Mead

[DetroitDIY]

Man, I wish I could!

I have 1 acre at my live in house, 7 acres at my rental but corn and soy fields on either side so the farmers would get lit up. lol

I'm thinking that most people wouldn't even notice a bee hive if they didn't actually see it. I'm in the city. My neighbor has a hive. I don't notice anything in terms of too many bees around. I'm considering starting a hive myself (but I need another hobby like a hole in the head).

I suspect if you just camouflage your hive, you could easily do one on your 1 acre and others may never know. Is there something bad about having bees near corn/soybeans? I'm ignorant on that one.

If I do get some bees, I'll give a jar of the honey to each of my neighbors after the first year and all will be good. Plus, most of my neighbors are pretty cool already. I did have to get their permission to keep chickens.

[Shine0n]

There's alot of flowers around where I live but I'm more worried about an attack on the farmers from running equipment.
Who knows, it could be corn flavored honey. lol

The house where I live it's just not worth it having young kids always into something but I know some people who know some people and might have a spot. We'll see soon, they'll be coming to the Mardi Gras party sat and it's looking promising.

[Deerhunter]

Man, I wish I could!

I have 1 acre at my live in house, 7 acres at my rental but corn and soy fields on either side so the farmers would get lit up. lol

We're looking for some property out in the woods, 25 acres or so and will get hives if found in Middlesex Co. But for now I'll have to buy it and I do have good sources as long as I get enough to justify shipping. It's just so expensive to buy by the lb locally.

Good luck with the hives! Let us know the yields in due time.
I'll take a few lbs if willing to ship or meet up

I'll keep ya up to date ShineOn. I'll harvest once in July and again in the fall. I should be looking at 600lbs of honey this year give or take. Next year will be about 3000lbs. Bees don't pollinate corn.

[Shine0n]

Well I'm coming to you for some honey! lol
I figured because there's no flowers but some corn flavored mead sounds like it will be in the works soon.

Best of luck to you and enjoy the harvest when it comes. I'll pm you about your willingness to get rid of some in due time.

[Shine0n]

I've confirmed my love for meads today, I have had 4 small glasses of my Aug 2017 batches and I'll say WOW. That's some very fine mead.

Raspberry melomel 14%
Blueberry melomel 12%
Traditional with tupalo honey12%
Traditional with wildflower 12%

When I say small it was 3oz each, seems like that's all I needed for 12 in the afternoon. lol

I have somewhere a 2 gal batch with clover aged on med toast whit oak I can't seem to locate, that's one of the 4 I'll be taking on vacation next week if I can find it. That's what I get for hiding it from myself. lol I knew I'd drink it all so now it's good and hidden, even from me.

[jonnys_spirit]

I’ve got several meads in the cellar and love it through the still. I did a dragon blood cyser mead that I ended up stilling (rasberry, blueberry, blackberry, cider, apples, honey) and the spirit is awesome but almost gone. Just started a cyser braggot mead to still. Almost 20 gallons. Pretty excited about that one. Used K1V1116 on one FV and D47 on the other. Both good for meads. You need to be careful with good nute protocol w/D47 to prevent H2S (hydrogen sulfide aka: rotton eggs). For the braggot I used muntons 2row, 30# fresh apples, 13gallon kroger apple juice, one gallon wildflower honey, and 6-7gal water to top up to 1.070. Mashed the 2row with apple juice. Had a 10gal HBB wort finish up as this one was starting so threw in spent HBB grains and fermented the mead all on grain and let it sit and macerate for a bit too. Squeezed the viking piss outta the grains and it’s clearing in glass now. Will rack of sediment and check stats this weekend but close to running time. Some folks treat that stuff like a beer and do a boil and add hops. Not this run for me. I was finishing up that hbb and was getting all excited about a gumballhead on spent grains. Enroute to LHBS i convinced myself to do this mead instead and the guys in there are like wtf are you making? Ya know it’s good to buy some hops from those guys every once in anwhile with all the grain. Think of it as sacraficial. Throw it in the fire do a little dance and raise your glass towards the gods. Vallhalla I am coming !

-j

Running the spirit run on this honey mead cyser braggot shine today (I guess I let it sit in carboys for 4-5 months). The first four 300mL jars taste and smell absolutely wonderful. Just about into the 5th jar now. Making variations on this honey shine distilled mead is some of my favorite product. Hoping this can sit on oak a bit longer before I drink it all.

