Mead, anyone?

Hi all,

Trust me, I have scoured the Usenet high and wide, but did not find any mead-making newsgroup (at least not that my ISP would carry). Is it something that can be discussed here? After all, mead *is* honey wine :-)

Thanks, Peter

Reply to
Peter Pichler
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Sure. I only have one batch under my belt, and it is just about a year old now. I tried a bottle of it expecting it to be a bit harsh still, having read that mead really needs age, but it was smooth as silk. I am berating myself for making only a gallon now. Will be at least 5 gallons next batch, with 1 gallon batches for playing with some melomels or metheglins.

Quixote

Reply to
Quixote

There is one. It is rec.crafts.meadmaking

maybe your ISP will add it if you ask them.

Reply to
Paul E. Lehmann

Tell your ISP about rec.craft.meadmaking. You will find the inhabitants there to be friendly, courtesy, and helpful - even when sober!

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

Could you share your recipe with us?

Reply to
Bob Becker

Thanks, Dick and Paul. I have asked my ISP, now I am trembling with anticipation! ;-)

Peter

Reply to
Peter Pichler

I have taken it up only about a year ago and do not have anything older than from February. It tastes great, though. I am of course saving some to mature, I will see how it turns out.

Cheers, Peter

Reply to
Peter Pichler

I was very lax with record keeping on it. It was enough Texas wildflower honey and water to get a spg of 1.110 in a gallon primary. Forget what yeast, but it may have been Flor Sherry, as my yeast picks were limited then. I did not boil the honey, as I was afraid it might steal some of the honey flavor that I love, and so it took some fining. Some bentonite did the trick. It also went pretty dry for my taste so I back sweetened with just a touch of invert sugar and sorbate. Been in the bottle about six months now.

Quixote

Reply to
Quixote

Flor Sherry? Bentonite? Spg? Sorbate? You are too scientific, mate ;-)

I made three 1-gal batches, as I had three jars (linden, forest and multifloral) to spare. I used one jar (~900g or 2lb) per gallon. Dunno what the SG was as I only purchased a hydrometer much later. I poured the honey into boiling water and kept just below boiling for about 20 min. It dissolves better that way. I have read that I was supposed to skim the froth, but there was not much froth to skim anyway.

For yeast I just used dried baking yeast called Young's from a local supermarket (UK). No idea what strain. After about a month of primary fermentation, I racked to a new demijohn with 500g of raisins. The extra sugar boost from the raisins restarted the fermentation. When it stopped, I racked again and left alone for a couple more months to clear. I have no idea how much alcohol is in it, but it tastes quite potent and smooth even when it is only a few months old.

Here is my first question, before my ISP wakes up and gives me rec.crafts.meadmaking: boiling the honey and skimming the froth is supposed to remove the proteins and thus speed up clearing. But aren't yeast, being living organisms, also made of protein?

Peter

Reply to
Peter Pichler

Peter, for now, just go to google.com and grab 'groups', then cruise over to rec.crafts.meadmaking. It is an offshoot of this group. When your ISP catches on you will be set. I make mead too.

I never boil and always skim, no need for wax and bee legs in mead. If you take the water to about 60C you will have no issues with the honey dissolving and may retain some additional flavor from the honey. As to the yeast question, I really am not sure what you mean. They can't handle temperature above 50C. Meads are notorious slow fermenters, by adding those raisins you not only added sugar, you added nutrient. If you are happy with your yeast have at it but most meadmakers use a wine yeast. The protein they are interested in removing can cause what is called a protein haze, it's more of a cosmetic defect than anything else.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

That happens - you are not alone.

It always a pleasure to meet someone who understands enough not to boil the honey.

Reply to
Dick Adams

Next time keep your water between 140-158F (60-70C)

I was not aware baking yeast came in strains. But I have heard prisoners use baking yeast to make alcohol.

The raisins may have saved your meads from the baking yeast by adding a very strong flavor to the mead.

I'll venture a guess of 9.5% to 10.5%

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was actually a beekeeper in past years. Kind of let it slip when the Africanized bees started making their way into south Texas. The kids were young then, and the hives were very close to the house. I still have the equipment, but would have to build new hives, and am thinking about starting up again for a cheap source of honey. The kids are grown now and away... :^) I have developed a taste for mead...

Quixote

Reply to
Quixote

Of course it does, silly. The reason it's suboptimal for use in producing alcoholic beverages is that the criteria regarding what makes a bread yeast good are different from the criteria for wine and beer yeasts. The manufacturer still has to ensure consistency; they don't just culture any old wild yeast and sell it.

As do some homebrewers. Joe's Ancient Orange mead is often recommended as a good first mead, since it's a fairly quick one and the recipe is quite simple. The recipe calls for bread yeast (a specific brand, and substitutions of other strains are not guaranteed to work).

Reply to
Paul Arthur

That was not my quote, but rather Peter Pichler's. I use wine yeast for my mead.

I have, however, used wine yeast to make a sour dough starter, and it produces the most wonderful loaves. The rise is a lot slower so I have to let the sponge rise literally overnight, and the finished dough for several hours, but the results are worth every minute.

Quixote

Reply to
Quixote

Did you not find: rec.crafts.meadmaking ???

I don't read it, but it should still exist ...

Derric

Reply to
Derric

Sorry, didn't read far enuf and see that it was already pointed out! :(

Derric

Reply to
Derric

I've made a variety of mead products over the last 5 or 6 years. My favorite is a rose mead; I added a quart of white rose petals to each gallon of must. I finally found a use for that monstrous rose bush alongside the driveway. Pyment is also good; grape flavored mead. One of the side benefits of getting involved in mead is that you'll pick up a lot of good words for Scrabble; pyment, cyser, melomel, etc.

I've generally found that meads take at least a year of age before they're drinkable; three or four years is better.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

rec.crafts.meadmaking

The Anchorage Fishwrapper and Litterbox Liner Press

Reply to
A. J. Rawls

Thanks, I promise I won't start another thread here. I cannot promise not contributing to this one, though :-)

Interesting. I must be using honey that has been clered from these things. Never seen any impurities. Skimming never yields more than a couple of spoonfuls of froth. Could be something to do with not having my own source and hence having to buy from a supermarket.

I do not boil either: I bring the water to the boil and then add the honey, thus cooling it down. Afterwards, I take great care not to boil it again.

I mean, you go though all the bother with heating and skimming to remove the protein, only to put some (i.e. yeast) back again.

That's the next phase: experimenting with various strains. I figured that for that I really need to get a LOT of honey of the same kind to be able to compare (and be sure that the only difference is the yeast).

Somehow it always come out clear for me. I have had one particularly cloudy batch that mysteriously cleared itself up in the second fermentation (with raisins). Could be thanks to some additives in the raisins: sulphur or whatnot.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Pichler

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