Anniversary Mead

mnadamn · 11-05-2011, 01:55 AM

Hey everyone, I am getting married in a few weeks and have a line on a good amount of honey (up to 60lbs of orange blossom). I am thinking about making a 12 gal batch of mead and pitching yeast on my big day. I was wondering if anyone out there can think of any good recipies that will not only be drinkable in a year but great after 50. I would love nothing more than to celibrate our anniversary with a bottle of mead that was made on our wedding day.

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

cyberwollf · 11-05-2011, 02:06 AM

I did this for my sister. I took a portion of a batch and bottled a six pack off. one for the wedding day and up to their 5th anniversary. Made nice labels with the date of each anniversary on them and dipped the tops in wax to make them look cool.

**triangulum33** · 11-05-2011, 02:39 AM

Great idea!

Maltyman · 11-05-2011, 04:20 AM

I am not sure if it is okay to mention another forum bot Oskaar and company at gotmead.com is a great resource for helping you work through a special recipe. I have used that site for years to tweak recipes and learn.

If you just want a great recipe- I made the following at the request of a friend for their wedding. I also entered a couple bottles into a regional brewing competition and earned a medal.

Kurt and Cathy's Strawberry/Banana Mead. It is good in a year and gets even better with time (not 50 years but I have one that is around 5 years old and is still very good). I made mine sparkeling using a Keg.

http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/MeadDay2006

mnadamn · 11-05-2011, 01:43 PM

Thanks for the tip,I will have to check it out!

**TimothyChurch** · 11-05-2011, 07:13 PM

I know that there is a recipe for a 21 year mead that one of the members makes for his grandchildren. Personally I would say to stick with a basic mead. The things that you can do with a bottle of plain mead is staggering. For instance if you are wanting a certain fruit taste I enjoy getting fresh fruit and muddling it up a little in my decanter and then pouring the mead over it and let it sit in the fridge for and hour or two. Plus these mulled mead or enjoying it as is. Just my $0.02

mnadamn · 11-08-2011, 02:43 AM

I will be honest; this will be my first Mead. Going for a sweet - semi sweat mead here is what I am thinking as of this point...

Going for a sweet - semi sweat mead
40 lbs of orange blossom honey
water to make 12 gal (roughly 8 gal)
Oxygenate
Add nutrient in parts

Primary in 2 carboys for 2 months
Secondary for 3 months
tertiary for 6 months
Bottle and seal 1 month - 50 years

some questions I have are:
1. Should I add honey at each racking to keep the yeast alive?

2. What should I use to seal? Wax or Latex?

3. Should I use real cork or synthetic?

4. What would a good nutrient regiment be?

5. What would be good yeast to use to achieve the desired age, sweetness, and still maintain flavor?

cyberwollf · 11-08-2011, 04:41 AM

My first and only mead (recently) I just added all the nutrients, honey, and whitelabs sweat mead yeast at once. I forgot about it for 6 months then bottled. Its great. If you want a sweet mead AND carbonated. You need to think through which method will get you there.

mnadamn · 11-08-2011, 05:00 AM

carb'd is not a concern for me, never really liked it as much. I guess when I was talking about keeping the yeast going, my main concern was to help with the ageing process. To allow the yeast to clean up after itself.

cyberwollf · 11-08-2011, 12:09 PM

How high abv are you going for? The whitelabs sweet mead yeast I used ended pretty early to keep it sweet. But it tastes fine with "set it and forget it". How hard you plan to push the yeast abv wise will determine how much you need to care for them