# Mead tutorial files?



## farmerjack (Jan 19, 2020)

Howdy,

have had good luck with red wine owing much to being directed to a pdf with the basics of making red wines

is there such a thing for mead making?

I'd rather not choke up the forum with newb questions if the groundwork has already been laid

have searched around this site but not finding it so far. any suggestions?

thanks


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## BernardSmith (Jan 20, 2020)

Hi farmerjack, Not sure that there is on this site any basic tutorial on mead making that takes you from novice to expert, but mead making is essentially the same as wine making except that honey is a desert in terms of the nutrient base it provides yeast; honey has no chemical buffers that control pH (but that is usually not a problem) and - and this is my opinion - until you have mastered what is known as a traditional mead (honey, water, nutrient and yeast) it does not make any good sense in trying to make melomels or metheglins or braggots etc. Making a mead with fruit or spices or nuts or grains simply masks and hides flaws rather than exposes them and if you learn to make a mead by hiding structural flaws your meads won't improve and you will sometimes be surprised at the (relatively) poor results. Make your meads naked until you understand exactly what you need to do to make that naked mead delicious. 

Mead making , just like wine making is all about balance. That means the ABV, the richness of flavor, the acidity, the "tannicity", the perceived sweetness and the mouthfeel all need to complement one another and not compete with each other. As with wine, all other things being equal an ABV much greater than about 12-13% is going to be out of balance with the other characteristics... 
One last point: honey has an SG such that when you dissolve 1 pound in water to make 1 gallon the gravity of that solution is around 1.035. That means that about 3 lbs of honey dissolved to make 1 gallon will give you +/- a starting gravity of about 1.100 or a potential ABV of about 13%. 
Good luck -


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## farmerjack (Jul 5, 2020)

Thanks Bernard, I saw this in January and forgot to reply.  it's an old age thing 

I have the first batch to the point of stopping it at .85. Wanted to keep some of the honey taste and sweetness in the mead.


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## salcoco (Jul 5, 2020)

The Newbee Guide to Making Mead try here


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