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  • Fatbloke FatBlog

    Fatbloke, one QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!QUACK! American cousin from across the pond wishes he could share some mead with you twits! Your blog is hilarious, its a wonder you get any time to make mead as much as you complain Bobs your uncle and all that! Crackedcork
    WVMountaineer Jacks Elderberry and Meads USA

  • #2
    The moaning is easy. It's making good mead that's less so.
    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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    • #3
      I have been QUACKED for Wonker, you can say that on the simpsons over here Our meads were pretty good using local clover honey, then we met a beekeeper who set up hives in our Wineyard. He introduced us to tulip poplar and locust honey and even thistle honey. We have made some elderberry and black raspberry melomels from these honeys and backsweetened with them, so much better than just clover honey. This weekend we are getting our own hives to take care of, I also planted a quarter of an acre of sweet yellow honey and some wildflowers to give the bees more selection, I already have hundreds of locust and tulip poplar trees. Another big improvement for us after reading on here about mead making was to just let ours bulk age in a 5 gal carboy for a year before even thinking of bottling it. Our first batch from our hives will probably bee just hunks of comb cut off since we dont have a centrifuge to spin out the honey, but a few bug parts are probably a good thing. Crackecork
      WVMountaineer Jacks Elderberry and Meads USA

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      • #4
        Don't forget, you can always crush comb, mix it with the same volume of water, then strain off the liquid. A bit messy but it'd work until you're more set up with honey handling kit.......

        Actually, I think I might check last years juice, if its ok, then i'll get a batch of elderberry melomel on.....
        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


        • #5
          Thanks FB, we have been making some of our melomels with 1 gal of honey and 4 gallons of 100% juice so we can just crush it up in some juice, strain that and off we go. We get our hive bodies this weekend and have to paint them, I think we get our bees in April, so not only will we have our fruit from our Wineyard but also honey from our own farm. Your blog is hilarious, keep it up, the whinging that is. CC
          WVMountaineer Jacks Elderberry and Meads USA

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          • #6
            I still have about a gallon or so of last years steamed juice, so I think I'll just check the volume and add about 25% honey (not too worried about the variety as it'll be very experimental for me) and see how much I come up with (probably a gallon and a half or so).

            Did you need to add nutrients or anything to this CC ? Or just honey and juice and let it go ?

            Was there a preferred yeast ? Like maybe RC-212 or something, or just anything "capable" (I like K1V-1116 and D21) ?
            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


            • #7
              Hey FB, I always add nutrient, we have been using Fermaid at a half dose at the beginning and then adding Fermocel P half way through the honey, its really kicked them off good and they have fermented well all the way through, I usually keep chapatilizing with a little honey until the yeasts give up. We have had good results with EC1118, K1V-1116 and Premier Cuvee. With so much fruit for flavor, and using good honey we want to make sure the yeast can get to work easily so we tend to do with the strong yeast. I also put them in a small bathroom with a heater and keep it at about 75F until they are ready to be transferred into a carboy and then keep the carboy in there for a while until it has pretty much stopped and then it goes into a cooler area to settle. We also like to let them bulk age at least a year before backsweetening with more honey and degassing and fining. I am hoping we can get some blackberry and raspberry honey from our Wineyard in the future. We also have some plum trees ordered and in a few years will hope to make some plum mead, I am really looking forward to that one, toss in a few elderberries for color and oak for some tannin, I am going to have to hide a few of those bottles to let them age more then 5 years. CC
              WVMountaineer Jacks Elderberry and Meads USA

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