Honey shine?

[akrandy]

Was hoping someone has a good honey shine recipe. I'm using a reflux still. Thanks for sharing akrandy

[Dnderhead]

not that it cant be done but why do you want to run mead threw a reflux still?
it not all that hard,but its a waste.10 lb honey about 4 gal of water,,2 tsp nutrient,
aerate then pitch yeast.
such as lalvin D-47...ferment in cool location for about 2 weeks .then rack once a month for as long as the trub accumulates on bottom.

[Dnderhead]

if you "down on the farm" using raw ingredients..
mix one part honey to four parts water.and one lb of dryed grapes (prefer white)
add grapes in a bag ,,boil until grapes git all mushey ,squeeze bag to remove as much as you can..skim off foam from top.strain threw cheese cloth into crock,,cover with cheesecloth/other.leave over night or
until cool,at this point Id suggest to add yeast but it will ferment with out.
it will take a bout 1 month to ferment ,,then rack into barrel or other.
leave this for about 9-12 months.

[Samohon]

This has came at the right time Dnder, gonna try it out with the grapes... Thanks man...

Took 48Kg of the best honey I've tasted - had the bees in the country all spring/summer...

Heres a piccie - Yes, thats me in the picture. The boxes contain the honey laden supers...

[Samohon]

Sorry for hogging the post akrandy...

I'm gonna go along with Dnderheads second post on this thread. I do have a few pounds of grape concentrate from a wine recipe I never got round to.
So, using Dnders figures, I may just use the concentrate to bring the SG up a tad, if needed of course..

Thanks again Dnder..

[Dnderhead]

just a note,

if you use 15- 18lb honey for 5 gallon batch but it will be sweet.(they call it sack?)
12-14 lb in 5 gallon will make a medium mead..
use up to 10lb in 5 gallon for a dry mead.
( honey does not completely ferment like sugar does.)
(the raisins add some flavor as well a working as a nutrient.)
(some add a orange/lemon.)
(honey weighs 12 lb to the gallon.)

[Samohon]

Thanks Dnder - I'll keep ya'll in the loop....

[Dnderhead]

I like melanoma,,this is mead with fruit..and a favorite is apple with a touch of cinnamon.
but if I was to distill,Id do so in a pot still.then flavour after if wanted.
(maybe,,,,,,, apple honey pie) ????????????

[Samohon]

Sounds great, I'll use your recommendations to make up a few gallons, then put some through my pot still to see what I get.

Thanks again Dnder...

Hope your getting this akrandy... A few great ideas...

[akrandy]

Thanks for the info. My reflects still can also be used as a Pot still. And that's what I'll be using. My wife make fireweed honey and I wanted to try and make shine out of it. So that's why I'm doing it What kinda yeast should I use bakers? Distillers? Or a turbo? Yes I said it turbo lol I'm not against using it.

[Durace11]

if you are going to distill all of it you could use bakers yeast, personally, I'd probably use wine yeast and save a bottle for drinking as mead.

Dunders numbers are what you want to stick with in general:

if you use 15- 18lb honey for 5 gallon batch but it will be sweet.(they call it sack?)
12-14 lb in 5 gallon will make a medium mead..
use up to 10lb in 5 gallon for a dry mead.

High ABV is called sack, low ABV is called hydromel. Something like this:

ABV:
hydromel 3.5 - 7.5%
standard 7.5 - 14%
sack 14 - 18%
taken from the BJCP site listed under "Mead Styles"

If you are distilling it I'd say aim for as dry as possible(10-12 lbs in 5 gallons) since you don't want any leftover sugar in the wash. Also the raisins are a good idea for nutrient since honey has hardly any nutrient for yeast. An orange or lemon or grapes is a good idea for additional nutrient as well as PH adjustment. Personally I'd make a mead and drink that straight, if your mead comes out bad THEN distill it but I'd just drink the mead! Mead also ferments slow so don't be in a rush.

[Samohon]

Thanks for the info. My reflects still can also be used as a Pot still. And that's what I'll be using. My wife make fireweed honey and I wanted to try and make shine out of it. So that's why I'm doing it What kinda yeast should I use bakers? Distillers? Or a turbo? Yes I said it turbo lol I'm not against using it.

I'll use a champagne yeast for the mead i'll be drinking and use some of my distillers yeast colony I managed to get from one of the commercials here.
My yeast farm has been going now for nearly a year and has never let me down yet...

I wouldn't use a turbo akrandy, but each to their own.

Thanks for the info Durace11...

[akrandy]

Right on thanks man. And got it NO TURBO LOL

[Odin]

What would happen if you make a neutral wash (Birdwatcher for instance), strip it and then added honey to the low wines? Not to start some kinda second fermentation, but just as an added taste before the spirit run. Would the taste of honey get over? Would it just be a bit sweeter?

Curious.

Odin.

[heartcut]

You might try California Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP001) or American Ale (Wyeast1056). They give a mellow flavor that doesn't need a long aging period, champagne/ white wine yeast seems to develop a harsh astringency with honey that takes a year or so to go away. Never could keep any mead long enough to distill...

