My First try at Mead.......

For those making mead and related drinks
MuckyFunster
Steady Drinker
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:36 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by MuckyFunster » Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:57 pm

A year?! Ooft. I bottled mine after 3 weeks! It was hogging my demojohn. Lol.

I’m going to try some bramble mead next month. We grow hunners ae brambles round my way and August is the best time to pick ‘em. I’ll maybe give that one a bit longer in the DJ then.

Planning a gallon...

1.3 kg honey
1.3,kg brambles
Zest of an orange
Juice of a lemon




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jambo
Hollow Legs
Posts: 396
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:00 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Jambo » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:26 pm

Hi Mucky,

Never tried it myself but Acton and Duncan's mead book advises against blackberry and elderberry meads due to their tannin content. They advocate pretty much everything else though!

If you're stuck for something to do with brambles I'd suggest creme de mure or a bramble wine.


WalesAles
Falling off the Barstool
Posts: 3899
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: South Wales UK.

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by WalesAles » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:12 pm

MuckyFunster wrote:
Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:57 pm
A year?! Ooft. I bottled mine after 3 weeks! It was hogging my demojohn. Lol.
MF,
Have you only got one DJ? #-o
Get some 5Lt Plastic water bottles, loose lid, no airlock, blanket over the top, job done! =D>

WA

Sent from my HUGE Recliner Sofa!

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Laripu » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:21 pm

WalesAles wrote:
Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:12 pm
MuckyFunster wrote:
Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:57 pm
A year?! Ooft. I bottled mine after 3 weeks! It was hogging my demojohn. Lol.
MF,
Have you only got one DJ? #-o
Get some 5Lt Plastic water bottles, loose lid, no airlock, blanket over the top, job done! =D>
Don't listen to him. Plastic is evil.
Use proper glass and airlocks.
Over time it all pays for itself.

WalesAles - be a good boy. [-X :D
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

WalesAles
Falling off the Barstool
Posts: 3899
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: South Wales UK.

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by WalesAles » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:51 pm

OK. I am a good boy, sometimes.
MF,
Go to the local boot sale and pick up some GLASS DJ`s for about 50p each. Clean and sterilise with gusto!
(Who the hell is Gusto), before you all come in with same thing! :D

WA

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Laripu » Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:36 pm

WalesAles wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:51 pm
OK. I am a good boy, sometimes.
MF,
Go to the local boot sale and pick up some GLASS DJ`s for about 50p each. Clean and sterilise with gusto!
=D> =D> =D>

WalesAles for PM! :D
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

User avatar
Jim
Site Admin
Posts: 10250
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:00 pm
Location: Washington, UK

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Jim » Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:25 am

I still have 2 plastic fermenters from 1975 - beat that! :lol:
NURSE!! He's out of bed again!

JBK on Facebook
JBK on Twitter

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Laripu » Sat Jul 07, 2018 2:22 pm

Jim wrote:
Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:25 am
I still have 2 plastic fermenters from 1975 - beat that! :lol:
I can't beat it all by myself. But with a little help ...

I started brewing in late 1990, because I finally had a flat that was big enough, and that coincided with a new job as a software engineer. I gave my manager some homebrew, and he responded by giving me a 25 litre carboy and an 11.3 litre carboy, both glass. They had been used by his father, who had homebrewed for many years, but had died over a decade prior, and they remained unused.

The big one has a manufacturing date on the bottom: 1965. The small one had no date, but looks like the same style of manufacture. It's probably safe to say they were used in the 60s.

I still use both, and the 25 litre one is my main primary for 23L batches. You can see it in the recent Facebook time lapse post.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

MuckyFunster
Steady Drinker
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:36 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by MuckyFunster » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:46 am

Lol, I have two glass DJs. One a 4.5l Muntons and the other a 5l Wilko special.

I’m just impatient and wanted the mead out so that I could start planning something else!

Incidentally, they’re both empty at the Mo!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

wolfenrook
Piss Artist
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:00 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by wolfenrook » Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:11 am

Jambo wrote:
Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:26 pm
Hi Mucky,

Never tried it myself but Acton and Duncan's mead book advises against blackberry and elderberry meads due to their tannin content. They advocate pretty much everything else though!

If you're stuck for something to do with brambles I'd suggest creme de mure or a bramble wine.

Piffle, I have some blackberry melomel in the kitchen where it's been conditioning since last year, made with fresh and locally foraged blackberries. It's positively delicious, you just have to give anything with berries like blackberries or raspberries plenty of conditioning time as it's super acidic for the first few months (better than messing around with chalk...). Just don't leave the must on the fruit for too long, and make sure to use pectin enzyme.

Jambo
Hollow Legs
Posts: 396
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:00 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by Jambo » Tue Jul 31, 2018 4:42 pm

Thanks for sharing - I might give it a go then as early signs are for a monstrous blackberry crop here this year!

wolfenrook
Piss Artist
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:00 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by wolfenrook » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:07 pm

Yeah, tons here too, even more than last year! Early as well! Will have to buy raspberries this time around though if the Mrs wants the Rubamel again, my parents don't grow them any more sadly.

MuckyFunster
Steady Drinker
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:36 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by MuckyFunster » Fri Aug 03, 2018 6:41 pm

How do you use the pectin?

I was planning on following this pretty simple recipe that I found, here...

https://www.pixiespocket.com/2011/07/on ... -mead.html



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

wolfenrook
Piss Artist
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:00 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by wolfenrook » Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:08 pm

Not pectin, pectic enzyme. Sorry for the confusion. Your goal is to remove the pectin rather than to add any, as otherwise the pectin naturally present in some types of fruit makes your mead cloudy. It also helps to break down the cell walls in your fruit, extracting more juice whilst your making your must.

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/ac ... _100g.html

I've used this one that last couple of times https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/ac ... lters.html

You can actually see the haze in the pics in that recipe link.

Another tip, if you are doing a fruit mead try Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast, it seems to compliment fruit really well. Also, do consider using a good nutrient, such as Tronozymol.

I used some chopped up granny smith apples in with the fruit too, but that is just my preference. I put the fruit in a nylon filter bag in the fermenter whilst making the must, that way when it's time to remove it I can just lift it out and drain it into the fermenter. These are pics from my raspberry Rubamel, but same thing really.

Making the must with the fruit
makingmust.jpg
Once the fruit is removed
must.jpg
Once you have finished the must, you can move it to a demijohn and fit an airlock (I start out in a brewing bucket, with a moist tea towel fastened over the top as the initial reaction will blow clean out of a dj...) after about 24-36 hours.

steviebobs83
Piss Artist
Posts: 172
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:19 am

Re: My First try at Mead.......

Post by steviebobs83 » Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:51 pm

Came across this thread and thought I'd add my 2 pence...

I've lobbed in 3 jars of Lidl honey and a jar of homemade redcurrant jelly into a 5l bottle of Morrisons mineral water with a balloon for an airlock and 3/4 of a packet of out of date lalvin champagne yeast. Got it to around 1.083 OG

It's been going about 2 weeks and I'm going to rack it into a demijohn and leave it til at least Xmas to test it.Image

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk



Post Reply