Use sugar instead, then flavor with honey?

[Flumpy]

I'm trying to make mead-like wines on the cheap, since sugar is so durn expensive these days.

I was thinking of using straight sugar rather than honey, then flavoring with honey after the fermentation is done.

Would this be close?

 

[Bugeaud]

I don't know. Try two batches one mead and one honey flavoured and let us know. I doubt anyone else knows either. Btw, not meaning to discourage you, but the moderators seem to dislike discussion about sugar wine because it often leads to arguments about the intent of the poster, whether he/she is just looking to get drunk, and whether that is appropriate for this forum. Obviously that's not your intent though... anyways, your could always go to an apiary and get a bucket or two of honey for real cheap.

 

[Flumpy]

Ah moderation, the bane of my existence. I just wanna cut down on my expenditures.

 

[tweake]

use dextrose as its fairly flavorless. normal sugar, i'm told, can throw some poor tastes (tho honey may hide the taste or it may age out).

why not hunt around for some free fruit.
fruit will add a small amount of sugar content and add nutrients, so you save a bit that way as well.

 

[Drunkula]

I say cyser. apple juice with honey. Treetop brand is preservative free and available at wal-mart. mix then ferment. try lalvin dc47 or ec1118 as they are superb for apples.

 

[Flumpy]

That's not a bad idea. I started an experiment tonight, 1 gal, ~2.5 lbs cane sugar, sliced-up orange (peel/pith off), sliced-up half Fuji apple, 20 raisins torn in half, bakers yeast. SG of 1.110. Who knows? At this point I have no experience so's all I can do is try everything that comes to mind and see what happens, just like they did, oh, 10,000 years ago.

I guess for me this is less about specifically making mead and more about learning the art and science of fermentation, possibly the most ancient study in man's history.

 

[Flumpy]

Wow, 3 hours later and my balloon airlock is already fully erect. I'll give that baker's yeast credit -- it's certainly robust.

 

[huesmann]

Honey-flavored fermented sugar isn't really mead. It's like that Bunratty "Meade" stuff that's basically honey-flavored wine.

 

[Tw0fish]

hahahah hoyyyyyy..

The way I would've done this would be to make up some invert sugar (make sugar water, hold at just under a boil for ~30 min, a la skeeter pee), dilute to desired SG (d47 goes to like 14, doesn't it? And I recall EC1118 goes to 18 just because it's easier to remember when the numbers match). Then pitch, let it ferment til the yeast cant ferment any more. From there you should be able to get flavor from a pound or two of honey.

I feel like a bad person for even sharing that, but it got me thinking.

 

[Flumpy]

I've heard of "invert" sugar but just seems too complex for me. Boiling, dilution, etc. For me the beauty of this hobby is that it's simple. Like Occam's razor: entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity. I was hard-pressed to buy a hydrometer.

 

[BBBF]

I'll second that a cyser is a nice way to make a cut down the cost of mead..

 

[Flumpy]

I'm thinking maybe cut down by 2/3 the amount of honey and add table sugar, then when it's done sweeten with a little honey. Might be able to cut down from, say, 15 lbs of honey for a 5-gal to 5 lbs, then 1/4 lb for sweetness afterward? Where I am that would save about $30 per 5-gal batch.

 

[Drunkula]

I believe it is technically no longer a mead when you drop the percentage of honey as fermentable sugar that low.
Pretty sure this belongs under wine rather than mead as Fayash (A type of sugar wine) is a whole different animal than mead.

sugar cane wine production video.