Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #524, 9 January 1997
From: mead-request@talisman.com


Mead Lover's Digest #524                                  9 January 1997

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

Contents:
  mead names... (Dick Dunn)
  Mead fermentation temps and aging time, et cetera (David McDonald)
  Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997 (Scott Morrison)
  Re:Hard Cider/Melomel recipe help/Mead (Sheryl Nance-Durst)
  Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997 ("Dave Moore")
  Getting the Juice ("Patrick Lehnherr")
  Re:  Melomel Recipe Help ("Patrick Lehnherr")
  Re: Hard Cider? ("Patrick Lehnherr")
  Re: Mead ("Patrick Lehnherr")
  Re: mead (Jack Stafford)
  Re: Melomel recipie help (Peter Miller)
  Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997 (Peter Miller)
  How fast should fermentation be? (Jensen)
  Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997 (Mark Shubelka)
  Mead Nomenclature (Michael L. Hall)
  Cider and the digest (Mead Lover's Digest)
  Brander's Hard cider, and clsaxer's color change. (LYNDALAND@aol.com)

NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: mead names...
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 8 Jan 97 12:52:37 MST (Wed)

Regarding names for meads with honey+something:
>       grape - pyment
(archaic terms also pymeat, pigment!)  Hippocras is spiced pyment.
>       apple - cyser
>       pear  - perry
No, "perry" is just a term for fermented pear juice.  That is, perry is to
pears as cider is to apples.  I don't know of a distinguishing term for a
"pear mead"...and in fact, I've never had one!  (This is surprising, given
the dozens of fruits I've had in meads.)  Seems like a good idea, and now I
wonder *why* I've never had or made one.
>       mulberry - mulrath
I doubt this.  The known (I won't say "well-known";-) term is "morat".  I
can't find "mulrath" in any references I've got here, including the OED.
- ---
Dick Dunn         rcd@talisman.com         Boulder County, Colorado  USA
   ...Simpler is better.

------------------------------

Subject: Mead fermentation temps and aging time, et cetera
From: David McDonald <dxm@santafe.edu>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 11:58:05 -0700 (MST)


Somewhere, perhaps in this digest a few months ago, someone said they
though lower fermentation temperatures made for less of the 'hotness' and
harshness which then needs to be aged out.  From my limited experience
with two batches of mead, one fermented during the summer, and one during
the winter, this seems true.  The summer batch fermented between 70 and 75
degrees F., while the winter batch (made with the same basic recipe, and
same yeast, though with a different honey) has been fermenting between 55
and 65 degrees.  I just racked it after two months of fermentation (it's
nearly done), and it tastes remarkably clean and mellow.  The summer mead
was painfully harsh at this same stage, and required a good 6 months in
the bottle before it became enjoyable.  Some of this effect may of course
be due to the different variety of honey, which for all I know may have a
much different chemical profile.  But I am willing to venture that cooler
fermentations will yield a drinkable mead sooner.  The fermentation will
take somewhat longer, but the aging time will be so much reduced that the
overall time will be less than that for a summer mead.

Does anyone else have experience with this phenomenon?  Does anyone know
enough about the science of fermentation to say whether what I'm saying is
plausible?  I'm wondering if the fact that meads *can* be fermented at
high temperatures has misled some of us into providing conditions for our
meads which then require us to endure extensive aging.  (This is not to
say that aging couldn't improve even a mead that starts out mellow and
drinkable.)  If the results with this current batch continue to support my
thus far tentative conclusion, I will ferment the next batch in cool
conditions, regardless of the season. 

Patience is of course a virtue, and it would be a detriment to character
if mead-making become an entirely quick affair.  For the first batch, the
aging time certainly improved the mead but also forced me to contemplate
the slow march of time.  And this somehow gave the mead a special savor
when I did drink it. 

As far as recipes go (I've become amazingly prejudiced despite having only
made two batches of mead), I think it's best not to add acid blend or
citrus juice when mixing up the batch.  Someone else presented some
evidence, some time ago, that raising the acidity of the already acidic
honey/water mix slows fermentation considerably, and I keep running across
anecdotes in which someone added acid in obedience to some recipe, and
then found the mead too acidic.  I'd taste the mead at bottling, and if it
seems cloyingly sweet, add acid then.  I haven't brewed a sweet mead yet,
though, so I have to admit I'm not familiar with the greatly-feared
'cloyingly sweet mead unredeemed by acid' .... 