I stripped 12 gallons first then added low wines from that back into remaining mead and topped up with infected wheat backset before final strip run yesterday afternoon/evening.

This stripped down to a total 6 gallon carboy full of ~40%abv low wines which I added some infected wheat backset and infected HBB backset then let sit for a day. First jars outta my simple potstill are running at a consistent 178pF.

Slightly complex recipe but I recommend trying something similar and changing it up depending on whatcha got on hand or can git and adding plenty of honey and sg in the 1070-1090 range.

Think I'll go fairly light on the oak this time - med toast - no char.

Cheers!
-j

[Shine0n]

Sounds very interesting, let us know the final output and flavors.

[jb-texshine]

New addiction:
Cyser and Perry mead.
I could live off of this,lol.

[Shine0n]

Damn jb, just when I thought I had enough mead. off to buy some honey this am. lol

[bilgriss]

JB, once you've been living off it for a while, I'd like to compare notes. All attempts I've witnessed on living solely off drink seems to fail.

[Shine0n]

I've learned a valuable lesson the last week, DO NOT think you've gotten the yeast completely out!!!

I now have 5+ gallons of traditional all over the damn floor of my barn, I guess the lids were on a bit too tight and 6 of the 10 one gal jugs have busted.

I feel sick as hell thinking of the amount of money I spent in that shit.

Lesson learned I suppose, Hot, mead, tight lids= Boooom

[DetroitDIY]

Very sorry to hear than ShineOn.

I've done the same, only it was a bunch of little bottles of ginger beers I made. In my case the bottles were in my basement. I placed a towel over the crate full of them (least another blow while I was carrying it) and move them out to the shop which had much greater heat swings, which can cause more of them to blow. To reduce that opportunity, I placed them all in a plastic tub and filled it with water to act as a temperature buffer. That worked OK (only two more explosions) until I drunk my way through the remaining bottles.

I've have a couple of meads go active again after time, if the temp rises, or it gets agitated, or gets more oxygen. My solution these days is to leave my meads in a carboy for a long time (9+ months) with an air lock on them. I have one apple ice wine that I thought was finished. I racked it to a tertiary and it began fermenting again. That was about 10 weeks ago and it's STILL bubbling in the basement right now. Pretty crazy... this is the only time I've seen such a long, late bubbling stage.

[butterpants]

I've learned a valuable lesson the last week, DO NOT think you've gotten the yeast completely out!!!

I now have 5+ gallons of traditional all over the damn floor of my barn, I guess the lids were on a bit too tight and 6 of the 10 one gal jugs have busted.

I feel sick as hell thinking of the amount of money I spent in that shit.

Lesson learned I suppose, Hot, mead, tight lids= Boooom

The trick with mead is using a yeast strain with a very well known alcohol tolerance (71B, EC1118, 47D) and fermenting just a little bit past it. Then you can backsweeten without fear of any further fermentation. A very specific OG is needed to be hit, usually around 1.125 with 71B and 47D. 1118 is higher.

[bilgriss]

Oh, that sucks.
I've had meads go completely still relatively quickly, and others that seem to have residual fermentation forever. It's not obvious to me which one is going to be which type. I do know as suggested, adding a finishing yeast like a dry champagne yeast in late phases can help complete fermentation without changing the character of the initial ferment.

[jb-texshine]

Pasturing has worked well for me. Don't get hot enough to lose alcohol and it don't change the flavor but you only can use for a still mead.

[Shine0n]

Yeah it sucks but lesson learned.

I told my wife I'm taking over the laundry room, at least one closet. The temp in that room stays a constant 67°f So I'll make some shelving that can accommodate 3 gal carboys.

Once I bottle them I may have to call my momma to rent me out a room for storage. lol

I think all of those were fermented with D47, I didn't start with the 71B until the blueberry melomel and now the apple caramel cyser.

[badflash]

I would rather get my honey via barter rather than try to keep bees myself. I need to have some focus. I don't raise my own grain either, but I do raise pigs and chickens. When I go to country events and farm markets, I always hit up the bee keepers and maple people to see if they brew. I just made a trade for 25# of honey for 25# of pork. I also will be teaching a bee keeper how to make mead so he can start up a professional mead brewery. People often just give me stuff they think isn't high enough quality to sell. Just finished a batch for a guy that gave me enough honey for 2 batches, and he got one, I got one.

