Hey Gotmead
Ive just started brewing mead after i purchased a book off amazon called "making mead" by Bryan Acton and Peter Duncan. on page 33 they had a recipe for ALE MEAD like the vikings had, this caught my attention straight away! I'd love to make a drink compairable to what the vikings used to drink.
the recipe was very vague in my opinion and really calls for a more experienced brewer to understand it i think
Anyways I had a crack at it and i think i made more than a couple rookie errors
Recipe
450g honey (no particular type specified)
30g hops
10g of citric acid
nutrients
brewers yeast
4.5 litres of water
dissolve the honey in 3.5L of hot water and bring to the boil
add hops and boil vigorously for about 45 minutes. a few of the hops should bot be added initially but put in about 5 minutes before the "wort" reaches the end of the boiling period.
Strain off the hops, add citric acid and nutrients, allow to cool overnight (covered closely) then make volume to 4.5L with cold water.
Add the yeast to the cool wort and allow to ferment to completion
skimming off the yeast daily as for beer
allow to settle for a few days after fermentation ceases, the rack into quart beer bottles adding one level teaspoon of sugar to each bottle. stopper the bottles firmly. store in a warm place for 2-3 days ensure bottle fermentation begins then move into a cooler location to assist clarification. subsequently treat as a bottled beer. priming is not of course essential and after fermentation the ale mead may be matured as a drought beer and drunk after a few months.
Mistakes i made
I poured the 3.5L mixture (actually a lot less than 3.5L after the boiling) into the demijohn and plugged it up with the airlock in over night. I didn't put ANY water in the airlock. I just thought it was some fancy thing that goes in the top and the air struggles to get round the bends. I wasn't thinking straight.
After about 3 weeks it dawned on me that there should be water in there to stop the air getting in. I put the water and watched it bubble away for another 2 weeks. I'm worried this mistake has ruined the whole thing.
now the fluid has stopped bubbling and has gone from very cloudy to opaque
Now I'm planning on bottling it up on Wednesday, see how it goes.
I'm also planning on starting a new batch Wednesday and i want to get it right this time!!!
I have 450grams of organic honey I've ordered of Amazon. Nothing special but I don't want to spend loads of money on something that might fail. I'll get better honey when I'm confident it wont be wasted.
from brewuk.co.uk
Goldings (East Kent) Vacuum Packed Leaf Hops
Brewer's Choice™ Wyeast Nutrient Blend
Mauribrew 514 Ale Yeast
and this time I've purchased a GRAVITY reader.
I'm reading up on the forum trying to find some good stuff to help me but there is so much to read through. ive downloaded the newbee guide and reading that moments after i post this. I'm really hoping someone will be able to post a IDIOTS guide to this type of brew for me (as i struggle with the concept of an airlock) the more simple the better. of even post a link to a forum discussion on some good info.
Thanks for the help everyone
a few pictures attached
Ive just started brewing mead after i purchased a book off amazon called "making mead" by Bryan Acton and Peter Duncan. on page 33 they had a recipe for ALE MEAD like the vikings had, this caught my attention straight away! I'd love to make a drink compairable to what the vikings used to drink.
the recipe was very vague in my opinion and really calls for a more experienced brewer to understand it i think
Anyways I had a crack at it and i think i made more than a couple rookie errors
Recipe
450g honey (no particular type specified)
30g hops
10g of citric acid
nutrients
brewers yeast
4.5 litres of water
dissolve the honey in 3.5L of hot water and bring to the boil
add hops and boil vigorously for about 45 minutes. a few of the hops should bot be added initially but put in about 5 minutes before the "wort" reaches the end of the boiling period.
Strain off the hops, add citric acid and nutrients, allow to cool overnight (covered closely) then make volume to 4.5L with cold water.
Add the yeast to the cool wort and allow to ferment to completion
skimming off the yeast daily as for beer
allow to settle for a few days after fermentation ceases, the rack into quart beer bottles adding one level teaspoon of sugar to each bottle. stopper the bottles firmly. store in a warm place for 2-3 days ensure bottle fermentation begins then move into a cooler location to assist clarification. subsequently treat as a bottled beer. priming is not of course essential and after fermentation the ale mead may be matured as a drought beer and drunk after a few months.
Mistakes i made
I poured the 3.5L mixture (actually a lot less than 3.5L after the boiling) into the demijohn and plugged it up with the airlock in over night. I didn't put ANY water in the airlock. I just thought it was some fancy thing that goes in the top and the air struggles to get round the bends. I wasn't thinking straight.
After about 3 weeks it dawned on me that there should be water in there to stop the air getting in. I put the water and watched it bubble away for another 2 weeks. I'm worried this mistake has ruined the whole thing.
now the fluid has stopped bubbling and has gone from very cloudy to opaque
Now I'm planning on bottling it up on Wednesday, see how it goes.
I'm also planning on starting a new batch Wednesday and i want to get it right this time!!!
I have 450grams of organic honey I've ordered of Amazon. Nothing special but I don't want to spend loads of money on something that might fail. I'll get better honey when I'm confident it wont be wasted.
from brewuk.co.uk
Goldings (East Kent) Vacuum Packed Leaf Hops
Brewer's Choice™ Wyeast Nutrient Blend
Mauribrew 514 Ale Yeast
and this time I've purchased a GRAVITY reader.
I'm reading up on the forum trying to find some good stuff to help me but there is so much to read through. ive downloaded the newbee guide and reading that moments after i post this. I'm really hoping someone will be able to post a IDIOTS guide to this type of brew for me (as i struggle with the concept of an airlock) the more simple the better. of even post a link to a forum discussion on some good info.
Thanks for the help everyone
a few pictures attached
