Mead
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Oh boy that sounds good! My freezer will be emptied of those pesky raspberries this weekend. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out in six months or so.
did you get 42lbs of raspberry also? hehehehe i can’t get much else int the freezer…so far we’ve made a raspberry chocolate cake, a raspberry mead, and some raspberry smoothies. this weekend i’m making a raspberry ale…and i’ll still have TONS of raspberries! 
jonathan
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Thanks for the input Steve! I am planning to do a Raspberry gingermead, and was wondering about the amount of ginger…. since I’m racking my raspberry mead and raspberry cyser onto their berries this weekend, maybe I’ll do it then, with my
hey vicky..did you figure out a way to strain that puree? i’m doing a raspberry ale this weekend. aslo..you think i could try some of your mead sometime? i’d like to get an idea of what mead is like to compare what i’ve made. i’ve got a raspberry mead kegged if you’d like to try that. take care, jonathan
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did you get 42lbs of raspberry also? hehehehe i can’t get much else int the freezer…so far we’ve made a raspberry chocolate cake, a raspberry mead, and some raspberry smoothies. this weekend i’m making a raspberry ale…and i’ll still have TONS of raspberries!
How about raspberry cider? Chuck a couple pounds into the primary of apple cider.
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Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I think 12# honey,
I’d bump that up to 15# and make sure that you get some nice dark honey from a beekeeper as opposed to the table stuff. You’ll get more flavour. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -1 1/2 Tsp Yeast Nutrient, Champagne yeast is all you need If you like fruits, get some fruit extract Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK You’ll get alot of arguments both ways, no one can really say one way or another which is best – it’s preference as far as I’m concerned. I myself heat to a boil, but don’t continue the boil. Sometimes, I’ll just superheat it (i.e. 155f for 5 minutes) Still others use chemicals to kill bacteria (campden tablets) Do what you want Ron
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How about raspberry cider? Chuck a couple pounds into the primary of apple cider.
Actually, it’d probably be better in the secondary, to keep more of the aroma on hand. Also, raspberries make fermentation go CRAZY!! I added some to a mead in secondary, and had to use a blowoff tube… All kinds of chunks came up… NOTICE TO BULK EMAILER(S): Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500 US.
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did you get 42lbs of raspberry also? hehehehe i can’t get much else int the freezer…so far we’ve made a raspberry chocolate cake, a raspberry mead, and some raspberry smoothies. this weekend i’m making a raspberry ale…and i’ll still have TONS of raspberries! How about raspberry cider? Chuck a couple pounds into the primary of apple cider.
BTDT, now just waiting for it to clear……. next batch is raspberry barkshack gingermead and a clear still mead, both using meadowfoam honey…… vicky rowe meadster — =http://www.rcci.com/rcci – RCCI, your computer obedience school = =http://www.mindspring.com/~rcci/vicky – the Vanity Page = =http://www.mindspring.com/~rcci/scd – Scottish Country Dancers = "Technology which is sufficiently advanced will appear to be magic." Arthur C. Clarke Mail me at vrowe AT us.ibm.com for work. Mail me at rcci AT mindspring.com for home. My opinions are my own, and not necessarily endorsed by IBM.
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Georg wrote…… Herbs that are good (but I may not want 5 gallons of) include mint, catnip, chamomile, basil and parsley.
Goodness!! does this mean as I sit on my back-porch sipping catnip-mead that I will be overrun by neighborhood felines? — To reply via E-mail,please remove the extra letter g from the address line of my e-mail…
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Georg wrote…… Herbs that are good (but I may not want 5 gallons of) include mint, catnip, chamomile, basil and parsley. Goodness!! does this mean as I sit on my back-porch sipping catnip-mead that I will be overrun by neighborhood felines? — To reply via E-mail,please remove the extra letter g from the address line of my e-mail…
You wouldn’t be sipping for long. Catnip may make cats high, but it puts people to sleep. So, got insomnia, here! have a Catnip Ale. Good for what ales’ ya! Sorry <ducking and running vicky –mead brewer, herbalist — http://www.rcci.com/rcci – Rowe Computer Consulting, Inc. http://www.mindspring.com/~rcci/vicky- the Vanity Page KING JOHN: But they’re rags! SHERIFF: That’s right, it’s their uniform. If they wore fur coats and high heels you wouldn’t know they were peasants. — Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1990’s Britcom) vrowe AT us.ibm.com -work/ rcci AT mindspring.com – home.
