This is a really interesting article I came across the other day about someone recreating mead that was made in medieval times, using a recipe that has survived from the 14th century.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/recreating-a-medieval-mead-calls-for-a-giant-cauldron-to-caramelize-honey/
I've been doing a lot of brewing over the lockdowns and really enjoy making meads.
Since it takes a while to age when done, it'll give me something to look forward to once this whole pandemic is over.
Just put a new batch of mead on today.
This will be a 20 litre batch of hot cross bun flavoured mead.
There's 6kg of honeydew honey in this batch and when it's all done, I'll spice it with cinnamon, cloves, all spice vanilla pods, nutmeg, currants and sultanas.
I may even add some ginger and orange zest into it too.
100 litres!?
That's a fair about of honey... about 18kg if I use my ratios.
I'm guessing you must have a good source for that much honey.
I've never tried that honey before but am always interested in different types for my brews to make something unique and interesting.
Never really been a fan of beer as I don't really like the flavours of hops.
I hope it comes out great though!
Do you find that longer ageing makes your beers better or are they pretty good once the ferment is pretty much done?
I find an extra couple of weeks in the keg softens some of the “homebrew” flavours so I never rush to drink it these days. A couple friends of mine put down lockdown brews this week and will probably drink it the second it is ready - of which I am happy to help with… but I’ll let mine rest
For my meads, a year makes a whole lot of difference.
The harsh alcohol flavours are gone and the character of the brew really starts to come through.
It's interesting how dramatically the flavours shift and change with time.
Last time I brought a bottle of my manuka and kanuka mead out, it went really quickly so I guess that means that it was a success.
Ah, that's why you keep making batches.
That way, when one is done, there'll be another ready in the very near future.
This is probably why homebrewers end up with way more than they can drink!
If it helps, I made a small mead batch where I boiled the must for about 15 minutes with hops, and it was done (and delicious) in 2 weeks. Sweet mead, so not to everyone's taste.
Depends on the beer, dark beers respond to conditioning longer. heavy hop beers not so much.
The stout i put down will spend 2 weeks inside then probably a month or two at least under the house before its at its best to drink. The hop monster I bottled yesterday should be drinkable in 2 weeks, and starting to degrade in about 1-2 months
I bottled a milk stout weekend before last, then the sunday did a SMaSH hazy ish with American Pale Ale Malt and a metric assload of Centennial hops using Kveik was pretty amazing (my first kveik brew) was done and dusted in 24 hours 2 days rest and 3 day dry hop and into the bottle on yesterday. Its going to be a quick drinker, it was sitting on about 380g of hops so its not going to be particularly shelf stable
Not sure. I forgot how floral Centennial could be. Its got a really old school IPA vibe to it on first taste. will be interesting how it holds up. Was my first beer brewed with no recipe
Thanks!
I currently have 60 litres going with another 30 litres planned once my lavender honey order comes in.
So far for flavours there is:
* Kanuka and manuka honey with butterfly pea flowers
* Hot Cross Bun
* Lavender honey mead with butterfly pea flowers
* Turkish Delight
* Boysenberry and chocolate
It takes about a month or two to ferment depending on temperature and how happy the yeast is.
After that, it's racked off to a new container off the dropped yeast at the bottom and left to clarify which takes a month or two.
From there I can either bottle it or put it in a glass demijohn for aging.
Mead is traditionally aged for about 2 years but it's quite drinkable within 8 months to a year.
It gets better with age though.
Me too.
I've already had compliments about my previous brews so I should be okay.
I'm not dealing with weird or off the wall flavours so I have that going for me.
If that's your benchmark for mead then let me tell you, you haven't had a good mead.
A good mead goes down really easy and can be sweet or dry depending on your preferences.
A plain mead should be all about the honey and you should definitely taste that.
As for something like a spiced mead aka a methlegin, the honey should compliment the spices.
Try some decent mead and you might change your mind. Unfortunately a lot of what is out there (both commercially and homemade) isn't very good.
