Best mead you've made?

[Thundy]

I'm looking for inspiration for my next batch of mead, for those that have been brewing for a long time, what's the best you've made out of the bunch? Can you share the recipe?

 

[MrClint]

I've taken to brewing low-effort sparkling tea mead. More refreshing and less cloyingly sweet than typical meads:
1 gallon sparkling tea mead
- 5 regular tea bags steeped in a couple of cups of hot water (I mostly use Jasmine Green Tea, but have started to branch out. I have a Blood Orange Rooibos in the fermenter as we speak)
- 11oz to a pound of your favorite honey. 11oz is the sweet spot for me.
- Fill with water and mix well.
- Any champagne or wine yeast. US-04 can be used as well but I have never tried it.
- Add airlock.
Let the brew ferment for about 4 weeks until well settled and no longer bubbling, and then bottle with fizzy drops like beer. Bottle condition for at least two weeks, but longer is always better.
Feel free to take hydrometer readings, I never do. It comes out dry, sparkling and refreshing.

 

[Jack_0106]

I've taken to brewing low-effort sparkling tea mead. More refreshing and less cloyingly sweet than typical meads:
1 gallon sparkling tea mead
- 5 regular tea bags steeped in a couple of cups of hot water (I mostly use Jasmine Green Tea, but have started to branch out. I have a Blood Orange Rooibos in the fermenter as we speak)
- 11oz to a pound of your favorite honey. 11oz is the sweet spot for me.
- Fill with water and mix well.
- Any champagne or wine yeast. US-04 can be used as well but I have never tried it.
- Add airlock.
Let the brew ferment for about 4 weeks until well settled and no longer bubbling, and then bottle with fizzy drops like beer. Bottle condition for at least two weeks, but longer is always better.
Feel free to take hydrometer readings, I never do. It comes out dry, sparkling and refreshing.

Are you using 11oz of honey in a gallon of water/tea? I'd say its fairly low on the ABV scale? I usually use 3.5lb of honey in a Gallon recipe. Comes out around 12-14%

 

[DBhomebrew]

I too make a low-ABV sparkling mead. 1lb/gallon of prepared must.

I also make full strength 3lb/G still meads.

I also make both bitters and barleywines. Different times call for different beverages.

 

[MrClint]

Are you using 11oz of honey in a gallon of water/tea? I'd say its fairly low on the ABV scale? I usually use 3.5lb of honey in a Gallon recipe. Comes out around 12-14%

Yes, it's a refreshing light alcohol sipper with hints of tea and is fairly dry. If you want more alcohol you can add a shot of vodka when serving.

 

[bwible]

I’m working on an apricot mead right now made with 3 lbs of honey in each gallon, and real apricots from the supermarket. I used some canned and some dried. Apricot flavor added at bottling. It needs to clear more but this is probably the best of all the meads I’ve made. My wife who swears she hates mead even liked this one when I pulled some for tasting.

 

[Beernik]

I used orange blossom and mint honey with a sweet mead yeast. It tasted like an orange mimosa.

I regret only making 1 gallon of it.

 

[Kickass]

A bochet with cheap-ish Costco honey.
1.120 OG
1.006 FG
Incredible!

 

[Jack_0106]

I’m working on an apricot mead right now made with 3 lbs of honey in each gallon, and real apricots from the supermarket. I used some canned and some dried. Apricot flavor added at bottling. It needs to clear more but this is probably the best of all the meads I’ve made. My wife who swears she hates mead even liked this one when I pulled some for tasting.

Weird you say this, was only thinking of doing an apricot one this morning. Do you care to share your recipe by chance?

 

[Dan O]

It's a three way tie for mine.

1. Strawberry/ Rhubarb/ Raspberry

Thread 'My Strawberry/ Rhubarb/ Raspberry BOMM Melomel' My Strawberry/ Rhubarb/ Raspberry BOMM Melomel


2. Chocolate/ Cherry/Vanilla/ Pomegranate aged on cherry wood for 6 weeks

Thread 'My version of Chocolate/Cherry/Vanilla/Pomegranate mead recipe' My version of Chocolate/Cherry/Vanilla/Pomegranate mead recipe

3. Raspberry/ Pomegranate

This recipe is buried @ home somewhere..

