Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1621, 4 February 2013 Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2013 10:18:26 -0700 (MST) From: mead-request@talisman.com Mead Lover's Digest #1621 4 February 2013 Mead Discussion Forum Contents: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1620, 31 January 2013 (Tim Leber) Re: Mojito mead recipe (James Waldron) Re: mojito (Bob) Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1620, 31 January 2013 () Mojito mead recipe (Joe Records) Mazer Cup International - 2013 CALL FOR ENTRIES! (Wayne Boncyk) NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one. Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com. Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe and admin requests. Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead#Archives A searchable archive is at http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1620, 31 January 2013 From: Tim Leber Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:48:45 -0800 Mike, Why not just add the mint and zest to the secondary and freeze the lime juice? Then at bottling you can add enough juice to give the flavor you want without affecting the fermentation. Tim Leber ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Mojito mead recipe From: James Waldron Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 08:09:39 -0500 (GMT-05:00) My vote is for Lime and Mint in the Secondary. More likely to retain more of the essential oils in the finished product, and potentially avoid any 'hard lemonade' flavors. I think I would try to clean the outside of the limes very well before cutting and adding (to avoid wild yeasts). Mileage and opinions may vary. Thanks, Jim. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: mojito From: Bob Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 08:40:56 -0500 Lime juice in primary "can" be ok if the honey pH is higher, and K2CO3 is used properly. But you may want to avoid it just so the novice mead makers learn good practices first (like appropriate pH management), then break the rules later. Either way zest is so fragrant that I would not waste it in primary. Mojitos use rum, like juice sugar and spearmint, but tequila and peppermint are more common. I would try to get my hands on a mix of spearmint and peppermint for a really good flavor combo. How big is the barrel? And batch? Sent from my iPhone= ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1620, 31 January 2013 From: Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 9:48:14 -0500 If it was me I would use fresh crushed/muddled mint, double the amount of dry herb. When I make mead I "pasteurize" the honey at 190 deg with 1/2 volume of water (1 gal of honey to 1 gal of water) while skimming off any white scum that comes to the top. Additions like the lime, lime zest and mint I would add at the end of the skimming process just before I chill it off, so the flavors infuse in to the must, sounds like an interesting mead, I'd bump up the lime content by double at least. I just made a lemon mead that I added 1 quart of fresh squeezed lemon juice to a 10 gal batch, it has 2.5 gal (30#) of wildflower honey, OG was 1110, it probably finish up around 15% abv. Good Luck! ------------------------------ Subject: Mojito mead recipe From: Joe Records Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 11:11:12 -0500 Hi Mike, Congrats on the barrel acquisition! I'm sure you know this and don't care, but mojitos are generally made with light rum. That's not to say that a mojito mead wouldn't be great after aging in a tequila barrel; in fact, I'm sure it'll be delicious. I would strongly advise against putting that much honey in a 5-gal batch of mint-flavored mead. 18 pounds will finish sweet with most yeasts, and I think 71b-1122 will leave a lot of honey unfermented. You can expect a sweet mint mead come out medicinal, and I assume that's not what you're after. I know a mojito is sweet, but that's mixed fresh, which is somehow totally different. It's possible that the lime zest and juice will balance out the cough syruppiness, but I doubt it. If you're using mint, I recommend making it dry. If you want something really big that's going to age for a good long time, I might go with a champagne yeast and maybe slightly less honey. Another option is that you could make a lime mead and age it in the tequila barrel, and then just serve it chilled on some crushed mint. On your actual question, I've had the best results adding things to both primary and secondary. I think you get an ideal range of flavors by doing half or a third in primary and then the other half or 2/3 in secondary. That way, some of it has gone through whatever metamorphosis the yeast brings about in primary fermentation, and some of it is the mostly-unadulterated flavor that you added. It might not be a bad idea to test the pH, but I can't imagine the juice of a lime or 2 will make that big a difference. Good luck, and please let us know how it turns out! - -Joe ------------------------------ Subject: Mazer Cup International - 2013 CALL FOR ENTRIES! From: Wayne Boncyk Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2013 18:32:30 -0700 The Mazer Cup International 2013 - March 15 & 16, 2013, Boulder, Colorado Bigger and Better than Ever for 2013! The Mazer Cup International is a BJCP & AHA sanctioned mead-only competition open to all home meadmakers. How do I enter? Visit the Mazer Cup website, http://www.mazercup.com/ for all of the information on rules, entry, and shipping. When may I enter? Entry Deadline is March 1, 2013 (less than a month away, so don't delay) and entries are open NOW! Why should I enter? This is a World Class Mead Competition with judging by some of the best known mead luminaries in the world. Judges supply feedback about the quality of your mead and suggestions on how to improve it. The chance to win one of the coveted Mazers awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category. Winners also get bragging rights as the best home mead makers in the world! The Public Tasting Event is ON! 2013 will see the introduction of the MEAD MIXER, a commercial mead tasting which will be open to the general public. Tickets go on sale soon; check the MCI website for more details! ------------------------------ End of Mead Lover's Digest #1621 *******************************