On the perhaps off-subject subject of hard cider (in reference to Digest
523), I have had success with the approach of simply pitching yeast into a
freshly opened gallon of purchased apple juice, and putting an airlock on
it.  I think it would be fine that way, but I then added frozen apple
juice concentrate (twice, when the fermentation seemed to be slowing) to
strengthen the flavor and alcohol content.  This provided a quick and
delicious New Year's Eve beverage. 

David McDonald
davidmcdonald@hotmail.com

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997
From: Scott Morrison <smorr@alcor.concordia.ca>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 14:13:43 -0500 (EST)

> Subject: Melomel recipie help
> From: "Brander Roullett (Volt Computer)" <a-branro@MICROSOFT.com>
> Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 12:02:20 -0800
> 
> I am looking to my first 5 gallon batch soon.  i am looking at making a
> Melomel so i can avoid the yeast nutrient problem.  Here is my proposed
> recipe, can people comment on it for me?  help me define it a little
> better.
> 
> For 5 gallons...
> 
> 10 lbs of honey (type unknown, local honey, unproscessed)
> 3 Lbs of frozen strawberries
> 1 package (not sure how much it is) of dried cranberries.
> 1 Pack Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast
> 1 oz Hops (variety not decided yet)
> 
> 
> Procedure:  bring 3 gallons of water to a boil, and add Hops.  boil for
> 30 min.  turn off heat, and dissolve the honey.  Let cool for a bit, and
> then pour onto the frozen strawberries, and cranberries.  add water to 5
> gallon mark, and when at correct temp. pitch the yeast from the Pre
> Whacked pack.
> 
> Sound good to people, any adjustments?  how long should i leave the
> strawberries and cranberries in?
> 
I recently made a 5 gallon batch of strawberry melomel but I used way 
more honey and strawberries.  (ie 15 lb of honey and about 6 lbs of 
strawberries.  The thing with strawberries is that I find that they have 
a very mild taste (compared to say raspberries) so I went heavy on them.  
The melomel is about 7 months old now and tastes absolutely 
incredible.    I can't imagine how it will taste in a year... :) 

Anyhow if you go to the bee's lees (I think its part of alpha.rollonet?)  
there are tables at the end of the document that tells you the amount of 
honey you should use to achieve specifc o.g.  (roughly) -- I found that a 
mead with about 14-15 lbs to 5 US gallons yields about 1.100 OG -- 
Using a montrachet or similar wine yeast, this gives a fairly potent 
(13-14%) and slightly sweet mead -- mind you you can't carbonate it 
naturally so it will have to remain a still mead.

As for the Wyeast packs, I strongly recommend that you make a starter 
about 2-3 ahead of time. I've found that just using the yeast out of the 
smack pack doesn't start the fermentation for about 2 days, too long for 
various microorganisms that may be floating around.  When I make a 
starter, the fermentation usually kicks in within 12 hours.  

Enjoy!
Scott

------------------------------

Subject: Re:Hard Cider/Melomel recipe help/Mead
From: Sheryl Nance-Durst <P_SHERYL@KCPL.LIB.MO.US>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 13:23:31 -0600

<Brander Roullett writes:>

>all I did was hydrate yeast, pitch, and attach an airlock.  Is this how
>a hard cider is actually done?  am i missing a step?  should i add
>anything?  any other decent Hard Cider recipes lurking out there?

Your steps should be fine.  That's all I did to make my cyser (except that 
I added honey, of course).

There are quite a few Cider recipes posted on Cats Meow.
http://alpha.rollanet.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html
I think there's also a digest like this one that deals with cider.


<Brander Roullett writes:>
>10 lbs of honey (type unknown, local honey, unproscessed)
>3 Lbs of frozen strawberries
>1 package (not sure how much it is) of dried cranberries.
>1 Pack Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast
>1 oz Hops (variety not decided yet)
..
>how long should i leave the
>strawberries and cranberries in?

You should probably leave them in for 7-10 days.  From what I've read
& been told - any longer than that and the mead will start picking up
undesirable flavors.


<John Henderson writes:>
>I have seen a lot of people ask questions but I haven't seen very many 
>people give any concrete answers in this group.  