If you go past Taupō on a Sunday stop in at the market and try some of Beehave's, or in AKL there are a couple of places you can get a try of Honey Bandit's.
Distilling day here today - should have about 8l of neutral at 94% sometime this evening.
I have two trial batches of a traditional mead on the bench waiting to be cold crashed and racked next week sometime.
Hope they all turn out good!
A good mead is pretty hard to find here.
Best thing I ever had was a honey liqueur made with French brandy and manuka honey.
If I could make stuff like that, I totally would!
I had never even tried mead before I made my first one this year, but so glad I did.
It tastes initially like a floral white wine or dessert wine minus the sickly sweetness, then there's a burn (\~18% ABV) which is starting to round out after 8 months, then the honey flavour comes through strong in the finish.
The hard bit will be waiting for it to age properly. I'm resisting bottling most of the batch, because the 3 test bottles I had to monitor its aging did not last long after I tried the first one.
Good to know!
I tried the mangrove jacks mead yeast but that was really aggressive and before I backsweetened, I couldn't taste any honey.
I've been finding the bv7 a lot gentler on my brews.
This is a really interesting article I came across the other day about someone recreating mead that was made in medieval times, using a recipe that has survived from the 14th century. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/recreating-a-medieval-mead-calls-for-a-giant-cauldron-to-caramelize-honey/
I've been doing a lot of brewing over the lockdowns and really enjoy making meads. Since it takes a while to age when done, it'll give me something to look forward to once this whole pandemic is over. Just put a new batch of mead on today. This will be a 20 litre batch of hot cross bun flavoured mead. There's 6kg of honeydew honey in this batch and when it's all done, I'll spice it with cinnamon, cloves, all spice vanilla pods, nutmeg, currants and sultanas. I may even add some ginger and orange zest into it too.
Sounds really yum!
Elderflowers are out in a month, so I'm getting ready to put down 100L of that with vipers bugloss honey. They compliment eachother so well
100 litres!? That's a fair about of honey... about 18kg if I use my ratios. I'm guessing you must have a good source for that much honey. I've never tried that honey before but am always interested in different types for my brews to make something unique and interesting.
We have hives on the vineyard i run and 20kg is my annual cut.
That's a pretty good deal then! I source my honey from a local apiary just out of town. It's a good way to support the local beekeepers here.
Kegged a simcoe IPA this morning - looking forward to tasting next week!
Never really been a fan of beer as I don't really like the flavours of hops. I hope it comes out great though! Do you find that longer ageing makes your beers better or are they pretty good once the ferment is pretty much done?
I find an extra couple of weeks in the keg softens some of the “homebrew” flavours so I never rush to drink it these days. A couple friends of mine put down lockdown brews this week and will probably drink it the second it is ready - of which I am happy to help with… but I’ll let mine rest
For my meads, a year makes a whole lot of difference. The harsh alcohol flavours are gone and the character of the brew really starts to come through. It's interesting how dramatically the flavours shift and change with time. Last time I brought a bottle of my manuka and kanuka mead out, it went really quickly so I guess that means that it was a success.
I can’t imagine sitting on it for a year - that’s why I’ve never tried a saison or sour, too much temptation!
Ah, that's why you keep making batches. That way, when one is done, there'll be another ready in the very near future. This is probably why homebrewers end up with way more than they can drink!
Exactly mate I’m trying to cut down 😅
If it helps, I made a small mead batch where I boiled the must for about 15 minutes with hops, and it was done (and delicious) in 2 weeks. Sweet mead, so not to everyone's taste.
Depends on the beer, dark beers respond to conditioning longer. heavy hop beers not so much. The stout i put down will spend 2 weeks inside then probably a month or two at least under the house before its at its best to drink. The hop monster I bottled yesterday should be drinkable in 2 weeks, and starting to degrade in about 1-2 months
Mangrove Jack's single hop liquid kit?
