Mead Lover's Digest #1121 12 August 2004
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Adjusting must... (Steve Thompson)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1120, 8 August 2004 ("Paul Shouse")
Re: Blakeney weak mead (DocMac9582@aol.com)
Specific gravity of ethanol (DocMac9582@aol.com)
Ice Mead (CLSAXER@aol.com)
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Subject: Adjusting must...
From: Steve Thompson <srthompson@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2004 13:23:23 -0400
Hi Jim,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have been a lurking for approximately 5 years. I am
a bee keeper and was always planning on making mead.
So last weekend I finally got started. I am trying to
make a "sweet show mead". I used Wyeast sweet mead
yeast; I made a starter and used Wyeast nutrient.
Since this first batch is for she who must be obeyed,
and I am making it to her taste I used 1gal and 1 qt
of clover honey (from a supplier in Sperryville VA,
not Suebee). My honey is dark and is what I have heard
you all call tulip poplar. I pitched the starter; put
the primary in the closet of my basement office, and
it is bubbling away. After approximately 24 hours I am
getting a bubble every 3-6 seconds. Here is my
problem.. I was in a hurry and I realized that I used
too much water (I noticed the gradient scale on the
primary after I sealed it, it is probably 6 gals). My
OG was 1.09, and I need 1.12 to 1.15 for a sweet mead,
so how do I add more honey when I rack to the
secondary and how much? I know it should be a Honey
water mixture, what ratio? How do I mix it? I know
everyone worries about getting oxygen into the must
when racking..
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I would consider adding more honey now, simply take your present SG,
and add enough honey to add a +0.05 increase in gravity to your
present SG (it is likely less than the starting OG of 1.09). Add it
directly to the must, do not add more water, and stir. Do not be to
worried about oxygen at this point as CO2 is still being produced...
...Steve
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1120, 8 August 2004
From: "Paul Shouse" <paul_shouse@kmug.org>
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 09:53:07 +0900
>>From: Jim Blakeney <jmblakeney@yahoo.com>
>>Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 06:50:32 -0700 (PDT)
>>Hello all,
>>Snip..........I was in a hurry and I realized that I used
>>too much water (I noticed the gradient scale on the
>>primary after I sealed it, it is probably 6 gals).
>>......snip......... I know it should be a Honey
>>water mixture, what ratio? How do I mix it? I know
>>everyone worries about getting oxygen into the must
>>when racking....
There's a very easy way to do this. First, calculate how much honey you need
to add and then rack about a quarter of your primary into a very clean
container and mix the honey with it very slowly so as to get as little oxygen
as possible into the mix. syphon it into your secondary carboy (or whatever
vessel you're using) then rack the rest of the mead in as well. You might want
to add a fresh yeast starter just to make sure that any bad organisms get
taken care of early. When the new honey has been fermented, rack the mead into
a tertiary. I hope this helps you.
One other note, you might want to sample a tiny bit of the mead before adding
more honey. It may well be sweet enough as it is, so adding more honey may
make the mead too strong and overly sweet.
- -Paul
Subject: Re: Blakeney weak mead
From: DocMac9582@aol.com
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 11:12:04 -0400
Jim,
In my experience you have probably done very well so far. Mead starts
to work faster if it has a bit less honey to start. DO NOT wait until
the secondary to add more honey. When the fermentation STARTS to slow
down, add the additional honey - and stir like mad to get more oxygen
into the must and to dissolve the honey so it doesn't sit on the bottom.
If you don't have room, take out a gallon or so and start a second one
gallon batch in a glass gallon jug. (You can buy another fermentation
lock for a buck and a rubber stopper with a hole in it.) The additional
gallon will come in VERY useful for topping off the primary after you rack
the mead off the yeast sediment. Avoiding oxygen is only for late in the
SECONDARY fermentation - and even then it does not appear to be nearly as
critical as in the fermentation of grape based wine.
PS - Try your honey. I have found that a stronger tasting honey is
excellent for mead, as all of the flavor is not fermented out as sometimes
has happened for me with mild wildflower honey. If the mead does turn out
to be too strong for your taste, you can always stabilize the mead and then
add fruit such as blackberries for a melomel or spices such as cinnamon &
nutmeg for a nice spiced mead.
Carl McMillin, PhD
Carl@SyntheticBodyParts.com
Subject: Specific gravity of ethanol
From: DocMac9582@aol.com
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 11:20:16 -0400
Thanks,
I had always known that the specific gravity of ethanol was lower than
water, but thought it was around .90 to .95 g/cc. I looked it up in my
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and it is 0.7893 g/cc.
Carl McMillin, PhD
Subject: Ice Mead
From: CLSAXER@aol.com
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 12:19:19 EDT
Freezing mead to remove water ice is a subject that appears every few years
here and on the AHA Techtalk forum.
Distillation is a specific term that refers to the process of first heating a
mixture to separate the more volatile parts from the less volatile parts, and
then cooling and condensing the resulting vapor so as to produce a more
nearly pure or refined substance.
Freezing mead to extract water is not distillation. It is concentration, and
it is not illegal to do so at home by the laws of the U. S. You might want
to check the laws in the area where you live. States in the U.S. are allowed
to make laws that are more restrictive that the Federal government, but the
cannot override the Fed and make laws less restrictive.
Home ice mead is OK to make. It is subject to the laws pertaining to
homebrewing and home winemaking in the area where you live.
Carl Saxer
Way Down by Orlando (and Often Hilo)
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1121
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