Thanks for the welcome, ThirstyViking. To all who show up here on this forum, if you see that I am on feel free to send me a personal message and check out my profile. I am new here and have not even tried brewing yet. I am curious about it. Please read my topics and offer any suggestions, hints tips, advice or constructive crtiticisms. I would greatly appreciate it. May the gods grant you all good brews. ;D
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Hail and well met!
I feel like I'm the newest of the newbees in the mead world. I have been studying mead making for a year and now have ordered a nice 1-gallon starter kit. I've read and read The Compleat Meadmaker. I even had a honey source all lined up last year, but alas! Hurricane Katrina wiped out the hives of my daughter's boyfriend's grandfather's apiary in Mississippi (as well as everything else he owned like his house and car and so on). But, since he decided not to get more bees, I'm going to have to find another source.
I'm ready to learn at the feet of the master meadhers. First thing I've learned is that August is perhaps the worst month to make mead! :
Any and all advice welcome.
I feel like I'm the newest of the newbees in the mead world. I have been studying mead making for a year and now have ordered a nice 1-gallon starter kit. I've read and read The Compleat Meadmaker. I even had a honey source all lined up last year, but alas! Hurricane Katrina wiped out the hives of my daughter's boyfriend's grandfather's apiary in Mississippi (as well as everything else he owned like his house and car and so on). But, since he decided not to get more bees, I'm going to have to find another source.
I'm ready to learn at the feet of the master meadhers. First thing I've learned is that August is perhaps the worst month to make mead! :
Any and all advice welcome.
Welcome to the forum Lady Twyford de Broughton,
You've already have an excellent source to get you on your way... Ken's book, and the Recipe Section. Unless you're willing to run your A/C @ 65 to 75 (f) for a couple of months, or have a basement that keeps cool, 65 to 75 (f) it's probably best to wait until mid september to start your batch. Personally my A/C is set at 70 (f) and has been running 24/7 for several weeks now. Good luck with whatever you start with, any questions just start a batch thread and ask away.
Wrathwilde
Luckily I did my homework and bought the most powerful (and most energy efficient model available) 17,300 @ 11.0 EER, uses std 110 V instead of 220 V and cools all 5 rooms of my Apt. Made by Fedders in case anyone needs to pick up a Kick@$$ A/C. I highly recommend it. ;D ;D ;D
You've already have an excellent source to get you on your way... Ken's book, and the Recipe Section. Unless you're willing to run your A/C @ 65 to 75 (f) for a couple of months, or have a basement that keeps cool, 65 to 75 (f) it's probably best to wait until mid september to start your batch. Personally my A/C is set at 70 (f) and has been running 24/7 for several weeks now. Good luck with whatever you start with, any questions just start a batch thread and ask away.
Wrathwilde
Luckily I did my homework and bought the most powerful (and most energy efficient model available) 17,300 @ 11.0 EER, uses std 110 V instead of 220 V and cools all 5 rooms of my Apt. Made by Fedders in case anyone needs to pick up a Kick@$$ A/C. I highly recommend it. ;D ;D ;D
Hi ya Cargirl ;D
Welcome to the forum. I as well am a newbie to this Mead thing. Only been trying to make it for a month now. Got 2 1 gallon batches going and so far its a blast. What do you plan on makeing as your first batch? It was suggested to me that as a first batch to try Joes foolproof Ancient Orange. Recipe to which can be found here.
http://www.gotmead.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,159/topic,600.0
So far mine has gone great with no hiccups or problems at all very easy to make and let sit and gurgle. As well I have found 2 sections wich have been some of my greatest resources for information one is the Mead newbie guide wich can be found here.
http://www.gotmead.com/content/view/27/53/
and Wraithwildes newbie guide is worth at least one read. It is here.
http://www.gotmead.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,103/topic,3495.0
Only advice I can give is if you have a question to use the search function, and the search link to use for that is the one just up above the forums. Not the one that is at the top left hand of the page. I've gotten nabbed with that one. Doing a search with the one at the top left hand corner not finding your answer, asking your question stateing that you did do a search only to have them come up with your answer useing the right search link LOL.
Only other advice I can give is have fun with your happy little bubbleing fermenters.
