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Author Topic: Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?  (Read 4200 times)

Offline beerocd

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Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?
« on: November 13, 2009, 05:02:32 pm »
Got Plain Jane in the fermenter. Is there anything phenomenal out there I should be adding to my next batch?
I have Ken Schramm's book but I kind of like the mob mentality for trying out new suggestions.

-OCD
The moral majority, is neither.

Offline BrewArk

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Re: Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2009, 09:00:34 pm »
Got Plain Jane in the fermenter. Is there anything phenomenal out there I should be adding to my next batch?
I have Ken Schramm's book but I kind of like the mob mentality for trying out new suggestions.

-OCD
Yeast nutrients?  But I agree.  I like "mead".
Beer...Now there's a temporary solution!

Na ZdravĂ­

Offline Brewdogz

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Re: Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2009, 11:23:19 am »
Fruit, spices, herbs, oak/wood, booze - pretty much anything you like out of mead, will most likely work in a mead.

The nice thing about mead is there is no limitation to what you can do.  But of course it takes a lot of practice to figure out the best combinations and balance.
Curt Stock
Saint Paul Homebrewers Club
Lots of beers brewing
Lots of mead being made

Offline 1vertical

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Re: Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2009, 11:34:35 am »
I believe technically that when you deviate away from honey and water and yeast, you are making something else...
melomil, cyster,etc.

Just sayin...and I really think that http://home.comcast.net/~mzapx1/ Hightest's honey haven is invaluable
for the how to's of mead making.  I got such good results from feeding the mead a meal of nutrients from what
is labeled "staggered nutrient additions" on that site....SNA facts/technology alone make it worth while to visit that site.
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Offline Brewdogz

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Re: Ingredients besides honey, water, yeast ?
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2009, 11:53:21 am »
I guess it depends on what terminology you want to use.

For me;
Melomels are fruit meads which is further broken into;
Cyser - apples
Pyments - grapes
Other fruit melomels
Then you have tons of other variations;
Acer - maple
Braggot - malt
Metheglin - spices
Traditional - only honey

And the list goes on, but the common thing is they all include honey and are fermented.  I consider these all meads.

Yes - Hightest definitley knows more about mead making than most people out there.  And he has helped many people get into mead making and set them on the right track.  The SNA system of nutirent dosing is essential to yeast health and good mead.

High quality ingredients are a must as well.
Curt Stock
Saint Paul Homebrewers Club
Lots of beers brewing
Lots of mead being made