# Can anyone please help me with some mead recipes and/or tips?



## bec newbie craig (27/5/14)

Hey guys!
Although I'm rather familiar with some aspects of brewing and know my way around a reflux still quite well, I've never attempted brewing cider, beer or mead.
I've started with a simple apple cider, but have my heart set upon brewing up some mead…
Can anyone give me some hints on what to spice it with?
Any information would be greatly appreciated! 
Thanks, 
Bec


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## TimT (27/5/14)

You could spice mead with anything you like, really. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, hops, citrus peel or just oak bark (to simulate the effect of mead fermenting in an oak barrel) - these are the classics. I've also heard of meads using turmeric, chili, or other out there spices. It doesn't matter too much; you basically want to get a bit of tannins in there to balance out the brew and give it character as it ages. Be wary of adding spice before you ferment the mead though - a lot of flavour can be lost during the primary fermentation; it'll be carried off with the other gases.

You could try a bochet, a burnt honey mead, for flavour: set aside some of the honey you are going to use (or all of it), boil, stir frequently; keep boiling it until it changes colour and starts taking on more a caramel or toffee character. So long as you don't actually burn the sugars to charcoal you will end up with some very nice flavours to work with. (And I'm told the toffee flavours aren't all lost in the ferment for some reason, so there's that too).

Just be aware - you should be patient with mead and give it some time to age (six months, a year, more) but in time it will mature nicely into a hearty old drink that will warm the cockles of your heart 

At the moment I have one bochet (part burnt honey, part normal honey) that I may add cinnamon and peel or some other spice too; one light honey mead that I'm going to age over rose hips soon (when the fermentation finishes); and one pyment (mixed honey and grape juice) that I am currently ageing over two cardamom pods, some coriander seeds, a bit of rosemary and some allspice for a week or so to give it a bit of a spicey zing. Pretty sure it'll all work out to be yum in the end  Good luck!


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## LiquidGold (27/5/14)

I found this thread very helpful in starting me down the mead brewing path, even though some of the techniques are not best practise it is a great introduction.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/32762-jao-the-ultimate-beginners-mead-recipe/


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## Airgead (28/5/14)

At its simplest, mead is just honey, yeast and water. A kilo of honey in 4l of water and add a bit of wine yeast. That's it. You will get a dry mead that will age into something very drinkable after about 6-12 months.

There are some things you can do to improve on the basics... yeast nutrient is a key one. You get a much more reliable ferment. You can start playing around with additions of acid and tannin to get a more wine like experience but really you aren't brewing wine... you are brewing mead so making it taste like wine doesn't quite sit right. You can start adding oak (dominos or chips).

You can play around with different kinds of honey or blending honey with other sugars or juices (apple juice and honey makes cyser, grape and honey is pyment...).

You can add fruit. I find that half a kilo of fruit added to the basic recipe gives a good flavour. Berries work especially well. I have 3 batches running now - one raspberry, one blackberry and one sour cherry.

You can start playing around with sweet or semi sweet meads.

You can start adding spices (add a little and taste often... its really easy to overdo) or herbs (same advice).

Mead is a big world. Welcome...Come... Join us...

Cheers
Dave


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## bec newbie craig (29/5/14)

Thanks guys!
All of your information has been extremely helpful!
I’ve found that youtube has become my new, best friend since I’ve started planning for this...
(I can already see this spiralling into an amazing obsession!) :blink:

And while I’m on here, has anyone heard of/tried/have thoughts on, prickly pear being added to mead?

Thanks again!
Bec


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## TimT (29/5/14)

Prickly pear! Now that's a brewing fruit I hadn't thought of/heard of before.

Maybe it'll work best if you throw it in during the secondary fermentation. Unless you want to juice prickly pear so you have a lot of PP cordial to use right at the start.... might take you a while....


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## Mardoo (29/5/14)

Prickly pear is gorgeous in liqueurs. It would probably be great in a mead. Could add a great acid balance and color!


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## mr_wibble (1/6/14)

You have read the thread on here about JAO mead ? http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/32762-jao-the-ultimate-beginners-mead-recipe/

It turns out wonderful, and is relatively simple to make.

My first batch is a year old now (I wish I'd made much much more)
2nd batch is fermenting now.

I also have a bouchet fermenting. That's a bit more involved than JAO, but fun nonetheless - http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/79876-14th-century-bouchet-burnt-honey-mead/

cheers,
-kt


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## barls (1/6/14)

gotmead.com is a wealth of infomation.


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