After talking with the maple guy last weekend he asked me if I needed free hay. He needed to clean out the barn to make room for this years hay, so I got 125 bales of good hay for free. That will make more pork, and I will be able to trade for more honey and maple syrup.

I always use Premier Cuvee yeast as it finishes fast and clean. When I think it is done, I run it through a 5 micron filter 2X. Never gotten a restart after filtering. At first I thought I would need a 1 micron filter, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I can usually bottle safely after 3 months.

[butterpants]

Pasturing has worked well for me. Don't get hot enough to lose alcohol and it don't change the flavor but you only can use for a still mead.

There's no need to pasturize mead with proper fermentation technique.....and it can be detrimental.

[DetroitDIY]

I don't like to dry out the meads... I fermented my last batch (15 gallons) with 3.5 lbs honey per gallon. 3 lbs per gallon is more typical for sweet meads. I've been liking 71B for it. Needless to say, there's a lot of residual sweetness. Just gave it lots of time before bottling and all was good. Even racked 5 gallons onto fresh raspberries and another 5 onto fresh peaches. Peaches are a REAL pain to filter out, and I bottled those before all the haze had settled out. The last bottle or two had the dreggs of the peach pulp. Those two had built up a bit of pressure after a few months of having been bottled (no explosions though). But all the bottles that I let settle in my tertiary long enough to go clear have been fine bottled. By the way, I'm using a few beer bottles, but mostly wine bottles.

Fermenting to dry is one way to do it, but just letting the yeast run its course on too much sugar and then giving it lots of time (in the carboy with the airlock) has also been a fine way to avoid the explosions for me.

[butterpants]

I don't like to dry out the meads... I fermented my last batch (15 gallons) with 3.5 lbs honey per gallon. 3 lbs per gallon is more typical for sweet meads. I've been liking 71B for it. Needless to say, there's a lot of residual sweetness. Just gave it lots of time before bottling and all was good. Even racked 5 gallons onto fresh raspberries and another 5 onto fresh peaches. Peaches are a REAL pain to filter out, and I bottled those before all the haze had settled out. The last bottle or two had the dreggs of the peach pulp. Those two had built up a bit of pressure after a few months of having been bottled (no explosions though). But all the bottles that I let settle in my tertiary long enough to go clear have been fine bottled. By the way, I'm using a few beer bottles, but mostly wine bottles.

Fermenting to dry is one way to do it, but just letting the yeast run its course on too much sugar and then giving it lots of time (in the carboy with the airlock) has also been a fine way to avoid the explosions for me.

Your problem is that you initially fermented to the alcohol tolerance of the yeast then you added fruit which is like 90% water thus lowering the overall ABV of your product and allowing the yeast to continue fermenting. This can be disastrous.

[DetroitDIY]

Yep. I think you're spot on Butterpants. In the future I plan to add any fruits in the primary which should take care of that issue. Most the mead makers I talk to seem to prefer fruit in the primary anyways... provides a different "cooked" quality to the fruit that many seem to prefer.

Thanks,
DetroitDIY

[Shine0n]

For me, I use fruit in the primary and secondary. I loose a good bit of product but the end results are very very pleasing.
I also try to reach the yeast tolerance bit as mentioned, shit happens and I'm living proof. lol

Bout to start another cyser in the next 2 weeks, just cider and honey, I will continue to use D47 and 71B. Those two seem to be the best for what I'm doing.

These jugs are not even close to being clear or seem to be getting clearer but I'll give it a few months and if not it is what it is... Good cyser!!!!

[MichiganCornhusker]

Had a nice mead by B Nectar tonight, cherry chipotle.
The pepper added a really nice unexpected flavor and heat, was a nice balance to the sweetness.
I would never have thought chipotle, think outside the hive!

[bilgriss]

Interesting flavors. My issue with pepper meads or beers is this: I don't want five gallons of it. I usually reserve tasting those types of beverages when I encounter them elsewhere, but when I'm fermenting something myself, I want something that I'll be interested in more than once or twice. Definitely can get some interesting flavors from peppers though.

