First mead

[mysterio]

Couldn't resist brewing up a small batch of traditional mead today



I've never tried mead, or even seen it in the shops, but there 'must' be some good ones out there... The honey itself is delicious.

Vital Stats:

Honey: Asda ‘Extra Special’ Spanish Orange Blossom

Yeast: Lalvin 71B “71B is a very fast starting strain that produces round, smooth, more aromatic wines that mature quickly. Great for blush and residual sugar white wines. Lots of aroma and an alcohol tolerance of 14%.”

Gravity: 27.2 Brix, 1.116 OG.

[mysterio]

No idea DaaB

Because it's only a gallon I can't really taste a bottle every now and again to see when it tastes right. I'll probably try one after 3 months, another after 6 months.

[mysterio]

Aye, well, summer lasts about two weeks up here and winter about 6 months

Apparently managing the fermentation by adding the nutrient in phases reduces the maturation time significantly... that's what i'm trying. I don't think i've ever made any booze that's hung around for a year

[NickL]

Apparently managing the fermentation by adding the nutrient in phases reduces the maturation time significantly...

This sounds cool, love to know if it works or not. Fwiw my mead is undrinkable for the first year (tastes like cough mixture), never would have believed how much difference it makes to lay it down for a year or two but it really does. Love to know why - anyone know?

[johnh]

Mead is quite popular down in these parts, mostly I think due to the "Cornish Mead Company" and the "Meaderies" which sprang up around the place. These are restaurants where you drink mead, eat scampi and throw chips at each other, at least that's what we did when we were teenagers. With the high strength of the mead served in jugs(!) it can lead to a certain anount of debauchery .

There are also several mead based liqueurs flavoured with fruit. I seem to remember blackberry being my favorite... I'll have to try and make some this autumn...

[CyberPaddy66]

I've never tried mead, or even seen it in the shops, but there 'must' be some good ones out there... The honey itself is delicious.

If you have a Morrisons Branch near you they do a "Harvest Gold" mead which is only £3.49 but actually does taste pretty good in my opinion

[Laripu]

Aye, well, summer lasts about two weeks up here and winter about 6 months

Well, that explains why there were so many Scottish immigrants to Canada, historically. The weather was identical. I've been much happier and warmer since I moved from Montreal to Florida 11 years ago. Summer lasts 8 months and we get two months each of spring and autumn - no winter! The only thing that would make this better is if I didn't have to work. Well maybe I can consider it a "working retirement".

About your mead: aging really does help. I don't open a bottle of my mead before 6 months, and 3 or 4 years seems to be the best for gravities in the 1.090 range. For stronger meads like yours, I'd say 5 years.

Meads I've made since 1991:
Traditional mead from buckwheat honey (EC-1118)
Raspberry melomel (EC-1118)
Sparkling metheglin with ginger and galangal root from clover honey (EC-1118)
Metheglin with roselle from clover honey (EC-1118)
Tej, an Ethiopean-style metheglin, from clover honey (ale yeast)
Traditional mead from orange blossom honey (K1-V116)
Traditional mead from gallbery honey (both EC-1118 and K1-V116)
Sparkling hypocras (i.e. spiced pyment) with roselle and galangal root from orange blossom honey (EC-1118)

I haven't bottled the last one yet, but it seems more like a wine than a mead at present. I'm planning to make another sparkling ginger mead eventually.

The tej, at OG 1.062 and 8.6% alcohol, was neither strong enough nor sweet enough by the standards of Ethieopeans who tasted it. I've since had many varieties of Tej, and while some were semi-dry, they seemed to be in the 1.090 range. So mine was too weak. But it did mature quickly, around 6 months.

The rest have all been very good. I think I'l have a mead tonight.