Mead Lover's Digest #1383 Sat 9 August 2008

 

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

 

Contents:

Aeration overkill (Steven_Butcher@fpl.com)
RE: Newbie Melomel (Mail Box)
A pH Question ("Zuckerman, Alan")
Give Us Your Mead Day Numbers! ("Janis Gross")

 

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Subject: Aeration overkill
 From: Steven_Butcher@fpl.com
 Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 11:50:00 -0400


>For me, the hard part is the aeration. You specify pure oxygen. Will air
>work (I expect it will, just checking)? I can get an aquarium pump that is
>specified at 7PSI (actual delivered pressure more like 3-4PSI – don't you love
>honest marketing people). Can I use this? Would I have to put a 0.45um
>filter in the line? I assume that the air should be dispersed while the
>stirring is occurring, and that it should be delivered through a stainless
>steel airstone.

Frankly, I think all of this complicated aeration talk is unnecessary.
I've made plenty of good mead without ever worrying about any of this. A
good frothing up of the must for a couple of minutes just before adding

well hydrated and conditioned yeast is all I ever needed to ensure a
vigorous fermentation and a wonderful result. I think some of us over
complicate things.

Subject: RE: Newbie Melomel
 From: Mail Box <mail-box@comcast.net>
 Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:12:00 -0400


On 8/2/2008 2:19 AM, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:

> Subject: RE: Newbie Melomel
> From: ashford@whisperpc.com
> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 22:41:15 -0700 (PDT)
[snipped]

Peter,

On stirring and oxygenating:

I make my meads by a method pretty close to that which Vicky outlines,
but lower tech and lower 'touch', and I get what appears to be the same
results she describes: Fast, clean ferments and short(er) aging
periods. I use no oxygen bottle, instead I use the kitchen hand held
blender with a standard whisk. Since I primary in plastic there is no
issue with the neck of the carboy. I'll run the blender for a few (3?
5? Until I get bored with it) minutes each day for the first 3 or so
days of fermentation. My fermentations take about 10 days to go to
dryness from an OG of 1.8 to 1.95 or so (wine strength, and then
typically I'll sulfite and sorbate and back sweeten half of the batch
during bottling and after bulk aging or a week or so later if I'm going
to split it into smaller carboys). The blender takes care of both the
stirring and the aerating chores in one simple step, and I don't bother
to take intermediate gravity readings, instead I just watch the airlock.

Since you already have your high powered stirrer and the aquarium pump
there's no harm in breaking them out and using them. I just wanted to
offer a different perspective on stirring and oxygenating which has
given me wonderful results over a good many years and without the need
for a lot of expensive, bulky, and fussy gear to complicate what can be
a very simple hobby. (er, leaving me able to buy more expensive and
bulky carboys for greater production capacity ;)) That's not to say
that Vicky's/Oskaar's method is in any way 'wrong', my motto for brewing is:
There are many ways to do it right.

Cheers,
Ken Taborek

Subject: A pH Question
 From: "Zuckerman, Alan" <zuckermana@hcplonline.info>
 Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 10:46:17 -0400


Hi.

I've just subscribed with the email address zuckyscookies@verizon.net.
I hope you'll take my question while that is still in process.

Here it is. I've just put together my first batch of mead. I used a
liquid yeast (Steinberger) energized for 24 hours in a starter mixture.
I'm making a dry show mead. The O.G. was 1.08. Here's the problem: the
pH of the must was quite high: something over 6.0. The Compleat
Meadmaker talks a lot about what to do if the pH is too low, but not if
it's too high. The book, and your website, say that these days acid
isn't added until the secondary fermentation, but I'm stuck with a high
pH. Should I add the acid blend that I purchased with the intention of
adding it later to improve the taste of the mead in the secondary
fermentation stage? I don't want to let this go on too long, because
I'm worried that the must is too friendly to bacteria. By the way, this
is going to be a 5 gallon batch.

Also, I'm not sure why the pH is so high anyway. I'm pretty sure my pH
meter is accurate, since we cross-checked with litmus paper, so the
problem is real. Our honey and water are both more acidic than the
final must, so I'm wondering if the yeast nutrient and starter are
highly basic? Any thoughts?

Thank you very much.

Alan Zuckerman

Library Associate II (Adult)

Norrisville Branch

Harford County Public Library

410-692-0506

Subject: Give Us Your Mead Day Numbers!
 From: "Janis Gross" <janis@brewersassociation.org>
 Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 09:56:31 -0600


Hello to the Mead Day site directors,

I hope you all had a fabulous time making mead last Saturday! I get a
smile just thinking about all the delicious meads we'll enjoy in the
near future as a result of Mead Day 2009. The site for reporting the
batches, gallons made, and total number of participants is live
(http://www.beertown.org/apps/mead/remit.aspx) and I urge you to enter
your numbers before the mead-making glow wears off. This is the first
year that we are collecting this information for Mead Day, so please be
sure to submit your site's information. You'll need to know your site
number, which you can find here:
http://www.beertown.org/apps/mead/meadday_select.aspx .

Thanks for participating in Mead Day this year!

Cheers,

Janis Gross
AHA Project Coordinator
Janis@brewersassociation.org



End of Mead Lover's Digest #1383

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