Grafton Show Home Brewing Competition 2015

[Diggs]

Thanks DT, not having made a mead i am gathering that's Honey/Water? IE a 19Lt batch would have 7kg honey? Sounds liek a lot to me?

 

[Dae Tripper]

Yeah champ just honey and good clean water. You are right it is a lot but you need it because it will come out with roughly 14% from memory.
Try a small batch first unless you have more than 1 fermentor (for racking) because you will tie up the other fermentor for ages. I used old fresh wort kit drums so smaller batches suited me. My first one was in a 2L juce bottle and after that bought 15kg of honey in one go!

 

[Diggs]

Any suggestions for decent honey at a decent price, best I see is about $10/Lt?

 

[Dae Tripper]

I landed mine from the local markets. Honey is expensive stuff, you won't get it heaps cheaper, I think mine was over $130

 

[shaunous]

The mead recipes I've seen on the American sites is 5kg of honey in a 20L fermenter, add whatever extra ingredients and fill with water. no where near the amount your talking Dae Tripper. I cant remember the alcohol percentages this would bring though. The Brewing Network Guys done a few with just water and honey.

 

[Diggs]

Makes mead seem a little less inviting considering that's twice the price of grain!

 

[Dae Tripper]

The mead recipes I've seen on the American sites is 5kg of honey in a 20L fermenter, add whatever extra ingredients and fill with water. no where near the amount your talking Dae Tripper. I cant remember the alcohol percentages this would bring though. The Brewing Network Guys done a few with just water and honey.

Hi Shaunous,

They must be missing the "good clean" bit of the water that I like to use. I never mentioned anything else but honey, water and yeast.
Anyway, your criticisms aside, the yeast will determine how it turns out, sweet or dry, and my formulation is using SN9. You could make a sweet mead out of beer or bread yeast as the yeast will reach their alcohol tolerance before SN9, so depending on your calculations would result in dry or sweet mead. My sweet mead got a HC in the Grafton show so it must be alright.
Try http://mcarterbrown.com/mead/mead2.html

Makes mead seem a little less inviting considering that's twice the price of grain!

Hi again Diggs,

You are right there but I find you will drink it differently, like that 18y scotch you have occasionally (till you have a mead supply). It takes a while and a fair bit of coin but wait and be rewarded, and it is about three times the strength of a beer!. Maybe try a small batch in a juice bottle first, like I did first for minimal outlay. I am pretty sure it had bits of toast in it lol.

This all reminds me to update this thread that I started http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/83390-dales-mead-trials-in-singo/#entry1234130 It has a pic of my first experiment as well. Loving mead so much I have commissioned another experiment... burnt honey mead...Bochet!

 

[shaunous]

No criticisms Dae Tripper, just pointed out I've seen a few recipes the Yanks do that used a lot less honey. I have 5kg I bought for $8/kg from a local honey man, yet to use it though. I woudnt bother with mead if the recipe called for $130 worth, but that's me. Unless I had my own bee's, which im hoping to in the not so distant future.

 

[Dae Tripper]

That was for 15kg of honey not one batch.

 

[Lincoln2]

Tripper, congratulations on the bragggot honey based alcoholic beverage, if that's you in 1st. I suggest you start accumulating brownie points and planning a road trip for next year. It's easier to defend your title if you're there to keep an eye on the Chief Steward, he's a very dodgy bloke. They don't call it grafton corruption for nuffink.

 

[Grainer]

I thought I was the only one to brew a braggot !

 

[Lincoln2]

Sorry Mate, I got a bit confused, by the end of the evening things were a bit hazy. Is that you with the other HC in the mead category?

You might have to start thinking about travelling north next year also. If you do come up, I'll provide some education about Grafton beforehand so you can avoid culture shock.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You might have to start thinking about travelling north next year also. If you do come up, I'll provide some education about Grafton beforehand so you can avoid culture shock.

And thats coming from a Kyogle bloke..... h34r:

 

[Grainer]

Yes it was me.. i entered the 4 shades braggot stout

 

[Dae Tripper]

Probably see you there next year Lincoln! I did the other normal mead

 

[Dae Tripper]

Has anyone received, through the post tasting sheets or ribbons?