Mead and wine making

[BigAshW]

Started a couple of brews yesterday. A spiced mead and a tea wine both using the recipes from city steading on YouTube. Both of those are bubbling away nicely in my wardrobe.

Tonight I have and brew coffee to start another wine with and the final brew for the year will be five gallons of a standard mead to start next week.

Will be nice to get the stocks back up as I haven't brewed anything in a while.

I'm still working on what to put in with the coffee wine thinking some raisins and orange zest should pair well with the coffee.

 

[BigAshW]

All started. Now I have Nice bubbling sound to drift of to sleep with instead of the white noise machine.

 

[Bluebell1985]

View attachment 28758

All started. Now I have Nice bubbling sound to drift of to sleep with instead of the white noise machine.

I made home brew red wine once upon a time. The bubbling sound through the air lock was by far the most exciting part of the process.

Unfortunately for me the wine wasn't the most pleasant tasting. I'll cross my fingers that your mead is better.

 

[pargyle]

Started a couple of brews yesterday. A spiced mead and a tea wine both using the recipes from city steading on YouTube. Both of those are bubbling away nicely in my wardrobe.

Tonight I have and brew coffee to start another wine with and the final brew for the year will be five gallons of a standard mead to start next week.

Will be nice to get the stocks back up as I haven't brewed anything in a while.

I'm still working on what to put in with the coffee wine thinking some raisins and orange zest should pair well with the coffee.

I only made coffee wine once ... what a disaster, ghastly ... Fermentation went off like a rocket - it was down to ultra dry in no time but - it was not even a good drain cleaner ... This recipe straight out of CJJ Berry - First steps in Winemaking.

Makes one gallon.

Ingredients:
5 Tbs Instant Coffee 7 pints Water
3 Lb. Honey (or Sugar) 3 tsp. Acid Blend
1 Campden Tablet, crushed 3/4 tsp. Yeast Energizer
1 pkg. Sherry Yeast
Directions:
1. Pour instant Coffee and honey (or sugar) into primary fermenter.
2. Pour water (hot) into primary fermenter and stir thouroughly.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except yeast. Stir well.
4. Cover primary fermenter.
5. Wait 24 hours, then add yeast and re-cover primary fermenter.
6. Stir daily and check S.G..
7. When S.G. reaches 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice from bag.
Then syphon juice into glass container and attach airlock.

This is by way of a warning - if it's anything like this recipe - best chuck it now and buy some seasonal fruit and make something that could be drinkable ....

 

[BigAshW]

I only made coffee wine once ... what a disaster, ghastly ... Fermentation went off like a rocket - it was down to ultra dry in no time but - it was not even a good drain cleaner ... This recipe straight out of CJJ Berry - First steps in Winemaking.

Makes one gallon.

Ingredients:
5 Tbs Instant Coffee 7 pints Water
3 Lb. Honey (or Sugar) 3 tsp. Acid Blend
1 Campden Tablet, crushed 3/4 tsp. Yeast Energizer
1 pkg. Sherry Yeast
Directions:
1. Pour instant Coffee and honey (or sugar) into primary fermenter.
2. Pour water (hot) into primary fermenter and stir thouroughly.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except yeast. Stir well.
4. Cover primary fermenter.
5. Wait 24 hours, then add yeast and re-cover primary fermenter.
6. Stir daily and check S.G..
7. When S.G. reaches 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice from bag.
Then syphon juice into glass container and attach airlock.

This is by way of a warning - if it's anything like this recipe - best chuck it now and buy some seasonal fruit and make something that could be drinkable ....

Nope nothing like my recipe

I used cold brewed filter coffee to reduce the bitterness.

Sugar to bring to an OG of 1.110

Then raisins and orange zest plus the juice from the orange.

Yeast is lalvin ec-1118

When primary has finished I'll rack and leave for a while then check again. As long as it's stable I'll taste and see if it need back sweetening.

Then rack or bottle as appropriate. From what I've read I don't expect this to be drinkable for at least six months after bottling.