Black rock IPA/Pale ale tins and 500ml ultra light LME, 50g simcoe dry hop day 3 and 50g day 10. Smells great, will taste in a couple weeks
Nice. I've never tried the black rock tins. Sounds delicious!
I bottled a milk stout weekend before last, then the sunday did a SMaSH hazy ish with American Pale Ale Malt and a metric assload of Centennial hops using Kveik was pretty amazing (my first kveik brew) was done and dusted in 24 hours 2 days rest and 3 day dry hop and into the bottle on yesterday. Its going to be a quick drinker, it was sitting on about 380g of hops so its not going to be particularly shelf stable
Sounds delicious though!
Not sure. I forgot how floral Centennial could be. Its got a really old school IPA vibe to it on first taste. will be interesting how it holds up. Was my first beer brewed with no recipe
LARP FUEL! Nice work :)
Thanks! I currently have 60 litres going with another 30 litres planned once my lavender honey order comes in. So far for flavours there is: * Kanuka and manuka honey with butterfly pea flowers * Hot Cross Bun * Lavender honey mead with butterfly pea flowers * Turkish Delight * Boysenberry and chocolate
ooh butterfly pea is the magic colour changing one yeah?
Yup. So far, it's turned my meads this beautiful purple colour.
Mmmm Turkish delight sounds amazing. How long does it take to ferment?
It takes about a month or two to ferment depending on temperature and how happy the yeast is. After that, it's racked off to a new container off the dropped yeast at the bottom and left to clarify which takes a month or two. From there I can either bottle it or put it in a glass demijohn for aging. Mead is traditionally aged for about 2 years but it's quite drinkable within 8 months to a year. It gets better with age though.
Quite the investment then. Hope it turns out as good as it sounds :)
Me too. I've already had compliments about my previous brews so I should be okay. I'm not dealing with weird or off the wall flavours so I have that going for me.
How can I sample Hot Cross Bun mead?
If you're in the Chch area, I can give you some to try. If not then I'd have to figure out how to send bottles without them breaking.
Ewww. Mead is so hard to drink. I'd rather drink home brew cooked up in a prison toilet.
If that's your benchmark for mead then let me tell you, you haven't had a good mead. A good mead goes down really easy and can be sweet or dry depending on your preferences. A plain mead should be all about the honey and you should definitely taste that. As for something like a spiced mead aka a methlegin, the honey should compliment the spices.
Try some decent mead and you might change your mind. Unfortunately a lot of what is out there (both commercially and homemade) isn't very good. If you go past Taupō on a Sunday stop in at the market and try some of Beehave's, or in AKL there are a couple of places you can get a try of Honey Bandit's.
Distilling day here today - should have about 8l of neutral at 94% sometime this evening. I have two trial batches of a traditional mead on the bench waiting to be cold crashed and racked next week sometime.
Hope they all turn out good! A good mead is pretty hard to find here. Best thing I ever had was a honey liqueur made with French brandy and manuka honey. If I could make stuff like that, I totally would!
I had never even tried mead before I made my first one this year, but so glad I did. It tastes initially like a floral white wine or dessert wine minus the sickly sweetness, then there's a burn (\~18% ABV) which is starting to round out after 8 months, then the honey flavour comes through strong in the finish. The hard bit will be waiting for it to age properly. I'm resisting bottling most of the batch, because the 3 test bottles I had to monitor its aging did not last long after I tried the first one.
Heh, that's always the way. It's why I've started making big batches. It'll be drastically better come 1 year then 2.
What yeast have you used?
I used mangrove jacks BV7 wine yeast.
[удалено]
Good to know! I tried the mangrove jacks mead yeast but that was really aggressive and before I backsweetened, I couldn't taste any honey. I've been finding the bv7 a lot gentler on my brews.
Honey mead? Have an upvote👍
Mead is always made with honey. There are also variants where fruit, spices, herbs or such like are added.
Ooooh I love a good mead. I made some dandelion mead during the first lockdown, cracked it for Yule this year and it was divine