Honey mead

[BeeMad]

He actually has an updated version, but it's behind a paywall, so I don't know what changes he may have made to it since I'm sticking with free for now. I'm new to wine/mead making, having started only last November. Out of curiosity, what do you disagree with? It may help me in the future. Thanks.

 

[dralarms]

For a 6 gallon batch it calls for 24 lbs of honey. I only used 13 lb 10 oz for a 5 gallon batch and it’s wonderul. It fermented dry and I added some honey to sweeten but I sure didn’t use 8 lbs.

 

[dralarms]

My brother used his calculations on a batch and what he made wasn’t even drinkable from what he said.

 

[BeeMad]

I wonder what went wrong with your brother's batch, because I've used it to make five different meads and so far everything has turned out well (besides the two traditionals, I've made two blueberry melomels and an orange melomel). Granted, I only make one-gallon batches at a time, and I discovered early on just what you pointed out, that it calls for much more honey than is needed (I had to almost double the water to a batch after I added it). For that reason, I don't actually go by how much honey is recommended but by the yeast tolerance and the final ABV I'm looking for, and then I add honey until I get the starting gravity that will get me there, but the rest of the protocol has worked well for someone like me with very little experience at this. To be honest, though, even as a beekeeper, I find mead a lot more expensive to make than wine, and I'm wondering if it makes more sense to use sugar for most of the fermentation and only add some honey toward the end so that I get the flavor and sweetness while keeping down the cost. I'm planning to try a batch just for the experience.

 

[dralarms]

I wonder what went wrong with your brother's batch, because I've used it to make five different meads and so far everything has turned out well (besides the two traditionals, I've made two blueberry melomels and an orange melomel). Granted, I only make one-gallon batches at a time, and I discovered early on just what you pointed out, that it calls for much more honey than is needed (I had to almost double the water to a batch after I added it). For that reason, I don't actually go by how much honey is recommended but by the yeast tolerance and the final ABV I'm looking for, and then I add honey until I get the starting gravity that will get me there, but the rest of the protocol has worked well for someone like me with very little experience at this. To be honest, though, even as a beekeeper, I find mead a lot more expensive to make than wine, and I'm wondering if it makes more sense to use sugar for most of the fermentation and only add some honey toward the end so that I get the flavor and sweetness while keeping down the cost. I'm planning to try a batch just for the experience.

Then it wouldn’t be a true mead.

 

[BeeMad]

There is that, more like a honey-flavored wine. Still, I'd like to compare it to the meads.

 

[Arne]

Here is the neat kicker to that, when making your own wine you can make it however you want, call it whatever you want and nobody ever knows what went on except you. Unless you tell on yourself you are in the clear. Arne.

 

[sour_grapes]

Here is the neat kicker to that, when making your own wine you can make it however you want, call it whatever you want and nobody ever knows what went on except you. Unless you tell on yourself you are in the clear. Arne.

This!