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Thanks for the advice. I really like ginger, but my husband’s stomach is not as solid as it was when we were in college. Mine is apparently 18/8 – his is a somewhat lesser grade. Even I thought 6 oz sounded like a LOT of ginger! I think I’ll stick with 1 or 1.5 oz. I have bunches of raspberries left over from my vines last summer. Would they be good in it? I hadn’t planned on using fruit, but if it’s better, I do need to get rid of those berries before the vines start producing again. Barkshack Gingermead is a wonderfully easy recipe, with the following caveat:
<snip
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Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead.
I think 12# honey, 1 1/2 Tsp Yeast Nutrient, Champagne yeast is all you need If you like fruits, get some fruit extract Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK
You’ll get alot of arguments both ways, no one can really say one way or another which is best – it’s preference as far as I’m concerned. I myself heat to a boil, but don’t continue the boil. Sometimes, I’ll just superheat it (i.e. 155f for 5 minutes) Still others use chemicals to kill bacteria (campden tablets) Do what you want Ron
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Unless you REALLY like ginger
I must concur – a friend made a ginger mead, and it was pretty good once you got used to it, but the inital "shock" was pretty tough!
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+ Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I + do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great. + + Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK and if not are there any + other methods to sanitize the brew. + + Shane Cook Like so much about brewing, there is little consensus. Here’s how I make still mead: 12 lbs honey (12 lbs = 1 gallon) 1 tbsp on yeast nutrient 1 Wyeast dry mead slap pak With a large funnel, pour the honey in the carboy. Using hot water, you’ll be able to rinse all the honey out of the container(s). Now use hot water and rinse all the honey off the funnel. Top carboy up to 4 gallons. Swirl the honey and water together as best you can. Add nutrient and yeast. Quite often a lot of honey will just sit on the bottom at first. Don’t worry about it. As the mead ferments, you’ll be able to swirl the honey in to suspension. After fermentation dies off, rack to secondary. Secondary for a month or two or until clear. If you have the equipment, I like to pop the carboy in my serving freezer at 35F for about a week. The cold will drop a lot of the yeast out. Bottle and enjoy. Cheer, Phillip A. Stein Reality is an illusion that occurs due to the lack of alcohol. – W.C. Fields
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In response to Shane Cook: Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great.
The longest I have had mead ferment is just under three months. I use yeast nutrients, however, they are packaged differently so ask about amount from your supplier. If you have a SAM’s wholesale club nearby you can get a decent clover blend honey in 5# containers for about $6-7 (US). A simple recipe would be: 10# Honey acid blend (depends on pkg. but 4tsp has worked for me) Yeast nutrients 2 pkg dry mead or champagne yeast. From here you can try melomels etc…. I boil the honey and scrape the white residue from the boil. Good Luck, -Steve
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I think I’ll stick with 1 or 1.5 oz. I have bunches of raspberries left over from my vines last summer. Would they be good in it?
Rasberries DO make an excellent addition to mead. Just remember that they’re sweet. Please let me know how it goes if you use them.
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Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great.
