Mead Question from newbie

[ArtbySamWhite]

Hey y'all, i was given about 13 pounds of honey from a family friend (straight from their bee hives) to make mead with. I mainly make Beer ATM.

My main question is because the honey is straight from their hives would you all recommend me doing a fairly standard mead recipe: like bare bones Water honey, maybe some spices that way the flavor of their honey shines through or do you all think going wild with a recipe would be a better idea?

And if you want to share a recipe you think would work well im all ears! like i said this would be my first time making mead so i dont want to **** up a 5 gallon batch

thanks Y'all

 

[Kyzaboy89]

What flavors do you like in a beer? If there are any spices or adjuncts you prefer in a beer, any notes from hops. If you like the character of the honey go ahead with a traditional, if it lacks something when it's finished you can add spices or fruits or anything else you like tasting. There is also a braggot which combines mead and beer together, nothing says you can't play around with 1 gallon at a time to get a feel for it.

 

[Kickass]

I’d go honey and water. Also nutrients per a TOSNA schedule. Save a little to back sweeten if you choose to go that route.

Do you have a basic outline for OG, FG, ABV, and back sweetened FG?

One more push for TOSNA. It’s very simple and your yeast need the help. Don’t leave them hanging.

https://www.meadmaderight.com/tosna-calculator

 

[D the Catastrophist]

Personally, I would not do a 5 gallon batch when just starting out with mead, I would do four 1-Gallon batches and experiment with styles. One should probably just be a straight, traditional mead, but for the rest, play around.

 

[Rish]

1-Gallon batches

I agree with this. 1 gallons are easy to do and you can try spices, fruit juices (melomel), lower alcohol (hydromel), etc. to see what you like. If you find something you really like you can do a big batch. Have fun!

 

[SimPilot]

Other course of action is to create 5 gallons and then divide it. I like to add fruits once fermentation is completed.

I use BatchBuildr - MeadMakr to add enough honey to go slightly past tolerance of yeast (ei 14% abv).

 

[bernardsmith]

Personally, I would not do a 5 gallon batch when just starting out with mead, I would do four 1-Gallon batches and experiment with styles. One should probably just be a straight, traditional mead, but for the rest, play around.

Except, I would argue that a trad mead is naked. There is no place to hide any flaws and as a novice mead maker, there will be many flaws. Mead ain't grain and brewing beer ain't exactly the same as making a mead. Check out likely flaws and use the 13 lbs at 3 lbs at a time (with perhaps 4 oz of honey to back sweeten (your beer cannot ferment the last - what? 10 to 15 points but yeast can ferment 100% of the sugars in honey, and a brut dry mead is not to everyone's taste. Two and a half pounds of honey to make 1 US gallon will have an SG of about 1.090 or a potential ABV of about 12%. Think about using yeast that are not aggressive and won't blow off flavors and aromatics. D47 , 71B are good as is DV 10 if you are looking for more viscosity. You might want to avoid "champagne" yeasts. They are designed to BEGIN fermentation in bottles of finished wines to make the wine sparkling. But rank novices tend to treat champagne yeasts as their go to despite how aggressive these yeasts are..