Making mead. Hints, tips and recipes

So what does one do on a rainy winters day?
Hey Joe.
Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, raisins and of course oranges.


Nearly there, fresh oranges from the yard, yum.


Ok, done, 4 kgs of honey, 6 litres of water and some yeast.
That was the easy bit.
Now the hard part.
The wait…
:upside_down_face:

3 Likes

Damn. You were serious :wink:

Hey, can you use crystallised or unripe honey for mead? Not that I have any at the moment but at some point I know I’m going to have a load of honey which is not presentable. I never tasted mead and at nearly 50 it’s about time I guess…

1 Like

Does not make any difference.

1 Like

Looks good already skegs. How long will it take plus any aging you want?

Definitely try a batch and let us know how it goes! I tasted my first mead prob 10 years ago and thought I hated it, but realized the maker or the batch was to blame. I tried some a forum friend gave me that she made, and it was sublime - nothing like the first taste. Been wanting to make a batch myself and this could be the year, with two nearly-full F supers :star_struck: so I’ll be eager to hear your progress if you give it a go!

1 Like

I use all my old unsaleable honeys.
Like brewing anything it can be complicated or really simple. I like this one because it’s simple and tasty. I’m not sure what other meads are like, I’ve been meaning to buy a bottle from the grog shop to find out. :woozy_face:
I’m no mead expert and with so many variables like type of honey, orange and yeast each batch is different.
When the liquid goes clear it’s ready but I usually wait until the orange drops as well, maybe 3-4 months.

3 Likes

Just a short movie :grinning:

5 Likes

Jumped off my chair at the end! Well done!

2 Likes

I have just ordered my supplies and I saw this post. I am having a hard time reading the yellow in the article. I am going to start with one gal. But I have a lot to learn. I thought I could use a one gal jar with air lock but looks like that may be for secondary fermentation.

I am just the opposite. I am a beekeeper with lots of honey because we lost our market due to Covid.


So here it is, mmmmmmmead.

Cheers.

4 Likes

That’s a beautiful sight, Skegs - what recipe did you use? Right now I have two 5 gal carboys bubbling quietly away in my dining room, my first try. My son chose to use the recipe that Cowgirl sent me, with apples & spices in it, and I made the other one just a basic one. We started these on Nov 1st.

2 Likes

Hiya Eva, it’s the simple JAOM recipe I posted when I laid it down above in this thread in June. Now it’s warming up here the oranges and raisins have finally dropped from suspension and it’s ready to bottle 4-5 months later. I like the idea of chucking all the ingredients in a carboy, forgetting about it and letting it do it’s thing.
What was Cowgirls recipe? (Say hi, or howdy to her for me too if you’re still in contact) I like the sound of Apple based as they’re in plentiful local supply so I can put some of them down as a summer crop. :grin:

2 Likes

Looks smooth mate. Keen to try this myself some point in time. Where did you get your setup from?

1 Like

Set up Fred? I use a 5L carboy and an airlock bought from Malthouse in Welshpool but plenty places out your way too. It’s too simple mate, definately worth a go.
If you’re out this way pop in for a yarn, they don’t call me Havachat for nothing.:grin:

2 Likes

IMG_0451.png

We used honeycrisp apples

Hi @Eva, your link didn’t work.
We don’t get honey crisp apples here.

Sorry about that! A translation follows:

Swedish Apple Pie Mead

4.5 gal water
12-14 lbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1 and 1/2 chopped apples (gala, Fuji, or similar)

There were no directions with this ingredient list, and no yeast was specified so we hacked it together using other bits of info.

Thanks for that. From my quick google it’s always pressed apple juice and called cyser. Did you use whole apple and nutrient addition?
I’m keen to hear how it turns out as summertime the only oranges we get are Californian and waxed so I can only do mead in wintertime.

Whole apples/chopped minus the cores…no nutrient added.

1 Like