My simple mead: Boil 2 gallons of water on the stove. Turn off stove. Pour in 15 pounds of honey (I usually get pasteurized stuff), and put some of the hot water into the jars. Put lid on jar, shake, and pour back into pot- repeat until jar looks fairly clean. Add one gallon boiled and cooled water. When temp gets under 100 degrees F min., add the yeast nutrient. When cooled further, pour into primary. Pitch yeast (I prefer champagne for a dry mead, premier cuvee for a sweeter mead). Top up with another two gal boiled and cooled water. After two or three weeks, rack into secondary. Rack every three month afterwards, until clear. Then bottle. If you want it sparkling, prime it at bottling. This is usually drinkable in 9 months. variants: add spices before the honey. Remove spices while racking to secondary. Spices include any combination of: lightly crushed nutmeg, lightly crushed allspice, sliced & peeled 1 oz ginger root, a few cloves- no more than 15! and probably closer to 6, a cinnamon stick, bruised cardamom, bruised aniseed, a lightly chopped vanilla bean, and anything else that appeals in your spice cabinet. Herbal infusions with fresh herbs – take about 4-6 cups of fresh herbiage and boil. Let steep like a tea for an hour or so (stronger herbs need less time), then remove herbs and add honey- not as much honey is needed for an herbal. Herbs that are good (but I may not want 5 gallons of) include mint, catnip, chamomile, basil and parsley. I have also seen spinach treated this way (and it actually was not bad). I have also heard of hops added to mead. Adding fruit- I am sure someone else can give you a better idea of- I have only replaced the water with fresh, no preservatives added, apple cider for a delicious cyser- drinkable in 6 months. When adding the apple juice, I cut the honey down to 1 lb/gallon, and add pectic enzyme. Good luck, and surf the web for more info- there’s a lot of good ideas & info out there. -georg non ani sunt permittendi
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Rasberries DO make an excellent addition to mead. Just remember that they’re sweet. Please let me know how it goes if you use them.
They will not add a sweet flavor to the finished mead, due to the fact that all the sugars will have fermented out. Rather, they will add a tart fruity flavor (imagine eating a raspberry w/o any sugar in it) NOTICE TO BULK EMAILER(S): Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500 US.
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Oh boy that sounds good! My freezer will be emptied of those pesky raspberries this weekend. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out in six months or so. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Rasberries DO make an excellent addition to mead. Just remember that they’re sweet. Please let me know how it goes if you use them. They will not add a sweet flavor to the finished mead, due to the fact that all the sugars will have fermented out. Rather, they will add a tart fruity flavor (imagine eating a raspberry w/o any sugar in it) NOTICE TO BULK EMAILER(S): Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500 US.
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Barkshack Gingermead is a wonderfully easy recipe, with the following caveat: Unless you REALLY like ginger and have used it in brewing before, use the minimum of 1 oz WITHOUT the skin, sliced thin or grated. I made a cranberry gingermead with 4 oz of peeled, sliced ginger a year ago that I served over the holidays. People enjoyed it after they acclimated to the ginger. I also made a blackberry gingermead late last summer with 2 oz ginger (as above) that is drinkable now, kind of a sparkling cabernet – refreshing! Maximum fruit, minimum ginger is the way to go, IMO. Steve Holat Underhaus Brewery (and Meadery) Batavia, IL – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just found one in Papazian’s book that I’m going to try this weekend. It’s called Barkshack Gingermead. 7# light honey 1.5# corn sugar 1-6 oz freshly shaved ginger root 1.5 tsp gypsum 1 tsp citric acid 1 tsp yeast nutrient 1/4 tsp Irish Moss powder 1-6# crushed fruit of any sort (optional) 3 oz herbs, any sort orange or lemon peel (optional, your choice) 1-2 pkgs champagne yeast 1/3 cup priming sugar OG 1.055-1.060 FG 0.992-0.996 Boil for 15 minutes 1.5 gallons water, honey, corn sugar, ginger root, gypsum, citric acid, Irish Moss, and yeast nutrient. Turn the heat off. If you’re going to add fruit, then take a small strainer and fish out as much of the ginger root shavings as you can. Then add your crushed fruit to the pot of hot wort and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour the entire contents of the wort (unsparged if fruit is added) into a plastic open primary fermenter and add about 3 gallons cold water. When cooled to 70-78 degrees, pitch the yeast. When specific gravity has fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days whichever comes first, rach the brew into a secondary fermenter. If you used fruit, remove fermented fruit with a sanitized strainer or carefully manipulate your siphon hose so no fruit passes to the secondary fermenter. Age 1-1.5 months in secondary. Bottle with 1/3 cup corn sugar. If herb or spice flavoring is desired, add a strong strained tea to the finished mead at bottling time. It said to age the stuff at least six months, but it looked exceedingly easy and pretty yummy. I think I’m just going to make it plain though, with no fruit or spices. Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great. Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK and if not are there any other methods to sanitize the brew. Shane Cook
