My FIL came into a bunch of honey and was asking me for mead recipes. Neither him or I have made mead before I was looking for suggestions. He says he has enough to make sweet and a dry.
Boil ever so lightly, but skim the protein/bee parts, etc., off the top. when that's all gone you're ready to move your wort to a primary.
Top off to 5 gals and you'll have a killer mead.
Well, that's true, one could always pastuerize the honey, but that usually comes with a price tag called a hangover. Drinking a Prickly Pear Cactus Mead as I'm typing...I would hate to differ with a man that has over 100 bottles of mead in his cellar, as mine is limited to only a few batches and LOTS of carboys bulk aging...But I would not boil honey. Even for cooking the honey people recommend that if the water is too hot for your hand, it's too hot for their honey.
I will experiment with a side by side comparison as soon as possible. 1 boiled lightly, 1 made with hot tap water.
When you no-boil do the proteins come to the top for skimming? Color me curious.
Drinking a Prickly Pear Cactus Mead as I'm typing...
How much honey do you have?
- GL63
I think that you may be on-to a question I haven't been able to answer....When you no-boil do the proteins come to the top for skimming? Color me curious.
It could be the cause of the problem, I don't know for sure since I've always boiled my honey. Why not give it a try next time?I think that you may be on-to a question I haven't been able to answer....
If you boil and skim, this could be why your Leap Year Mead is clear, and mine is just starting to clear....4 months later...and a LONG way from done.
Another mead I have is beginning to get some nasty on top...I was wondering what the heck...but it's what comes out for you when you boil.
Do you also use potassium sorbate to retard further fermentation when backsweetening? if you don't then what do you use to keep it from fermenting in the bottle?As was said previously, there are many, many ways to make mead. Boiling (lightly or otherwise) seems to have been the preferred method for a long time but in the past several years it's been losing favor in the meadmaking community due to the fact that you lose a lot of flavor and aroma.
The easiest thing for you to do with three gallons of mead would be to make two five gallon batches. You don't need to use sweet mead yeast to make a sweet mead. The best way to get a sweet mead is to ferment to dryness and backsweeten to your preferred level of sweetness. Check out the Lalvin yeast chart to get an idea of a yeast suitable for the flavor profile you want, nutrient needs, and fermentation temperature. I like EC1118, K1V1116, and D-47. The first two are fast fermenting with a wide fermentation temperature while all three have relatively low nutrient requirements.
For a dry mead, why not add a few spices in the secondary? You could try vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves in different combinations to make a delightful spicy mead.
Fruit and fruit juices (juice is probably best for a first mead) make great tasting sweeter meads. Try fruit in a straining bag or plain juice in the primary. To backsweeten, I usually add one pint of honey and a half can of frozen fruit concentrate per 5-gallon batch of melomel but to each his - or her - own.
Just remember that your dry mead will need at least a year before drinking while your sweet mead can likely begun to be enjoyed after 4-6 months.
Enter your email address to join: