10 lbs Honey = how many gal. of Mead? - Page 2

homebrewer_99 · 02-08-2008, 11:43 PM

All the above answers are beating around the bush and not exactly correct!

The real answer is: How many gallons of honey you add to water to make mead is relative to how strong you want to make it.

I've made 5 gals of mead with only 1/2 gal of honey (6 lbs) as well as used a whole gallon (12 lbs). Both tasted differnent and had different alcohol levels that's all.

**Revvy** · 02-08-2008, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homebrewer_99

All the above answers are beating around the bush and not exactly correct!

The real answer is: How many gallons of honey you add to water to make mead is relative to how strong you want to make it.

I've made 5 gals of mead with only 1/2 gal of honey (6 lbs) as well as used a whole gallon (12 lbs). Both tasted differnent and had different alcohol levels that's all.

I was thinking of using the 10 gallons of honey to make 4 gallons of mead...What do you think? (My 5 gallon carboy will be open this weekend so I figured I'd use that leaving headspace- unless I don't have to worry about a blowoff with mead...then I guess I could go with 5 gallons.)

Thanks HB_99

shunoshi · 02-08-2008, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

I was thinking of using the 10 gallons of honey to make 4 gallons of mead...What do you think? (My 5 gallon carboy will be open this weekend so I figured I'd use that leaving headspace- unless I don't have to worry about a blowoff with mead...then I guess I could go with 5 gallons.)

Thanks HB_99

You could do that or, as flowerysong mentioned, you could make a cyser and easily use up the remaining space as well as bring more sugar and an interesting flavor to the party.

**Revvy** · 02-09-2008, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shunoshi

You could do that or, as flowerysong mentioned, you could make a cyser and easily use up the remaining space as well as bring more sugar and an interesting flavor to the party.

I'll take a look at cysers then...But I'm cash strapped at the moment and only want to use what I've got lying around the house...

I know I have some lactose in the house, some extra corn sugar, and a pouch of maltodextrin leftover from my mr beer days, plus the usual cooking ingredients...raisins, brown sugar, maybe even some dried apricots.I know I have some dried figs for sure...

Anything I could do with any of those ingredients and the honey?

Oh, is headspace an issue with meads? I know it's not with Apfelweins.

homebrewer_99 · 02-09-2008, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

I was thinking of using the 10 gallons of honey to make 4 gallons of mead...What do you think? (My 5 gallon carboy will be open this weekend so I figured I'd use that leaving headspace- unless I don't have to worry about a blowoff with mead...then I guess I could go with 5 gallons.)

Thanks HB_99

Right, there's no need for a blow off tube with a mead. You can make 5 or 6 gals if you wnat. The only difference would be the starting gravity. The more water you add the lower the potential alcohol percentage of the final brew.

Many people forget that the honey is going to take up volume. Adding 1 gal of honey to 4 gals of water will equal 5 gals.

There is no need to boil your honey either. I would boil 1 gal of water then add you honey to it and let steep for 15 mins. Cool the must with some of your top off water and rack to your carboy and top off to 5 gals.

That's all you need to do for a traditional (non-flavored) mead.

If you want a sweet tasting mead use a Sweet Mead yeast, champagne yeast for a dry mead.

FatDuc · 02-09-2008, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

I was thinking of using the 10 gallons of honey to make 4 gallons of mead...What do you think? (My 5 gallon carboy will be open this weekend so I figured I'd use that leaving headspace- unless I don't have to worry about a blowoff with mead...then I guess I could go with 5 gallons.)

Thanks HB_99

That's about what I did. I got 15lbs at Costco. I warmed it enough to pour easily, and dumped it in the carboy, and topped off with enough water to get to roughly the 5.5gal point. My OG was 1.113. I used a couple teaspoons of LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient, which you'll need as honey doesn't have some of the stuff yeast needs, and I pitched a packet of Lalvin D-47, rehydrated. Check out GotMead for more info. If you don't mind splitting up your honey and trying a couple different batches there's always JOAM, or Malkore's mead from this forum.

**Revvy** · 02-09-2008, 12:46 AM

Has anyone heard of Bunratty Meade? It's an Irish mead drink made with white wine? MY GF is Irish and is reading me something on the phone about it...

homebrewer_99 · 02-10-2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

Has anyone heard of Bunratty Meade? It's an Irish mead drink made with white wine? MY GF is Irish and is reading me something on the phone about it...

Talk about timing...I just had a bottle last week while on travel...upstate NY...$17.99...a bit expensive for a tall wine bottle size.

IMO, it's not really mead. The label says it's white wine and honey added, not mead with white wine added. It's closer to a mead subgroup called Pyment since it has grape juice (wine) in it.

Overall it tasted good. It had a nice cloying honey flavor to it and easy to drink. So I would recommend it for a first time mead drinker. There's also another mead that was available that was from Cali, but I didn't buy it.

I drank the whole bottle in one sitting in my hotel room. I could not drink that much mead at home...I would have been totally wasted by then.

My wife and I stayed at a B&B about 1/2 mile from Bunratty Castle a couple of years ago. They have an old village (tourist trap to some) on the site and we spent the whole day on the grounds. It's a place I would recommend for visitors.