. If
anyone is interested my current projects include a blueberry
mel that has recently been racked for the first time, a plain
mead that I will likely bottle before the end of next month,
and although not mead a 3 gallon batch of dandelion wine
bulk aging. I also recently bottled a concord pyment that
I=92m very happy with, and plan to start a spiced cyser within
a couple weeks.

Now too the point. I thought I would chime in on the pollen
as yeast nutrient subject. For the last 2 years I have used
only pollen as my yeast nutrient with good results. I use 1
tsp. Pr gallon or 2 tbs. pr 5 gallon batch, fermentation
usually finishes in about 4 weeks, if it takes longer than 6
weeks it is because of something unusual. So I guess
that shows that 5 tbs. pr gallon is far more than enough.

Doug
Making mead in NW Ohio

I have seen several referrals to using bee pollen as a mead nutrient and have
no doubt of it's effectiveness although I do not know the necessary amount
needed for a successful fermentation. I do have concern over possible allergic
reactions to bee pollen. I am highly allergic to bee stings and somewhat
allergic to bee pollen. Fortunately, I am fine with honey, royal jelly and mead
but I wouldn't want to experiment with a dose of pollen in a mead. There may
be others with my affliction.
Bob Grossman in Philadelphia

>Robert Berthold, at Delaware Valley College, did some research on the use
>of bee pollen as a nutrient source in meadmaking and published the results
>in the American Bee Journal.=A0 He recommended 5 tablespoons per gallon.

I did I prickly pear mead a few years ago and don't remember having any
allergic reactions from it by myself or friends. I used a different brewing
technique then I have seen mentioned by others. I juiced my prickly pears
in my vegetable/fruit juicer. I skinned the pears and then put them through
the juicer to create two quarts of brilliant fusia colored juice. I added
this to the mead must at 150 degrees to pasteurize and then chilled prior
to the primary fermentation. I never had problems with pectin or haze and
the mead maintained a lovely pink hue, floral aroma, and exotic fruity taste.
Bob Grossman

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

"Web Winery did a batch of P.P. Wine. When THEIR customers starting
getting sick and some even HOSPITALIZED!!! The University of AZ tested
the wine to try to figure it out. They discovered that when Prickly
Pear fruit is converted to alcohol, it changes in a way that causes
sensitive people to have a major histamine reaction! It nearly Killed 3
people before the recall was sounded!"