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Peach and basil standard strength.
Clover honey lots of frozen peaches added after fermentation.
I cannot locate my notes, but surely I used a white wine yeast and can rule out 1116 and 1118

I reserved about a pint of the mead before adding fruit to which I added bruised fresh basil leaves. Once ready to package, I could add enough basil infused mead to compliment the peach. This was also back sweetened to a lite sweetness or similar to semi-dry wine.

Sorry, I’ve been making mead for about 8 years, but I’m still not sure about properly labeling the sweetness level, as for competition, but I do know what I prefer.

 

[Ren06]

Best mead so far would be my Blackberry Raspberry, aged on charred white oak staves, 18% abv; It’s still aging now.

The tie would be my grape and blueberry melomel 16% abv; tied with my coffeemel 15% abv.

 

[Maylar]

Mesquite traditional. 11%, Lalvin D-21 @ 62F. Oaked 3 months, aged 2 years.

 

[jdauria]

Hopefully my current one! Pink Guava Melomel, only my 3rd mead. Orange blossom honey, guava puree, D47 yeast at 65F. Only on day 2 of fermentation so have have some ways to go. Could also be a "imperial smoothie" since the guava puree was so thick, hydrometer would not float in the sample! Should be around 15%.

 

[Bart Taylor]

Lemon Ginger, getting ready to make it again. Now if I can just remember what yeast I used.....

 

[bushpilot]

Sorry, no recipes to share. Best so far have been a 9.5% dry traditional, a 12% elderberry melomel, and a 9.5% cyser.

 

[Dan O]

Sorry, no recipes to share. Best so far have been a 9.5% dry traditional, a 12% elderberry melomel, and a 9.5% cyser.

Do you remember whether you used dried or fresh elderberries? I have 4 lbs of dried that I need to start putting to good use.
Thank you, in advance, if you do reply.
Happy meading!

 

[bushpilot]

Do you remember whether you used dried or fresh elderberries? I have 4 lbs of dried that I need to start putting to good use.
Thank you, in advance, if you do reply.
Happy meading!

Fresh. I would guess about 2 pounds to a gallon.

 

[Dan O]

Fresh. I would guess about 2 pounds to a gallon.

Thank you. Unfortunately, I have no access to fresh, so I'll be rehydrating the dried ones I have

 

[Jack_0106]

Blackberry Mead

1400g honey (for a gallon)
Simmer 200g mashed Blackberries and put them in primary. Rack off into Secondary
Same as above 200g Blackberries in secondary
Tannins/nutrients/pectic enzyme

Turn out unbelievably good although I would like to use more blackberries. You don't get a lot of room with 1 gallon fermenters. I need to get a good 2 gal bucket

 

[bushpilot]

I just finished a 2021 bottle of 9% abv huckleberry melomel that was amazing. I see more of this in my future, maybe a little higher abv.

For those unfamiliar, huckleberries look like blueberries, except a darker color. They taste wonderful, more grape-like than blueberry to me. They grow wild in the mountains near here, and have never been domesticated.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry

 

[Dan O]

I just finished a 2021 bottle of 9% abv huckleberry melomel that was amazing. I see more of this in my future, maybe a little higher abv.

For those unfamiliar, huckleberries look like blueberries, except a darker color. They taste wonderful, more grape-like than blueberry to me. They grow wild in the mountains near here, and have never been domesticated.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry

Love huckleberries

 

[Sailingeric]

I did a batch 3 years ago with Topleou honey.. it was good and people liked it but I always felt it was slight off when I sampled it along and along and a couple weeks ago I cracked open my last bottle and damn....it was amazing....so try some Topleou honey but give it time.

 

[NoCornOrRice]

The Costco honey is a consistently good option. The best one I did was that with Lalvin 71b to about 12% abv, with juice and zest of lemon, lime, and grapefruit. As a still mead. It was beautiful. The absolute worst, by far was with allegedly ultra premium local "wildflower" honey which had a pronounced broccoli taste... yuck.

 

[Mkrice2]

Lemon Ginger, getting ready to make it again. Now if I can just remember what yeast I used.....

I made a lemon ginger too and it's also my favorite that I've made so far.