Mead

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:34 am

Went to the New Forest yesterday with the Wife and Little 'Un.

Didn't get to do quite as much walking as we would have liked since Leona (the baby - I say baby, she is a toddler) was bored fairly quickly.

Anyway, found a great little shop that sold loads of Real Ale. I was tempted to buy some, but at Ã‚Â£2.50 a bottle, I wasn't THAT tempted.

What I did buy was a bottle of mead. I had a taste before buying it and was pleassantly surprised. This is something I have wanted to try for absolutely ages.

It was much thicker and liquor like than I was expecting. I just have images of vikings quaffing tankards of the stuff. I couldn't imagine drinking this stuff in pints.....

Anyway, I was going to open the bottle last night but since it was corked I left it. I was expecting a screw top. Since I only bought a small bottle, I want it to last.

Anyway, I have always been tempted to brew a mead (mainly out of curiosity to what it was like). I know that it is best to let it mature for a long time. Has anybody here made any?

Any hints, tips and general advise?

Thanks.

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:03 pm

Can't offer any first hand advice but try this site: http://www.gotmead.com

Also there's a good podcast on mead on: http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/

Post by **Jim** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:40 pm

One of the popular commercial versions, Lindisfarne Mead, is fortified with spirits, so if the one you tried was similar, don't expect to be able to produce something identical without doing the same.

I've had a few bottles of the stuff in my time and it's very nice. It'll keep after you open the bottle, as well - just like port will.

mr.c · Post by **mr.c** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:56 pm

hi PieOPah this is a very easy old recipe and is very nice to

mead (dry)

english honey 4 lb
orange 1
lemon 1
water 1 gallon
yeast and nutient
pectic enzyme

bring to the boil the honey and water,then pour into a Plastic Bin to cool,
add the juice of the orang, lemon and the yeast and nutrient.
then pour into a Demijohn and fit airlock.allow to ferment and rack when no further bubbles are passing .maturing time about a year

will post pic soon,have some fro last years brew

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:10 pm

Jim wrote:One of the popular commercial versions, Lindisfarne Mead, is fortified with spirits, so if the one you tried was similar, don't expect to be able to produce something identical without doing the same.

I've had a few bottles of the stuff in my time and it's very nice. It'll keep after you open the bottle, as well - just like port will.

I tried 3 different types. A plain Mead. One with Whiskey and one with another spirit (can't remember which one - brandy I think).

The plain mead had a thicker texture and was much sweeter. I really prefered this one to the spirit 'laced' meads.

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:13 pm

mr.c wrote:hi PieOPah this is a very easy old recipe and is very nice to

mead (dry)

english honey 4 lb
orange 1
lemon 1
water 1 gallon
yeast and nutient
pectic enzyme

bring to the boil the honey and water,then pour into a Plastic Bin to cool,
add the juice of the orang, lemon and the yeast and nutrient.
then pour into a Demijohn and fit airlock.allow to ferment and rack when no further bubbles are passing .maturing time about a year

will post pic soon,have some fro last years brew

Do you need any 'special' cooling like you would a beer or is it okay to just leave to naturally cool?

I have a 1 gallon carboy which would be perfect for me to make a mead in (small and can keep it out of the way). I could probably cool in my plastic carboy which is 5 gallon and cool this in the bath. I just don't like the idea of using my imerssion chiller on the mead. Not sure why.....

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:31 pm

I would probably use a stock pot to boil the honey then put it in a cold sink/ice bath, or at least keep it sealed if you're leaving it to cool overnight to help prevent infection. Make sure you dont use a demijohn in an icebath or pour hot liquid into it!

Kev. · Post by **Kev.** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:48 pm

Personally I wouldn't boil it as it can drive off some of the subtle flavours from your honey. There seems to be two schools of thought on whether to boil or not. I don't boil my wine musts so I didn't see why I needed to boil a mead must?

I've a simple mead in a secondary at the moment which I've aged for the last six month. I made it from a supply of local honey from a bee keeper, which I got free on teh assumption I gave him a couple of bottles! It's mainly rapeseed honey, IIRC.

Generally anything between a 1lb to 5.5lb per gallon seems to be ok with 3lb to 4lb being the norm.

I simply added the honey, 5.25kg approx, to partly cooled boiled water and kept adding water until I hit my target OG which I had set at 1.090. which gave me around 4.5 gallons.

I also added 4tsp of yeast nutrient and 5 tsp of citric acid.
The yeast I used was a champagne yeast and was hydrated before pitching.

I've just had a crafty sip, for scientific purpose only you know, and it already tastes very nice. It has a lovely light aroma which I hope it retains after bottling.

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:11 am

I'll probably not boil. I'll just scrape off everthing that comes to the surface - I believe things like wax etc. get kicked up.....

Will be a few weeks before I get to try this. Will probably just go to costco and buy a load of honey from there

Horden Hillbilly · Post by **Horden Hillbilly** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:07 pm

The Northern Brewer homebrew forum has a mead page on its homepage, here is the link.

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/index.php

Hope it is of some use to you.

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