Christmas mead

Hi everyone

After trying my brewing hands on several batches of beer over a short amount of time lately, I would like to try something else (and to me a bit daunting) that I have been wanting to do for a long time.

I would like to brew mead, and though I've been reading lots of articles lately, I'm still very uncertain where to start. I would essentially like to make one batch that I will split into two 4 litre/1 gallon batches and ferment them individually with wyeast 4632 (dry mead) and wyeast 4184 (sweet mead) strains.

What I am looking to make are meads with aromas and flavours that give associations to Christmas and would be truly enjoyable in front of a fireplace while a harsh Norwegian winter rages outside.

So holiday meads... Raisins, oranges, allspice, cinnamon, cloves? where do i start? I should have access to whichever honeys can be found in Far North Queensland, so probably a variety of rainforest (though orange blossom honey alludes me) and a wide range of eucalyptus honeys (ironbark, red gum, yellow box, etc).

I would like the meads to be ready by Christmas 2016 and am looking to start making them in a month or two. Any help and pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers
Bjorn

I follow a sweet cranberry mead that goes well during the holiday season. Gets great reviews from friends n family each year.

A cyser with mulling spices perhaps?

I have a Christmas Spice BOMM on my site that is very good. You can go from there.


Better brewing through science!

See my brewing site at www.denardbrewing.com

See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html

Thanks for the replies! I do particularly like the idea of using mulling spices. And the article on mead techniques look very helpful.

How about a bochet with mulling spices? Any thoughts on that?

Perhaps a bochet braggot made with chocolate malt? Go for a smores like taste?

We made a Mulled Apple Mead for Christmas gifts this year. Used Apple juice, Biltmore Estate Wassel spice (mulling spices), Fall honey, and D47 yeast. It's delicious and something that can be enjoyed over ice or warmed up in a mug. We are clearing and bottling this weekend. Can't wait for everyone to try it.

I'm partial to fresh ginger root, but.....that's a year-round thing for me

I certainly like all these suggestions (although the bochet chocolate malt braggot sounds like a lovely christmast warmer, I wonder if it would end up too burnt for me. Only one way to find out though!)

Sounds like I'll have to do more than one mead. Perhaps 4 smaller batches or so would be good. I think it'll be hard to get hold of cranberry, but perhaps I can make at least a mulled cycer, mulled orange mead, some sort of bochet and juniper mead if anything.

No more sweet mead yeast at the shops though, so I'll have to find another substitute.