Ok how about mead?

[Saltheart]

Ever had mead? I used to make a lot of mead.

Making wine is a lot harder than making beer. Now maybe there is an easier way but my only attempt at making wine involved a kit and you have to add all kinds of tablets for ph and yeast nutrients and other stuff I have forgotten. it takes a long time in the fermenter too and then the aging. Beer is much easier.

Now you can make mead very easily. essentially you make it like beer. i have made many different varieties. The ones with acidic fruit added with the honey , such as cranberry and red Cherry come out good all the time. Citrus like grapefruit or orange can be tricky. Spiced mead , call metheglin is fairly easy. Stuff like ginger and cloves is added. Metheglin is the root word from which medicine comes from or at least that is what I have read since metheglins were considered to have medicinal value back in ancient Celtic Days.

Mead is one of the oldest of the fermented drinks. I guess the idea of adding a little honey to something that is mostly water is a natual thing to do to add a little sweetness. well if you water down some honey and just leave it hanging around , it will eventually ferment and then you have alchohol! Its a natural , unlike some processers that are complicated and make you wonder how people a thousand years ago developed them.

So , any mead makers or drinkers out there?

[spence]

I made 6 gal from local honey back in Iowa some years ago. OG was large...came out to around 16-17% although that seems a bit high...

Pretty good. It was the only batch I ever did...

I have a good sole and cider soup recipe that I think would be nice with a dry mead instead.

-spence

[The Dad Fisherman]

Made a few batches at a BOP place awhile back.....stuff will kick your arse if you aren't careful.

for some reason me and the Bro-in-laws always drink it on X-mas

[Raven]

that mead brew.....

the first beer

[Saltheart]

16 to 17 ABV not poissible unless you distill or concentrate. No yeast will get you above 13 at most. but anyway , yes mead can be very strong and if made well , it goes down so easy you can get caught by surprise by the buzz.

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

yes mead can be very strong and if made well , it goes down so easy you can get caught by surprise by the buzz.

especially when you're drinking it w/ beers...and Capt & Cokes....makes for a rough morning the next day

[spence]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

16 to 17 ABV not poissible unless you distill or concentrate. No yeast will get you above 13 at most. but anyway , yes mead can be very strong and if made well , it goes down so easy you can get caught by surprise by the buzz.

Agree, that's what I remember the numbers coming out to but it seemed high so possible I screwed something up. Maybe I used champagne yeast? I was some time ago...

Regardless, it was pretty strong stuff. I'd love to taste some good homebrew mead, the commercial stuff I've had hasn't impressed.

-spence

[Saltheart]

Yep , some mistake in OG-FG measure or calc. Even Champagne yeast will have trouble at about 13 percent. Any wine or alc beverage above about 13 has either been fortified with distilled spirits , concentrated by removal of water in the form of ice , or distilled itself.

Take 2 quarts of honey , two gallons of Ocean spray cranberry juice, add pre boiled then cooled water to make 5 gallons , add a wine yeast and then just do like you would a homebrewed beer. it will take longer to ferment but when done , it will taste like white Zin wine and as long as you do everything clean like in beer making , the cranberry mead is almost fool proof. You can bottle it still or you can carbonate it if you like. i usually bottle it right from the secondary without adding the priming sugar because there is usually a little unfermented sugar still in it and that kicks off in the bottle. It doesn't get foamy like a beer head but it gets just a little carbonation.

One thing i have thought of since they are now pretty available would be to make a mead using some of that pomagranet juice. Sounds yum!

[The Dad Fisherman]

when I had made it before I had a Blackberry, a peach, and a Spiced for flavors...really good

[Clogston29]

Had a Norwegian friend in college who's dad used to make it for us. Good stuff imo.
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