Manuka Mead

[poisonmartyr666]

Well, since I'm rich and poor, both at the same time, I decided to try something unusual to match - a Manuka Honey Mead. If you don't already know, Manuka Honey is a regional honey from the tiny country of New Zealand, often cited as the best honey in the world, and indeed, it is also very expensive, typically costing around $15-$20 a pound. The variant I get, however, comes in at $30 US a pound, since it's entirely organic.

Anyway, I rehydrated my yeast (I'm using typical ale yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for it's ability to ferment at higher temperatures, since I don't have a cellar.) before pitching it in the must, which was a 1:3 mix of honey and water, adding a few spices to the long mead.

However, since it's so expensive, I've only made two bottles, one being a long mead, aged for four months, and the other, a short mead, aged for just over a month. Since Manuka honey is so apparently high in nutrients, I decided not to use yeast nutrient. As of yet, I've only bottled the long mead, though I must say that although it smelled strong, it did smell good, and is turning out nice and clear, with a deep golden color. I'm not sure about the short mead, though, since it's still very foggy. I have a feeling I messed up the short mead.

Anyway, if anybody has any prior experience with making mead from manuka honey, let me know anything important or how it turns out compared to conventional clover meads and the like. As for the short mead, which should be in secondary fermentation by now, it's still too cloudy to do, and seems to have stopped fermenting prematurely - any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

As a last note, when all is done and set (And my premature short mead filtered, if all else fails.) I'll post pictures and let you fellows know how my first brews turned out.

 

[hightest]

...Since Manuka honey is so apparently high in nutrients, I decided not to use yeast nutrient.

I'd sure like to see the reference sources that support that statement. Being "high in nutrients" does not necessarily equate to being high in YAN - a critical component to effective fermentation.

In addition, "high" is a relative term. If one honey has a level of 5 ppm of something, and another has 25 ppm, the one with 25 ppm could easily be considered to be "high". Yet if what you need is 300 ppm, then 25 ppm is not so high...

With such an expensive honey, I'd err on the conservative side, and use supplemental nutrients - just my 2¢...

 

[poisonmartyr666]

Huh, took me a while to figure out what you meant by YAN. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure if it's true or not, that's just what my Kiwi friends told me. Regardless, I think I'll make my mead the traditional way, seeing as yeast nutrient isn't something that's easily available in my town. Besides, how do you think the Czechs made show meads way before yeast nutrients were designed? Thanks for the input, though! Keep it coming

 

[hightest]

...I think I'll make my mead the traditional way, seeing as yeast nutrient isn't something that's easily available in my town. Besides, how do you think the Czechs made show meads way before yeast nutrients were designed? Thanks for the input, though! Keep it coming

That's fine, but there may have been some real basis for your comment about Manuka honey's nutrient level. As such I wanted to understand it more clearly, and now I think I do...

It is true that in the past mead was made without the benefit of today's knowledge and process enhancements. While it is a personal choice whether one opts to use these modern techniques, I wanted to ensure that your decision not to use supplemental nutrient was not based on hearsay, but reliable information as there is a wealth of mis-information to be had.

I hope it works out.

 

[poisonmartyr666]

Well, I took my long mead for a test, and here's my results:

You can view the large versions here and here.

Unfortunately, while it looks good, I noticed a very distinct smell when I opened the bottles. It's rather hard to describe, but reminds me of curry... It's like a super-potent tandoori. Anyhow, ignoring the smell as best I could, I poured myself a little sample (As you can see in the pictures) and drank.

I'm not sure if this is good for a mead, but as I expected, it was dry (As was my intention), and tasted somewhat like a fusel-like merlot, albeit with a hint of that manuka and tandoori flavor.

With little else in mind to do, I resealed up the rest of it and put it back in the cupboard. How long should I age it before that fusel flavor will go away? It's been aging for four months now, so maybe three should do it?