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Barkshack Gingermead is a wonderfully easy recipe, with the following caveat: Unless you REALLY like ginger and have used it in brewing before, use the minimum of 1 oz WITHOUT the skin, sliced thin or grated. I made a cranberry gingermead with 4 oz of peeled, sliced ginger a year ago that I served over the holidays. People enjoyed it after they acclimated to the ginger. I also made a blackberry gingermead late last summer with 2 oz ginger (as above) that is drinkable now, kind of a sparkling cabernet – refreshing! Maximum fruit, minimum ginger is the way to go, IMO. Steve Holat Underhaus Brewery (and Meadery) Batavia, IL
<snip of barkshack recipe Thanks for the input Steve! I am planning to do a Raspberry gingermead, and was wondering about the amount of ginger…. since I’m racking my raspberry mead and raspberry cyser onto their berries this weekend, maybe I’ll do it then, with my vicky rowe current batches: bottled: raspberry cyser, sparkling cyser, blackraspberry horilka aging: black raspberry mead, spice methglyn in secondary: olde english porter in primary: raspberry mead, raspberry cyser batching this weekend: straight meadowfoam honey mead, raspberry gingermead http://www.rcci.com/rcci – RCCI, your computer obedience school http://www.mindspring.com/~rcci/vicky – the Vanity Page http://www.mindspring.com/~rcci/scd – Scottish Country Dancers "Technology which is sufficiently advanced will appear to be magic." Arthur C. Clarke Mail me at vrowe AT us.ibm.com for work. Mail me at rcci AT mindspring.com for home. My opinions are my own, and not necessarily endorsed by IBM.
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Hello, Let me know how it turns out. I was thinking of trying the same recipe from Charlie but I wanted someone’s opinion first. Happy Brewing!!
I just counted out my bottles, and have just exactly enough for three batches in bottles. I already have one in primary and one in secondary, so I had to make sure before I went to the warehouse club to get that big tub-o-honey! I’ll probably get started on it this weekend after I free up my primary, but it will take quite a while to get results!
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just found one in Papazian’s book that I’m going to try this weekend. It’s called Barkshack Gingermead. 7# light honey 1.5# corn sugar 1-6 oz freshly shaved ginger root 1.5 tsp gypsum 1 tsp citric acid 1 tsp yeast nutrient 1/4 tsp Irish Moss powder 1-6# crushed fruit of any sort (optional) 3 oz herbs, any sort orange or lemon peel (optional, your choice) 1-2 pkgs champagne yeast 1/3 cup priming sugar OG 1.055-1.060 FG 0.992-0.996 Boil for 15 minutes 1.5 gallons water, honey, corn sugar, ginger root, gypsum, citric acid, Irish Moss, and yeast nutrient. Turn the heat off. If you’re going to add fruit, then take a small strainer and fish out as much of the ginger root shavings as you can. Then add your crushed fruit to the pot of hot wort and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour the entire contents of the wort (unsparged if fruit is added) into a plastic open primary fermenter and add about 3 gallons cold water. When cooled to 70-78 degrees, pitch the yeast. When specific gravity has fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days whichever comes first, rach the brew into a secondary fermenter. If you used fruit, remove fermented fruit with a sanitized strainer or carefully manipulate your siphon hose so no fruit passes to the secondary fermenter. Age 1-1.5 months in secondary. Bottle with 1/3 cup corn sugar. If herb or spice flavoring is desired, add a strong strained tea to the finished mead at bottling time. It said to age the stuff at least six months, but it looked exceedingly easy and pretty yummy. I think I’m just going to make it plain though, with no fruit or spices.
Hello, Let me know how it turns out. I was thinking of trying the same recipe from Charlie but I wanted someone’s opinion first. Happy Brewing!! Steve
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Here’s an entry from some notes I have electronically. Hope this helps. I haven’t brewed any of the recipes mentioned below, but they’re on my wish list. — Mark Nelson Windhund Brauerei Atlanta, Georgia "That guy’s got great hops, baby!" – Dick Vitale * return e-mail spam-proofed, delete the obvious <attachment follows I was thinking of making a batch of mead for the holidays, and was wondering if anyone who has brewed mead before could answer a few questions:
I hope you mean next year’s holidays, because it’s too late for this year. Actually, I do know people who make a quick mead that is sweet and low in alcohol and usually fizzy . I have never had much luck with this, myself, and stick to semi-dry long meads. How much different is it from brewing beer from extract?
