Wedding Mead

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Holgar

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Hi All,
I'm getting married this summer and was looking to make a 5 gallon batch of mead for the occasion... with a twist. I want to bottle it and age it for years to come having a bottle on our anniversary every year. Corny but great at the same time (hoping that marriage and mead get better with every year). I figure half liter bottles will give me 35ish bottles total.

Does anyone have suggestions on a simple recipe (nothing too abstract so that the lady will like it as well)? Also, should I age this in bottle with a cork, oxygen reducing caps, batch age in 5gal carboy with/without airlock, etc? Ideally I would like to bottle by the first year (also because there may be a move in there somewhere). Oak spirals, other additions? The other thought was still vs. sparkling... but I'm leaning away from sparkling as I don't want tiny bombs attempting sparkling for the first time.

Please let me know if I've missed anything!
 
not giving your self very much time for a mead. math is on with the bottles, or close enuff. ive never corked, but id say do a cap and wax dip. make it fancy since its your wedding and all.

i have never made a mead, but drinking wise, i like a no frills stawberry mead. hope it all works out for ya. its a great idea.
 
I'd have thought given the time frame, one of the few recipes that should be good by then is JAO/JAOM.

Plus for choice of guests also do a "Joes quick pyment"...
 
You are correct. I'm looking to age this mead, having a bottle a year for the next 30 (however many bottles I get out of 5 gal) years.

So things I need to nail down:
-recipe (with yeast type)
-racking, crashing, etc
-bulk aging vs bottle aging
-oaking?
-bottle type (cork or cap)
-other missing considerations?
 
You are correct. I'm looking to age this mead, having a bottle a year for the next 30 (however many bottles I get out of 5 gal) years.

So things I need to nail down:
-recipe (with yeast type)
-racking, crashing, etc
-bulk aging vs bottle aging
-oaking?
-bottle type (cork or cap)
-other missing considerations?

Well, I think you would want to consider what type of mead you would like. Fruit, spice, with grapes incorporated, basic honey and water, etc?

A fruit mead is a safe bet for bottling within the year, plus you should be able to enjoy a bottle on your first anniversary. I have a semisweet red raspberry mead which has consistently been ready to consume seven months from the start, and it ages quite well.

Congrats on the upcoming wedding. I hope you plan to include your future spouse in the making of this mead, as I think it would have even more meaning.
 
Given your questions, I'm assuming this is your first mead. With that in mind, I'd keep it very simple, and just do a straight up no frills mead: 15-18 pounds of honey in a 5 gallon batch. Follow guidance in the stickied thread above on staggered nutrient additions, and bulk age for the next 12 months. That will allow you to bottle about six months before your first anniversary. Also, given the desire to have the bottles age for literally decades, I'd advocate making it sparkling and corking the bottles, as still mead in capped bottles may not survive such a long period of aging. Also remember to store the bottles appropriately for aging, so that you don't skunk them. Good luck and congrats.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

This will be my third 5gal batch of mead (I have a couple 1gal batches under my belt as well). I've so far made the mistake of fermenting too hot and thus getting fusels... And have a great batch in the secondary now. I'm going to follow the forum suggested to the T regarding staying at the lower range of yeast temps, etc.

The idea of a sparkling mead sounds great but only have experience capping still mead (half liter uniform bottles for free from work...) and none with priming and corking.

In planning out the secondary and racking for aging to bulk (for 6-12 months), does anyone suggest oak spirals? There is a blackberry mead on YouTube where he uses them.
 
Since you haven't used oak spirals before, not sure I'd recommend experimenting with them on a brew of this importance. Even though you haven't corked before, I'd recommend doing it anyways, or your mead may not last the years you want it to.
 
In regard to oak, you may want to consider making an oak extract (oak plus high proof pure grain) and do a taste trial with the finished product and simply add the extract then. It is very controlled, and very simple. Then you can dabble with oak spirals in future batches.

But in regard to the wedding mead itself, do you know if you want a dry mead? If not, what level of off-dry are you seeking? That decision alone will help as others mull over their response(s).
 
I'm thinking of sticking to the dry side with the mead (we prefer dry). The big thing here is the tradition of having a celebratory drink every year - so the most reliable recipe to accomplish that is what to go for.
 
