What I did for/with Mead today

[Hoppy2bmerry]

This, I did not realize. Do you keep the water you boil them in to use as your must? There's a lot of flavor in there....or, @ least it helped my 2 Dandelion meads. But, every day's a school day

Yes, what I harvested yesterday is enough for a one gallon batch. I’m going to put the petals in a muslin bag to reduce the mess later. Do you add lemon to yours? i had checked a dandelion wine recipe just to see the quantity of petals used and they used lemon juice, perhaps to retain a bright color.

 

[Dan O]

Yes, what I harvested yesterday is enough for a one gallon batch. I’m going to put the petals in a muslin bag to reduce the mess later. Do you add lemon to yours? i had checked a dandelion wine recipe just to see the quantity of petals used and they used lemon juice, perhaps to retain a bright color.

The two that I have made were totally different recipes.
No lemon (juice or zest) in the first one. Added 1 qt size ziplok bag of dandelions, trimmed, petals only with no greens, to steeped black tea for 15 minutes, (just off boil), then made the must with that water.


Yes, lemon juice & zest in the second one.
It didn't ruin it, but, it almost totally masked the Dandelion flavor....not the flavor I was going for. That said, it was a rather large lemon, so, take that for what it's worth.

This is the second one I did....
https://meadist.com/making-mead/mead-recipes/dandelion-mead-lions-roar/
I still have enough dandelions in the freezer from last years round of Dandelion season (I got a gallon ziplok bag last year)...to which I will only do the zest in secondary with very little to no lemon juice.
Good to know about the boiling part. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Ren06]

Added 3 lbs of pineapple chunks to my pineapple coconut melomel

 

[MightyMosin]

I still have enough dandelions in the freezer from last years round of Dandelion season (I got a gallon ziplok bag last year)...to which I will only do the zest in secondary with very little to no lemon juice.

I've never tried anything with dandelions and I can't say that I have thought to try making one. I'm assuming it is floral on the nose. What about taste?

 

[Dan O]

I've never tried anything with dandelions and I can't say that I have thought to try making one. I'm assuming it is floral on the nose. What about taste?

Surprisingly the honey made the floral on the nose quite pleasant. The flavor was just as pleasant. Not overly floral, but enough so you knew the flower used. Even with only about 1/4 the petals in my first one, the Dandelion flavor really came through nice after about 9 months.
That said, it was my first batch, done with bread yeast...(first time making any mead) almost 3 yrs ago. It was gone by year 2.

 

[MightyMosin]

Racked and started fining on 5 gallon Chrsitmas Mead and 3.25 gallon Mesquite Traditional

 

[amber-ale]

View attachment 818071View attachment 818072Picked and plucked some dandelions. The last time I did this I didn’t know about putting them in boiling water. So this time I believe I will make mead.

Yummmmmm dandelion mead!!!!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Put together my first melomel. Replaced 32oz of the usual water with not from concentrate, no preservatives blueberry juice. Marketed as the juice of 3lbs of fruit. The must tastes absolutely delicious at 1123. I'd put it on pancakes.

 

[Todd Peterson]

Attempted to bottle 4 gallons of black currant blueberry melomel.

I kid you not, I propped the 5 gallon plastic carboy at a 45 degree angle to get the last drops of this fruit mead. The weight of the auto siphon brought the carboy crashing down onto my 12 ounce and 750 ml bottles full of a pretty good fruit mead.

Lost 1/2 of the batch. It sucks because the finished product is good.

I have a lot of mopping to do to do tomorrow morning. Live and learn I guess.
I saved 2 gallons, primarily in 750 ml wine bottles. Most of the 12 once bottles we’re a loss.

Todd Peterson

 

[Dan O]

Attempted to bottle 4 gallons of black currant blueberry melomel.

I kid you not, I propped the 5 gallon plastic carboy at a 45 degree angle to get the last drops of this fruit mead. The weight of the auto siphon brought the carboy crashing down onto my 12 ounce and 750 ml bottles full of a pretty good fruit mead.

Lost 1/2 of the batch. It sucks because the finished product is good.

I have a lot of mopping to do to do tomorrow morning. Live and learn I guess.
I saved 2 gallons, primarily in 750 ml wine bottles. Most of the 12 once bottles we’re a loss.

Todd Peterson

Bummer. They say....there's no mess like a mead mess. Sucks that you lost so much of it.

 

[Todd Peterson]

Bummer. They say....there's no mess like a mead mess. Sucks that you lost so much of it.

I’m just grateful that I wasn’t using a glass carboy. Infuriating mess could have been a medical emergency.

Love and learn I guess. Will not make this mistake again.

I still have almost 2 gallons of a nice mead bottled.

Todd Peterson

 

[Dan O]

I’m just grateful that I wasn’t using a glass carboy. Infuriating mess could have been a medical emergency.

