Noob Mead Makers Wanted - Apply Within

[chappo1970]

Ok guys there is obviously some interest brewing on the subject of Mead and in making a tipple or two. Because I think there are some of us that are very new to the Mead game I thought we could all use this thread as a bit of a meet, greet, sharing experiences, share recipes, others might be interested in and so on thread for Noobs to Mead brewing. So I propose a little AHB group effort and some collective knowledge to brew us some tasty Mead.

I plan to make a brew in the next week or two probably something simple to start and then who knows?

Anyway if you want to be involved and or contribute in anyway then sign on here. ALL WELCOME!

 

[brettprevans]

Chappo beat me to it!!

All things mead, meth, or metheglin. all the same stuff. fermented honey!

"... Valhall's blushing maids round-proffer the Mead-Horns, rich with foam of gold, . . ."
Frithiof's Saga

I suggest that other true styles have a seperate thread also: such as braggot (mead made with malt and honey). But happy to have all input from these styles in here also.

GotMead Website
There's some discussion on mead in this thread
Here's the results page from a search of the term 'mead' as at 26 Feb 2009.
Recipe from a QLD? Braggot Brewday
Joe mattioli"s foolproof ancient orange, clove and cinnamon mead
Info on the 1st Vic Honey Bulkbuy (as far as I know)

 

[chappo1970]

Cheers CM2

"... Valhall's blushing maids round-proffer the Mead-Horns, rich with foam of gold, . . ."
Frithiof's Saga Bwahahahaha! :lol: F'in brilliant!

 

[Ronin]

Ok guys there is obviously some interest brewing on the subject of Mead and in making a tipple or two. Because I think there are some of us that are very new to the Mead game I thought we could all use this thread as a bit of a meet, greet, sharing experiences, share recipes other might be interested in and so on thread for Noobs to Mead brewing. So I propose a little AHB group effort and some collective knowledge to brew us some tasty Mead.

I plan to make a brew in the next week or two probably something simple to start and then who knows?

Anyway if you want to be involved and or contribute in anyway then sign on here. ALL WELCOME!

I've emailed Grain and Grape about ordering in the Wyeast mead yeasts. I'll let people know their reply if you're interested.

Chappo I'm sure you won't have a problem with yeasts being in Queensland, CB seems to stock them all the time. I guess I can get them from there as a last resort, but I'm always a bit iffy about the long postage.

I know you can do it with ale yeasts, I've thought maybe 1272 would be fine. But if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it properly.

James

 

[chappo1970]

Chappo I'm sure you won't have a problem with yeasts being in Queensland, CB seems to stock them all the time. I guess I can get them from there as a last resort, but I'm always a bit iffy about the long postage.

I know you can do it with ale yeasts, I've thought maybe 1272 would be fine. But if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it properly.

James

Yep CB's can sort me out with yeast I am sure. h34r: The problem is I will go in there for yeast and come out with an 80lt kettle (they are evil I tells ya, EVIL!)

I agree with the 1272 BTW. I was just reading up on that when your post popped up. Anyone had experience with 1272 and mead?

 

[fraser_john]

but I'm always a bit iffy about the long postage.

James,

I am out at Drysdale and have never had a dud yeast from Ross yet! I'll probably be getting the dry-mead from hime once we figure out the bulk buy.

John

 

[brettprevans]

ok here's My first recipe idea for a mead. taking suggestions.

Melanie Mead
4L honey diluted to 17L
3L water for steeping of grain
300g choc grain
50g black patent.
200g Melanoidin malt
5 cinanmon quills in the boil.
10 cloves in the boil.

 

[Ronin]

James,

I am out at Drysdale and have never had a dud yeast from Ross yet! I'll probably be getting the dry-mead from hime once we figure out the bulk buy.

John

I've considered getting yeast from Ross, Grain and Grape a bit too far and being open only sat morning is a pain sometimes. Good to know its not a problem from queensland,

Thanks,

James

 

[chappo1970]

CM2 I loved the sound of that recipe yesterday. :icon_drool2:

:lol: My recipe is well at..... 5kg of honey?????

I've seen to much and as usual going in 10 different directions...

 

[Wolfy]

I have my first mead already in the fridge, was a very simple 'foolproof' recipe.
However, after listing to Ken Schramm on Jamil's show, future attempts should actually be much easier and hopefully better.
Ken's book looks like a very useful reference, since while I've found many Mead/Melomel recipes online there is not too much around on the theory/process/practice/reason behind it all.

In general (at least until I get everything right) I'll be making mead in 5l glass carboys, but if they only take 21-28 days to ferment, the process will be very different to the 3-12 months that I'd been told about before. Smaller more frequent batches should allow me to experiment more and also provide for a consistent stock for aging, since it seems they should improve well with age.

The question I have for now, is what/where for yeast nutrient, I notice that while both G&G and Craftbrewer have some listed, I'm not sure they match what is mentioned on the above MP3-show.

 

[chappo1970]

...while I've found many Mead/Melomel recipes online there is not too much around on the theory/process/practice/reason behind it all.

Exactly what I found too, Hence this thread. Hopefully we will have others contribute that can shead some better light.

In general (at least until I get everything right) I'll be making mead in 5l glass carboys, but if they only take 21-28 days to ferment, the process will be very different to the 3-12 months that I'd been told about before. Smaller more frequent batches should allow me to experiment more and also provide for a consistent stock for aging, since it seems they should improve well with age.

