Thread search of 1992 Mead Lover's Digest for "simple"
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"simple"
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2 postings found.
Posting 1: Extracted from file: 05
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 1:02:57 EDT
From: chuck@synchro.com (Chuck Cox)
Subject: Simple Cyser
Hey, it's great to see a mead list starting up.
Just to get things started, here's a very simple recipe that produces an
excellent medium-sweet cyser. Fall is the perfect time of year to start
a cyser. If you saw a lot of senior beer/mead judges staggering around
the last national homebrew conference late at night, a keg of this was
to blame. The honey and cider were all from New England. This was
quite drinkable after 3 months, and is truly dangerous after a year. It
is just sweet enough to deceive the unwary as to its true alcoholic
strength. I just bought enough honey and cider to make a 1/2 bbl batch.
name: Dangerous Cyser
style: medium-sweet cyser
gallons: 7
Honey: 10 lb clover
10 lb wildflower
Cider: 5 gal
Misc: 6 tabs Camden/Metabisulphate
Yeast: ale yeast
My standard procedure:
Mix everything except the yeast.
Let sit in loosely covered fermenter for 24 hours.
Add yeast.
Rack to secondary when fermentation slows.
Rack to keg when still.
Force carbonate if desired.
Condition for as long as you can stand it.
Drink liberally.
Fall over.
- --
Chuck Cox <chuck@synchro.com>
In de hemel is geen mead, daarom drinken wij het hier.
Posting 2: Extracted from file: 11
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 08:19:00 -0500
From: roy.rudebusch@travel.com (Roy Rudebusch)
Subject: mead-lover's conference
From: roy.rudebusch@travel.com
MND:>I am hoping a veteran corker out ther could share his/her method with me,
MND:>including sanitation and any special treatment of the cork, and special
MND:>treatment of the bottles after corking.
Yeah, I learned the hard way too. My tragedy was different. No one told
me too keep the bottles up for a month. It seems mead usually has a
dissolved CO2. After corking I laid them on their side. Well......
Buy the longest corks you can afford and of the best quality. Soak them
in a strong solution of SO2, (.25 tsp/ 1 gal water), overnight. Sink
them well into the bottle - about .25 inch into the mouth of the bottle.
MND:>I am also curious about what happens when the mead finally clears and is
MND:>of mead prematurely after it had been sitting quietly for about
MND:>5 months. Roughly half of the bottles blew. Does clearing indicate
MND:>an end to fermentation and therefore a safe time to bottle?
Yes, generally. What was the terminal gravity?
I like to keep my "big meads", (OG > 1.100), in the carboy for a minimum
for two years. Also most winemakers add about .25 tsp sulfite to their 5
gal of wine at bottling to help stabilize it.
Did the temperature of your bottled mead raise after corking? I lost two
carboys because I stoppered them, and the temp. arose, kablooey! All
over my basement floor, (tears, tears).
MND:>Where are good places to look for reasonable prices on bulk honey?
Look in the Yellow Pages under "bee-keepers". Tell them you want to buy
honey in bulk, you should be able to buy it for at the wholesale price
which is about $.70/#.
MND:>To gelly@persoft.com (Mitch Gelly) who asks if aged honey
MND:>makes any difference -
I go by nose, just like examining malt extract or grape concentrate, it
shouldn't smell oxidized.
Honey does get old if it has been subjected to heat and air.
MND:>A co-worker who enjoyed my raspberry melomel has approached me with a
MND:>proposition (no, not that kind). He has tons of plums and wanted to
MND:>'commission' a batch of plum melomel from me.
Fruit wine is most difficult to make properly, and plum wine is the most
difficult fruit wine to make! Because you add honey it won't make
it any easier!
MND:>I will probably use about 15 lbs of light clover honey as the base,
MND:>and it will be a 5 gallon batch.
Sounds good. Start with about 30# of plums, sprinkle with a mild
SO2 solution, (1/8 SO2 / 1 gallon water), freeze. Thaw, de-pit, crush,
no need to peel. Cover with water. In a pitcherwith 1 cup water
dissolve:
.5 tsp SO2
5 tsp pectic enzyme
Add to plums stir well. Keep at 60 - 70F for 2 - 4 days.
Stir every day, after the third day try to take a gravity reading.
Now add the honey.
Try to adjust the gravity to 1090 - 1.100.
Adjust the acid to .65%.
Be sure to pitch with a __BIG YEAST STATER__!
Do not use Champaigne yeast.
I heartily recommend seeking the neccesary equipment and supplies and
service for accomplishing the above task, It will be worth it!
MND:>In reading through my first two issues of the MLD I noticed the mention
MND:>of acid blend. Being only a beer brewer (and the occassional mead of cours
MND:>and never attempting wine making, I'm not sure what the purpose of this
MND:>stuff is. In addition, in a recipe that I saw in issue #7, it called for
MND:>acid blend to taste. So what does this stuff affect the taste anyway?
Having the proper acidity is important in beverages, even soda pop!
If the beverage is at the proper PH it will thwart off infection
easier, (a simple answer for a complicated question).
It is __very important__ to have the proper acidity in mead.
Grapes are a natural for wine, because of the naturally balanced
sugar/acid content.
Get an acid test kit. Do not pay more than $6.00 for it!
MND:>And finally, what makes Mead Yeast nutrient any different than
MND:>generic nutrient (besides the price I imagine)?
You got it!
Wassail
Roy Rudebusch w/
IMO Homebrew Supply
(314) 487-2130
* OLX 2.2 * A Family that Brews MEAD Together Stays Together
Requested from gent.hsc.edu, Fri May 17 12:02:00 EDT 1996
Thread by Tom Kaltenbach (kaltenbach@aol.com)
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