Probably because a lot of people tend to reply to the person directly 
instead of to the list.  I've asked a couple of questions in the past
& gotten replies sent directly to me that never showed up on the digest.
And I have also replied directly to questions instead of to the list.
I think this brings up a good point - from now on I am going to send a
copy to the digest if I reply directly to a question.  I hadn't thought
about it before but I guess it's only being nice to people like me
who learned a lot by reading past digests out of the archives (yes - 
I read all 400 that were in the archives when I started!).
Thanks for getting me to think about it.  :)

Sheryl J. Nance-Durst                   ...one of the secret masters of
Kansas City MO Public Library           the world: a librarian. They
p_sheryl@kcpl.lib.mo.us                 control information. Don't ever
                                        p**s one off.
                                          - Spider Robinson,
                                            _The Callahan Touch_

(Opinions expressed in this message do not reflect the viewpoint of 
the Kansas City MO Public Library.)

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997
From: "Dave Moore" <moore@mnsinc.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 16:31:46 +0000

>Brander Roullett at "MicroSquish" asks:
> 
> Procedure:  bring 3 gallons of water to a boil, and add Hops.  boil for
> 30 min.  turn off heat, and dissolve the honey.  Let cool for a bit, and
> then pour onto the frozen strawberries, and cranberries.  add water to 5
> gallon mark, and when at correct temp. pitch the yeast from the Pre
> Whacked pack.
> 
> Sound good to people, any adjustments?  how long should i leave the
> strawberries and cranberries in?
> 

I'm not a mead expert, but two things strike me about your procedure:

#1 You should make a starter!  A poor little whack-pack is too small to go 
      directly into 5 gallons.

#2 With most of your liquid boiled, the oxygen content will be extremely low. 
     You should add an aeration step after cooling but before pitching your 
     yeast.

                                  Good Luck !

PGP key available at "http://www.mnsinc.com/moore"

                   Dave Moore

------------------------------

Subject: Getting the Juice
From: "Patrick Lehnherr" <pat@kaeding.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 15:48:28 -0600

I just bought 10 pounds of frozen blackberrys for a blackberry mead I 
want to make.  My question is, what's the best way to use them?

1.  Do I dump them in the pot with the honey at about 180F for 
awhile?
2.  Do I squeeze the juice out first (and how do I do that?)
3.  Do I do a primary fermentation, then add the berries (juice or 
whole?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks




- --------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Lehnherr  <pat@kaeding.com>

Kaeding & Associates, Inc.                  
7300 France Avenue South, Suite 330   
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435
Phone (612) 831-0317
Fax (612) 831-2179
- --------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Subject: Re:  Melomel Recipe Help
From: "Patrick Lehnherr" <pat@kaeding.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 15:52:12 -0600

On  8 Jan 97 at 10:21, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:

> For 5 gallons...
> 
> 10 lbs of honey (type unknown, local honey, unproscessed)
> 3 Lbs of frozen strawberries
> 1 package (not sure how much it is) of dried cranberries.
> 1 Pack Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast
> 1 oz Hops (variety not decided yet)
> 

That doesn't look like much fruit for five gallons.  I have never 
used strawberries but I would think that with such a mellow flavor, 
you would need more.  I'll be interested in hearing other people 
comments.


- --------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Lehnherr  <pat@kaeding.com>

Kaeding & Associates, Inc.                  
7300 France Avenue South, Suite 330   
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435
Phone (612) 831-0317
Fax (612) 831-2179
- --------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Hard Cider?
From: "Patrick Lehnherr" <plehnher@isd.net>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 15:56:12 -0600

Brander Roullett wrote:

> I started a hard cider last night....
> 
> 1 gallon unfilter, unpasturized apple juice.
> 1/2 packet Prisse de Mousse (sp) Yeast.
> 
> all I did was hydrate yeast, pitch, and attach an airlock.  Is this how
> a hard cider is actually done?  am i missing a step?  should i add
> anything?  any other decent Hard Cider recipes lurking out there?
> 

This is how I made my first hard cider and it turned out extremely 
dry.  I haven't made any since but when I find some 
unfiltered/unpasturized juice, I'll try adding some apple juice 
concentrate to it.