I don’t do extract beer, but, for a true mead the method is fairly simple: * Re-hydrate your yeast and make a starter (of honey/water/nutrients) * Bring your water to a boil and remove from heat. * Add honey (2.5 to 3 lbs/gallon) and mix well * When temp drops below 95 F add the starter to your must * Ferment. Rack. Let sit. Rack. Let sit. Bottle! This is, of course very simplified, but if you have experience with brewing you should be able to fill in the details. How long will it take to brew, and how long should it age in the bottle?
I usually count on 4 to 6 weeks for fermentation and then at least a few months for clarifying and racking. Any other things I need to be aware of when I am ordering supplies?
True meads can be slow to ferment (may take longer than stated above) and slow to age (may take a year to really taste good). There are ways around this. Make a melomel (with fruit) or a metheglin (with spices) or a combination of the two. A spiced cyser (a spiced melomel made with apple juice) works well: 2 – 2.5 lbs of honey 3 qts of apple juice 2 sticks of cinnamon 5 cloves 2 thin slices of fresh ginger root Heat the apple juice to just BELOW boiling, remove from heat and add the spices in a muslin or cheesecloth bag. Allow to steep covered overnight. Remove the spices and reheat to just BELOW boiling remove from heat. Add honey. Follow above instructions. (NOTE: adjust as appropriate for larger quantities) This is another simple recipe that works well for me. The spices, of course, can be varied to taste. I know meadmakers who get excellent results with allspice as well as the above spices. I once had a really great nutmeg metheglin. Use the spices that you like, but don’t overdo it. Basic Mead: Ingredients:10 lbs honey (clover honey, processed. From local super market chain)1 can concentrated white grape juice (condensed for reisling wine; from homebrew shop)5 gal. water5 grams dry "Pasteur Champagne yeast" Procedure:I let it ferment for 3 months in primary (70F), then bottled; priming with 1 lb honey disolved in 4 cups boiling water. Comments: After six months we (college roomies) couldn’t stand the wait and broke into the stuff. Due to a bitter taste, we mixed most of it into a wine cooler at a party (no flames, please). Just recently I tried one of the two remaining 1 year old bottles. It was fantastic! Smooth and sparkley! I have one bottle left, I’m saving it to share with that special some one… Postscript: I tried the last 2 1/2 year old bottle — Absolutely pristine and crisp. Lots of bubbles like champagne (less priming honey next time) and left a very subtle sweet taste on the lips. (She loved it too .
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Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great. Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK and if not are there any other methods to sanitize the brew. Shane Cook
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I just found one in Papazian’s book that I’m going to try this weekend. It’s called Barkshack Gingermead. 7# light honey 1.5# corn sugar 1-6 oz freshly shaved ginger root 1.5 tsp gypsum 1 tsp citric acid 1 tsp yeast nutrient 1/4 tsp Irish Moss powder 1-6# crushed fruit of any sort (optional) 3 oz herbs, any sort orange or lemon peel (optional, your choice) 1-2 pkgs champagne yeast 1/3 cup priming sugar OG 1.055-1.060 FG 0.992-0.996 Boil for 15 minutes 1.5 gallons water, honey, corn sugar, ginger root, gypsum, citric acid, Irish Moss, and yeast nutrient. Turn the heat off. If you’re going to add fruit, then take a small strainer and fish out as much of the ginger root shavings as you can. Then add your crushed fruit to the pot of hot wort and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour the entire contents of the wort (unsparged if fruit is added) into a plastic open primary fermenter and add about 3 gallons cold water. When cooled to 70-78 degrees, pitch the yeast. When specific gravity has fallen to 1.020 or within 7 days whichever comes first, rach the brew into a secondary fermenter. If you used fruit, remove fermented fruit with a sanitized strainer or carefully manipulate your siphon hose so no fruit passes to the secondary fermenter. Age 1-1.5 months in secondary. Bottle with 1/3 cup corn sugar. If herb or spice flavoring is desired, add a strong strained tea to the finished mead at bottling time. It said to age the stuff at least six months, but it looked exceedingly easy and pretty yummy. I think I’m just going to make it plain though, with no fruit or spices.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Could anyone recommend a good starter recipe for a Traditional Mead. I do not want to wait years, but 6 months or so would be great. Also, is boiling the Honey for a short time OK and if not are there any other methods to sanitize the brew. Shane Cook
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Does anyone know of any "sure-to-work" recipes and techniques ?