[Shine0n]

Sounds like a good combo, after my traditional nightmare I needed to get some more so got 20lb wildflower today.

Maybe something new in the works plus some more traditional.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Another fun trick for you to try are what's called a bouchet: cooked honey. You slowly heat the honey up to a candy temperature and pull off a small spoon full at a time to let it cool so you can taste the caramel taste and see the color 'till it gets to your liking. This fall I made an ice cider/bouchet cyser mix. I have yet to taste it, but I'm very hopefull that it'll be outstanding... better be, as I made 10 gallons of it... took 36 gallons of cider to get the 9 gallons of concentrated must and then 1 gallon of the bouchet/water.

Oh, you mean this?:

You were kind enough to send me home with a bottle of this at Big Stogie's a few years ago.
Wow, is this ever amazing. I never really knew what it was in the bottle! I'm sure we talked about it at Stogie's, but then again so many things were talked about (and tasted!) that this must have slipped my mind. I've moved a couple times since then and the bottle got mixed up in some boxes and I just rediscovered it. I did an apple run recently and I remembered your label so I went searching and found it.

I've done a couple searches to see if I could add to your praise of this mead, but I don't see you bragging it up, so I will.

It is so concentrated and rich, completely still, it's like the espresso of cysers. The color is beautiful, mouthfeel is rich and velvety, sweet but not at all cloying, and tart at the same time. Oh, and the caramel! Melted caramel!

This is a very special drink that will haunt me for a good while. I will no doubt need to try to make something like this this fall.

ShineOn, I strongly suggest you put this on your list of things to do. Same for you, ShineOnCrazyDiamond, do your bees proud and try this out!

Thank you again, DDIY, this has been a unique experience. Outstanding? Yes, confirmed.

[DetroitDIY]

Thanks Cornhusker, I appreciate the feedback.

That bochet iced cyser, as well as an iced apple-pomegranate cider I made the same year each took a Silver in GLINTCAP last year. And now my bragging is complete.

I was just overseas and brought home some nice effervescent session meads from London. Making my own will be a future endeavor.

Presently I have an Orange Blossom mead with pineapple, cooked SE Asian bananas, passion fruit, cyelon, clove, cinnamon, thai pepper fermenting away. Fingers crossed. I'll be racking it later today so will get my first inkling as to how it's going.

ps. I really missed not getting together with the Midwest Contingent this past year. We'll have to find a way to rectify that soon.

Cheers!
DetroitDIY

[cayars]

Man, I wish I could!

Been a while. U still making meads or have you moved on to other spirits and wines?
I was getting caught up on this thread and then bamb it just halted a couple of years ago.
Did you ever distill any?

[Yonder]

Just bottled up one of the best bouchets. Smooth as silk and rich as could bee. Kept the honey in a slow cooker around 200 for 8 hours before bringing it up to volume. Step fed over the next 4 days then left it a month. Racked to glass, added caramelized honey from the same batch, vanilla bean, and my favorite fresh, Strong coffee. Left it alone another month before racking and bottling. Won’t get much aging with this batch!

[DetroitDIY]

Sounds good Yonder. I've done a couple bochets, often a bochet / ice cider mix, but always happy with them. Never cooked the honey as long as you have there, but was recently listening to a podcast where they slow cooked their honey for something like 16 hours, and to their mind turned out quite well. I'm thinking about something like that, but have other honey plans higher on my list.

I put 5 gallons of finished Buckwheat on some good low acid coffee beans earlier this week, and will be pulling them off tomorrow. I've got another 5 gal that I'm adding a good amount of fresh orange zest to. Made a crap ton of the Buckwheat and decided i didn't like it straight. But I did 50/50 with some tart cider I made this fall and that was quite nice.

Lots of honey, lots of good things to add, and lots of time to do it during the coming weeks.

I have yet to distill a mead myself, but have had some distilled meads and found them quite nice.

I made it to Manic Meadery in Crown Point, IN a couple weeks back with a few friends (before us Americans were paying too much attention to Corona). We sampled every mead they had for sale, and a few that weren't for sale yet. That place is phenominal, not a bad mead there. Just have to pick between good and outstanding. Plus their ciders were very nice too.

Take care, stay safe, and keep fermenting and distilling,
DetroitDIY