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Brewboy

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Registered Member
Nov 7, 2005
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Green Bay
Whew! It feels good to be back making mead.

My family and I recently moved into a newly constructed home. There was a lot of work involved, and I promised my wife that I would get the house in order before making any meads or beers.

I finally took the time to use all the honey that was ever-so-patiently waiting for me. In the past two days, I turned 108 pounds of honey into 36 gallons of base mead, which, over the next few months will be finished as a variety of melomels, metheglins and meads.

So, about this time next year, I'm going to have a LOT of meads. :tongue3: Are there any volunteers out there to help me sample?

Brewboy
 
As I have mentioned before, I will submit myself to the onerous task of testing as many Meads as people are willing to offer. I know it will be hard, but I am dedicated to help.

Angus
 
BrewBoy!

Umm, we haven't met, yet. I'm The Ogre, and I'll be your "taster."

Seriously, if you're in the Midwest, particularly Blow-Hio, then we could definitely do some swapping of mead...

Congrats on the new casa. I hope the move wasn't all that bad... I've moved twice in the last three years. Rough...

Oh, and I should mention that I don't suffer through any alcoholic imbibrifications... I enjoy them. All of them... I may even wax (YES, WAX!!!) poetic, if there's enough mead involved!!!
 
Deltogre: "I may even wax (YES, WAX!!!) poetic, if there's enough mead involved!!!" IF??? IF there's enough mead??? ??? Yeah, I think I've got you covered. 8)

And I'll let you wax poetic, if you allow me to sing along (badly, I might add) to old rock and roll.

No, not Blow-Hio, I'm in Wisconsin. (Green Bay, to be exact.) But, there was talk about a Great Lakes Mead tasting/fest....and I want to participate, so maybe...?

The move into the new place wasn't too bad...it was making 2 mortgage payments (the new house and the old house that wasn't sold yet.) The happy news is that TODAY, we finally sold that old house, after only 9 months on the market.

Pewter and Angus, I appreciate your willingness to sacifice your palates to test my creations. Hopefully we will find a way to make that happen.

Brewboy
 
Hey BB,

Welcome back and thanks for joining as a patron!

So, tell us what kind of honey you had and what your base meads are?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
Thanks for asking, Oskar. Let me give you the details. Pardon me if I hit you with too much info...I've learned (the hard way) that keeping track of all the variables make duplication of recipes easier. It also allows me to tap into the latent OCD that is buried in my genes. 8)

I have three different batches going.

1) 60 pounds of Alfalfa/Clover honey added to 15 gallons water. 3# per gallon
Yeast nutrient (DAP and urea) 1 tsp per gallon
Aerated with aquarium pump for 1 hour
3 packets of Lalvin D-47 yeast (rehydrated)

This large batch will be divided after primary fermentation is complete, and wil result in a variety of meads/melomels. The plan is to make 5 different styles: Cherry, Blackberry, Maple (all three were harvested locally), Orange/Mulled, and another as-yet-undecided flavor.

2) 12 pounds of Clover honey, added to 4 gallons of water. 2.4# per gallon
Yeast nutrient (as above)
Aerated for 20 minutes
1 packet Lalvin D-47 yeast (rehydrated)

This batch will become a traditional mead.

3) 36 pounds of clover honey added to 9 gallons of water. 3# per gallon.
Yeast nutrient as above
Aeration for 20 minute
2 packets of Lalvin RC 212 yeast (rehydrated)
16 ounces of Hershey's Cocoa powder

When I rack to the secondary, I will add 2 vanilla beans to one 5 gallon carboy, add a half liter of French Press coffee to another 5 gallon carboy, and the remaining 2 gallons will be aged unaltered.

My wife suggested trying a chocolate mead, and an internet search found a recipe. I'm being optimistic, and assuming that the end result will be worth using 3 gallons of honey. (Also, the recipe advises at least 12 months in the secondary, so if this is as good as expected, I'll need a lot to get me through until the next batch is ready.)

I'm fermenting all these in my garage, with the current ambient temperature at 60F. The exterior temps range from 47F at night, to 70 F in the day. The interior garage temps are more stable (a low of 57F at 5am this morning, and as high as 64 at mid-afternoon). The musts are currently generating their own heat, and are 67F. I have signs of vigorous fermentation in all the buckets (four 6.5 gallon pails, and one 20 gallon food-grade garbage can.) My garage is taking on that wonderful fermenting/CO2 aroma, with the multiple blow-off tubes burping like a frat house on homecoming weekend. It's awesome!

As always, critique and comments are always welcome.
 
Hey BB,

We do have several chocolate recipe variants on the site here. Might be worth checking them out to see if it tickles your fancy.

I think you have a good mix on the rest of the stuff you detailed below, and a good plan as well.

Welcome back again,

Oskaar
 
Brewboy said:
But, there was talk about a Great Lakes Mead tasting/fest....
Click to expand...

Was there now? It'd be great to catch up with some of the fellow midwest mead brewers--tell me more!
 
"And I'll let you wax poetic, if you allow me to sing along (badly, I might add) to old rock and roll."

If you let me play guitar...

I did that two mortgage payment dance for about two years. It feels good to be free, doesn't it?

Stupid downturn in the marketplace... (Said while shaking fist at air, angrily...)

Definitely check that thread about the Great Lakes meeting. I think it would be a blast. That lake is just DYING for me to pull some fish out of it...
 
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