Mead - the homebrew thread

[sliverx]

I've made a few small 1 gallon batches of mead before but usually just consumed them out of the jug. I'll soon be doing my first bottling. Since it will be an uncarbonated melomel, is there any reason to leave head space in the bottle? Any adverse affects of say a short fill bottle or half filled bottle? I would imagine not, and maybe the extra oxygen might help the mead a bit if I'm going for that little bit of oxidation that's sometimes desired. Just curious more than anything.


FWIW: I will be using small 187ml nip bottle with a crown cap.

Oxygen absorbing caps might help?

 

[sliverx]

Wildflower with blueberries and strawberry

Blueberry bottled up after 3 months on the berries

 

[sliverx]

So I went to bottle my mead today. Sanitized the bottles, bottling bucket, racking cane, etc. Had everything set up and ready to go. Before I transferred the mead to the bottling bucket, I tested out one of the corks (LD Carlson premium quality, #9 x 1-3/4) in the Renana 375ml bottle. Cork goes in nicely, but is a real sonuvabitch to remove.

Glad I didn't just blindly trust the word of the clerk at the LHBS. Had I done so, I would have filled my 40+ bottles and every single one would have pissed me off when attempting to open. Narrowly avoided disaster today.

I'll head back to the LHBS and buy the #8 size corks tomorrow and try again.

Exact same bottles I used. Gonna keep splitting 5 gallon batches as a case of 24 bottles goes real well with 2 1/2 gallons.

 

[Jb123]

Blueberry bottled up after 3 months on the berries

Wow look really nice

 

[Jb123]

My mulberry mead carbonated......out of the five meads I've bottles 2 carbonated. Taste fine just carbed

 

[Jb123]

Raspberry habanero mead, the first
One I thought was a little watery. For some reason I have no idea on gravity other than that I'm lazy and dumb anyways the flavors are on point just lacking body

 

[bigk84]

8 Gallon bucket, 2.5 gallons of OB mead, an astronomical amount of black currants, balaton cherries and red raspberries.

 

[Jb123]

8 Gallon bucket, 2.5 gallons of OB mead, an astronomical amount of black currants, balaton cherries and red raspberries.

How many lbs fruit....

 

[bigk84]

How many lbs fruit....

30 lbs right now, mostly currant, then cherry then raspberry, different ratios.

 

[Jb123]

So 30lbs fruit. How many lbs honey /water?? Not being a smart ass at all just curious. I've heard from some smart mead guys that 4lbs honey/gallon water/9lbs fruit

 

[bigk84]

So 30lbs fruit. How many lbs honey /water?? Not being a smart ass at all just curious. I've heard from some smart mead guys that 4lbs honey/gallon water/9lbs fruit

I'm close to 12-13 lbs of honey for 2.5 gallons spring water, bringing it close to 3 gallons total mead at around 1095, not including fruit. We probably were talking to the same guys, 8-9lbs for their regular stuff, up to 12 for this one. So far it's coming along, keeping an eye on it right now.

 

[Jb123]

I'm close to 12-13 lbs of honey for 2.5 gallons spring water, bringing it close to 3 gallons total mead, we probably were talking to the same guys, 8-9lbs for their regular stuff, up to 12 for this one. So far it's coming along, keeping an eye on it right now.

I'm sure we are. That's a ton of fruit!!! Good luck! I'd love to try it when done. I fermenting a traditional right now and am going to dry "hop" with cucumbers for a hopefully refreshing Summer time mead. Linwood , where I'm from is the pickle capital so it's kind of a novelty thing. Not expecting too much...

 

[bigk84]

I'm sure we are. That's a ton of fruit!!! Good luck! I'd love to try it when done. I fermenting a traditional right now and am going to dry "hop" with cucumbers for a hopefully refreshing Summer time mead. Linwood , where I'm from is the pickle capital so it's kind of a novelty thing. Not expecting too much...

No problem, I see a mead exchange in the future. I also have a plum and a black currant mead going, need to back sweeten the currant one to cut that tartness of the currants. Have a traditional OB and MI Wildflower honey ready to bottle.

 

[Jb123]

No problem, I see a mead exchange in the future. I also have a plum and a black currant mead going, need to back sweeten the currant one to cut that tartness of the currants. Have a traditional OB and MI Wildflower honey ready to bottle.

