1st attempt @ Mead

[ohill1981]

Ok so i went out and purchased a book called "Sacred Herbal Healing Beers" by Stephen Harrod Buhner and There is a recipe in the book called " A Complete Hive Mead" i am wanting to give it a try here is the recipe.

6lbs wildflower honey
1oz propolis
1oz royal jelly
1 oz bee polin
3 gallons of water
Yeast.

The recipe does not mention anything about yeast fuel.. would i need yeast fuel to help this one along?

Also .. I was curious if anyone in the forum has ever brewed with propolis and/or royal jelly?

I see several small amounts of propolis for sell on ebay.. Some of it being sold with 50% alcohol. and some alcohol free. 1oz for roughly 12$ not cheap stuff! some with other herbs added... a bit confusing...
next the Royal Jelly... It lives up to it's name and appears to come in a jelly form.. found some of that for $6.95 and lastly the bee pollen i am honestly clueless on this one.. I found bee pollen granules, cream, fluid extract not quite sure what to go with. So i was thinking of just buying the 12$ 1 oz propolis liquid which comes with a dropper for a top.
and the Royal Jelly tube for 7$ and still unsure about the bee pollen.

The recipe in the book is kind of vague so thats why i am here. hoping someone here could help... Any information about this recipe and my first time making a mead would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks !!!

 

[FrayAdjacent]

I'm new to mead myself, but in all the looking around and reading I've done, I've never seen the use of propolis, royal jelly or polin (did you mean pollen?).

Mostly it's just honey, water, yeast and nutrients for a traditional. Not sure what you'd get out of the other stuff.

 

[tweake]

i wouldn't get to excited over it.

it sounds like some "health" recipes i've heard of. a basic recipe spiced by fancy ingredients with no real idea of what they do. it would be healthier to brew a normal mead and eat the other separately.

a poor mans version would simply to brew unfiltered honey. you get all the propolis and pollen with out the cost.

 

[FrayAdjacent]

What Tweake said. I have allergies - I'm allergic to just about EVERYTHING that grows outdoors around here - so I'm going to try to make my mead using local honey, preferably raw.

Maybe if I drink enough....

aaaaaa-CHOOOOOO!

 

[jguy898]

There are many of these kinds of "healing" recipes (Beer, Wine, Ciders, Mead and even Whiskey!) floating around the internet, and on the pages of many superstitious authors today. I'm not Kidding you, there is a recipe for your Babies Health using vodka!!! These people piss me off...

Any-who, as Tweake said it is better (and healthier than that recipe) to go ahead and brew a traditional using Raw honey, and to add in a few cups of herbal tea, to your liking. A strong tea can add lots of flavor, and be loaded with antioxidants to boot. There is also plenty of Pollen in raw honey, and that's why it's said to relieve local allergies over time. If it were me, I'd go ahead with a good traditional, 1 - 3 gallons, using raw local honey and a good SNA (Staggered Nutrient Addition) like Ken Schramm's, or Hightest's SNA located up in the sticky. Follow it dutifully and you'll have one hell of a good drink! And not too bad for you, either.

Jonas