First batch advice...

Hi guys.

I'm ready to make mead for the first time, but like so many other newbies out there, I'm not quite sure which kind I want to make w/out tasting them. Unfortunately, the only one I've tried was a commercial "wine-like" still mead that basically tasted like a dry, honey flavored wine. It was ok, but I've always thought most mead was sparking and had more of a beer taste and appearence. I can't seem to find any more styles at the local liquor stores.
I have a full gallon of local honey (which I believe is enough to make 5 gallons of mead...is this correct or not?). I would like some input on whether or not it's a bad idea to make a basic recipe with the entire batch, and then at some point after the pasturization split it into 5 one gallon batches and try something different w/ each one...ie...melomel for one of them, adding malt to another, maybe spices to a third, etc. etc...and carbonating some as well. Five gallons of one style of mead that I don't care for seems like such a waste of time and $$. Is this a bad idea?
Does anyone have any recomendations for me of different styles and recipes that I could try? I know I'm probably going to hear the "you should make 5 seperate batches instead of splitting it" advice which is fine...I'm not trying to be lazy, but my time comes at a premium these days. Please site the specifec recipe or web page where you found them if you have any favorites.

Thanks in advance to all who help.

I would not say most mead is sparkling, and since mead usually does not contain malt, it won't be much like beer either.

braggot style meads will have malt and sometimes hops added. otherwise mead is more like a honey 'wine' than a honey 'beer'.

I think a gallon of honey is about 12 pounds...you could make 5 gallons with that but depending on your yeast, it could be very dry, or still sweet.

you can split it up, but you wouldn't want to add malt and hops at secondary, because that's gonna kick up fermentation again, putting you back into primary. or its possible your yeast won't be able to ferment any more, and you'll end up with an overly malty braggot.

spices and fruits are ok though.

however 1 gallon jugs kind of suck to siphon, you end up losing a fair amount of mead in my experience.

I have a couple 2 gallon glass carboys that have a normal mouth, so my auto-siphon will fit inside for easier racking.


Lastly I'll say that from reading on the net, there are more bad commercial meads out there (bad as in nasty or simply not 'true' to style) than good meads.

I'd say mead is more similar to wine than to beer. However, some places that call their stuff mead is actually wine that's been back sweetened with honey. I've only tried two myself and they were both true meads and of the sweet variety.

If you split up a big batch after fermentation, you may find that the flavor differences will be much more limited than if you had made several separate smaller batches. It also limits what you can add, unless your prepared to allow fermentation to begin anew. You mention pasturization, but you also say that you want some to be sparkling, which would mean that you'd have to add a bottling yeast back into those = more work and more variables to account for.

If malkore is right that a gallon = 12# (not sure about that), then you don't have quite enough honey to make a traditional 5 gal. mead recipe. You could, however, make one 5 gallon batch of braggot using 4-5# of honey and some malt, and still have enough left over to make one or two smaller batches of traditional mead.

First thing you need to decide is what kind of mead you want; sweet or dry. That will be a large factor in the recipe, technique, and what yeast you use. From there, the sky is the limit as far as additional flavorings.

honey quantity determines total alcohol level as well as sweetness. the yeast you use will have a major impact on the final product.

I tend to use about 15lbs for a batch, but I use a very potent ale yeast (safale s-33) which can just about hit 12% ABV. I find that 15lbs of basic clover honey, top off to 5 gallons, and let it ferment to 12% leaves you with a sweet mead. I'm not much for dry flavors, so this is simply how i like to make my mead.

and i'm not 100% on the weight of 1gallon honey. i think I saw 12lbs mentioned the other day...when in doubt toss it on the scale

12 pounds is right. The local school farm has honey for sale, and the teacher that runs the place told me. Three pounds is a pint, 12 pounds is a gallon.

If you want to make a braggot (beer/mead mix) do something like this:

Do what you would normally do for a lighter-bodied hoppy pale ale (or something along those lines) and add in about as much honey as malt at flameout (some people say to boil the honey, I think that hurts the flavor personally so minimize that as much as possible). The beer I got this way was great, absolutely wonderful floral smell and nice bit of honey taste while still being definatley beer-ish. Nice kick too

If you want something stronger make up a decently hoppy beer and get the honey into the primary after the fermentation of the malt has died down and mix it in. I assume you'd want to cook the honey up with a bit of water so it mixes in well, haven't done this personally but will try it when I get the chance.

Be careful that your 50/50 honey/malt bill doesn't dry out. I had a honey pale that used 3 lbs DME and 3 lbs honey, and the resulting gravity was .995. I think if you made the beer bigger, with more unfermentables (crystal or munich) it would stand up to the dryness from the honey. (in a brew like that, the honey is going to be almost completely fermented out.)

mike

Mike,

your comments raise an interesting question
I keep bees so I'm interested in brewing with honey (I'm a rookie)
if you make a honey ale, does the wort tend to ferment faster and leave the honey as flavoring?
in other words, if I have a grain bill that can produce 6% abv, and a yeast that can go to 6% and add some amount of honey to that, will I get the large majority of my alcohol from the malt with most of the honey remaining for flavor?
I know that honey tends to ferment slowly so this kinda makes sense
thoughts?

Dave

drobbins said:

Mike,

your comments raise an interesting question
I keep bees so I'm interested in brewing with honey (I'm a rookie)
if you make a honey ale, does the wort tend to ferment faster and leave the honey as flavoring?
in other words, if I have a grain bill that can produce 6% abv, and a yeast that can go to 6% and add some amount of honey to that, will I get the large majority of my alcohol from the malt with most of the honey remaining for flavor?
I know that honey tends to ferment slowly so this kinda makes sense
thoughts?

Dave

Click to expand...

It all depends on when you add the honey! If you add the honey at the begining you will have the alch comming from honey and malt but the amlt will get used up finish before the honey as the sugars are easier to convert.

If you step add the honey then you may get a higher ABV%. I do this with my Meads that I want up around 18%. Even though the yeast says it will top out at say 6% adding a bit each month for the first three months might get you more in the 9 or 10% range. My blueberry melomel hit a solid 18% and is only suppose to go to 14%. Started with 12# and added 1 lb each month for three months. It has a very nice sweet flavor

Dave

For beers (or anything really) the addition of honey in the primary with your main pitch of yeast will result in a higer alcohol, thinner body, and less honey flavor. Honey is almost 100% fermentable, unlike malt which will leave some residual sugars that the yeast cannot eat. If honey is fermented, it will get almost totally eaten by the yeast. Even if your yeast says it will crap out at a certain level, they've been known to go further than that.

If you want to make a honey flavored beer, I suggest making your beer as usual. A normal pale ale recipe is a good start. When this is done fermenting, boil some honey with water for a few minutes, just to sanitize it. Boiling it too much will evaporate away all the nice subtle honey characteristics. Amounts of honey will vary according to taste, but a pound or two should be a good. Cool this liquid down until it's at least 80 degrees, and then pour it into the bottom of a secondary fermenter. Now rack your pale ale into this new carboy and let it age for a while. A month is a good round number. Fermentation may start up again, but that's not a big deal (what's wrong with more alcohol? ) The result should hopefully be a nice honey ale.

If you dig the all grain or partial mash route, then you can get into using honey malt (which isn't really honey at all), but that's a post someone else can write

mike