A couple of questions and comments from a newbie

[rh8807]

First, thanks for having this site, it is very informative and useful. KUDOS!!!

I attended my first Ren Faire last weekend and discovered mead...Wow, now im hooked. LOL

I think for my first attempt, I will try Joes ancient orange, because I drive truck over the road and that recipie doesnt require me to be there all the time.

Question about Carboys.
Joes recipie says use 1 gallon, can I make a 1 gallon batch in a bigger carboy or should I stick to a 1 gal carboy?

Also, I just saw in the supermarket, what appeared to be a 2 gallon water jug/Carboy, however, it says on the jug "for water use only" Am I wrong in thinking that if you can use it for water it would be of food grade quality and suitable for mead making?

Thats my main question, the next is kinda general..
Anyone ever tried making a spiced chai mead using spiced chai tea? Is it possible to do using the same method as Joe Ancient Orange...maybe using brewed chai tea in place of some of the water. Anybody have any thoughts on that? would there be enough sugar in the honey alone to ferment or would more be required.

Like I say, im a newbie, so any thoughts are appreciated, im gonna try a batch of ancient orange first before I try to create my own, that was just an thought I had.

I have been reading for a few days before I posted anything, just reading and trying to soak up the vast knowledge of the pros..heehee, I love this site. Thanks.
Rick

 

[JamesP]

Since with AO, you tend to bottle once cleared, and don't rack the mead from the original carboy, then it will be mostly C02 above the mead (if you don't keep opening the carboy ), so a bigger carboy should be fine.

Search (click the link above, between HELP and PROFILE) for polycarbonate, pet, pete to find previous discussions, but water containers are OK for short time (primary, or less than 3 months). I use PET or PETE for a year or two (with no head-space), but glass is definitely superior.

 

[ucflumberjack]

ive nver tried it, but i have read many recipes that used tea to flavor a mead, most of them just make a very strong tea, then add it to the mead to their taste in the secondary or during aging, some even continue to add more tea to the mead as its aging to their own taste...

as far as having enough sugar to ferment, most of the time the honey provides all the sugar, and having enough is just a matter of how much honey you put into the must. having a hydrometer is awesome, then you will be able to know for sure if you have enough honey in your must to get the kind of mead that you want.

just for the record im a newb too so if the old guys tell you something different listen to them.