My first mead

[billtzk]

I made a mead today. I used 10 pounds of wild flower honey and enough water to make 5 gallons. Here is the exact process, I hope this works:

Sanitized all equipment.
Add 3 gallons filtered tap water to 6 gallon carboy.
Add 5 teaspoons Fermax yeast nutrient.
Hydrate two 5 gram packets of Lalvin D-47 yeast in 1.5 cups of 107F water for 15 minutes.
Add 10 pounds of wild flower honey (it was a little grainy, but still free-flowing).
Shake carboy to mix well.
Top off with additional filtered tap water to five gallons.
Pitch hydrated yeast.
Aerate for 45 minutes with aquarium pump and SS stone.

Measured OG was 1.076 at 60F. I hope that is not too low.

I think this should result in a fairly dry mead. As soon as I find a good source of raw unfiltered Orange Blossom honey for a reasonable price, I'm going to start another mead using 15lb of honey and Lalvin 71B-1122, like the basic recipe that Ken Schramm gives in his "The Complete Meadmaker". I may make that same recipe twice, and use one of the batches to make a metheglin with nutmeg and chamomile.

It's a pity that mead requires such lengthy aging. It'll be at least 6 months before I get to taste this, and probably a year before it is really drinkable.

 

[Nurmey]

Recipe looks good. With only 2 lbs per gallon the mead should be fairly light and age a little quicker than 3 lbs per gallon. I made some lighter spiced mead a while back and I could tell when I tasted it at bottling that it wasn't going to be long before it was nicely drinkable. You are right though it's hard to wait for it to age.

 

[billtzk]

Yes, after talking to the guys at my LHBS, I decided to go light at 2lb per gallon specifically to cut down on aging time for my first mead. Their price of $3.49 per pound of honey was another incentive to go light.

I have another free carboy, so I'll make a 3 lb mead in a week or so when I find a good source of honey. I'll try the Farmer's Market.

I hope I like mead. I've never tasted any. It'll be a bummer if I spend all this time and money and end up with something that I don't enjoy drinking.

 

[Nurmey]

The good news is that if you don't like the flavor as is, you can rack it on to fruit or spices and give that a try.

 

[hightest]

Yes, after talking to the guys at my LHBS, I decided to go light at 2lb per gallon specifically to cut down on aging time for my first mead. Their price of $3.49 per pound of honey was another incentive to go light.

$3.49/lb?

I don't know where you live, but if you're anywhere near Lancaster, PA, I'd start shopping at Dutch Gold. Right now most of their 5 gal pail (60lb) prices calculate out to $1.75 / lb. It takes me 2½ hours to get there so I usually get 2-3 pails when I go.

If you're not near that area, I'd start checking for local honey sources, they've got to be cheaper than $3.49/lb...

 

[billtzk]

Yes, $3.49 a pound is astonishingly shocking. I'm in Dallas, TX. I plan to check the Farmer's Market in Dallas.

I have a question about honey. Is it better to use raw unrefined honey? I notice that this type of honey is often granulated and has to be heated to melt it back to liquid form. I am using the no-heat method of making mead because I don't want lose any of the volatile flavor and aroma components of the honey. Heating the honey essentially pasteurizes it. But if the honey is raw and granulated, it seems you have little choice.

 

[hightest]

... Is it better to use raw unrefined honey? I notice that this type of honey is often granulated and has to be heated to melt it back to liquid form...

Having never used raw honey, I really can't say if it's "better".

I do know that there are people who believe ingesting raw honey is better for you as it contains suspended particles and other things that are filtered-out (or affected by the heat) during commercial processing. Personally, my instinct tells me that there's more hype to those claims than real benefit. I could be wrong, but that's how I feel...

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Yes, $3.49 a pound is astonishingly shocking. I'm in Dallas, TX. I plan to check the Farmer's Market in Dallas.

I have a question about honey. Is it better to use raw unrefined honey? I notice that this type of honey is often granulated and has to be heated to melt it back to liquid form. I am using the no-heat method of making mead because I don't want lose any of the volatile flavor and aroma components of the honey. Heating the honey essentially pasteurizes it. But if the honey is raw and granulated, it seems you have little choice.

Hi billtzk: You might find the following site useful in finding honey: Honey Locator - The National Honey Board Regards, GF.

 

[billtzk]

Thanks GF. Burleson's is just south of Dallas in Waxahachie. Very convenient if the price is right.

 

[CBBaron]

Yes, $3.49 a pound is astonishingly shocking. I'm in Dallas, TX. I plan to check the Farmer's Market in Dallas.

I have a question about honey. Is it better to use raw unrefined honey? I notice that this type of honey is often granulated and has to be heated to melt it back to liquid form. I am using the no-heat method of making mead because I don't want lose any of the volatile flavor and aroma components of the honey. Heating the honey essentially pasteurizes it. But if the honey is raw and granulated, it seems you have little choice.

You only have to gently warm honey to liquefy the honey, you don't have to heat it to pasteurization temps. Place the honey container in a warm water bath and give it some time to start to dissolve. For making mead you don't really have to get it completely liquid as the crystals will dissolve in water.

Personally I think local unfiltered, unheated honey tastes better but I don't have enough experience with it to know if that translates to the mead.

Craig

 

[smokysalsa]

I have bees and all we ever have is raw honey, any thing natural (fresh) unpasteurized tastes better. you will eventually get christals in any kind of honey. it is the sugar Christaling together. also when your boiling maple syrup, if you cook it to long it will turn to sugar christals.