Honey Mead

[ValhallaBound]

I am new to primitive archer and am wondering if anyone has any information about the mead making process and/or any recipes they would be willing to share.

[DanaM]

Here's a thread on it, only one I remember seeing. Welcome to PA

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,3730.0.html

[JW_Halverson]

I've brewed enough mead over the years to drown a pig in it.  Wait a minute...I resemble that remark.  *burp*

There are many websites on the 'net that can help you out.  Just remember to sterilize everything over and over.  Fortunately there are no deadly bacteria that can grow in an environment where yeast is brewing, or so I have been advised by a professional vintner.  On the downside, there are billions of the little blighters out there that like to make mead, wine, beer, cyser, pyment, metheglin, etc taste like gut-shot skunk pus.

Start small with one gallon batches to find out what you like, no sense brewing a 17 gallon demijon of something you can't stand. 

At this time I have a 5 gallon batch of raspberry mead finishing initial fermentation.  It will eventually be bottled with a touch more honey to make a sparkling wine (a.k.a. fizzy hiccup juice).

[Karly]

Her how i do it ..

the first day i mix the yeast and four spoons of white flour and a pinch of salt with 1 L Applejuice in a mug. i cover it with a dish towel and wait a week.
This mixture is needed to start the fermentation a bit quicker because Honey is a bit antiseptic....

one week later i take 6 Kilogrammes of Honey and 3 Kilogrammes of Sugar and dissolve it in 25 Liter 35°C warm water. I wait afterwards a few hours for the cool down under 30 °C and i mix now my applejuiceyeastmixture with the Honeywater i put the fermentation plug on the barrel and wait.....
3-5 days later you will here a gurgling in the Barrel and the fermentation starts....

[ValhallaBound]

Thank you all for your help and I appreciate any further info anyone may have on the topic of mead recipes and/or brewing. Thanks again and I am glad that I was able to join you all her at PA.

[PaganArcher]

1 gallon water
2 tsp cinnamon
a sprig of saffron
2 1/2 pounds of honey
1/2 cake yeast
2 tsp ginger
5 whole cloves
12 ounces fruit or juice
 
Bring water to a boil with all the herbs so that a tea is formed. Add honey until dissolved, then add fruit or juice (I reccommend good unfilterd apple juice). Cover tightly and boil about 15 minutes. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast dissolved in warm water. Cover with towel for two days before straining and bottling.
You may have to air this periodically to prevent pressure buildup (using corks greatly reduces the need for this)

May Odin welcome you into his Hall when the Valkyries call for you

[JW_Halverson]

Only two days of fermentation before bottling is a recipe for glass grenades.  Invest in a cheap airlock to stopper the glass one gallong jug that you use to brew the mead.  And give it as much time as necessary to completely ferment and then give it enough time to sit until it turns clear.  Clear mead means that the yeasts have fully fermented the mead and have floculated, settled out, and given up the ghost. 

Other than that, his recipe sounds pretty dang good.  The addition of the apple juice may be problematic since many apple juices have powerful anti-fungal compounds added.  Even organic juices are treated with anti-fungals that stop your yeast from fermenting. 

[PaganArcher]

I've brewed the recipe many times and never had any problems at all. I first came across it for people on a budget and I couldn't afford the usual brewing equipment and it tuned out great for me.

[JW_Halverson]

After 18 years of home brewing and many good and bad batches and sampling a lot of other's people's brews I have become very reserved when someone says they have a great shortcut or time saver.  Same with bow building.  Ain't saying it won't work, but let's just say there is a reason some things just take time. 

[JW_Halverson]

Starting a batch of "pyment" this week.  For those of you not fully experienced in the world of meads, that is a mead made with the juice of grapes added.  In this case it would be more of a honey fortified grape wine.  I crushed 24 lbs of Valiant grapes and will add sufficient honey to bring the specific gravity up to 1.085 so I am shooting for a dry red with honey and floral notes.  We'll see what happens about a year from now.

That should be right about the time that HatchA is over here from Ireland to hunt deer.  HatchA??  You out there?

[Marc St Louis]

I came across a spiced mead recipe in an old book about 35 years ago so I made some.  Didn't care for it

[JW_Halverson]

I haven't had a spiced mead I liked yet.  My alltime favorite is just plain old mead with maybe a bit of lemon. 

[JackCrafty]

The best batch of mead I ever tasted was one that was about 3/4 done.  It was more like a champaign.  Don't really care for the fully fermented stuff.

I've got first hand experience with the "glass grenade" thing.  We tried bottling that batch that was 3/4 done.  Didn't work too good...so we had to drink it all in one night.  Oh well.   

[n2everythg]

I really want to brew up some mead next. But all my carboys are in use. I'm going to have to go out and buy some more.....

Have currently brewing:
5 gal elderberry wine
3.5 gal Apfelwien (dry hard cider)
5 gal cherry wine
1 + gal blueberry/blackberry wine.
and
1 gal elderberry raisin wine...

Guess I could start another gal or 2..

worse part is how long it takes.. Im not patient enough.
later
N2.

[JW_Halverson]

I did a one gallon batch of straight up mead...just honey, water, and of course, yeast.  Took 11 months to finish fermenting.  Honey has little or no nutrients for the yeast other than the sugars.  Won't make that mistake again.  But ohhhhh, it was gooooood.