Ingrediant kits ?

[dutchboy62]

Never made mead before and was thinking of starting with a kit anybody know where to get a good one at a good price to anywhere from 3 - 5 gal of mead

 

[talleymonster]

I think that Austin Homebrew has mead kits.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Stop and Shop and LHBS. Honey, water, wine/champagne yeast and nutrient. Couldn't be simpler Figure 3 lbs honey per gal, and scale up to whatever your doing.

mike

 

[dutchboy62]

Its just kinda tough finding any good honey at a decent price thought a kit might be the way to go

 

[MikeRLynch]

You'll probably have to go to an apiary or a distributor to get discount honey. Everywhere I've looked is always the same price, online included (those shipping costs suck!). But cost aside, the beauty of mead is it's simplicity. Maybe try a 1 gal batch to see if you like it, that way you can save a little cash and ease into it.

mike

 

[dutchboy62]

Can i make a decent mead using grocery store honey. Im not looking to make any award wijnners yet but it may be something for the future. I have heard of some peoplr making some real high abv% meads high like 20- 24% have you heard of or made anything close to that

 

[SoCalBrewing]

Norther Brewer has a bunch of kits. I think thats the route Im gonna go when I give mead a try.

 

[DrunkTrucker]

Check at costco if you have one near you. They sell it in six pound jars.

 

[talleymonster]

Also look in the phone book for an Apiary. Sometimes if you buy their honey in bulk, they will give you a discount. And if you're doing a 5 gallon batch of mead, chances are you'll be bying 10-20 lbs of honey.

I'm doing a double batch here pretty soon, so I'm buying 50 lbs. That will be plenty for two batches with about 10lbs or so to spare.

 

[MeadLover]

I was going to add this to this discussion because I got my start here and it was great. The only problem is that they are out of stock right now due to warehouse relocation. If you search for "MEAD4" on this site you will find it.

http://www.thehomebrewstore.com/store.htm

Their description includes the following, copied for information:
Each kit includes 1 one-gallon glass jug with rubber stopper and airlock, one package of no-rinse cleanser, honey, additives, 1 packet of dry wine yeast, and either the grape concentrate (pyment), spice poltice (metheglin), apple concentrate (cyser), or malt extract (braggot).

 

[NurseNan]

Can i make a decent mead using grocery store honey. Im not looking to make any award wijnners yet but it may be something for the future. I have heard of some peoplr making some real high abv% meads high like 20- 24% have you heard of or made anything close to that

I have made mead like that, at about 22%-23% ABV, but it takes time and a lot of honey. You need good quality honey, for the flavor to shine through past the alcohol. You need to look at buying 4-4.5 lbs per gallon of mead. Once its done, it will need to age for at least a year before bottling, then let it rest in the bottle for a few months more. The last one I made like this also included some maple syrup, finished at 22% ABV, and won a blue ribbon at the fair.

 

[dutchboy62]

I have made mead like that, at about 22%-23% ABV, but it takes time and a lot of honey. You need good quality honey, for the flavor to shine through past the alcohol. You need to look at buying 4-4.5 lbs per gallon of mead. Once its done, it will need to age for at least a year before bottling, then let it rest in the bottle for a few months more. The last one I made like this also included some maple syrup, finished at 22% ABV, and won a blue ribbon at the fair.

What kind of yeast did you use. Did you add the honey in stages or all at once. Any chance i could get the recipe.