The question I have for now, is what/where for yeast nutrient, I notice that while both G&G and Craftbrewer have some listed, I'm not sure they match what is mentioned on the above MP3-show.

Maybe ask them direct? I will probably see Ross tonight at the BABBS meeting, might ask him then?

 

[Bribie G]

As mentioned on another thread I'm doing a braggot on Wednesday with around 3kg of honey and 2.2 kg Maris Otter / Carared for a 24 L batch.
I wonder if this amount of malt would provide enough nutrients for the yeast (US - 05 or Nottingham, I have both) or should I pop in some yeast nutrient as well?

 

[Ronin]

I found this thread interesting

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=9714

Sounds like Airgead did some experimenting with mead a few years ago. I'd be interested in how they turned out, maybe he'll let us know?

 

[newguy]

The question I have for now, is what/where for yeast nutrient, I notice that while both G&G and Craftbrewer have some listed, I'm not sure they match what is mentioned on the above MP3-show.

Pretty much all homebrewers I'm aware of use yeast nutrient and yeast energiser. Yeast nutrient basically contains the building blocks of yeast cells. It's a beige powder. Yeast energiser is usually the name given to diammonium phosphate (DAP) around here. It's a white substance that looks like salt and tends to form loose clumps, kind of like salt that's slightly damp.

Add both substances in a 80/20 to 50/50 mix, nutrient to energiser. Kurt Stock, the AHA's meadmaker of the year (I think he earned that title more than once actually) has recommended that you add your nutrients a little at a time. His recommendation was to split the total that you'd normally add to the must before pitching into 8 equal amounts. The first gets added to the must, with the next addition 12 hours later, and the next another 12 hours later, and so on until you've added all the nutrients. I did this with my first mead, which was done in about 3 months. The one I have on the go now (only my 2nd) had all the nutrients added to the must only as I made it a day before I left on vacation for a week. That was about 2 months ago and it's pretty much done. It isn't crystal clear yet, but it is clearing fast.

 

[brendo]

what is the typical ratio for honey to water for making a mead?

I am interested in making a dry mead, which will probably get carbonated at some stage - swmbo loves dry champagne, so I reckon I would be the ants pants if I could make her some home made 'bubbles'.

Brendo

 

[Ronin]

The one I have on the go now (only my 2nd) had all the nutrients added to the must only as I made it a day before I left on vacation for a week. That was about 2 months ago and it's pretty much done. It isn't crystal clear yet, but it is clearing fast.

So does that mean you don't think it's necessary to add the nutrient incrementally, or is it more a flavour thing than a fermentation rate?

 

[newguy]

what is the typical ratio for honey to water for making a mead?

I am interested in making a dry mead, which will probably get carbonated at some stage - swmbo loves dry champagne, so I reckon I would be the ants pants if I could make her some home made 'bubbles'.

I've had meads that were about 6% abv all the way up to approx 15%. It's up to you how much you dilute the honey. If you're after a dry mead, use champagne yeast or some other high alcohol tolerant variety.

The way I make mine is to start by putting the pail of honey in a sink full of hot water to loosen it (my honey comes solid, not runny). Once you can get the lump of honey to turn inside the pail, plop it into a pot. Then fill the pail with hot water, swirl, and dump into the pot. Repeat until no more honey sticks to the pail. Heat the mixture to dissolve the honey, then either add cold water to hit whatever volume you want to end up with or hot water & continue heating to pasteurisation temps. Then it's as simple as dump into fermenter & pitch yeast. It will ferment faster if you add a lot of yeast nutrient/energiser (about 5 tsp total mixture for 20l) and oxygenate as well.

 

[brendo]

I've had meads that were about 6% abv all the way up to approx 15%. It's up to you how much you dilute the honey. If you're after a dry mead, use champagne yeast or some other high alcohol tolerant variety.

The way I make mine is to start by putting the pail of honey in a sink full of hot water to loosen it (my honey comes solid, not runny). Once you can get the lump of honey to turn inside the pail, plop it into a pot. Then fill the pail with hot water, swirl, and dump into the pot. Repeat until no more honey sticks to the pail. Heat the mixture to dissolve the honey, then either add cold water to hit whatever volume you want to end up with or hot water & continue heating to pasteurisation temps. Then it's as simple as dump into fermenter & pitch yeast. It will ferment faster if you add a lot of yeast nutrient/energiser (about 5 tsp total mixture for 20l) and oxygenate as well.

Thanks newguy...

 

[brettprevans]

re aeration. for all you Vic brewers, check here. Im getting one of these mainly for my mead b/c or the massive aeration is needs. I'll now use it on my beers as well but lets be honest, with a normal beer a mash paddle or kitchen stainless spoon is easy enough.

 

[newguy]

So does that mean you don't think it's necessary to add the nutrient incrementally, or is it more a flavour thing than a fermentation rate?

I actually wanted to add it incrementally again, but I just wasn't able to because of the vacation. 2 months later, and it seems I was worried over nothing as it's almost done anyway. It had an OG of 1.090 and was down to 1.016 2 weeks ago. Flavour-wise, it's every bit as fantastic as the first one I made. However, the first's OG was 1.120 and it finished at 1.010. I'm not sure I'm going to get that much attenuation with this batch, and I'm okay with that. The current batch is quite sweet, and I like a sweet mead. The first batch was medium-sweet at best.