getting intrested in mead

[lee1]

hi all have brewed kits and couple of years of ag now i am intrested in mead ; 1st question do i need any type of fermenting vessel [or is it better brewed in a demijohn ] 2 nd question what yeast ? 3rd question nice recipie plz cheers lee oh and brewing temps thanks

[oldbloke]

You either want a quality honey (expensive) or include some berries or something for flavour to hide the cheap honey.
If you fancy a toffeeish backnote, use golden syrup instead...
I make mine very strong so only do a gallon at a time, so a demijohn. And to get very strong I tend to use Gervin's high alcohol yeast.
If you're not going for strong... Not sure what yeast
It needs plenty of nutrient.
Temperature as for wine etc.
gotmead.com is the place to research all this stuff

[lee1]

hi old bloke can you give me a recepie plz im a complete newbie for mead so how much honey how many berries ect if using berries how do you prepare them
baisicly a full run down thanks

[oldbloke]

hi old bloke can you give me a recepie plz im a complete newbie for mead so how much honey how many berries ect if using berries how do you prepare them
baisicly a full run down thanks

Well I mostly make it up as I go along, treating it like a berry wine but using honey instead of sugar. I've kind of got to the stage where I know anything with a berry mix will be at least drinkable so I get a bit random since a computer crash lost all my notes (got them back but lost the will to use them properly)

So...
I'd typically use about a kilo to a kilo and a half of berries, probably mainly blackberries from the canalside, but with perhaps some raspberries and blackcurrants. Also have a load of sloes in the freezer so a few of those end up in most things lately. Then honey is about 80% fermentable sugar, so where I might use 1.2kg sugar for a gallon of 14%ish wine, I'd use about 2kg honey to try to get up to 18% or so.
You could press the juice out of the berries and start it all off in a demijohn (leave plenty of headspace for the first couple of weeks) but I like to "ferment on the pulp" so maybe...
Give the berries a bit of a mash in a fermenting bucket, with say half to a litre of water, and add a crushed Campden tablet. A day later chuck in the yeast and nutrient, maybe some of the honey. After 3 or 4 days, strain to a demijohn, add the rest of the honey (if going for really strong hold some of it back for a couple of weeks so as not to frighten the yeast - it doesn't like too high a sugar concentration), water to about 3/4 full. Top up fully after a week or so when it's not so vigorous.
Or you might just buy some fruit juice you fancy the flavour of - anything that doesn't have sorbates or sulphites. Berry season isn't for a while yet, after all.
Mead takes a long time, especially if you're stingy with the nutrient, but as I ferment everything to totally dry I just leave it until I notice the airlock levels show the outside pressure is greater than the inside and I can't remember when I last saw it bubble. If there's berry pulp or lots of yeast trub you might want to rack it partway through.
Straight mead can need a bit of age to get good, but flavoured stuff is generally drinkable pretty much straight away.
With the berries you don't really need to add any acids, but maybe with a straight mead you do, I forget - have a good wander round gotmead.com, you'll get loads of ideas. Although they do suggest Joe's Ancient Orange Mead as a good one for a beginner, but I wasn't hugely keen on it

[oldbloke]

[NB Berries will have been washed and frozen before starting this, hence no great need for a day with a Campden tablet]

2013-12-18
In bucket: 1kg rasp, 918g bramble, 1tsp citric, short tsp tannin, 2tsp nutrient, short tsp pectolase(probably not needed but hey), 3lb honey, 1.5l boiled water
When ambient temp, mashed and pitched half pack GV4 (high alc yeast)
2013-12-22
Strained to demi, added 1lb honey in as little water as poss
2014-01-08
Racked off large pulp. Added 1lb honey in as little water as poss
2014-01-15
Topped up
2014-01-31
Gravity 1020, clear, some sediment (and floaters)
Back of envelope says 18 to 20 %
2014-02-10
Racked
2014-02-23
Stabilised. Fg 1022 [I tend to stabilise with Campden+potassium sorbate even when it's incredibly unlikely any further fermentation will occur. Just In Case]
Back of envelope suggests minimum 16.4%
2014-02-25
Bottled. Nice. Maybe wants a month for slight harshness to fade

[deanrpwaacs]

Nutrients are key to a good mead . Honey is hard on the yeast .