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Well, I guess my techniques qualify here. 
They have to be "sure-to-work" because I don’t have a GD clue how to make mead, and they haven’t failed ME yet. I’d say that qualifies them as fairly "idiot-proof" I’ve only made fruit meads or "mel-o-mel", though, so I know even less about "real" meads made only with honey. Go to my recipes pages and you’ll see all the details that you need. cheers, -Alan — — Alan McKay http://www.bodensatz.com/ What’s a bodensatz? http://www.bodensatz.com/bodensatz.html – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone know of any "sure-to-work" recipes and techniques ?
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Why not go to www.brewery.org and follow the links to the mead section. There is a lot of good advice articles and recipes there. Good luck, Dan Cole
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Not very impressive after 4 months in the fermenter.
Depends on what it is. A fruit mead (a melomel) will ferment out and clear faster. Four months might not be bad. What kind of yeast did you use? All my meads are aged a year, about 2 months in carboys, then to kegs, and finally bottling, before I drink them.
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:: :::Not very impressive after 4 months in the fermenter. I assume I made :::it correctly, following advice from the Meadery, but it left a lot to :::be desired. Maybe this is the part where I am supposed to let it sit :::for 6 months to a year, I don’t know. But I bottled a peach wine :::today at 42 days old and it was excellent, so I know I can make :::SOMETHING correctly. ::: :::Will age make it better? :: ::I walked into my brewmeisters this summer when I was going to try my first ::mead and told him what I wanted. He then asked if I wanted it sweet, or dry, ::sparkling or still. I told him I did not know and off he went to the cooler ::and brought me out a shot glass of mead. It was the sweet variety and was ::excellant. My first attempt was bottled about two months ago (not including ::barkshack mead variations) and while it was drinkable, it was not as "good" ::as what I had. Taking a bottle of it into my local shop again, I had them ::taste it and was informed that its right were it should be expected for the ::age. :: ::In short, Mead is going to require aging to be "good" or excellant. While ::some recipes show some quick fermenting recipes I think the taste will have ::to suffer to some extent. Stuff the bottles you made somewhere and hide them ::until this time next year and try it again. Thanks, great answer! For auto e-mail strippers:
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:: :: Does anyone know of any commercial mead operations. I am interested in :: tasting some comercially prepared stuff and comparing it to my own. I make :: the stuff and like it, but have no idea how it "should" taste. Or if :: someone has some that they want to send… :: ::John, :: ::How mead should taste is how you like to drink it. If you are making ::mead and you like what you make (and your drinking buddies like what you ::make) then that is what mead should taste like. I’m not saying that you ::shouldn’t try commercial mead if you can get it in your area, but if ::what you get isn’t to your liking are you going to assume that that is ::what it should taste like (just because it is made commercially) and you ::have been making it wrong when you make something that you like? ::– As much as that may be good advice, it would be very helpful to have a bottle of what is supposed to be good mead to find out if I am even in the ballpark. I just capped 8 22 oz bottles of the stuff and drank the remainder that wouldn’t fill a bottle. Not very impressive after 4 months in the fermenter. I assume I made it correctly, following advice from the Meadery, but it left a lot to be desired. Maybe this is the part where I am supposed to let it sit for 6 months to a year, I don’t know. But I bottled a peach wine today at 42 days old and it was excellent, so I know I can make SOMETHING correctly. Will age make it better?
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have been making it wrong when you make something that you like?
John, I agree with Marc’s advice. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, if it produces something you like. Besides, I’ve tasted mead from commercial meaderies and like most things, I have found the commerical meads highly variable. Some have been good and some are not so good (with completely different tastes). BusyKnight Dallas
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How mead should taste is how you like to drink it.