- --------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Lehnherr  <pat@kaeding.com>

Kaeding & Associates, Inc.                  
7300 France Avenue South, Suite 330   
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435
Phone (612) 831-0317
Fax (612) 831-2179
- --------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Mead
From: "Patrick Lehnherr" <pat@kaeding.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 16:00:23 -0600

On  8 Jan 97 at 10:21, John Henderson wrote:


>     Does any one have any good Ideas/recipes for that fresh batch of 
> honey I'm going to get?    SHARE them please.. other wise I'll be doing 
> 

I was a steward at a homebrew contest once and got to steward the 
mead catagory.  A couple of great meads I tasted were:

1.  Strawberry/Kiwi
2.  Burgandy Mead

I haven't tried #1 (but will sometime) but I have made #2.  I used 12 
pounds of honey and a can of Alexander's burgandy grape juice 
concentrate.  I made two batches, a dry and a sweet.  The dry is 
fabulous but the sweet is two sweet, almost port like.  If someone 
wants the recipe let me know and I'll post it.




- --------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Lehnherr  <pat@kaeding.com>

Kaeding & Associates, Inc.                  
7300 France Avenue South, Suite 330   
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435
Phone (612) 831-0317
Fax (612) 831-2179
- --------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Subject: Re: mead
From: stafford@newport26.hac.com (Jack Stafford)
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 97 14:08:44 PST

On Tue, 07 Jan 1997, John Henderson <sharkb8t@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I have seen a lot of people ask questions but I haven't seen very many 
> people give any concrete answers in this group.  Granted I'm new here 
> also, I'm only on my second batch of mead(cyser...3 gal. worth in three 
> separate 1 gal. jugs)trying to experiment to see if I can get the 
> fermentation time down with smaller batches.  So far I think I'm SOL on 
> the time...

Yes.  Cutting the must into three separate fermenters will not make it
ferment thrice as fast.  It just does not work that way. (How's that
for a concrete answer? ;-)  Yeast gather's up nutrients, populates to
fill the container, makes alcohol + CO2, goes to sleep at the end of
it's work.
A few ways to speed up the process are to give the yeast as comfortable
a home as possible - Aereate the cool must, use yeast nutrient, pitch
sufficient quantities of yeast, maintain the proper temp for your yeast
strain, perhaps even fining to speed up flocculation (post ferment), etc.


> I don't 
> understand how some people could let a bottle of mead age for a year, 
> which I KNOW it's suposed to do.,but that would never happen in my crowd.

Patience.  If that's not your bag, just make lots and lots of mead.
Do a batch every month; produce more than you consume.  Eventually
one or two cases will survive in your cellar 'till next year.
I have the last 2 bottles of my Chablis mead ca1995 in my cupboard.


>       Lurkers revolt! lets hear about all those crazy recipes.
> I know your out there somewhere.

Ok, you drew me out.  I've been lurking around here for a few weeks now.
I don't have many recipes as I've made my 1st batch Dec'95 and bottled
my 4th batch Nov'96.  1 batch = 5 gallons. 

:-) :-) :-)

Jack
Costa Mesa, CA
stafford@newport26.hac.com

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Melomel recipie help
From: Peter Miller <ocean@mpx.com.au>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 97 09:14:32 -0000


>From: "Brander Roullett (Volt Computer)" <a-branro@MICROSOFT.com>
>Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 12:02:20 -0800
>
>I am looking to my first 5 gallon batch soon.  i am looking at making a
>Melomel so i can avoid the yeast nutrient problem.  Here is my proposed
>recipe, can people comment on it for me?  help me define it a little
>better.
>
>For 5 gallons...
>
>10 lbs of honey (type unknown, local honey, unproscessed)
>3 Lbs of frozen strawberries
>1 package (not sure how much it is) of dried cranberries.
>1 Pack Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast
>1 oz Hops (variety not decided yet)

Personally, I'd leave out the hops (unless you want a particular "bite" 
in your mel - I tend to use grape tannin since it's a little more 
controllable). Recommend fermenting on the pulp for about a week & a 
half, then strain off all the fruit and proceed from there. I also 
wouldn't add all the honey to the pulp, but save about half and add it 
later - you won't need it at the early stage anyway (lots o' fruit 
sugars). You might find that even with fruit you may need some yeast 
nutrient (cranberries have a lot of acid so it might be OK). I think you 
may need some pectin destroying enzyme if you add strawberries (anyone 
comment on that?), otherwise the mel may be cloudy.

Peter.

