Cheaper than usual honey!

[fatbloke]

Sommerfield have own brand honey at £2.50 for 2 x 1lb jars at the moment (well my local one has).

Probably not much cop for "proper" mead, but ideal for a batch of "Joes Ancient Orange" - that's what I'm gonna do with it anyway.

regards

JtFB

[Duffbeer]

Sommerfield have own brand honey at £2.50 for 2 x 1lb jars at the moment (well my local one has).

Probably not much cop for "proper" mead, but ideal for a batch of "Joes Ancient Orange" - that's what I'm gonna do with it anyway.

regards

JtFB

John, try not to get too bogged down with honey varieties, most honey's will make good mead. I made Joes ancient orange mead last year useing cheap Lidl supermarket honey 75p 500g jar and I actualy did use bread yeast as instructed, it took me a third in the sweet mead class and a fourth in the dry mead class at the National last week. Best meads are time served and you will see that in your own meads next year. Quality meads like wine rely on good technique and patience, It makes me quiver when I read what you guy's are paying for honey, the fermentation process will take out much of the flavour and bouquet that the expensive honey's started with. Just my thoughts, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong

[fatbloke]

John, try not to get too bogged down with honey varieties, most honey's will make good mead. I made Joes ancient orange mead last year useing cheap Lidl supermarket honey 75p 500g jar and I actualy did use bread yeast as instructed, it took me a third in the sweet mead class and a fourth in the dry mead class at the National last week. Best meads are time served and you will see that in your own meads next year. Quality meads like wine rely on good technique and patience, It makes me quiver when I read what you guy's are paying for honey, the fermentation process will take out much of the flavour and bouquet that the expensive honey's started with. Just my thoughts, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong

So far, all of the cheaper honeys I've tried have made unremarkable mead.

Plus most of the stuff I've found too read suggests that it is a lot about the actual honeys used.

Of course, that's not too say that technique/method doesn't matter, but I'm still trying to refine that, but as I've sussed a couple of yeasts I like, now it's time to try different honeys as well - hence only making one batch every month or so.

I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a couple of batches of "Joes" on the go again, not at £1.25 a jar.

The other thing I'm starting to learn, is just how different honeys actually are. Having only really tried supermarket cheap stuff (cheap being relative). It seems that it's almost as confusing as different apple and grape types.

Like "British Rail", I'll get there, eventually

regards

JtFB

p.s. Oh and I've also used bread yeast this time - the only variation being that one of the two is made with oranges, the other with lemons. If the honey is still cheap later during the week, I'll get some more and do a batch with lime as well. Weird though, both were starting to bubble within the hour of pitching the yeast, so I wonder why wine yeasts act in such a different way ?

[lockwood1956]

It's like most winemaking ....better ingredients produce better wine.

but...only as good as the winemaker

[fatbloke]

It's also a complete bummer, because I popped into the local again tonight to get some milk and too see if I could get some more of the cheap honey - the swines have withdrawn that offer already, so it's back to the normal £1.75 a jar.

Still I got 3 more and a couple of limes so I can make a lime based version of Joe's Ancient.

Ah well!

regards

JtFB