Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1167, 13 March 2005
From: mead-request@talisman.com


Mead Lover's Digest #1167 Sun 13 March 2005

 

Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor

 

Contents:

Re: First Mead! First Apple Cyser! (Randy Goldberg MD)
Agave mead! ("Daniel P. Kuczero")
Re: First Mead! (Melissa Airoldi) (Vuarra)
Banana Mead (Dick Adams)
Miscellaneous Mead Info (chris herrington)
RE:Subject: Dark/Bright Flavors? ("matt_lists")

 

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Subject: Re: First Mead! First Apple Cyser!
From: Randy Goldberg MD <randy@randygoldberg.net>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 08:01:04 -0500

> Yay for me! I have just finished bottling my first mead and my first
> apple cyser. They have both been sitting in secondary for about two
> years (I have been slack). I am wondering two things, the first – they
> taste ok but will they continue to improve in taste or is this about as
> good as it gets? Secondly – will they still have an alcohol content? I
> didn't take any hydrometer readings :o(.

If the carboys, and now your bottles, are properly sealed, then the alcohol
should have had nowhere to go. They ought to be plenty alcoholic.

****************

Randy Goldberg MD
Random Tag: Better Weird Than Dull!


Subject: Agave mead!
From: "Daniel P. Kuczero" <sledaddict73@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:06:19 -0800 (PST)

Found some interesting information regarding agave
nectar and some places to purchase. Has anyone
attempted to ferment this in a mead? I am really
interested in purchasing some to incorporate into a
pineapple melomel. Bought the honey….just waiting
for the delicious goods to arrive! Wassail!


Subject: Re: First Mead! (Melissa Airoldi)
From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:46:38 -0800 (PST)

Melissa:

Congrats on your first mead and cyser. Such has been
my experience that until you crack open the carboys,
the vintages will continue to develop. (Uh, yeah,
they'll continue to get better slowly).
As for the alcohol content, they should stay where
they are except for 2 conditions:
1) you leave them open, and the alcohol evaporates
2) you get an "infection", and the bacteria turn your
ethanol into acetic acid – you end up with mead
vinegar and cyser vinegar.

If you are not as pleased with your product as you
were hoping, you could start another batch with a
different recipe. I'm one of those obstinate fellows
who love honey/water/nutrient/nothing else meads, but
many others will make pyments, cysers, metheglins etc.
The wonderful part of our art is that you can try
again. Don't forget to have a party to allow your
friends to sample your product if that be the route
you wish to go. Or you could get another carboy set,
and let them age longer.

Vuarra

Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound.)


Subject: Banana Mead
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:04:18 -0500 (EST)

There are posts in the winemakers newsgroup about banana
wine. Has anyone tried banana mead?

Dick


Subject: Miscellaneous Mead Info
From: chris herrington <asby0@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:15:57 -0800 (PST)

Hi All,
I'm normally a beer brewer. I cold condition my beers
in a converted freezer. I never cold conditioned my
meads but decided to try and it really improved the
flavor, even within a month. I've never paid much
attention to fermenting mead at a set temperature. My
home temperature stays around 73 to 75 F. It makes
sense if a beer will become more rounded, smooth etc..
that mead should also.
I spoke with a honey source in Tallahassee, Florida.
She said the bees have been a bit dormant lately with
some lingering cold snaps. They are hoping for a good
Tupelo crop this year since last year was apparently
mediocre. She said the tupelo gum trees would bloom
around April 15 till the 2nd week in May. Until then
the hives have to forage for wildflower and build up
their colonies or be fed reserved honey. Hopefully, it
will be a bumper crop.


Subject: RE:Subject: Dark/Bright Flavors?
From: "matt_lists" <matt_lists@liquidsolutions.ws>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:04:46 -0800


>Is this a common way to classify flavors? Sounds really interesting

Sorry about that, I suppose it is not a common reference. I was tring to
stay away form the term "Savory" for to me that also includes things like
caraway and cumin which I would almost never put in a mead (I say ALMOST)
What I way trying to convey was the idea of a bold sweet spice that is not
sharp.

THe maple honey, to me, had a medicinal/minty quality to it and the
sharper/spicy (brighter) spices would only exsaserbate that while bolder
sweeter (darker) spices might downplay that.

As for the cardamon, although it does has a sweetness to it, cardamom pods,
to me, have a peppery/gingery kick to them with a hint of resin. That is why
I classify them as a bright spice.

Putting names and clisifications on flavors is very subjective, I'm just
trying to help where I can.

Matt Maples

Liquid Solutions
450 Beers, Wine, Meads and Ciders online.
www.liquidsolutions.biz/meads
503-524-9722

May mead regain it place as the beverage of gods and kings.


End of Mead Lover's Digest #1167