And what IS that weird tandoori smell? I went through my spices, and to be honest, it smells vaguely like someone mixed a large volume of allspice in with some curry.

On the other hand, my short mead is coming along just fine - not as sweet as an icewine, as I intended, and a little aging should cool down the hotness.

 

[Tusch]

I thought you just started this on the 15th? Did I misunderstand your timeline? Otherwise, you know how to make one quick-ass long mead haha. Having no idea what this manuka honey tastes like, I can't really help on where this flavor is coming from. If the taste is present in the honey, it could just be coming out stronger in the mead. Meads do need a lot of aging, so 4 months is nothing in the timeline of this mead, let it sit for at least a year more and it will be getting better by then.

 

[poisonmartyr666]

I started this mead on the 20th of October. Come to think of it, the smell reminds me of yeast nutrient a little. I think leaving it on the lees too long may have been part of the problem. That'll go away, hopefully.

Manuka honey is a darker honey, with a very strong flavor... I suppose, that typical 'honey' flavor. Not sure how to explain it.

I didn't know it took so long to age mead. Otherwise I'd have made more!

 

[Tusch]

Reread your first post, I had missed a few things the first couple times around.

So how much did you make for each batch? Are you saying you only made one wine bottle of your long mead and one of your short? What was your setup to make that small amount? When did you start the short mead? You mentioned 1:3, but what were you actual measurements, or did you just fill whatever container you used with one part honey and then 3 parts water?

 

[poisonmartyr666]

I've got about a gallon of each, and measured accordingly. I'm guessing that's around 5 pounds of honey for each.

I don't have a lot of equipment, so I'm not sure as to what the gravities are, but I'm estimating that the final ABV should be in the range of 10% to 18%, depending on whether the simpler sugars (Like fructose) are consumed by the yeast or not.

 

[Tusch]

Well that's where I am confused. Depending on if it was a full 5 lbs, and if it is to 1gal total must or 1 gal of water, your SG could be in a large range. However, if you really used an ale yeast, I wouldn't be expecting it to get too high, and it should end up super super sweet. 5 lbs of honey in a 1 gal batch is good for 18% but even then, it would be 18% and still quite sweet, and that is assuming you used a yeast that could support that amount of alcohol. I know I used 5lbs in a ~1 gallon batch and had an SG of 1.150.

 

[poisonmartyr666]

It's five pounds of honey in a one gallon batch - that's 3/4 of a gallon of water.

Considering, my long mead is almost as dry as chardonnay, which I wasn't expecting. It's possible there could've been some wild yeast in the honey, though.

 

[andyp]

Hmmm. I just made a super-small batch of Manuka mead. 500g + 1.4L H2O So about half the strength of yours..

It's so strong tasting I didn't want to use that much to try it out. The first day or two it really chugged out a lot of activity, now it's settled down. I'm interested to hear how yours pans out, as you're a few months ahead of me.

 

[Rjaysuk]

9D32E7CF-ABF5-4701-BA61-BC4119826C29

• Rjaysuk
• Dec 4, 2019

Manuka mead

Manuka honey has hundreds of grades and is used for its medical properties in many places u can buy low grade manuka which is just good normal honey up to manuka pharmacy grade which taste nothing like honey (all you taste is the flowers ) i made a batch of mead using jacks mead yeast and 1.5kg of
Manuka Doctor Manuka Honey MGO 70 the taste was nothing like normal honey mead it was more like a fruit juice then a mead of 17% alc in fact I couldn’t tell it was alcoholic at all this cost me for 3.5 L about 70 uk pounds ever since i buy 1/2 doct manuka and half manuka basic honey it is a good compromise ( i use 1 full orange in segments and 9 raisins in 1.5kg honey per 3.5L ) and always get a perfect mead 2 month later

 

[Rjaysuk]

Here is the recipe i use and every time its perfect

 

[mannye]

It's been 13 years since the original post. I wonder if it ever improved?