Mead - anyone brew it?

never made it, but I used to enjoy it from time to time at the Cove/Corporate Brew & Draft.

We have a very successful production Mead person that posts here on occasion

He can be a bit of a snob, but growing up on Breaux bridge would do that to any of us

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Did the samples in Gatlinburg a few weeks ago and kinda enjoyed it. Thinking of trying to ferment some melomels as I have some pretty easy access to honey.

Anyone try it out and got stories of their success or failure?

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Yes, I make a holiday meglethin every year which is simply mead fermented with a bit of orange peel and cinnamon and cloves, I throw a cinnamon stick and some orange peel in each 1.5 liter bottle as well when corking.

FYI, try a champagne yeast, the fiz is nice if you add a few drops of honey when bottling.

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Is it autumnal?

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The advertising person who came up with the idea to use that term is a genius. Sounds snobbish as hell.

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Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast, should get it to 18%,

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I would keep my SG low enough so that it finishes out no higher than 12%, there are some funky taste lurking between there and 18% IMHO, that is why I use the champagne yeast.

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Told to do 3 pounds of honey per gallon,

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pretty close to perfect but keep in mind honey averages 20% water and the SG is all over the map with it.


let us know how it turns out either way, just keep in mind a bit of aging is key here.

I’ve got some side investments in some meaderies. Holding it’s the next liquor trend. If it isn’t, it’s fun messing around with it.

I could really go for some right now. Where can I get my hands on some tonight?

Is moonlight the brand name?

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I'd love to support a local [b]distiller[/b].

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This is a different story we can discuss, honeyshine with a bit of mead used for blending is very nice as well.

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I would keep my SG low enough so that it finishes out no higher than 12%, there are some funky taste lurking between there and 18% IMHO, that is why I use the champagne yeast.

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Good to know, would D47 be a better route even for a melomel, could get that instead. Yeah I was planning on aging a good bit. The advice I was given was go a month in the carboy with no fruit. Go a month in a bucket with the fruit. Rack a few times to get it clear and then bottle for aging around 6 months.

There was a lot I was told about using nutrients and other things to stop the process and clear it up at the end before bottling, but they suggested to invest in that after a batch or two to see if I even like doing it.

Pretty easy and cheap for me to do it as I have all the equipment and ingredients on hand right now. May just give it a shot and see what happens. I kinda curious on getting some orange blossom honey and throwing some satsumas in there to see how that turns out.

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Salmon

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That's pretty cool, didn't know we had a high end mead person here. Where are they at in Florida? I go to Orlando kinda often, be interested in stopping in.