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what is mead?

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  • what is mead?

    can anyone tell me wat mead is i have never heard of it

  • #2
    Mead is honey wine.
    Steve

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    • #3
      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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      • #4
        i think i might do just that. is it sweet

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        • #5
          Originally posted by jay View Post
          i think i might do just that. is it sweet
          Erm, not necessarily.

          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

          JtFB
          Women 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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          • #6
            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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            • #7
              Originally posted by Her Lushness View Post
              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.
              IMO, you should keep any honey you get from the work colleague and make only traditional type meads with it.

              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

              JtFB
              Women 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

              Comment


              • #8
                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.

                Comment


                • #9
                  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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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by rjb222 View Post
                    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.
                    When 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

                    JtFB
                    Women 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

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Mamgiowl View Post
                      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.
                      Do you know if it was accidental ????
                      Last edited by Tuco; 22-11-2008, 09:15 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Pronay View Post
                        Do you know if it was pure accidental ????
                        Look, sonny, I may be old - but I'm not that old!








                        Seriously though, 'Tradition' has it that it was.
                        Let's party


                        AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by fatbloke View Post
                          When 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

                          JtFB
                          Agreed John I had not tried a mead before making this one and to say the least I am impressed.
                          http://www.winensuds.com/ Gotta love this hobby

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I 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.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by danpug View Post
                              I 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.
                              Yes, I've heard that that's a good brew as well.

                              Though as yet, I haven't tried making a batch!

                              regards

                              JtFB
                              Women 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

                              Comment

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