                 ------ < ocean@mpx.com.au > -----
                 Perpetual Ocean  Music & Sound Design
                      http://www.mpx.com.au/~ocean/

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997
From: Peter Miller <ocean@mpx.com.au>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 97 09:14:26 -0000

>
>       Filled with mingled cream and amber
>       I will drain that glass again.
>       Such hilarious visions clamber
>       Through the chambers of my brain ---
>       Quaintest thoughts --- queerest fancies
>       Come to life and fade away;
>       Who cares how time advances?
>       I am drinking ale today.
>
>                     - Edgar Allan Poe

Great quote. I'm familiar with a lot of Poe, but can't recall seeing this 
before. What's it from?

Peter.


                 ------ < ocean@mpx.com.au > -----
                 Perpetual Ocean  Music & Sound Design
                      http://www.mpx.com.au/~ocean/

------------------------------

Subject: How fast should fermentation be?
From: Jensen <acs@peavine.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 12:09:32 -0800

I've just started my first batch of mead and am wondering just how fast 
the fermentation should be going.

Before embarking on this project, I did a fair bit of research on 
mead-making and came up with the following recipe for 1 gallon of 
metheglyn:

5 lbs. light honey
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 T. vanilla
1 pkg. yeast

I had fully planned to use a liquid yeast with starter but after 
speaking with personnel at my local wine/brewing shop, decided to use a 
dry yeast for my first batch.  As was pointed out to me, I will never 
appreciate using a liquid yeast, etc. if I never try using a dry one.  
Also, it can be rather pricey when I'm really just experimenting with 
one gallon.  I ended up using a Champagne yeast (EC 1118), mostly 
because I've found it to be pretty much idiot-proof. :-)

I slowly warmed the honey with about 1.5x water until well-mixed then 
brought the whole lot to boil.  I skimmed and boiled and boiled and 
skimmed until no more foam appeared.  I then let it cool slightly (well, 
I could stick my finger in it and it felt only warm), poured it into a 
one gallon jug (along with yeast, nutrient and more water) and fitted it 
with a blow-off tube.

I was expecting to have a lot more action than what is apparent 
(although, perhaps this is a lot for mead).  Within an hour or two, the 
lot began to ferment.  Now, four days later, I'm getting a bubble every 
8 or 9 seconds.  I think the references I'd seen to blow-off tubes led 
me to expect more active fermentation.  Is this a normal rate of 
fermentation (considering the yeast used)?  Had I used a mead yeast, I 
would have expected a slower fermentation, but this rate probably could 
have been contained with a regular bubble lock.

My plans for the future:

1. rack the batch in a couple of weeks (after 3-4 weeks of "primary" 
fermentation)
2. leave it alone for several months until the yeast has done its thing, 
then rack again (I may rack once in between depending on sediment)
3. let it age until shortly before Christmas when I hope to bottle

Does anyone have any suggestions, comments or otherwise helpful tips to 
offer?

Cheers,

jen

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #523, 8 January 1997
From: Mark Shubelka <jester@heart.mv.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 20:38:13 -0500 (EST)


>Subject: Hard Cider?
>From: "Brander Roullett (Volt Computer)" <a-branro@MICROSOFT.com>
>Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 11:19:38 -0800
>
>This is actually a hard cider question, if this is too far off topic,
>let me know.
>
>I started a hard cider last night....
>
>1 gallon unfilter, unpasturized apple juice.
>1/2 packet Prisse de Mousse (sp) Yeast.
>
>all I did was hydrate yeast, pitch, and attach an airlock.  Is this how
>a hard cider is actually done?  am i missing a step?  should i add
>anything?  any other decent Hard Cider recipes lurking out there?
>


Okay, here's my most recent accomplishment with hard cider.

                       5 gal of your favorite local cider
                           (mine was handpressed and consisted entirely
                             of macs)
                       5 cups of Dark Amber Grade Maple Syrup

      My initial sugar reading was 10% and after 2 months of letting it ferment,
          (*notice I didn't mention yeast/because I used what was already on
               the apples/ not very scientific but afterwards if I like the
               flavor I keep the yeast in my fridge for the next batch)

                 After 2 months of the intitial fermentation I racked it off
              into another carboy ( kept the yeast built up in the bottom)
and               added another cup of Dark Amber

      This reading was 3% sugar so I currently have about a 7% alcohol ratio.

                 One more month and the clarity improved tremendously and I 
                bottled it with a sugar reading of 1% thus a 9% alcohol rating

      It is the clearest looking cider I've ever had and the alcohol ratio was
       better controlled.  A few experts tasted it and were impressed about how
       it didn't have the sharp aftertaste which is accustomed to sugar made
       ciders.

