The honey used...
- Thread starter OmicronDelta
- Start date
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This is like asking, "How important is the type of grapes used in wine making"! You can’t make a merlot with chardonnay grapes, and you can’t make an excellent mead with crappy honey. Everything that goes into your mead, including the yeast and procedures, has an effect on the final product but…honey is still the main flavor component (or at least is should be). So therefore, the type and quality of honey that you use will have a great impact on the results.
Although I haven't ever used quality honey in my meads, and I doubt that I have ever tasted quality honey, I would say it is very important. Very, very, very.
If you consider what goes into mead step by step, you'll notice something. This is a very simplified list.
1) Nectar collection - what floral source?
2) Bees make honey
3) Honey collected, processed minimally
4) Honey + water + yeast
5) Lots of time
6) Yummy mead, drink up.
See how far apart tasting and nectar collection are? If the floral source for the honey can be specified through the taste of the finished product, then I think the answer to the poll should be very obvious.
Edit:
I would also like to add that I have made meads in the past with extremely low quality honey, so low that the floral source wasn't even mentioned on the label. The cyser turned out okay, but almost no honey flavor could be tasted when the mead was chilled. Once it warmed, I had to take a big drink to get a hint of honey in the aftertaste.
If you consider what goes into mead step by step, you'll notice something. This is a very simplified list.
1) Nectar collection - what floral source?
2) Bees make honey
3) Honey collected, processed minimally
4) Honey + water + yeast
5) Lots of time
6) Yummy mead, drink up.
See how far apart tasting and nectar collection are? If the floral source for the honey can be specified through the taste of the finished product, then I think the answer to the poll should be very obvious.
Edit:
I would also like to add that I have made meads in the past with extremely low quality honey, so low that the floral source wasn't even mentioned on the label. The cyser turned out okay, but almost no honey flavor could be tasted when the mead was chilled. Once it warmed, I had to take a big drink to get a hint of honey in the aftertaste.
Yeah, sorry guys, the gf wanted me to post that, to be more clear, what kind of honey would be the best, all I can get in bulk around here is unpasteurized clover honey, how well of a mead will that make?
Unpasteurized clover honey should be great for making traditional meads as well as melomels and other meads. As long as it hasn't been pasteurized and heated to treat it for flow throug filters it should retain it's varietal and floral characters and nuances.
Just don't boil or heat your must and you'll have a very nice mead out of this.
Cheers,
Oskaar
Just don't boil or heat your must and you'll have a very nice mead out of this.
Cheers,
Oskaar
