WTB Spring Season Honey

[Jimyson]

Who can help me obtain a 10-15 lb batch of a spring honey? Something from the black locust blossom or even the sage blossom would be preference. This may be hard to get this late in the season but figured I would see who knows some beekeepers. A bottle of agave mead is your reward.

 

[seth8530]

Have you tried the bee folks? They are a good group and their honey is good.

 

[Jimyson]

I did and wasn't interested in what they had to offer for this particular batch.

 

[Deezil]

Try these guys for black locust

http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/mohawk-valley-trading-company-honey-raw-honey

 

[seth8530]

If you called them you might end up pleasantly surprised. They have a selection quite a bit larger than what is on the website.. Flying Bee ranch also has great honey, but I think they are a bit pricier.

 

[Jimyson]

I ended up finding a local source in Ohio, Honeyrun Farm. They are working with me to provide a 15 gallons batch of their spring honey which is an early early spring harvest to take advantage of some of the blossoms that give the characteristics that I am searching for.

Even better that they will be at a Winter farmers market about 10 minutes from where I live so I can just pick it up there!

 

[seth8530]

Sounds like a good option to me. What kind of honey is it?

 

[Jimyson]

So it's wildflower but they claim that it is light and delicate as they harvest early in the season to minimize clover. I really enjoyed their Summer harvest and they seem like they are honest and straight-forward with the discussions that I've had with them. So I figure I will give it a shot. It's my first mead so what the heck.

I will be using 12 lbs of the honey and 12 lbs of an agave nectar that I got for free from the home-brew club. Ferment with some Cotes de Blanc yeast and see what I get. Batch size will be 6 gallons.

Essentially I am taking this recipe and changing out the sage for the wildflower. http://www.maltosefalcons.com/recipes/agave-mead

 

[seth8530]

I would skip their recipe if I was you. Acid blend up front is usually not the best thing in the world for honey must. Plus, heating to 180 is not good for the aromatics. Also, you might want to look into following a scheduled nutrient plan instead of simply adding a lump of generic nutrient all up front.

That being said, good honey and agave should be interesting to see how they turn out. I would just modify the approach is all.

 

[Bergmann]

For what it is worth, If you plan on heating to 180F you may as well go to Walmart and buy best yet honey. because heating any honey to that temperature will dramatically change it's characteristics. The aroma and subtitle distinctions of a varietal honey will be lost.

Kmet sterilize, and slow ferment.

 

[Jimyson]

So I picked up a book the other night that talked about keeping the temp low and doing a schedule of nutrients. I think I will go that route for sure. Thanks for the tips. Any others?

 

[Jimyson]

So this book doesn't heat the honey up. He says to pour it in the fermenter and add the water. Then stir until mixed. Also here is his nutrient schedule. The mix is Fermaid K and DAP. I also plan to do a starter with Go Ferm.

“For the typical 5-gallon batch of mead, use 4 grams Fermaid K (approximately 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/3 teaspoon, 0.14 ounce by weight) and 8 grams DAP (approximately 1 teaspoon plus 2/3 teaspoons, 0.28 ounce by weight) mixed together.”

Excerpt From: Piatz, Steve. “The Complete Guide to Making Mead.” Voyageur Press, 2014.

 

[Jimyson]

Found this article interesting and informative.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html

 

[seth8530]

On the last page of the attached thread I have a relation that I came up with that helps you figure out how much nutrient you should use.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f86/got-off-phone-fermaid-people-38704/

I would recommend a combo of fermaid K and O ideally. Fermaid K up front, then move on to O.

 

[Jimyson]

Fantastic thread! I need to read through that a few more times to grasp it enough to feel comfortable with knowing that I understand it. Boy, I am really feeling like all-grain beer is so much easier!

 

[seth8530]

It takes a few times to get your head around it, but once you got it, it i really is much easier than an all grain brew. I assure you lol.

 

[Deezil]

Here's a post/thread that is basically a summary of that first thread that Seth linked. May help, may not.. Different wording, between the two threads I'm sure it'll 'click'

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f86/yeast-nutrients-39655/

 

[Jimyson]

Thanks guys. I took some time to read through the one Seth posted and will check the new one.

I think I'm just so used to my beer brewing process that when you throw a whole bunch more options/processes for Mead and Wine, the brain starts to hurt.

All the help and tips is greatly appreciated.

 

[seth8530]

It will take a bit to soak in, but if you can handle all grain you can handle this. Feel free to try and post an example to test your understanding.

 

[Jimyson]

I will. I currently have and am working out a plan for my first kit of Argentine Malbec that I will split into 4 batches. 2 batches will use WLP750 and 2 batches will use RP15. Then for each of the two sets of yeast, I will switch between FT Rouge and FT Rouge Soft.

Then I have 18 lbs of the Agave nectar and just picked up 15 lbs of honey. Once I figure out what I want to do here (also never done this before and still deciding what to do) I will split this into a number of batches and maybe do some blends, some straight, and maybe look to add some fruits or spices. Who knows what the future holds yet. Also still need to look at the various yeasts to use.

When I get all of the final batches sorted, I will calculate out the amount and schedule for the various additions that I'm soaking in and post to one or both of the threads. Especially since some is wine and the other is mead.

I have my second child due any day (2 days late so far) so hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I will have a better idea of where things are going.

Oh, and I need to get a couple batches of beer going to. I have a IIPA that's absolutely killer, and maybe going to do an RIS aged with vanilla beans, cacao nibs, ancho chile peppers, and espresso beans that I have been planning to do for the last 6 to 12 months.

Doubt I will have time for it but if planned well, I can get by with 2 brew days doing a double batch on each day.