Mead Lover's Digest #0277 Tue 15 March 1994

 

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

 

Contents:

The Wicked Root in Fermented beverages! (COYOTE)
Garlic ("Larry Lynch-Freshner")
Dud Yeast? (Doburoku Jiji)

 

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Subject: The Wicked Root in Fermented beverages!
From: COYOTE <SLK6P@cc.usu.edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 10:02:23 -0600 (MDT)

Mmmmmmmm, gaaaaarliiiic. (Homer Simpson's "yummy" moan voice)

Uh, well, er, um…I've tried a garlic beer that toot made once.
And people think I'M wierd for putting jalapeno in! (he's done THAT too!)

Ya see we have this seasonal party- a potluck dinner. EVERYTHING made
with garlic. Yes folks….even garlic deserts.

Well, toot added a clove of garlic to a bottle of beer.

Smelled…like…garlic, tasted…like… garlic. Plus sort of beer-ish.
But it R E A L L Y didn't seem like a flavor that SHOULD be in beer!

Somehow, the idea of it combined with the sweet essence of honey, hmm.
Just doesn't happen in my mind (that's how I cook- imagine the flavors,
then throw them in. Sometimes I taste it afterwards….I'm strange I guess.)

Now don't be put off here….I'd say, go ahead and try it. Let us know
how it works. I would reccommend a little chopped in the boil (at the end)
and removed before fermenting. Maybe some ginger too?

I've tried some rather odd things. Fermented milk and honey being the most
unusual attempt. So- yeah, experiment on a small batch. Like a gallon.
But try for a LESS THAN OVERWHELMING amount and flavor of garlic. IMHO.

It takes all kinds…

|\
|\| \/| \-\-\- John (The Coyote) Wyllie SLK6P@cc.usu.edu -/-/-/
\ |


 


Subject: Garlic
From: "Larry Lynch-Freshner" <Larry_Lynch-Freshner@taligent.com>
Date: 14 Mar 1994 10:20:34 -0800

Garlic
gowen@cs.tufts.edu (Gregory Owen) writes asking about Garlic in Mead. Well,
I've never tried this.
Those of us in northern California do, however, have the town of Gilroy in our
area. Gilroy bills itself as the 'World Garlic Capitol', and has an annual
Garlic festival. Around festival time, all sorts of garlic related products
come out, including a garlic wine. This is a dry white wine with garlic added
to it. It is actually quite good, so I would expect similar results from a
dry garlic mead. Good Luck! –
Larry


Subject: Dud Yeast?
From: Doburoku Jiji <doburoku@freenet.scri.fsu.edu>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 17:48:18 18000


I'm trying to brew a 5-gallon batch of fake beer using the following
proportions:

2.4 kg Buckwheat honey
2.5 kg Light honey (lotus blossom)
2.5 oz Willamette hops (2 oz boil, 1/2 oz finish)
4 Smallish ginger roots, grated (maybe 4 oz total)
4 tsp Acid blend
4 tsp Nutrient
1 tsp Irish moss

I brought the honey to a boil in 6 liters water, added the hops,
ginger, acid, and nutrient and boiled for 30 minutes, adding the Irish
moss for the last 15 and the finishing hops for the last 2. This was
dutifully sparged and added to a carboy with appropriate amounts of
bottled water. SG measured 1.031, which was less than I had hoped for
(trying for 1.040), but still acceptable, since I want something to
drink cold, quick, and carbonated on hot summer days.

When the temperature was down to an acceptable range, I added a
package of Red Star ale yeast and (optimistically, it turns out) a
blow hose. Two days later there was a ring of bubbles around the
neck, but not the violent fermentation I'm used to getting with higher
SG brews (so far, I've pretty much stuck to wine-strength meads and
melomels). So I added another package of ale yeast, sprinkling it on
top and waiting for it to dissolve on its own. Another 3 days have
passed, and we are back to where we were originally. A ring of
bubbles, but little sign of real action. There's even back pressure
on the fermentation lock!

Is this just a problem of dud yeast? I've had the yeast since last
summer, but who knows how long it was laying around the store. Should
I try again with a wine or champagne yeast that I am pretty confident
will work? Or did the boiling (up to now I've only pasteurized, never
boiled) somehow neutralize the nutrients so the yeast can't take off?
Or is SG too low for the yeast to get very excited about the whole
deal? Temperature is not a problem. I've got four other meads
gurgling happily in the same room.

All help appreciated,

Dobu


Doburoku Jiji
Fujisawa, Japan


End of Mead Lover's Digest #277