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Author Topic: Looking for Mead advice.  (Read 1190 times)

Offline SlaptickBrews

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Looking for Mead advice.
« on: December 26, 2020, 09:18:10 am »
I'm fairly new to this trade, and I felt it was time to get some answers from peeps in the field. I made my first homebrew back in late October(Made a crowd pleasing Dunkel for friends and family, it was a rave at Thanksgiving). Anyway, I'm interested in trying some smaller batches of Mead as well. I've done my fair share of reading, but I would just generally love some best practices and general advice from people with experience. And/or what are some great recipes for small batches?

Offline dannyjed

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Re: Looking for Mead advice.
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2020, 10:17:21 am »
Here are a few tips that I have learned along the way.
1. No need to boil the honey. In fact, I think boiling it loses some of the aromatics and flavor.
2. Staggered nutrient additions for the first 3-4 days.
4. Back sweeten to desired sweetness level after fermentation is complete. Use potassium sorbate to not start up fermentation again.
5. Mead doesn’t need to aged for a year or more to be enjoyable. It can be nice and drinkable after a few months.
I tend to prefer fruit/berry meads the best and I usually add the same amount of fruit per pound as honey. For yeast I always use 71-B, but many others work fine as well. I have just started making a lower gravity “session” mead the last year that is very simple. I got the idea from a Chop and Brew video with Steve Flagerty. It uses about 8.5 lbs of honey for a 4.5 gallon batch that I put in a keg and carbonate.


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Dan Chisholm

Offline erockrph

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Re: Looking for Mead advice.
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2020, 01:00:24 pm »
In addition to what Dan said, if you're looking for even more fruit-forward mead, you can backsweeten with the fruit/juice itself. This works especially well with lower gravity "session" meads. I like 71B for everything except Cyser, which I use D47 for.
Eric B.

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Offline pete b

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Re: Looking for Mead advice.
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2020, 05:53:38 am »
Good advice above. My $0.02:
I agree that 71B is a great yeast for meads, especially with fruit, berries in particular. I prefer D47 for traditional meads, cyberspace, and other meads that come off as white wine like.
A lot of folks are having good luck with not ageing a year or more. I would trust their advice but if you are making wine strength meads I recommend longer if you can stand it.
Don’t ferment any higher than low 70s, remembering that the fermentation will take the temp about eight degrees higher than ambient temp, so a room in the mid sixties is the highest you want. Higher temps will create fuselage alcohols, making them taste “hot” and causing headaches. It’s the worst.
Agreed that it’s important to only heat honey enough to mix. Simply mix with hot water as you make the mead.
I rarely backsweeten. It’s a matter of preference. I find just about every commercial mead cloyingly sweet and much prefer the sweetness and mouthfeel of a mead that is comparable to a dry wine.
When adding yeast nutrient degas first to avoid eruptions. It’s best to ferment in a bucket with plenty of head space.
I recommend doing a mixed berry mead with 71b and a traditional mead with d47 for your first attempts.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline fredthecat

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Re: Looking for Mead advice.
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2021, 04:30:42 pm »
what people have written above - absolutely to all of the advice in points. mead had so many misconceptions about making it, never rely solely on something you find written about mead pre-2010 on the internet.


my advice is to drink a whole bunch of meads before trying to make one, maybe you have already.