70 LTR Of Mead.

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Co / Durham / Co Cleveland and Northumberland
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17 nucs....
Ok I got a bit carried away but this is where I am upto now..some is still fermenting and some clearing..I can't believe how easy it is to make..here we have..Apple + Pear/Cyser/Honey only/Blueberry and BlackBerry..it should be right for around Christmas time.
 

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I am shortly to try a demijohn. Never made it before. I don't want to end up with a dry mead. Any pointers?
E
 
I was having a look at my wine making book which is from boots 1980s and it says to ferment to dryness with dry mead stoping the fermenting process with camdon tablets,there's a sweet recipe allso if you want it?
 
I have always made pure mead and its very odd stuff.

Times I have set off two identical batches, same honey water and yeast, and one has taken off like the proverbial cat and the other dawdles along. The first is finished in three to four weeks and the 2nd can take 6 months+

It's weird. I asked a commercial mead maker about it and his reply was.........

"Aye it's a bit of a bugger"

PH
 
One of our association members is a really good mead maker .. she reckons it's best left 12 months to mature ... I've never managed to keep any alcohol on the shelf that long !
 
One of our association members is a really good mead maker .. she reckons it's best left 12 months to mature ... I've never managed to keep any alcohol on the shelf that long !

I have the same situation with honey it's never around long enough to mature crystalize
 
I am shortly to try a demijohn. Never made it before. I don't want to end up with a dry mead. Any pointers?
E
As Mark says you can stop the fermentation with campdon tablets or you can back sweeten with honey or a fruit juice of your choice at the bottling stage..get your head around the hydrometer readings as that is your best tool for getting the correct specific gravity readings...i aim for 1.090 at the start which 3lb of honey gives you and a alcohol of around 11.5 to 12%..the taste is between sweet and dry you can add more honey at the start if you like it sweet but you will have to stop the ferment as it will end up like rocket fuel..youtube has loads of information on the subject and facebook has some very helpful folk on one of the groups i look at.
 
I have always made pure mead and its very odd stuff.

Times I have set off two identical batches, same honey water and yeast, and one has taken off like the proverbial cat and the other dawdles along. The first is finished in three to four weeks and the 2nd can take 6 months+

It's weird. I asked a commercial mead maker about it and his reply was.........

"Aye it's a bit of a bugger"

PH

That sounds about right..i did two demijohns the same and another two slightly different..all are clearing in different stages and they are all in the same room at the same temperature..out of the four Blueberry ones i did three are the same colour and one is slightly darker and all of them where mixed in the same 25L bucket before going into the Demijohns.
 
I made some elderflower melomel years ago. I tried it after a year and it was horrid. I poured the bottles away.
I found two that I missed six years later and guess what?
 
Patience possibly??????????????????????????

Mead like beekeeping needs patience. The trouble is it takes a good 30 years to realise the truth of it. ;)

PH
 
I made some elderflower melomel years ago. I tried it after a year and it was horrid. I poured the bottles away.
I found two that I missed six years later and guess what?

I think I heard you from here :)

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
 
There's a lot of things that need a bit of time to mature - I make fragrant mango chutney.. I've learnt that it needs at least three weeks in the jar for the flavours to blend ...its just completely different to when it comes out of the pan. I've made wines and beers and they all seem to have an individual point where they are really at their best ...the knack is not to taste so much on their journey to maturity that's there's none left when it's at it's best !

The other thing with home made wines and beers is that people have very different tastes and what you think is the nectar of the gods may taste like rat poison to someone else ... the test is if they accept a second glass (willingly:) )
 
Nov 2013 I attempted my only mead and used Ginger and Cinnamon in the brew, after fermentation I bottle 12 up and did have a taster and thought rocket fuel. I think I used 4 lbs of honey and from Sg to Fg ended up with about 14.8%, recently I dug out a bottle and it was nice and clear the rocket fuel taste seemed better but very dry.

Might have another go and be a bit more reserved and just make a standard honey mead, for a first go as above I was being to ambitious.
 

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