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Mead Lovers Digest #1250
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1250, 26 February 2006
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1250 26 February 2006
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1249, 21 February 2006 ("Robert Farrell")
Re: UF mead (Dick Adams)
Re: heat retention in capsimel (Dick Adams)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1249, 21 February 2006 (Phil)
Sodium Benzoate: A Warning ("Dan McFeeley")
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Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #1249, 21 February 2006
From: "Robert Farrell" <bfarrell100@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 09:48:15 -0800
>Subject: heat retention in capsimel
>From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
>Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 20:09:55 -0700
>
>Somewhat randomly going through our "library" of old mead, I pulled out a
>12-year-old capsimel (pardon if you've not seen the neologism--a melomel
>with capsicum peppers, i.e., chiles). It seemed to have approximately the
>same amount of heat that it did when first bottled.
>
>I don't recall anyone else commenting on whether the heat would degrade
>over time, but I'm happy to provide one datum which indicates that it
>lasts as well as one can tell.
>
>Probably time to make another batch of capsimel. It gives a good excuse
>to replace some of the plastic in the mead-making process that should be
>replaced periodically anyway (such as the racking hose)...one wants -not-
>to carry spurious capsaicin into (say) a traditional or a delicate melomel.
>- --
>Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
Dick
Sounds like a great idea. How are the chiles prepared? Do you roast them?
Slice, dice, deseed?
Bob Farrell
Portland, OR
------------------------------
Subject: Re: UF mead
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:00:57 -0500 (EST)
"Spencer W. Thomas" <hbd@spencerwthomas.com> wrote:
> I remember judging a (presumably) ultra-filtered mead in a
> Mazer Cup competition some years back. Ken Schramm was my
> co-judge. The mead in question was a melomel, I think
> cherry. It was extremely clean, with good fruit and honey.
> Ken's comment was pithy and to the point: "Needs more
> dirt and twigs!" It was, in fact, too clean for our tastes.
I didn't taste that mead and I would not be so presumptuous as
to question Ken Schramm's tastes. But it seems to me the issue
of 'Who made this mead?' has to be considered. Very few, if
any, homebrewers can afford ultra filtration equipment. The
Boun Vino Super Jet runs about $350 with shipping. And then
there are the filter pads that add to your cost per gallon and
filter no better than to the .5 micron level.
But if a home mazer spent that kind of money, it seems
inequitable to chastised him/her for doint to good of a job.
> Sort of like the difference between bottled apple juice and
> freshly squeezed apple juice. Something is just missing in
> the clear, yellow bottled stuff; the character of the apples
> that is present in the opaque, brown, freshly squeezed juice
> is muted to a generic "apple" flavor in the bottled stuff.
> Well, the same happened with the mead.
To me that is an excellent analogy. So, to me, the issue is
"Is the flavor still there or did the filtration strip the
flavor from the mead?"
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: heat retention in capsimel
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:56:49 -0500 (EST)
Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com> wrote:
> Somewhat randomly going through our "library" of old mead,
> I pulled out a 12-year-old capsimel (pardon if you've not
> seen the neologism--a melomel with capsicum peppers, i.e.,
> chiles). It seemed to have approximately the same
> amount of heat that it did when first bottled.
>
> I don't recall anyone else commenting on whether the heat
> would degrade over time, but I'm happy to provide one datum
> which indicates that it lasts as well as one can tell.
I grow Red Savina Habeneros [RSH] (www.redsavina.com). They
are dried, ground, and then vacuum sealed. In years past,
what I grew in a year was consumed that year. In 2003 I had
a bumper crop. My next planting is scheduled for 2009.
This stuff is so hot that I measure it with the beveled end
of a chop stick. It is part of my daily diet and a slight
aging effect has been noticed. So 12 years seems. to me, to
be an excessive length of time not to have noticed an aging
effect upon the heat of the peppers - UNLESS there was too
much heat in the beginning.
> Probably time to make another batch of capsimel. It gives
> a good excuse to replace some of the plastic in the
> mead-making process that should be replaced periodically
> anyway (such as the racking hose)...one wants -not- to carry
> spurious capsaicin into (say) a traditional or a delicate
> melomel.
My experience is that there is a threshold point where the
taste of the pepper is overwhelmed by the heat of the pepper.
My target is right below that threshold. If I were making a
55 gallon recipe, my recipe would call for 1 gram of ground
Red Savina habanero to be racked upon in the secondary.
Based upon periodic tasting, ground RSH pepper in 100 mg
increments might be added.
The problem I have had with capsimels and capsicum metheglins
is that they focus more on the heat than upon the taste.
Dick
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1249, 21 February 2006
From: Phil <dogglebe@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 04:50:10 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Melomel question -- adding the fruit
> From: "Rob Weir" <robweir@comcast.net>
> Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:24:21 -0500
>
> I'm new to mead, though I have brewed ales before.
> I'm making a raspberry
> melomel and the primary ferment has just completed.
> The instructions I'm
> following say for the seconday, I should first add
> the fruit (in this case a
> puree) to the carboy and then to rack in the mead
> must. Should I take this
> literally, i.e, not the mix the two together? Or
> should I stir well?
You don't have to stir it. The yeast will get in
there easily enough. Stirring it runs the risk of
oxidation.
Phil
------------------------------
Subject: Sodium Benzoate: A Warning
From: "Dan McFeeley" <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:54:05 -0600
Paul Gatza, director of The Brewer's Association, passed this word on to the
mead community. Check out:
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=65933-benzene-soft-drinks-food-sa
fety
and
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/printNewsBis.asp?id=65840
Sodium benzoate has been used by home meadmakers to stabilize the
fermentation. For instance, look here:
http://brewery.org/cm3/recs/10_90.html
and here:
http://brewery.org/cm3/recs/10_77.html
The problems, as you can see from the two articles above, can occur by
combining Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) with sodium benzoate, leading to high
levels of benzene. Benzene in high levels is a potential carcinogen.
I don't think sodium benzoate is widely used by meadmakers, but just in
case, be very careful in combining it with Vitamin C. Don't do it!
Thanks Paul for passing this on.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><>
Dan McFeeley
"Meon an phobail a thogail trid an chultur"
(The people's spirit is raised through culture)
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #1250
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