Mead ( honey wine!)

[bailey]

hello all.

i sit here writing and drinking my first glass from my first batch of mead.
for those who dont know of this lovely drink you should try it!!!

all it takes is 1 gallon of honey to make a 5 gallon batch if you like a dry wine.
if you like a sweet wine it will require another 2 to 3 pints.

it is a rich amber colored wine with a great aroma and taste is out of this world.

i used a gallon of dark fall honey to make this so those who dont like the goldenrod honeyyou get in the fall here is a great use for what you wouldnt use for eating.


jp you are going to have to order yourself a fermenting jug after you taste this.

( or i can supply you with mead for the mere cost of a few unwanted planters of bees :evil:)

i also packaged my first for sale honey today.

posted a small sign at the time clock at work today as a teaser. ( i was off duty today)

so after packaging two products that i produced today i feel like it was a great day.

hope you all have a greay night.

bailey

[johnnybigfish]

Way to go Meadmaker!!
I make it too!...My mead has a loud voice what talks to me after just 1 wine glass..After 2 glasses I can talk to myself! (Usually speaking of GREAT SATISFACTION!)
your friend,
john

[JP]

Once my leg heals up I will be coming your way!!!

....JP

[reinbeau]

Once my leg heals up I will be coming your way!!!

....JP

Leg heals up?  What happened (I must have missed it)  :?

[Sean Kelly]

My mead went bad.  Was my first attempt to making wine.  Was a nice amber color before racking it for secondary fermentation.  I didn't know I was supposed to top off the carboy with water and left a huge airspace above the wine.  Also didn't cover it and was exposed to a lot of light.  It turned a deep purple color and now there's this white stuff growing on top.  Ugh.  And it tastes nasty.  Gota scrap it and try again.  3 months of brewing time and $40 wasted.
My grandpa makes mead and other fruit wine and its always been awesome.  There's a commercial mead company here in Washington called Sky Mead and they make some awesome mead in dry, semi-sweet, and sweet.  If you ever see it, you gota give it a try!

Sean Kelly

[danno]

Sean
It sounds like everything that could go wrong did.  It also sounds like you know what to do to fix some of the problems.  You stated that you didn't top up the carboy so the wine oxidized.  Im not a big fan of topping up because all your doing is diluteing and thinning.  This will give you a wine with no body.  What I do is before I syphon into a secondary is fill the carboy with CO2.  I have a extra 5# cylinder, Regulater and hose for my beer tapping systems.  I "SANITIZE" everything!!!!! Then run CO2 into my secondary. Cant see it but its heavyer that air so its in there.  I then slowly syphon with no splashing.  As the wine rizes it pushes the CO2 out. I seal it with a airlock in my dark 70 deg wine making room in my basement.  Another way to stop oxidation without the CO2 or topping up is to buy a bunch marbles.  Sanitize them and pour them into the wine to take up the extra room.  You also had the white stuff growing so I would say you didn't sanitize something.  Be Clean!!  Good luck

[KONASDAD]

I too did my first mead this year. It looks great and I cant wait to taste the final version. I too dont like adding water. I have descending size carboys. By the time I bottle the mead I am down to about four gallons. After first rack, I put four gallons in one carboy, and one gallon in a one gallon carboy. I top the one gallon w/ water let it settle and bottle totally for personal use. Its is not as tasty , so just for me. The other stuff is gift materials and is being bulk aged for now. It looks l;ike a white wine right now.

[danno]

I just finished and bottled a gal of ancient orange a recipe I found on the net. Alittle sweat for my wife and I but good.  I have 5 gals of one called chocolate sex that is going to turn out awsume.  It has been clearing for 7-8 months and is about ready to bottle. This one took awhile.   I also have a gal of white grape pyment

[JP]

Once my leg heals up I will be coming your way!!!

....JP

Leg heals up?  What happened (I must have missed it)  :?

Ann, I had a little accident yesterday involving a cut-off saw. Had to go to the hospital, it wasn't pretty, needed about 20 stitches and staples. Ya'll be more careful than me out there! That little incident wasn't part of my planning, now I have had to reschedule a bunch of stuff.

Danno, I was thinking of you the other day cause I have a friend that's having a problem with a particularly crafty squirrel. You ever do varmant control with your falcon?

....JP

[reinbeau]

Once my leg heals up I will be coming your way!!!

....JP

Leg heals up?  What happened (I must have missed it)  :?