 

[pargyle]

Nope nothing like my recipe

I used cold brewed filter coffee to reduce the bitterness.

Sugar to bring to an OG of 1.110

Then raisins and orange zest plus the juice from the orange.

Yeast is lalvin ec-1118

When primary has finished I'll rack and leave for a while then check again. As long as it's stable I'll taste and see if it need back sweetening.

Then rack or bottle as appropriate. From what I've read I don't expect this to be drinkable for at least six months after bottling.

Good luck ... come back and tell us when it's ready to drink ....

 

[F.F.Stung]

To use precious honey to make mead is, I think, a shocking waste as the hedgerows are awash with rose hips and sloes which make an excellent wine

 

[BigAshW]

To use precious honey to make mead is, I think, a shocking waste as the hedgerows are awash with rose hips and sloes which make an excellent wine

I don't use my honey for mead.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Blackberry cyser made with blossom/heather honey second racking

 

[BigAshW]

Coffee wine, tea wine and spiced mead all bottled.

The coffee wine finished at 12% and cleared nicely

The tea wine at 13.78% also clear

Spiced mead at 14% and needs a bit of time to clear.

My official taster has declared the spiced mead very sweet but a bit lacking in spice I'm hoping that some age will bring out the other flavours if not I'll drop some honey from the recipe.

Coffee wine has a great aroma and is very nice.

Tea wine is far dryer and more like a standard wine should age well.

 

[BigAshW]

My basic mead has been racked and is still fermenting started at 1.110 gravity and is now at 1.018 and still going.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Would of been nice to see the colours of all, but fair play

 

[BigAshW]

Would of been nice to see the colours of all, but fair play

Sorry the other half's favourite wine comes on a dark bottle and I'm too tight to buy bottles from home brew sites.

 

[BigAshW]

The flip top is a clear bottle though so shows the colour of the coffee wine a bit.

 

[Curly green finger's]

The flip top is a clear bottle though so shows the colour of the coffee wine a bit.

Can I have your coffee recipe pls?

 

[Swn58]

To use precious honey to make mead is, I think, a shocking waste

The difference between wine and mead is about the same as tea and coffee? I make mead from honey that is left spare from bottling. I also only started making mead when the amount of honey I was producing became very high. The more honey produced does lead to more honey that never makes it into pots, so what better way to use it? I don't see making mead as a waste of 'precious honey' at all, but yet another use for a fantastic natural product, that I have the privilege to harvest.

 

[BigAshW]

Can I have your coffee recipe pls?

Sure

4 Liters of water cold, add fresh ground coffee to taste. (I used about half a lb)

Let it brew for 24 hours.

Then filter out and add 2 3/4 lb sugar stir to dissolve.

Add 2oz raisens chopped and the zest of half an orange and the juice of one orange.

Check the gravity and adjust to 1.110

As yeast (I used lalvin EC-118 because I had a spare packet)

Put it all in a demijohn add airlock and wait.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

To use precious honey to make mead is, I think, a shocking waste

What do you suggest we make mead from then?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Sure

4 Liters of water cold, add fresh ground coffee to taste. (I used about half a lb)

Let it brew for 24 hours.

Then filter out and add 2 3/4 lb sugar stir to dissolve.

Add 2oz raisens chopped and the zest of half an orange and the juice of one orange.

Check the gravity and adjust to 1.110

As yeast (I used lalvin EC-118 because I had a spare packet)

Put it all in a demijohn add airlock and wait.

Nice one thankyou, when do you stop fermentation what sg? and I have saternaus yeast or youngs general purpose?

 

[BigAshW]

Nice one thankyou, when do you stop fermentation what sg? and I have saternaus yeast or youngs general purpose?

I stop when it's done. Once the gravity stays steady over a few days then you should be good.

I racked it at 1.008 and it stayed at that. I like to leave things in bulk as long as possible before bottling as it gives a more consistent product.

I think yeast types are a bit subjective. Apart from the specialist ale yeasts I guess. You can make wine with bread yeast if you want.