Ghetto mead in PET bottle. Ontario, Canada.

[azaxev]

Someone gifted me bottle of mead they brought from abroad, and I liked it. Never had mead before and it is hard to find it here. My local LCBO is out of stock all the time.

I have some experience with fermenting foods and understand the process, but never made any alcohol before. Also not a huge drinker, if I end up making something presentable, I will likely give most of it away.

Dissolved half kilo of honey into 2L soda bottle (PET), added teaspoon of baker's yeast and closed cap without tightening so pressure could still get out. Have some spare airlocks, bought half dozen when started fermenting my own sauerkraut last year and only using 2 right now, but this was just a quick experiment, did not feel like drilling the cap at the time. Turns out the untightened cap works quite well, CO2 escapes while nothing gets in.

Kept tasting it every few days, at first it was just honey water, then it started to taste like carbonated mead. After 2wks seemed alcoholic enough, so I moved 0.5L to another bottle and put it in fridge. In a week the fridge bottle cleared up and carbonation disappeared. Not crystal clear, but much clearer than my PET fermenter. No idea what alcohol strength this hooch is, but its definitely mead and I cannot say I dislike it. Remaining part in PET bottle is still fermenting.

I have no clue what I am doing, so I am here to learn more. Just learned yesterday there is such a thing as yeast nutrient.

 

[Miraculix]

Someone gifted me bottle of mead they brought from abroad, and I liked it. Never had mead before and it is hard to find it here. My local LCBO is out of stock all the time.

I have some experience with fermenting foods and understand the process, but never made any alcohol before. Also not a huge drinker, if I end up making something presentable, I will likely give most of it away.

Dissolved half kilo of honey into 2L soda bottle (PET), added teaspoon of baker's yeast and closed cap without tightening so pressure could still get out. Have some spare airlocks, bought half dozen when started fermenting my own sauerkraut last year and only using 2 right now, but this was just a quick experiment, did not feel like drilling the cap at the time. Turns out the untightened cap works quite well, CO2 escapes while nothing gets in.

Kept tasting it every few days, at first it was just honey water, then it started to taste like carbonated mead. After 2wks seemed alcoholic enough, so I moved 0.5L to another bottle and put it in fridge. In a week the fridge bottle cleared up and carbonation disappeared. Not crystal clear, but much clearer than my PET fermenter. No idea what alcohol strength this hooch is, but its definitely mead and I cannot say I dislike it. Remaining part in PET bottle is still fermenting.

I have no clue what I am doing, so I am here to learn more. Just learned yesterday there is such a thing as yeast nutrient.

Happy days, this sounds almost exactly like I started my journey, except I was using dedicated wine yeast.

Long story short, you can make mead this way, but your can make way better mead if you take the challenge.

You can start here for an easy, all including manual:

https://www.youtobrew.co.uk/mead-making-101
There are other ways to make mead, which means they are a bit different but not better. Just different ways to do things.

 

[badcommando]

This is exactly how I got into brewing/fermenting. Cider is a great easy introduction as well. You can get apple cider from whole foods in 1-gallon glass jugs that doesn't have preservatives. Pitch yeast, and put an airlock on it and you have great easy cider!

 

[azaxev]

The remaining hooch stopped the activity few days ago. No space in kitchen fridge, so I transferred it to back porch. Next week should be between -3'C to 8'C, will see how that works out.

This is exactly how I got into brewing/fermenting. Cider is a great easy introduction as well. You can get apple cider from whole foods in 1-gallon glass jugs that doesn't have preservatives. Pitch yeast, and put an airlock on it and you have great easy cider!

Thanks for the tip, usually they sell cider here in plastic jugs. I am currently running a small batch of JAOM in 4L plastic jug under my home office desk in the back, where I cannot accidentally kick it, and it's bubbling nicely. Will try making a jug of cider soon too. Going to have to start a log so I know whats going on and where I left it

 

[azaxev]

Ghetto Mead cleared and racked. 1 week outside and its crystal clear. I drank some, threw out really cloudy part, keeping this half litre bottle for later. There is a glass of Lowicz jam (dzem) behind the bottle and letter are crispy clear, distorted only by the glass bottle.