                      Hope that was helpful and anyone wishing to comment is
more than welcome to:

                               Mark Shubelka
                               Jester@heart.mv.com

------------------------------

Subject: Mead Nomenclature
From: hall@galt.c3.lanl.gov (Michael L. Hall)
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 19:13:50 -0700

Marc Shapiro <mn.shapiro1@mindspring.com> said:

> Certain fruits, in addition
> to the generic term, also have a specific term applied to the melomels
> made with them.  These are:
> 
>       grape - pyment
>       apple - cyser
>       pear  - perry
>       mulberry - mulrath
>       rose petals - rhodomel

Unless my information is wrong, perry is not a pear melomel, but is
rather the pear version of cider. In other words, perry does not contain
the large quantities of honey that we put in mead (but could contain
small amounts like the sugar that is used in cider).

Also, I have never heard the term "mulrath". I have, however, heard of
mulberry melomel being called morat. I believe it is listed as morat in
one of the few mead books out (Gayre/Papazian, Morse, Acton & Duncan).
Has anyone else heard "mulrath"?

As far as names for meads, here's my collection:

  Melomel (Fruit Mead)
  Cyser (Apple Melomel)
  Pyment (Grape Melomel, also spelled Pymeat)
  Morat (Mulberry Melomel)
  Hydromel (Watered-Down Mead -- this is also the name for 
            standard mead in French)
  Sack (Strong Mead)
  Metheglin (Spice/Herb Mead)
  Rhodomel (Rose Petals)
  Miodomel (Hop Cones)
  Capsimel (Chile Mead, named for the spicy chemical capsaicin 
            and the genus of chile plants, capsicum)  
  Braggot (A mead made with malted barley or wheat, also spelled 
           Bracket or Bragget)
  Hippocras (Spiced Pyment)
  Maltomel (a mead made with malt and fruit)
  Malteglin (a mead made with malt and spices)

I made up the names Capsimel, Maltomel and Malteglin myself, for an
article on mead judging I did a while back, so there's a little less
validity there. I didn't make up a name for a Spiced Melomel or Fruited
Metheglin; maybe that should be Meloglin or Methomel.

If anybody has any historical references for other mead names I would be
interested in hearing them (just post them here). 

Mike Hall
President of the Los Alamos Atom Mashers
http://alpha.rollanet.org/~tamhc

------------------------------

Subject: Cider and the digest
From: mead@raven.talisman.com (Mead Lover's Digest)
Date: 8 Jan 97 22:50:01 MST (Wed)

Regarding a couple of recent articles about hard cider (expressing some
concern about relevance here):  I don't think it's too far off-topic--cyser
is a mead category, after all--but I would point out that there's a Cider
Digest if you're really interested in that.  Unlike the Mead Digest, which
currently has plenty of traffic, the Cider Digest is pretty quiet.  Over-
all, the Cider Digest is smaller, quieter, and much more seasonal.  The
topic is "cider", as in fermented apple juice (what Americans call "hard
cider", which is what the rest of the world calls just "cider").  Perry
comes up occasionally.

The ritual there is pretty much the same as here: subscribe/admin requests
go to cider-request@talisman.com, articles go to cider@talisman.com,
digests appear when there's enough material to merit.
- ---
Mead-Lover's Digest                            mead-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor                  Boulder County, Colorado  USA

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Subject: Brander's Hard cider, and clsaxer's color change.
From: LYNDALAND@aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 00:41:02 -0500 (EST)

Hi there all,
after 2 months of no mail account I am back on-line.  so.... I thought I
would respond.  
Concerning Brander's hard cider question, my understanding is that Cider is
any fermented apple juice, and that hard cider is fermented cider that has
been frozen and the ice peeled off, thus the "hard" part of it.  Early
American settlers put the autumn product out in the snow after it had
fermented.  Probably at first to keep it from spoiling, but when they found
what they had if they skimmed it, I'm sure it was done for other reasons.  I
am sure this sorta thing happens in all cold climes and...
clsaxers color change.
I have noticed this phenomenon with m wine as well.  From what I can tell, it
is what happens as the denser liquid below slowly becomes lighter, due to
particulates settling out.  The clearer liquid on top is not reflecting as
much light (that is the particles job).  That is the best answer I have
Well, that is all, currently I am brewing some persimmon wine, and wierdly,
it is golden yellow.  Not a hint of orange in it.

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End of Mead Lover's Digest #524
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