Ann, I had a little accident yesterday involving a cut-off saw. Had to go to the hospital, it wasn't pretty, needed about 20 stitches and staples. Ya'll be more careful than me out there! That little incident wasn't part of my planning, now I have had to reschedule a bunch of stuff.

Ouch!  JP, be careful out there!  :shock:  We can't afford to lose any good beeks!  :)  Or good forum friends!  :) :)

[JP]

[/quote from Ann]Ouch!  JP, be careful out there!  :shock:  We can't afford to lose any good beeks!  :)  Or good forum friends!  :) :)
[/quote]

Which one am I? A, B, or none of the above. Let's see I know how to remove and transfer them and am getting better at keeping them but don't know if I can consider myself in the good beek category just yet. I try and be a good forum friend but sometimes people take offense at what I might say, well sometimes, well, there was this one time anyway, at least that I know of. Well, anyway, do I get points for trying?  :-* ;) :) :mrgreen: :? 8-) :'( :-D :-X

....JP

[reinbeau]

Lots of point, and yes, you are a good beek and a good forum friend.  Don't you have the lock on the number of cutouts reported here?  I think so!

Ooopss, this thread has been hijacked - it's supposed to be about mead..... :lol:

[JP]

Lots of point, and yes, you are a good beek and a good forum friend.  Don't you have the lock on the number of cutouts reported here?  I think so!

Ooopss, this thread has been hijacked - it's supposed to be about mead..... :lol:

Ann you have made me ferklempt, I shall go and cry now in some dark corner and get in touch with my inner selves.  :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( 8-) :-* Thanks for the kind words, I shall perfume your feet now like the lowly dog that I am.

....JP

[Sean Kelly]

Jp, I love the Peter Griffin icon there.  Freakin hilarious!

Danno, great idea about the CO2.  I did sanatize using 1-step, followed the instructions to the T.  Thats another thing, the instructions that came with my mead kit didn't say anything about topping off the carboy.  They were actually quite vague (I'm assuming the kit was meant for more "experienced" brewers).  Oh well, you learn from your mistakes.

Sean Kelly

[Romahawk]

I usually use a quart of mead from a previous batch to top off with. That way the flavor and alcohol content are not diluted and I maintain my proper air space.

[johnnybigfish]

Hey Sean, I made two batches of mead so far...The first one I added water...The second batch i didnt add water and I also had about 4 and a half gallons instead of five. Next batch I wont add water..I think water may mess up the growing process(I use fawcett water) I also wont sample so much when I'm racking...That can lower you're level alot!

Real bummer on your mead loss though. yeh, the books tell you to be real sanitary and I imagine thats a good rule of thumb....I've been pretty luck though as when I sanitize I just pour a little bleach in my carboys, add water, slosh it around, pour it out, cap it with a pc of foil and let it set around till i do the next batch....Then I rinse it out again and start another batch of mead!
There actually IS alot of hand washing when doing this though. As a matter of fact I think I'll start another batch pretty soon.....I'll post pictures too this time!.......Of ME DRINKIN" it!
your friend,
john

[Angi_H]

I can not wait to start making this. Have you guys ever had it warmed and spiced. OMG Heaven. It is really good. I have a bottle Still that we got in Monteray called Chancers Mead. And it comes with a tea bag of spices and says to warm in a coffee pot on the warmer and add the spice pack. And drink till you cant drink no more lol.

Angi

[Cindi]

I try and be a good forum friend but sometimes people take offense at what I might say, well sometimes, well, there was this one time anyway, at least that I know of.

I know what you were referring to.  It wasn't that bad, JP, not really an offense taken.  You are a good forum friend to all of us, you need to know that....I am sorry to hear of your injury, got pictures, hee, hee? I love gruesome stuff sometimes.  Will the injury impair your ability to use your fingers, elaborate a little upon what happened.  I see you can still type, so it must not actually involve several of your fingers, unless you are a two fingered typist.  Have a great and careful day, love this life.  Cindi

[JP]

Cindi, I don't think it would be proper to post pictures of my leg on the forums. Some types would find it extremely offensive. But if you wanna do a poll, I am willing, hehe. As far as my typing skills, what typing skills? My typing skills suck. Hey, you get a chance to send those seeds?


....JP

[Cindi]

JP, I don't know how to do a poll, maybe someone will.  Yep, everyones' seeds were posted the day before yesterday and Kev's went yesterday, should be arriving PDQ.  I know that Annette's got there within two days.  Have the best and most wonderful day, love our life.  Cindi