Hydromel recipe advice

[Jivetyrant]

Hey all!

I'm thinking of taking my first stab at a hydromel. I'd like something that I can turn around fairly quickly (by mead standards, anyway) and I happen to have an abundance of honey at the moment.

I happened across a bucket (60lbs) of heather honey and I have some heather tips kicking around from last year sometime. I figure that with a hydromel you probably need a pretty assertively flavored honey, so heather really speaks to me. If you haven't tried it (its hard to find) imagine a honey that is a lot more viscous than you're used to. It's got a strong smokey, toffee like flavor. I also have about 60lbs of blueberry honey as an alternative.

At any rate, I was thinking of a beer strength mead from maybe 4-6%. I'd like to include some heather tips as well, and I'm thinking the best way to do so would be to make a strong tea with them and add the liquid to the must. I was planning to ferment with a fairly neutral ale yeast like US-05 or Nottingham. I would probably add 2 lbs or so of raisins to add some body, and would probably oak it for a short period of time before kegging.

I'd use a normal staggered nutrient schedule and aerate thoroughly. I'd also degas it daily for the first 2 days of primary like I do for my normal strength meads.

Am I way off base with this recipe idea? I'd love some input from anyone who has tried a low ABV mead like this. I've also never brewed anything with heather tips before, so if anyone has tips on their usage I'd appreciate it.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Sounds about right to me. I did a Hydromel with Vanilla Rooibos tea and spices, Turned out great! I have the recipe on my blog here http://hivemindmead.blogspot.com/2013/03/spiced-hydromel-mead-recipe.html . I used Orange Blossom, Cloves, Cinnamon, the Tea. But I used Muntons Ale instead of US-05 but it sounds like it will turn out just fine.

 

[jhoson]

As first mead would recommend doing a JAOM (Joes Ancient Mead ) since its very easy to make and scale up. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-ancient-orange-mead-49106/ [ And its fool proof, even i was able to make one ]

If you haven't read it yet https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/sticky-mead-making-faqs-83030/ REALLY HELPFULL

But since you have a LOT of honey, a nice suggestion would be: Do a big batch of basic mead and after splitting into smaller one's and put different fruits in each one.

Here's the forum mead recipe database : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/

And here some quick mead's : http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewcategory&category_id=69&Itemid=459

 

[Jivetyrant]

As first mead would recommend doing a JAOM (Joes Ancient Mead ) since its very easy to make and scale up. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-ancient-orange-mead-49106/ [ And its fool proof, even i was able to make one ]

If you haven't read it yet https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/sticky-mead-making-faqs-83030/ REALLY HELPFULL

But since you have a LOT of honey, a nice suggestion would be: Do a big batch of basic mead and after splitting into smaller one's and put different fruits in each one.

Here's the forum mead recipe database : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/

And here some quick mead's : http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewcategory&category_id=69&Itemid=459

Thanks for all the helpful resources, I wasn't familiar with some of them!

To clarify, I have several batches of mead under my belt but am taking a first attempt at the hydromel style. I'm specifically looking for any differences between making a hydromel and a standard mead. Recipe advice is always appreciated as well!

Thanks again!

 

[Brann_mac_Finnchad]

I have made a few hydromels--there aren't any real differences. Your plan sounds spot on. I do not have any advice on the heather tips, as I haven't been able to get any yet (I'm interested in hearing how they work for you--flavours, amounts, etc. I've a braggot using them I would like to make).

I'm jealous of your 5 gallon bucket of heather honey--it is hard to get varietals up here, much less rarer ones.

Slainte!

 

[Jivetyrant]

I have made a few hydromels--there aren't any real differences. Your plan sounds spot on. I do not have any advice on the heather tips, as I haven't been able to get any yet (I'm interested in hearing how they work for you--flavours, amounts, etc. I've a braggot using them I would like to make).

I'm jealous of your 5 gallon bucket of heather honey--it is hard to get varietals up here, much less rarer ones.

Slainte!

Yeah, I honestly couldn't believe it when it fell into my lap! It was originally imported by Boston Beer Co. as part of a shipment from Scotland for an experimental recipe that didn't work out. It was sold, along with the remaining honey, to Moonlight Meadery in NH. They used all but 2 buckets of it and sold them to a friend and I for $100 apiece since 2 buckets is too little to make a commercial sized batch with. I can't get over how cheap that was, it works out to 1.67/lb, wow!

At any rate, I'm making the mead today. I'll start up a new thread to track it's progress tonight or tomorrow!