[Dnderhead]

""Never could keep any mead long enough to distill..."
same here also it taste to good the way it is.....

""Thanks again Dnder... ""
is this not what this site is all about?
sort of like "stone soup" everyone throws something in and all can benefit.

[rtalbigr]

I have distilled mead ( it was a methaglyn?sp, honey with spices) and I consider it to be the finest distilled spirit in my stock. I have it only on special occasions like Friday (just kiddin, it has to be special). Many have disparged it here, yes it is expensive, but it does make an exceptional drink, in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't reflux it.

I have used 2 yeasts for my meads, Lalvin D-47 and 71B-1122. I did considerable research before picking these two, I would not consider using any other, of course this is strictly my opinion. Sam, I really don't think a champagne yeast would be a good choice here, again, voicing my opinion.

Actually, my favorite mead to date is a pumpkin mead. Very nice. Fruit meads are too much like a heavy wine, just not my style, I'm sure some will find them delightful.

Big R

[HolyBear]

Master Dunder, you truelly are a master at this craft.... I've used somma me girls juice fer a wash. Itwill laked somethin... Grapes are jes what it needed!!! Yer right as always...Thank ye Sir, fer being there... I'll be trying it soon...

[Dnderhead]

as for adding fruit,,i dont like a heavy/over powering fruit (like blackberries)
honey is better with a light fruit like apple , peach/apricot. or posably a light cherry or maybe yellow/red raspberry?
"thank enhancing" flavor not cover up .

[HolyBear]

We've been in a terrible drought, fer tha Las two years really, but I have noticed that tha percimon r doing good this year... prolly tha best wine I ever made was percimon, light, almost like an angel,.. do ya think master Dunder, that would be a good combo???

[Dnderhead]

never had persimmon wine so dont know,,but as for growing they mite be like the grapes,,less rain sweeter/tastier grapes..

[blind drunk]

Nothing nicer than a bursting persimmon -

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[frozenthunderbolt]

We've been in a terrible drought, fer tha Las two years really, but I have noticed that tha percimon r doing good this year... prolly tha best wine I ever made was percimon, light, almost like an angel,.. do ya think master Dunder, that would be a good combo???

Persimons make a loverly wine - i usually combine them with a tin of lychees, some apple juice, and a tin of apricotts and a bit of sugar. It makes a heavenly arromatic wine.

[Dnderhead]

yep sounds good..
i like to add fruit to the secondary it gives more fruit flavor..
to do this you start the mead,,when the trub starts to settle
rack to another container with the fruit in it.this can start re-fermenting.
from a bit of research id say 2-3 lb of fruit for each gallon.
but this is for mead/melanoma

if your going to make the mead,,distill,,then add fruit you might want to use some pectic enzymes.(with the fruit)
as persimmons are high in pectin*.what ever you do do not add tannins they are also high in them.
*pectin wont let it clear

[AnOniiMouse]

I ran a gallon batch of Mead once and it was delicious, the spirit actually tasted more like honey than the Mead did. I even used some to make a black pepper infusion that was incredible. I liked it so much, I decided to do a 6 gallon batch just for the still, but my wife hijacked and bottled it before I had a chance to run it.

I like using Eau de vie yeast in my meads because it ferments fairly dry and has a low flavor profile.

My favorite Mead was cranberry, that one didn't last long. But if we're to continue down that path we should probably start a thread elsewhere.

[tom sawyer]

I like melanoma,,this is mead with fruit..and a favorite is apple with a touch of cinnamon.
but if I was to distill,Id do so in a pot still.then flavour after if wanted.
(maybe,,,,,,, apple honey pie) ????????????

I don't like melanoma at all, not that fond of melomel either. But I'd take the latter before the former.

[2495robert]

I have enjoyed the read on this thread. I started a honey mead over a month ago. fermentation is going very very slow for me. I have half a mind just to run it as is.

[heartcut]

Put up a mead a month or so ago:
Heated 2 gal water to 150degF, mixed in 24 lb East Texas Tallow honey, added an iced tea sized Lipton tea bag, 2 tsp DAP, 1 B-50 tablet, 1 Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc tablet, let the tea sit for an hour, added water to 12 gal, 1 hydrated packet Lalvin ICV-D47 and 2 tsp Ferm-Aid O after 24 hrs. Took a month to ferment and it's just barely sweet, really smooth, softly fragrant and in danger of being consumed before distillation.
I do think boiling the honey destroys some of the more subtle flavors and aromas, but it probably doesn't make a difference if it's getting stilled. Honey is a good antibiotic, so it takes care of a lot of the sanitation.

[Durace11]

Damn Heartcut, I'd probably just drink that mead, forget stillin it.

I just bottled 10 gallons of a JAOM hydromel made with grapefruit, a cherry/plum sweet sack mel, & a traditional cactus honey mead. I also had a gallon of mead made from south american honey that went bad on me. It tastes like barf and smells like garbage so I'm thinking I might pot still it and see if it cleans up or not. If not it goes into the feints jug for the next neutral batch.

[2495robert]

My run of honey mash turned out very nice. It seems to be a good all around brew high proof low proof with or without oak. I really enjoy this