Recent content by chef201atc

Thanks for the replies guys. As for having tried it before, I have. I have made one 1-gallon batch. It was a touch sweet, but then I like sweet meads. The only issue I had with it was the pithiness that some people mention that is caused by the white part of the orange rind. The reason I...

I apologize in advance if this question has already been asked in this thread, but I didn’t have time to go back and read through 30+ pages. I’m curious about scaling up the recipe. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 lbs of honey for a gallon batch. If I want to make 5 gallons, it’s...

I have never backsweetened any meads that I have made - someone else will have to weigh in on that, I just know that 3 - 4 months is way to early for a mead to be ready to drink.

If you made this in Nov it is 3 - 4 months old - way too young yet, what it needs is time.

Does putting brewed tea in a mead during fermentation have an affect on the taste of the finished product?

As I was reading through this thread, that is exactly what I was thinking. Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew is a blend of Sam Calagione's take on Te'j and an impy stout that they brewed. It was featured on the brewmaster's show of the same name and was brewed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of...

Walker Honey in Rogers, TX (close to Temple, which isn't too far from Austin) has Huajillo. A bit spendy at $42.00 a gallon, but at least they have it and they're pretty close to you.

You can use a fridge, but you're going to need a temp controller. You can get one from most online homebrewing supply shops.

I don't really have anything to add to the thread regarding the original question. But I do have a question of my own. I often see acid blend and tannins as part of recipes, but I'm not sure what the purpose of these two additions is. What are they for? Sorry for the threadjack, but I...

I also live in Texas and haven't really found a great selection of mead anywhere. That said, we do get Redstone in Texas which has some OK meads - all on the sweet side, but still OK. They are distributed in Texas by Duff Beer and Wine from Houston. The website may have a number you can call...

See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/creative-head-space-solutions-163525/. But the short answer is, yes you can put water in, it will dilute it some, but not much. The best solution is to have a one gallon batch of basic mead that you can top it off with, that way you aren't...

What he meant by "top it off" is that you want as little head space in secondary as possible - try to make sure the level is up into the neck of the carboy, within three inches or so of the stopper. That way there is minimal chance for oxidation. This can be accomplished by added water to the...

I typically go to Boulder every year for the Boulder Strong Ale Fest. It looks like I need to change my annual pilgrimage to this event! Thanks for sharing the pics.

If you are adding spices to secondary, I would think there is high enough ABV not to have to worry about it.

Sweet! Thanks for the replies. Wildwest - nice avatar!