Mead

[Homegrown Hops]

I am planning to make a 5 gallon batch of Mead, got to poking around the web and found a local Meadery I didnt know about. http://www.heidrunmeadery.com/
I am going to take a tour of their facility in Mid-May when they come back from vacation.

In the mean time I want to get some Mead going since it takes a considerable amount of time.

HH

[barls]

ive got 2 5 litre batches going at the moment but ill share my recipes after ive tasted them and made sure they are ok first.

[bubrewer]

I'm glad to give you my "mead recipe for beer people" that I made a couple of years ago. I wanted to make some mead and didn't have any of the "fancy" stuff that the mead guys use, like potassium mumblemumble or yeast nutrient or acid blend or any of that stuff. I made do with what I had around. Mead came out fine, if a little hot from high ferm temps (78F).

1 gallon (12#) honey. I used palmetto.
Handful of raisins steeped in hot water and poked with a fork (for tannins)
Zest and juice of 2 lemons (for acidity)
Water to 5 gallons.
WLP001 California Ale yeast in a 1pint OJ starter
OG 1.100
Racked after 3 weeks to carboy, SG was 1.050
Racked after 3 more months to corny with airlock, SG was 1.030
Racked after 14 more months to serving corny FG 1.008
ABV 12%

If I do it again, I will make a bigger starter and control ferm temps better.

[Brewbear]

there is one simple recipe circulatinf on the www.gotmead.com forums, it is called the Aoncient orange.
I made several batches os the mead and except the first one where i boiled the yeasties, they all came out great. The good point, apart from it's simple recipe, is that it is drinkable in about 2 months and uses simple ingredients.

! gallon recipe requires 3.5 lb honey, 25 raisins, one orange, one stick of cinnamon, 2 cloves and one teaspoon of Fleishmans baking yeast. Let me know if you want to try it, or go to the site and search for the recipe.

Cheers,
Brewbear

[Brewbear]

I'm such a s%&t head! I did say that I'll share the recipe, so fere it is, along with all the instructions. One note, using Fleishmans yeast will result in a sweet mead, whereas using Red Star yeast in the same recipe will result in a dryer mead- at least that's what forum members reported,and there's a bunch of them that made it!
1 gallon batch


3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleishmann’s bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon

Process:

Use a clean 1 gallon carboy

Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy

Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)

Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)

Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.

When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)(The yeast can fight for their own territory)

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.

Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch

After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.

Cheers,
Brewbear

PS, I made 7 batches so far and all were super! I'm moving to a 5 gallon batch this week.
PPS, I was sampling this morning so I attribute the spelling mistakes to that!

[Homegrown Hops]

PPS, I was sampling this morning so I attribute the spelling mistakes to that!

Drunk! j/k

thanks for the recipes

HH

[dannypo]

Check out the northern brewer webite. They have several mead kits and Ive heard they are quite good. I myself have never made a mead but as soon as I get these next few batches done I plan on doing either the wildflower braggot or the blackberry melomel.

[Brewbear]

Hey Danny,
Be aware that most meads will take several months to age, up to a year before they really come into their own. The Ancient Orange recipe was designed to be a no fuss mix -it and forget it mead that is ready for consumption in 2 months or so. As all other meads, it gets better with time. Remember to follow the instructions to the letter. Cutting the orange in really thin slices will result in a pithy bitterness because you will create too much contact area between the pith and the mead--> been there, done that!
If you stick exactly to the letter of the recipe, you'll have a mead that all sweet tooh people will love. At 4 months after bottling it is great! I never had enough to make it past 4 months, I'll be putting a 5 gal batch together.
Once you make the first gallon, you'll be hooked! Depending on the honey used, the color will be from a very light gold yellow to an intense gold. I will be adding just a few blueberries to the next batch, for color.

Cheers,
Brewbear