Firstly, I'd like to say that this isn't corny at all. :D

I think your best bet would be just a simple mead made out of your favorite honey. Schramm's book has a dry show mead in it, 10lbs honey, water up to 5 gallons, yeast, done. Of course, following the staggered nutrient additions in the sticky.

For the honey, my favorites are Tupelo and Blackberry. On Amazon, there's a honey called "Blackberry Twist" and it tastes like roasted marshmallows... seriously some of the best honey I've ever encountered. I have 3 gallons of a medium dry mead made out of that aging away right now.

If you really want to go nuts and don't mind the added cost, Fireweed honey is also very interesting. It has some very subtle and almost elusive spicy notes at the end. I've never made mead out of this, but I'd imagine it would be very well suited for an aged dry variety.
 
My suggestion is to make a still mead. You like it on the dry side so for flavor considerations I would sugest a fig mead, maybe paired with a fruit such as peach or orange. Possible a little spice, such as cinnamon or allspice. Go very light on the spices, for a 5 gal batch, I would only do 1 stick of cinnamon about 6 inches long. And if you do allspice possibly only a few buttons. You don't need much. But for flavor profile, keep it light. Keep the oaking very light, I would use lightly toasted cubes 1 oz for 3 weeks at most.

Caps or Corks, it doesn't matter too much. But if you want to go fancy: Cork with wax and make an impression on the wax on the top like a signet ring that suits you both. Some like to put a ribbon under the wax for ease of removal and it looks fancy too.

Matrix
 
I would go with a solid traditional mead, no fruits and other stuff in it. Make it ASAP, and at least 5.5-6 gallons (so you can bottle at least 5-5.5 gallons). Make it stronger too. 16-21% would be my aim. :D Once it's cleared well, you can add oak cubes to it. I used about 1.5oz of medium toast Hungarian cubes in 3 gallons of mead. I wish I had used more. I let them sit for 4-6 weeks before bottling the batch up. I plan on using oak in another batch (very soon) that needs some help. This time I'm using a piece from a bourbon barrel (cut into a 1"x1"x4" piece). The mead was made over a year ago, and I'll drop the wood into it for 4-8 weeks.

Since you have almost 1-1/2 years before your first anniversary, you have a decent amount of time to let the batch age both in bulk and bottle. Plan to bottle it at least a few weeks (or month) before your anniversary, then open a bottle after dinner.
 
You could always wait till your wedding and you and your wife make it to Gethsemane this way it has a special meaning to both of you...BTW you can make a still cider in about 2 months for your reception ...just a thot
 
Decided to go with a dry show mead. 12lbs clover honey, 71b-1122 yeast. Rack in 2weeks. Temp where the mead is will stay in the 64 degree range.

After about 30 hours, no bubbles yet. I'm afraid the yeast packets I had from the fall are no good... If nothing in the next 24 ill repitch with new yeast.
 
just a thought. But from my readings (I have not been doing this 20 years), buy good corks. Not all corks last 20 years. The wax sounds like a nice touch as well.
 
So the fermentation never took off, repitched and still nothing. Took more temp readings and realized it dropped to 57. Think I can save it by raising the temp?

I built an insulated fermentation chamber that will fit two 5-6 gal buckets/carboys. Best excuse for building it! Now waiting on stc-1000
 
Holgar said:
So the fermentation never took off, repitched and still nothing. Took more temp readings and realized it dropped to 57. Think I can save it by raising the temp?

I built an insulated fermentation chamber that will fit two 5-6 gal buckets/carboys. Best excuse for building it! Now waiting on stc-1000

If you raise the temp to the mid 60's it will probably take off. Put it in a closet or cabinet and check it after a day.
 
The yeast is 71b-1122. I rehydrated in the original pitch. Second time I just sprinkled it on top but the temp was already too low. I have the stc-1000 on the way and a reptile rope heater for heat source. Will be a good ferm chamber for 10 gallons at a time.
 
Using the newly built chamber to get the temp up to 65/66 degrees and fermentation took off like a bat out of hell!

Ill let it go for about two weeks and rack to secondary. Since I started relatively low OG, I wonder if I should back sweeten a little or just prime with honey before bottling?
 
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