I do think it is helpful to find commercial mead and sample it, as well as entering mead competitions and the like, to get feedback. I’ve been making mead for years, and I think I still need to gather facts, and formulate opinions, and make improvemetns. Bottom line though? I made it, I’m drinking it, I’m happy Ron
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Does anyone know of any commercial mead operations. I am interested in tasting some comercially prepared stuff and comparing it to my own. I make the stuff and like it, but have no idea how it "should" taste. Or if someone has some that they want to send… Thanks. John
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Does anyone know of any commercial mead operations. I am interested in tasting some comercially prepared stuff and comparing it to my own. I make the stuff and like it, but have no idea how it "should" taste. Or if someone has some that they want to send…
John, How mead should taste is how you like to drink it. If you are making mead and you like what you make (and your drinking buddies like what you make) then that is what mead should taste like. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try commercial mead if you can get it in your area, but if what you get isn’t to your liking are you going to assume that that is what it should taste like (just because it is made commercially) and you have been making it wrong when you make something that you like? — Visit ‘The Meadery’ at: http://www.mindspring.com/~mn.shapiro1/index.html http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1265/index.html "If you drink melomel every day, you will live to be 150 years old, unless your wife shoots you." –Dr. Ferenc Androczi, Winemaker of the Little Hungary Winery
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[]I’ll stop there for this posting since I don’t want to inspire too many flames, []but I will post more information (and recipes) as interest increases. Thanks for your post in r.c.b! I have just begun my home brewing hobby and have somehow acquired a possibly unhealthy fascination with this mead substance. I have begun one batch (1 gallon) but would love to get more history and recipes for this concoction. Any information that you could provide or recommend would be greatly appreciated. Let me know, here’s my address! Thanks, Jeff Opinions expressed are my own and not that of Stratus Computers, NUF SAID! All things in moderation, ESPECIALLY moderation!!
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Hello to everyone on r.c.b! I’ve been reading this group for some time and I was beginning to think no one out there knew what mead was. I’m glad there has been so much talk about honey and how to brew it. However, it seem to me that there is a lot of rather strange information being passed around concerning mead. I have been brewing mead (almost exclusively) for a couple of years now and, although I admit that I don’t know everything there is to know about making mead, I think I know enough to claim the title "mead.wizard". To begin, I read an article on r.c.b recently that included the question "…(isit still called a wort when making mead?)" The answer to that question is no. The initial mixture that is put into the primary is called a "must". I don’t know why, but that’s what it is called. I’ll stop there for this posting since I don’t want to inspire too many flames, but I will post more information (and recipes) as interest increases. 137 Yale S.E. If you want to make good mead, Albuquerque, NM 87106 You’ll follow my advice.
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Well I cant exactly tell you how it breaks down the honey but I have used it in every batch of brew I have ever made and it didn’t hurt. I read about it in The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing. It says in there that it will break down any DOH! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – : I started my mead saturday afternoon and pitched the yeast at around 75-80 : deg. there was very little if no action within the first 24 hours. I used : three pounds of honey for one gallon and added some yeast hulls for nutrient, : also splashed about 1/4 tsp of amalyse enzime to help break down the honey. I Use that enzyme if you got your beer mash too hot ( 160F). Cool your mash to about 155F and stir 1/2 tsp into it. It helps get the starch converting to sugars once again. I have never heard of adding it to mead. Could you explain how this is used to "help break down the honey" ? : aerated heavily while the wort was cooling down before pitching the champagne : yeast. I’m happy to report that it has been cooking along quite nicely for : the past 24 hrs. : mmmmm beeeeeer Sounds like you got lucky. But why risk it? Make a yeast starter a few days before you brew up the mead must. Pitch plenty of healthy yeast and your lag time will go away. Jack Costa Mesa, CA
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Jose, mead goes slowly, but six days seems too long unless you did not add any form of yeast nutrient (I’ve heard fermentation is very slow if some form of yeast nutrient is not added). Try adding some yeast nutrient to your batch and see if that helps. Good luck, Eric
I added yeast nutrient in the 15 min boil. Should I add more? Should I NOT boil it? Jos
