If you are a mead lover then you must do it. Mine came out quite pink in colour but thats probably because i used tesco's red grape juice rather than welch's (i guess anyway!). It was nice enough straight away though, in time i reckon it'll be very good.
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what is mead?
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If you are getting local honey try & find out where he is siting his hive and if he draws off at different time. So for ex of he sites in an orchard part of the year & near rapeseed another part the orchard honey would be nice for straight mead, but the rapeseed might as well got for melomel IMHO as rapeseed honey isn't great in my bopok. On of the reasons I stopped keeping bees was due to the excessive amount of rapeseed honey due to their being SOOOO much rapeseed around
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Originally posted by Mel View PostIf you are getting local honey try & find out where he is siting his hive and if he draws off at different time. So for ex of he sites in an orchard part of the year & near rapeseed another part the orchard honey would be nice for straight mead, but the rapeseed might as well got for melomel IMHO as rapeseed honey isn't great in my bopok. On of the reasons I stopped keeping bees was due to the excessive amount of rapeseed honey due to their being SOOOO much rapeseed around
That said, some of the best honey he managed to produce was from the hives he kept on the railway embankment behind their house in Hove. The line workers learned to notify him when they were due to run the "bush whacker" along the embankment and it also meant that the local burglars, stupid local kids etc, never bothered trying to run/climb through their back garden. An excellent deterent!
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 think the vast majority of meads need ageing - we're talking 6 months to several years.
The exception seems to be Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange mead - there is a huge thread dedicated to it. Mine was drinkable after a couple of months.Pete the Instructor
It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba
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Originally posted by Pyrosfx View PostNot made a mead yet, do you recommend that all need to be set aside for months? or is there a wine No1 equivalent thats fine to drink early on?
I've read a few chemical addition suggestions for mead on this forum & elsewhere, but I guess it depends what you are after, IMHO real mead need time to mature, so if you want to drink it quickly buy a bottle until yours is ready A lot of modern mead makers have what I'd consider a fast fermentation (ie less than a year) by addition of nutrients or fruit (to make what tends to be defined melomel these days)
Maybe try a melomel first as I think with the addition of fruit juice it will be more like a wine but with honey as the sugar componant, and start a mead at the same time.
But really it depends on what you want to achive in your mead making ?
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Originally posted by Pyrosfx View PostNot made a mead yet, do you recommend that all need to be set aside for months? or is there a wine No1 equivalent thats fine to drink early on?
I have some books that suggest that the stronger and darker the honey, then the better mead it makes. Though it's also worth mentioning that some honeys are famed for taking forever to age (heather honey comes to mind). Plus it depends on what kind of heather the bee's have collected from. Oh and when I say ages, some of the literature suggests time frames of 3 to 5 years, sometimes longer.
My first attempt was from cheapo tesco's honey. When it was young it was rubbish, but after about 9 to 12 months it was actually not bad at all.
Since then it's been experiment after experiment. I also just make the stuff get it cleared and then age it in bulk in a DJ.
I've got a couple of small "buckets" (well more large pots really) that contain 3lb/1.36kg, of lavender, and of orange blossom honey. Luckily I also have a local bee keepers and honey wholesaler shop. so those are next to try!
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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90% of my mead (and I make a lot) has been made with Lidl's honey and the results are as good as that made with more expensive stuff. Just remember to let it age and you won't be disappointed.Let's party
AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries
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Originally posted by Mamgiowl View Post90% of my mead (and I make a lot) has been made with Lidl's honey and the results are as good as that made with more expensive stuff. Just remember to let it age and you won't be disappointed.
They often have specials of particular types too.
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