Making mead

[jkhlt1210]

G'day guys I'm looking for some info on brewing mead. Something nice and simple to start with would be good. Been doing kits for a while now looking to step up to extract. But I want to make a mead. Hope you got some ideas

 

[of mice and gods]

check out JAO in the non-beer brewing section bro.

 

[of mice and gods]

because i'm feeling charitable, here's the direct link - http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/32762-jao-the-ultimate-beginners-mead-recipe/

 

[jkhlt1210]

Haha thankyou very much for your charity!! Much appreciated!

 

[carpedaym]

If you are the podcast-listening type, there's some decent information in some of the older BasicBrewing podcasts.

Probably read this too: http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?Itemid=14&id=108&option=com_content&task=blogcategory
It's a really good level of detail for the beginner.

I've only done 1 split batch which I pitched in the middle of last year. A 'short' strawberry mead (8%) that turned out pretty tasty; the JAO which was linked above and was not too shabby either; and a traditional dry mead, which has a real mustiness to it which I'm hoping will mellow out.

I used US-05 with all of them because I was too lazy/cheap to get a wine yeast. I've read reports of it turning out good results, but I'll get a proper wine yeast next time.

 

[Deep End]

Or you could give my NAA thread a read, that's as simple as JAO, but a little different.

 

[HBHB]

Treat it more like a wine than a beer. Honey is lacking nutrients suited to healthy yeast.

Whip it good, use a decent wine nutrient like he wyeast wine one at pitching and then feed it at about day 4 again.

When it comes to honey, if you're looking for flavour, don't pasteurise.

If doing a melomel with fruit, use sulphite and treat it like a wine.

There's some good info out on the wider web on these topics. Find a reliable one and use it to good effect. I think it's morebeer does a good starters guide to meads.

Play and enjoy.

Martin

 

[Maeldric]

Another resource is www.basicbrewing.com go through their video archive. Those guys love their mead and have done a lot of experiments with some nice outcomes in there.

 

[boonchu]

or check out Ken Schramns The Complete MeadMaker.

has everything you need to know and recipes

 

[Mardoo]

There are some great mead threads on here. You can also try PM'ing the folks who post in them. Member Airgead is a great resource and very helpful.

Ken Schramm's mead podcast on The Jamil Show is great with very detailed process information.

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/Mead-The-Jamil-Show-12-01-08

Also a big second for GotMead.com. Great mead-only forum.

 

[carpedaym]

Bit late, but just found this site:

http://www.meadmadecomplicated.org/mead_making/

Really concise but seems to touch on everything. Sortof a good checklist for beginners to make sure they've got everything covered.

OP, you put down a mead yet?