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AnonyBrew

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Going to brew my 1st mead sometime this summer. I already have the honey & just need a basic mead recipe that people swear by for my 1st batch. I plan on about a one year turnaround before drinking.

The honey I have is a light style from a local source in Montana.
 
Tusch said:
Do you want it sweet or dry. Do you want fruit? Do you want spices?

Sorry to answer a question with a question...

Is it possible to have a balance between sweet & dry? I guess I'd lean more towards the dry side.

Fruit? Spices? Are these necessary? Without them is Mead just a boring drink? Probably not interested in fruit, but spices maybe....for my 1st ever batch would spices be recommended?
 
Sorry, I didn't mean those were you're only options.

You can have very dry, dry, semi-sweet, sweet, dessert sweet etc. You can have a traditional mead, just honey, water, yeast. Or you can have additives, like fruits, juices, spices etc.

A simple mead would be 2-3 lbs of honey per gallon of water. Yeast, you can use almost any kind, but your desired sweetness level should be considered when you pick a yeast strain. You can get a good idea if you like mead from a simple recipe like this. But the best part (or is it the reason for it?) of home brewing is experimentation. Make a simple basic mead, then just keep changing it with each batch so you find new things you like.

Enjoy the home brew obsession!
 
Yeah, that's what I'm looking for...something standard & middle of the road for my 1st ever batch. Nothing too special. However, I would prefer for it not to be too plain & boring. Just something to give me that "mead experience".
 
homebrewer_99 said:
If you like the ingredients I highly recommend the Barkshack Ginger Mead in Papazian's TCJOHB. ;)

I will look that one up when my book arrives from Amazon...I ordered it a couple days ago.

Thanks.
 
I'd like to do a middle of the road one too, just to get my feet wet. I think though I would probably like to do something sweet, with a maple syrup flavor to it. Any thoughts?
 
If you like the ingredients I highly recommend the Barkshack Ginger Mead in Papazian's TCJOHB. ;)

I just made my second batch of this yesterday w/blueberries. It was bubbling 4 hours after pitching yeast (happy yeasties).

The first batch I made was 15 years ago (w/grapes) and my brother just drank the last bottle last fall-- I heard it was awesome, but I wasn't around for the occasion :mad:

This is an excellent, very dry honey wine with an alcohol level a little lower than a more traditional recipe (I'm guessing about 8% abv).
 
I'm also thinking about a mead; I'll have to look in my Papazian but I'm thinking a traditional honey + water + yeast + time deal. I've been meaning to head to the farmer's market, because I know there are honey sellers there.

The type of honey makes a serious difference, right? Are there any that are particularly good or bad?
 
I'm also thinking about a mead; I'll have to look in my Papazian but I'm thinking a traditional honey + water + yeast + time deal. I've been meaning to head to the farmer's market, because I know there are honey sellers there.

The type of honey makes a serious difference, right? Are there any that are particularly good or bad?

Buffalo area, right? Wegman's has some really good honey. I believe it's $12 for a 5# container of the Wegman's brand which is a pretty good price.
 
Yeah, thanks! Wegmans has everything. I think I might see if the people at the Bidwell farmer's market have anything this week (and if so, how expensive it is). If not, get some at Wegmans and whip up something this Sunday.
 
I have made two 1 gallon recipes for mead, but I havnt had the chance to drink them.
about 6 months ago I made a 1 gal of the Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit Mead (from Papazian) hopefully in a few months I can bottle it.

But fearing that I would like mead and being out of cacuts fruit, I made a traditional Sack mead 1 gallon. It has been fermenting for about 4 months or so.

With any luck they will turn out pretty well, it just sucks having to wait forever
 
Yeah, thanks! Wegmans has everything. I think I might see if the people at the Bidwell farmer's market have anything this week (and if so, how expensive it is). If not, get some at Wegmans and whip up something this Sunday.

Let me know how it turns out. I'm making up a mead this weekend too. We should swap a bottle or two later.
 
Definitely! Are you in NAH or the Sultans?

I think I'm going to do Ed's hefe and maybe a cider too... it'll be a big weekend :)

And before I off track this too much, I think I'm going to try the standard '~14 lbs of honey, some water, and yeast,' or whatever the first recipe in TCJOHB is. Papazian recommends champagne or wine yeast, but aren't there dedicated mead yeasts? I'll ask at my LHBS because two of the people working there were in the top three at the recent competition.
 
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