Def!
I only have one gallons so far in production. We have bottles so far
Cherry: three pounds fruit, three pounds local honey, 16 pure concentrate.
Mulberry: 3-4lbs fruit
Apple pie
Strawberry rhubarb
Tropical fruit kool-aide
Raspberry habanero we just back sweetened and added a raspberry syrup from real fresh berries, almost tastes worse to me :/

Traditional fermenting and of course the maple wine, no Honey in that though.

It's all fun, enjoy expiermenting, u using 71b 1122?

 

[bigk84]

I use a pack of 71B and D47 blend, trade secret with the best of both worlds.

 

[Jb123]

I use a pack of 71B and D47 blend, trade secret with the best of both worlds.

Im so mainstream, mixing yeasts. That's original. A true hipster move.
You must be from hamtramck!!! You son of a *****!

 

[Jb123]

So this is our raspberry habanero mead that's been a chore over the past few months. So green in this hobby but have been working at gathering knowledge and willing to **** stuff up in attempt to make something good and unique. Fermented with couple pounds of rapbserries, two habaneros and three pounds honey. Fermented out pretty dry and kinda thin compared to others I've made. First time I've back sweetened and also made a syrup from berries and added. Cold crashed to hopefully prevent fermentation from starting back up for about a week. Bottled, been sitting for a
Week in bottles. Yield was 4 375mls and a 187ml. Splitting the 187 with my gf, both enjoying it, the smell is nice. Finish has a bit of a bite, just the middle
Is kind of lacking. Will continue to try and keep pushing the boundaries.

 

[bigk84]

nice, just FYI you can add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to prevent re-fermentation after racking. In my personal experience, I've found out that backsweetening works best after making a smaller batch of mead and stopping that at around 1040 and adding to taste. I know with 1 gallon batches that is going to be difficult.

 

[Jb123]

nice, just FYI you can add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to prevent re-fermentation after racking. In my personal experience, I've found out that backsweetening works best after making a smaller batch of mead and stopping that at around 1040 and adding to taste. I know with 1 gallon batches that is going to be difficult.

I've heard that....just trying to not add anything. Prob an amateur move. I'll learn.

 

[mjohnson171]

I use a pack of 71B and D47 blend, trade secret with the best of both worlds.

I'm glad you mentioned this because I've used both and thus far I seem to like the 71b. But yesterday I was thinking of blending 71b and d47 for my next batch since I have a half package of each.

 

[harrymel1]

45 bottle yield.

Color/clarity porn

Extra pic just because.

About to uncork a bottle and give a taste. Planning on labeling and waxing in the coming weeks. Any suggestions on names?

How is it?

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Haven't had a bottle recently. Its very dry, almost wine like. I liked the flavor profile where it was so I didn't back sweeten it. That might have been a mistake.

 

[sliverx]

I tend to use Cooper's Ale yeast for my meads as I dont really like the wine profiles I had with wine yeasts.

 

[Jb123]

How is it?

It's very good thanks Beerontwowheels for the bottle.

 

[lucas1801]

Only mead I ever made was a variation of Fall's Bounty Cyser

4 gallons Cider
8# Golden Blossom Honey
1# Dark Brown sugar
10 oz currants
10 oz dates
71-B
SNA

OG was 1.112, FG was 0.998. It aged it 2 years and was too lazy to bottle so legged it. It was surprisingly smooth for the abv and very tasty, had some sherry notes to it.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Only mead I ever made was a variation of Fall's Bounty Cyser

4 gallons Cider
8# Golden Blossom Honey
1# Dark Brown sugar
10 oz currants
10 oz dates
71-B
SNA

OG was 1.112, FG was 0.998. It aged it 2 years and was too lazy to bottle so legged it. It was surprisingly smooth for the abv and very tasty, had some sherry notes to it.

SNA = Staggered Nutrient Additions for those who are slow, like me.

 

[lucas1801]

SNA = Staggered Nutrient Additions for those who are slow, like me.

Yes. Should also add I made that back in 2010 so not much experience. I have made Saisons blended with white cranberry/fruit blends that are good though.

 

[doobiegoobie]

About to go balls deep with some mead...

12 lbs orange blossom
going to do 3 lbs of blueberries in primary
9 lbs of blueberries in secondary after a month or so
71b
probably ~1oz french oak in primary

Wish me luck!

 

[Beerontwowheels]

About to go balls deep with some mead...

12 lbs orange blossom
going to do 3 lbs of blueberries in primary
9 lbs of blueberries in secondary after a month or so
71b
probably ~1oz french oak in primary

Wish me luck!

How much water were you adding to this? Using just enough to bring it up to 5 gallons?

