.. Well, the mead lecture was a bit dissapointing.... the one who was supposed to do it wasn't there and the substitute was an SCA (Society of Creative Anachranisms) member. They are known to research their craft, no matter what it is, and go with the ways it was done in the olden days. They kinda stick to authenticity.
First off... she says to bring your honey & water, she kept calling it wart not must.. to a boil for a good 20 minutes. She did say she uses some raw honey so there would be bee parts & other stuff in it... so I suppose some boiling would be neccessary. And she commented that honey comes in different qualities than it did in the olden days and boiling concentrates the honey.
Second... One fella remarked that they now make buckets with spouts in them about 2 inches above the bottom that would help in racking (filling bottles) and leaving the sediment behind. I said that it would add air to the mead... which you don't want. They said it would be no more than using a racking cane. I disagreed because the racking cane tube is inserted all the way to the bottom of the bottle and no air is added and the spout would let the mead trickle or fall a good 7 to 10 inches to the bottom of the bottle. (well you could attach a hose to the spout, she said) It didn't make sense to me to spend 3 to 6 months on a mead and then ruin it in the racking by adding air to it. Oh.. well...!!
Third... I asked her if she had heard of making mead with bread yeast... she didn't recommend it... the bread yeast can't handle high alcohol levels and will die out early. She also "heard" that it would give the mead off flavors.
Don't get me wrong... it was a good discussion... but I felt she had a lot more to learn. (she had been making mead for 3 years and the fella had been making mead for 7 years) I only wish the lady from the night before would have given the talk. She sounded fully knowledgable.
The SciFi convention was great fun though. There were all kinds of odd balls, wierdos and strange people and then a few Klingons from the USS Rubicon, the local trekkies club. They ran the Quark's Bar, and offered Klingon Blood Wine and Romulan Ale in one room and a movie, we watched the Chronicles of Riddick, on a big projection screen in the other room. A lot of Anime characters from the younger croud. Video gaming, roll play card games like Magic, and board games were played in separate rooms. They had a sales room, an art exhibit room and a ball room for the Mascarade ball and dancing later. And lots of us older croud dressed in various fashion. I went in a modest Ren fashion with a wreath of ivy in my hair.
But... all in all.... I will stick to the info I've learned from the Got Mead website... and the Pluthera of experience that you guys offer. Thanks for getting me started in the right direction on my mead making....
:-* Suzy Q
Oh.. I forgot... another thing... they said after the "wart" is ready, pour it into the primary bucket or jar and cover it with saran or plastic, secure it with elastic or a rubber band. Then when it is cooled open the sealed plastic just a wee bit and toss in the yeast. You don't want to let any air into it. ...... this contradicts what I've learned on the website about adding lots of air at this point to help the yeasties grow.