Love and learn I guess. Will not make this mistake again.

I still have almost 2 gallons of a nice mead bottled.

Todd Peterson

Half is better than none and yeah. Glass could've gone a lot worse.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Degas, add nutrient.

 

[malchizedec]

Yup, pressurised glass is a bad idea , 5 stitches later, to be fair I was tired and not thinking the correct steps through.

 

[malchizedec]

I'm currently fermenting three meads all based on apple juice and Coolabah honey. They will be two semi sweet (maple syrup and hazel nuts, Mango) and one sweet mead (based on Falls Bountry).

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Finally plonked down the start-up money to purchase Go-ferm, Fermaid-o, Fermaid-k and potassium carbonate (not to mention honey) to make my 1st mead.

 

[Dan O]

Finally plonked down the start-up money to purchase Go-ferm, Fermaid-o, Fermaid-k and potassium carbonate (not to mention honey) to make my 1st mead.

You'll be glad you made the investment

 

[MightyMosin]

Racked Christmas Mead off of sediment; looks really clear.
Racked Marshmallow Bochet to secondary. Added fining agents.
Racked Norwegian Tea to secondary. Added fining agents.

 

[bushpilot]

Finally plonked down the start-up money to purchase Go-ferm, Fermaid-o, Fermaid-k and potassium carbonate (not to mention honey) to make my 1st mead.

Oh boy, another one bites the dust. Welcome to your latest obsession.

 

[bushpilot]

Bottled a beautifully clear traditional, and a cyser-chokecherry blend.

Put away my equipment for the season, as I am out of honey and pretty much all my bottles are full. I'll start my next batch in the fall or winter.

 

[Dan O]

Oh boy, another one bites the dust. Welcome to your latest obsession.

I call it the most addictive hobby on the planet

 

[MightyMosin]

Racked my Viognier Pyment off of everything that has settled from the fining agents and added American and Hungarian Med+. About 30g of American and 20g of the Hungarian.

A reminder is set on my phone to check it every two weeks for the oak level in it... I am fighting the urge to purchase another oak barrel for it and I just may fail at this as I have enough juice concentrate to make another 12 gallons which means I can fill the barrel as soon as I plan on emptying if I go that route.

Then again for the same money I can get another stainless Torpedo keg and just leave oak in it until its at a level I like... So far the oaking I have liked the best has been in the barrel but I haven't done a ton of it in the kegs as those have mostly contained my melomels.

 

[Ren06]

Racked my Viognier Pyment off of everything that has settled from the fining agents and added American and Hungarian Med+. About 30g of American and 20g of the Hungarian.

A reminder is set on my phone to check it every two weeks for the oak level in it... I am fighting the urge to purchase another oak barrel for it and I just may fail at this as I have enough juice concentrate to make another 12 gallons which means I can fill the barrel as soon as I plan on emptying if I go that route.

Then again for the same money I can get another stainless Torpedo keg and just leave oak in it until its at a level I like... So far the oaking I have liked the best has been in the barrel but I haven't done a ton of it in the kegs as those have mostly contained my melomels.

I don't currently have a barrel but I've been oaking using staves at different char levels and different types of wood and it complements the meads very well! I don't think I'll ever go back to using wood chips.

 

[Maylar]

Xoaker spheres for me. 4 per gallon, 3 months.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Ok, ok. I've got some Hungarian oak cubes, might as well drop a few in one of the gallons I've got clearing.

 

[Maylar]

Ok, ok. I've got some Hungarian oak cubes, might as well drop a few in one of the gallons I've got clearing.

0.6 oz. per gallon worked for me when I used cubes.

 

[Ren06]

Bottled 4.75 gallons of grape blueberry melomel

 

[Todd Peterson]

Shared a 750 ml bottle of black currant blueberry melomel with some friends this evening.

The fruit mead was a hit. Oaking this mead for a month following the manufacturers dosing instructions completely changed the taste profile of this beverage for the better. Was not bad before using the Stavin oak cubes. A better final product now at just 6 months.

The oak added some tannins and rounded out the taste of the mead.

Will definitely be oaking my meads going forward.

Todd Peterson

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Bottled cider so I have a fermentor free for mead.

 

[MightyMosin]

Poured (3) 750ml bottles of the new Viognier Pyment to enjoy over this weekend.

It's young but still very tasty... I'm anxious to see what time and the oaking does for flavor integration. I also added this into my Batch Cost spreadsheet.
With calculating in a basic labor cost if I was paying myself, this batch works out to $10.76 for a 750ml bottle.

I have to say that it is a hell of a bargain for such a nice honey forward white pyment. I love doing this!

Also bottled a bit of Pinot Noir Pyment and Marshmallow Bochet for friends to try.