I was just looking back through some NHC winning mead recipes for inspiration. I'm looking to make another mead in the next month or so, but not committing to one recipe or another. Some of these recipes look prohibitive to make just based on the sheer amount of fruit being used. 40 lbs of rhubarb, 36 lbs of strawberry. ****.

Pretty sure I want to stick with 71-b for yeast, but not sure on honey varietal or what type of fruit/spices I'd like to use. Anyone have any ideas floating around they'd like to share?

 

[doobiegoobie]

How much water were you adding to this? Using just enough to bring it up to 5 gallons?

I was just looking back through some NHC winning mead recipes for inspiration. I'm looking to make another mead in the next month or so, but not committing to one recipe or another. Some of these recipes look prohibitive to make just based on the sheer amount of fruit being used. 40 lbs of rhubarb, 36 lbs of strawberry. ****.

Pretty sure I want to stick with 71-b for yeast, but not sure on honey varietal or what type of fruit/spices I'd like to use. Anyone have any ideas floating around they'd like to share?

I added 4 gallons, so yeah, just enough to bring it to 5 gallons.

 

[sliverx]

How much water were you adding to this? Using just enough to bring it up to 5 gallons?

I was just looking back through some NHC winning mead recipes for inspiration. I'm looking to make another mead in the next month or so, but not committing to one recipe or another. Some of these recipes look prohibitive to make just based on the sheer amount of fruit being used. 40 lbs of rhubarb, 36 lbs of strawberry. ****.

Pretty sure I want to stick with 71-b for yeast, but not sure on honey varietal or what type of fruit/spices I'd like to use. Anyone have any ideas floating around they'd like to share?

I have some meadowfoam honey and got the idea with b nektar doing bananas foster about trying to use a weizen yeast with it and make a banana bomb mead.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

I have some meadowfoam honey and got the idea with b nektar doing bananas foster about trying to use a weizen yeast with it and make a banana bomb mead.

Sounds delicious!

I need to check some other sources for honey varietals. My LHBS has Clover, Orange Blossom and Wildflower. They are also a bit expensive. IIRC, 1 gallon of orange blossom ran me like $55.

Also, I'm not experienced enough to really know which varietal would pair best with different fruits/spices/etc. I need to do some research on that.

 

[sliverx]

Sounds delicious!

I need to check some other sources for honey varietals. My LHBS has Clover, Orange Blossom and Wildflower. They are also a bit expensive. IIRC, 1 gallon of orange blossom ran me like $55.

Also, I'm not experienced enough to really know which varietal would pair best with different fruits/spices/etc. I need to do some research on that.

Check local farmers markets. There's a lady locally who has a bunch of weird varietals (one was sumac if I remember correctly) but often in seriously small quantities.

 

[sliverx]

Sounds delicious!

I need to check some other sources for honey varietals. My LHBS has Clover, Orange Blossom and Wildflower. They are also a bit expensive. IIRC, 1 gallon of orange blossom ran me like $55.

Also, I'm not experienced enough to really know which varietal would pair best with different fruits/spices/etc. I need to do some research on that.

Requote: we sometimes see buckwheat honey at the LHBS thats some interesting stuff. I made a braggot with it a while ago. Its a very medicinal tasting honey.

 

[sliverx]

Strawberry mead. In The carboy it looked red, bottle has no red. Smells very jammy. The fruit looked nasty.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

187ml or 375ml?

 

[sliverx]

187ml or 375ml?

375mL which is nice since 2.5 gallons of mead with fruit fits nicely in my 3 gallon Better bottles and fills a case of bottles with a bit to spare.

 

[sliverx]

Meadowfoam honey. Left is Weihenstephan Weizen yeast (trying to banana bomb it) right is wyeast 1968 London ESB since I had it around.

1 gallon of honey in about 5 gallons split.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Got some work to do:

Thanks, sliverx for alerting me to a honey seller right in my own backyard.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Blueberry bottled up after 3 months on the berries

Tim - how is this drinking now? Happy with your recipe? What rate did you fruit at?

I'm leaning towards a blueberry melomel once the harvest is here. Only a few weeks away now. I'm planning on going heavy on the fruit. Just spit balling, but probably something like 12 lbs of the blueberry honey (pictured above), 3 gallons of water and 16-18lbs of blueberries (all in primary?). Might up it to 18 lbs of honey, 4 gallons water and 20 lbs of blueberries. Thinking of adding some medium toast french oak and maybe a cinnamon stick. Need to get this sorted out before I pick the berries...