Basic Recipe Please?

[Baps]

Hey Everybody!

New here, and fairly new to home brewing.
I'm looking to make a really simple mead for my first batch, to get my head around the process before I start anything too complex. just waiting for my hydrometer to arrive before I start though...
So I've got 2kg of honey to work with, and a regular 4.5L Demi, fire away guys

Thanks!!

 

[wayneb]

Use the search tool to look for Joe's Ancient Orange (or JAO). That's always a good recipe to start with (especially with a rather small investment in honey to begin with), since there's enough complexity in the final result to make your mead interesting, yet no special management is required to get it to finish. You will have to convert the English measuring units to metric, if that's what you're used to.

 

[kudapucat]

+1 JAO is a great introductory brew.

it's hard to find though, as it's called Joe Mattioli's Foolproof Ancient Orange Clove and Cinnamon Mead and it's not the only thread of that exact title. I hope I gave you the right one.

 

[kudapucat]

it is of course, sticky at the top of the General Recipe Discussion Section So where the search engine might fail you, having a look around should prove useful.

 

[MJ7]

Hey Everybody!

New here, and fairly new to home brewing.
I'm looking to make a really simple mead for my first batch, to get my head around the process before I start anything too complex. just waiting for my hydrometer to arrive before I start though...
So I've got 2kg of honey to work with, and a regular 4.5L Demi, fire away guys

Thanks!!

You could easily just do a basic MEAD recipe, as the JAO is technically a melomel. Just add 1.5 kg of honey (or 2 if you want a stronger or sweeter mead) to your 4.5 L carboy top with water and pitch your yeast, it's really just that simple. Let it ferment, check the hydrometer to note the ABV and when your yeast is done fermenting (they will fall out of suspension). Rack it to secondary and allow to sit, let it clear on it's own, rack it off the dead yeast and then age it to taste.

Good luck, if you want to take on the JAO recipe by all means go head.

 

[GntlKnigt1]

But all pretty much agree that JAOM is a good beginners mead

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.

 

[mannye]

You could easily just do a basic MEAD recipe, as the JAO is technically a melomel. Just add 1.5 kg of honey (or 2 if you want a stronger or sweeter mead) to your 4.5 L carboy top with water and pitch your yeast, it's really just that simple. Let it ferment, check the hydrometer to note the ABV and when your yeast is done fermenting (they will fall out of suspension). Rack it to secondary and allow to sit, let it clear on it's own, rack it off the dead yeast and then age it to taste.

Good luck, if you want to take on the JAO recipe by all means go head.

As a first mead and especially as a beginning brewer, which means you probably don't have all the different chemicals on hand, JAOM is your best bet. It does not require any special equipment or ingredients or nutrients. You can find everything you need in your local supermarket. And in 8 to 10 weeks you will have a drinkable mead that will get you hooked. Then you can make a BOMM, for which you will need to hit the specialty websites for yeast, nutrients and some specialized equipment and chems, but it's the easy second step and has the added attraction of being ready to drink in 4 weeks and fantastic in 8. THEN you can do the more traditional stuff that takes 12 to 18 months to age out.

 

[Honeyhog]

My traditional has taken 8 months to be ready to drink but I find the melomels are ready to drink a lot quicker which helps to keep a newcomers interest up while the traditionals age.

 

[Baps]

+1 JAO is a great introductory brew.

it's hard to find though, as it's called Joe Mattioli's Foolproof Ancient Orange Clove and Cinnamon Mead and it's not the only thread of that exact title. I hope I gave you the right one.

I did find it with some scrolling thank you looks pretty much the opposite of every other mead recipe I've seen. Most of them tell you to shake it twice a day and check on it all the time, this one sounds like a fire and forget. Easy least!

 

[Baps]

As a first mead and especially as a beginning brewer, which means you probably don't have all the different chemicals on hand, JAOM is your best bet. It does not require any special equipment or ingredients or nutrients. You can find everything you need in your local supermarket. And in 8 to 10 weeks you will have a drinkable mead that will get you hooked. Then you can make a BOMM, for which you will need to hit the specialty websites for yeast, nutrients and some specialized equipment and chems, but it's the easy second step and has the added attraction of being ready to drink in 4 weeks and fantastic in 8. THEN you can do the more traditional stuff that takes 12 to 18 months to age out.

I've been brewing for a few months now and have various things aging in various cubbyholes, and my best bitter wasn't too bad I've got some chemicals and I think I've got the just of winemaking... Think... But mead sounds a lot different, hence I joined the forum! Definitely will be trying a basic honey yeast & water, and the JAO sounds brilliant!

Hey. Where do you guys get all your honey from? It'd cost me £30 to get from castle Howell in the kilo tubs!!
Thanks again!!

 

[GntlKnigt1]

Mournemead posted an exhaustive list of honey sources in UK. Do a search for it

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.

 

[GntlKnigt1]

Ahh... got on computer (rather than tablet or cell) and found the link for you....
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/22745-Sources-for-honey-in-the-UK?highlight=source

 

[Baps]

Found it thanks it sounds like a great starter!