This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 93/01/21 15:57:58 Mead Lover's Digest #27 Tue 27 October 1992 Forum for Discussion of Mead Brewing and Consuming John Dilley, Digest Coordinator Contents: article contribution ("Daniel F McConnell") vitamine C/acidity (Victor Reijs) potassium sorbate (Victor Reijs) Send articles for submission to the digest to mead-lovers`at`nsa.hp.com Send digest addition or removal requests to mead-lovers-request`at`nsa.hp.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Oct 92 08:19:08 U From: "Daniel F McConnell" Subject: article contribution Subject: Time:8:13 AM OFFICE MEMO article contribution Date:10/26/92 The information that follows contains the recipes for the first place winners of the 1992 Mazer Cup Mead Competition which was held August of1992 in Ann Arbor, MI. This was an AHA sanctioned event judged by recognized BJCP judges and experienced mead-makers. We were sponsored by the American Mead Association, Havills Mazer Mead, and G.W.Kent. Prizes were hand-crafted mazers thrown by the Pewabic Pottery Co. We received 67 entries in 7 categories. The quality of the entries was truly outstanding. I have all the recipes from the competition, some of which are absolutely incredible and may publish more as time permits. Best of Show-1st place pyment-Robert Kime 50:50 blend of clover honey `at` 25 Bx (cut with city water) and Vignoles grape juice `at` 20 Bx ultrafiltered (50K cutoff) before fermentation to remove protein and eliminate boiling and sulfite. 1 gr./gal Prise die Mousse yeast ferment 3 weeks `at` 75F OG=25 bx TG=6 Bx Traditional Mead-Ted Manahan 10 lb clover honey 2 Tbs tea small amts. of cinnamon stick, ginger and yeast nutrient must was heated, cooled and "liquid ale yeast pitched" OG=NA TG=1.005 Melomel-Dave Suda 19 lb light honey -heated 10 pts blueberries 4 oz lemon juice 1c corn sugar 1t yeast nutrient 0.25t Irish mss 5gr Red Star flor sherry yeast ferment 7 weeks `at`65F in primary, 7 weeks `at` 65F in secondary OG=1.099 TG=1.004 prime with .33c corn sugar Cyser-Jerry Francis 6 lb clover honey-boiled 1T Citric acid 1.5t pectic enzyme .25T tannin 3t yeast nutrient 2.5 gal fresh cider 3 Campden tablets champagne yeast ferment 13 days `at` 65F, 39 days `at` 65F in secondary OG=1.116 TG=0.996 Hippocras-John Gorecki 9 lb clover honey 0.1 oz clove extract 40gr dry champagne yeast ferment 2mo `at`65F in primary, 4mo `at`65F in secondary OG=1.104 TG=1.008 Metheglin-Ray Daniels 2.5 lb wildflower honey/gal 1t malic acid .5t citric acid .75t yeast nutrient 1T very strong tea 1ctn Aspen mulling spices Epernay 2 yeast must was heated for 30 min OG=NA, TG=NA primed with corn sugar Braggot-Dave West for 6 gal 7.5 lb German lager malt mashed `at`130F/30 min., 155F/1.5hrs: then boiled 1 hr with .75 oz Pearl hops 15 lb sour cherries 9 lb Michigan wildflower honey Bohemian Lager yeast ferment 2.5 weeks `at` 65F OG=1.080 TG=1.019 #011# ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 22:02:01 +0100 From: Victor Reijs Subject: vitamine C/acidity Hello all of you, In this 'Mead lovers digest' I hear many times that people would like to use vit. C instead of acid blend. According to the authors, it looks like there are two reasons: 1 vit. C will look after oxidizing 2 increase acidity of the wine According to winemaking rules in some wine producing European countries it is not allowed to put more then 100 mg of vit. C per litre. So increasing the acidity of the wine with vit. C is not really possible (looking at this rule). Decrease oxidizing the wine is possible with vit. C (instead of using DMS). But it seems that vit. C only works in an environment were there is already some DMS, otherwise vit. C could more oxidizing of wine worse. Don't ask me why, but I hope that other people on this list can explain this to me. (be aware that the maximum vit. C is still bounded by that rule). I have another question related to acidity. I also see that you in the US use more the pH term. In Europe the acidity of a wine is expressed in gramm/litre winestone-acid. This can be measured by means of a acidity kit (I hope I have the US-terms correct: KOH plus brome thymol-blue). I know what pH means, but is there a special reason why people use pH instead of acidity (pH is difficult to control [and measure], while acidity is easy to adjust, and acidity seems more to be rela- ted to the acidity-taste of a brew). All the best, Victor ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 22:08:03 +0100 From: Victor Reijs Subject: potassium sorbate Hello John Wyllie and Rob Bradley, In some juices, the producer has putten DMS or potassium sorbate to stop fermentation of a juice. So if you use such a juice for cider/wine, there is a big chance that it will not ferment. Most yeasts are quiet tolerant on DMS, but potassium sorbate is a real killer. The maximum amount by law of it is 268 mg/litre in the Netherlands. 100 to 200 mgr/litre is enough to stop a yeast from working. (If using potassium sorbate to get a sweet wine/mead, one has to add some DMS to be certain that no eagly smells will form [geranium smell called in the Ne- therlands]). All the best, Victor ------------------------------ End of Mead Lover's Digest ************************