can anyone tell me wat mead is i have never heard of it
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what is mead?
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Reputed to be the first alcohol ever brewed by man. To my mind one of the best.
As well as Googling it, I would suggest you read all the threads in the mead area, we have some experts, past and present, on the forum. If you like the sound of it after that then make some. You won't be disappointed.Let's party
AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries
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Originally posted by jay View Posti think i might do just that. is it sweet
If you think of the gravity thing, i.e. fermented to dry, would be like 0.99* then as long as you don't use too much honey it's easy to get it there.
You could try a commercial mead, but the ones I tried earlier this year, when tested, were all about the 1035 to 1040 and so sweet as to be almost syrupy tasting.
To get the best idea, try Bobs (well Joe's really) recipe and as long as you follow the recipe religiously (yes, bread yeast, not wine yeast) you'll get a bit of an idea how sweet traditional meads are (if made with a wine yeast it will damn near ferment to dry - and it's not so good like that).
Of course, you can always follow the tutorial I wrote up (go for 3 to 3.5 lb of honey, rather than 4 as that does make it quite sweet).
One good point worthy of mention Jay, is that many meads often taste absolutely hideous when they're "young", but if they're aged for a minimum of 6 months (a year plus, is usually better) then the hideous taste mellows brilliantly - you wouldn't even believe it's the same stuff.
Theres a million and one ways of changing it i.e. fruit, oak, acid, yeast, nutrient etc etc etc. Some of those ideas you may find here, and others (lots of 'em) can be found over at Gotmead (they have their main site as well as the forums). Those lot, now they do some really strange sh1t to modify mead.
Oh and don't forget, if it's got more than just honey, water, yeast and nutrient in it, then it's probably not really called mead (pyment, cyser, melomel, metheglin, hippocras, braggot, etc etc are just some of the names of "modified" meads).
regards
JtFBWomen will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
Some blog ramblings
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I did an experiement in the summer and made 2 gallons of strawberry wine using half sugar and half honey. The honey was just some blended stuff that I got cheap from Aldi.
I racked them last weekend, and they are ready for bottling now, but early tasting indicates that it's the BEST strawberry "wine" I've ever made. I'll be making it with ALL honey next year to see how a strawberry mead compares, although I may use tinned/frozen strawberries in the meantime to see what I end up with.
I'm hoping that the local honey crop is good next year, as I've discovered that a chap at work keeps 6 bee hives, so we've agreed to do a swap - I make the mead, and he supplies the honey - which I think is a d@amm fine idea!
Obviously I'll keep everyone posted as to how things turn out.HRH Her Lushness
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
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Originally posted by Her Lushness View PostI did an experiement in the summer and made 2 gallons of strawberry wine using half sugar and half honey. The honey was just some blended stuff that I got cheap from Aldi.
I racked them last weekend, and they are ready for bottling now, but early tasting indicates that it's the BEST strawberry "wine" I've ever made. I'll be making it with ALL honey next year to see how a strawberry mead compares, although I may use tinned/frozen strawberries in the meantime to see what I end up with.
I'm hoping that the local honey crop is good next year, as I've discovered that a chap at work keeps 6 bee hives, so we've agreed to do a swap - I make the mead, and he supplies the honey - which I think is a d@amm fine idea!
Obviously I'll keep everyone posted as to how things turn out.
Yes, it'll be "straight wildflower" honey, but with melomels, pyments, cysers, etc etc I reckon that cheapo blended stuff from Aldi/Lidl/Tesco/Asda/wherever is best for them, as you'd probably only be able to taste the fruit unless......
You were specifically aiming for a very light fruit flavour with something thats subtle enough to allow the honey flavour through....
Just my tuppence worth....
regards
JtFBWomen will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
Some blog ramblings
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I hear what you're saying, and I'll defo be asking for advice and help once I get the honey next year. Crossed fingers that Mr Man's bees get producing. He's told me that he's had to feed them on sugar this year just to keep them going.
I love working for our local council, as there's so many people who have interesting hobbies, and who have useful local knowledge for me - like the best places to get free fruit etc etc! (not to mention being able to get lots of empty wine bottles from them)HRH Her Lushness
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
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The mead I made from the Joe's Ancient Orange and spice Mead recipe is starting to show a lot of promise. I had a glass a couple days ago and was set back with how it had changed I am definetly saving the rest for Christmas it is I think almost a religious experience.http://www.winensuds.com/ Gotta love this hobby
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Originally posted by rjb222 View PostThe mead I made from the Joe's Ancient Orange and spice Mead recipe is starting to show a lot of promise. I had a glass a couple days ago and was set back with how it had changed I am definetly saving the rest for Christmas it is I think almost a religious experience.
You could have "knocked me down with a feather" when I tasted it after it'd aged for about 9 months.
The changes are just amazing.
Hence now I'm just happy to make it, clear, rack etc etc and chuck it into a DJ and forget about it.
Cos I know that even the most lowly one will probably be very drinkable. Maybe not perfect, but it won't be any kind of struggle to drink
regards
JtFBWomen will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
Some blog ramblings
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Originally posted by Mamgiowl View PostReputed to be the first alcohol ever brewed by man. To my mind one of the best.
As well as Googling it, I would suggest you read all the threads in the mead area, we have some experts, past and present, on the forum. If you like the sound of it after that then make some. You won't be disappointed.Last edited by Tuco; 22-11-2008, 09:15 PM.
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Originally posted by fatbloke View PostWhen I first started making meads, I wasn't that impressed - given all of the hype I'd read.
You could have "knocked me down with a feather" when I tasted it after it'd aged for about 9 months.
The changes are just amazing.
Hence now I'm just happy to make it, clear, rack etc etc and chuck it into a DJ and forget about it.
Cos I know that even the most lowly one will probably be very drinkable. Maybe not perfect, but it won't be any kind of struggle to drink
regards
JtFBhttp://www.winensuds.com/ Gotta love this hobby
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Originally posted by danpug View PostI made joe's grape pyment and it was nice straight after falling clear, its been in the bottle a few months now so i'll have to try one at xmas.
Though as yet, I haven't tried making a batch!
regards
JtFBWomen will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
Some blog ramblings
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