Spacepup
Welcome to the forum. I as well am a newbie to this Mead thing. Only been trying to make it for a month now. Got 2 1 gallon batches going and so far its a blast. What do you plan on makeing as your first batch? It was suggested to me that as a first batch to try Joes foolproof Ancient Orange. Recipe to which can be found here.
http://www.gotmead.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,159/topic,600.0
So far mine has gone great with no hiccups or problems at all very easy to make and let sit and gurgle. As well I have found 2 sections wich have been some of my greatest resources for information one is the Mead newbie guide wich can be found here.
http://www.gotmead.com/content/view/27/53/
and Wraithwildes newbie guide is worth at least one read. It is here.
http://www.gotmead.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,103/topic,3495.0
Only advice I can give is if you have a question to use the search function, and the search link to use for that is the one just up above the forums. Not the one that is at the top left hand of the page. I've gotten nabbed with that one. Doing a search with the one at the top left hand corner not finding your answer, asking your question stateing that you did do a search only to have them come up with your answer useing the right search link LOL.
Only other advice I can give is have fun with your happy little bubbleing fermenters.
Spacepup
Howdy
Hi there Cargirl!
Welcome to the forums.
Well, I don't know that there are any master meaders here, but there are a lot of folk who make some downright kickass mead. Take some time and check the place out. Experiment with a bunch of different methods, and don't paint yourself into a corner with one technique. If I've learned anything it's that once you marry yourself to a specific technique you really miss out on the incredibly wide spectrum of different meads and styles.
So do some reading try some different techniques and meads. You'll be glad you did. Once you find what you like, then you're going to have a lot of fun refining your technique.
Cheers,
Oskaar
Hi there Cargirl!
Welcome to the forums.
Well, I don't know that there are any master meaders here, but there are a lot of folk who make some downright kickass mead. Take some time and check the place out. Experiment with a bunch of different methods, and don't paint yourself into a corner with one technique. If I've learned anything it's that once you marry yourself to a specific technique you really miss out on the incredibly wide spectrum of different meads and styles.
So do some reading try some different techniques and meads. You'll be glad you did. Once you find what you like, then you're going to have a lot of fun refining your technique.
Cheers,
Oskaar
Wrathwilde said:
Thank you for the welcome, m'lord. I am 'lady' only in email address and ancient ancestry, though.
Sounds like you've solved the heat problem. This house of mine won't cool below 78o until sometime in November--does that mean I shouldn't brew for three more months?? Oh well! More time to study and ponder, learn and understand.
Spacepup said:...have fun with your happy little bubbleing fermenters.
Spacepup
You can't imagine how much fun I could have watching yeast ferment. ;D
Oskaar said:
It is TANTALIZING to ponder the difference in taste and aroma between boiled must and non-boiled must!
Being a honey nut from way, way back, I can picture that there could be as many different meads as there are honeys. Tupelo is my eating honey of choice and it will be an exercise in patience to await my first batch of tupelo mead.
[swoon] Oh me. ;D
Curiosity prompts this pirate to ask are you a part of Iron Mountain...Vulcan's Forge or one of the other groups here in the barony.
and yes it is hot here in Birmingham isn't it.
Tarot.
and yes it is hot here in Birmingham isn't it.
Tarot.
Muirghein Tarot said:Curiosity prompts this pirate to ask are you a part of Iron Mountain...Vulcan's Forge or one of the other groups here in the barony.
and yes it is hot here in Birmingham isn't it.
Tarot.
Aye matey, when I can make it I play with Iron Mountain. My teenagers have had one thing after another on Tuesday nights for a year, though.
I keep up with the goings-on via the Yahoo bb. Stefan's message about the microwaved water is absolutely correct. I could tell a story about making eggnog in a microwave one time...
My lady wife and I are part of two households, house NOVA out of Baton Rouge and Clan Confused from Tarrant city so when we get together it's more with them than with the barony. Though we both know quite a few people in Iron mountain. For me it's older names in the area that have left the SCA for the most part but my lady knows several still in the area. Her persona is Teren 'the Valkyrie' she was one of the daughter in the house of Carl Von der Morgenstern in the 90s.
Tarot.
most of my stories would involve camp Arnold and bad weather.
Tarot.
most of my stories would involve camp Arnold and bad weather.
Cargirl said:Spacepup said:...have fun with your happy little bubbleing fermenters.
Spacepup
You can't imagine how much fun I could have watching yeast ferment. ;D
Hah I actually do the same as well. My teenage sons at first made such fun of me sitting there watching the blips in the air lock. Now they just walk past me shakeing their heads chuckleing. Ah well so goes the life of a parent ever the mystery of the younger set. ;D
Spacepup
Muirghein Tarot said:
My lord, I've had my blue card for only a tidbit more than a year--I'm relatively new to SCA as well as to mead making!
I was reading your first post and I saw you said you have ordered a one gallon starter set. I don't know what part of Birmingham your from but there is a homebrew store here in town that carries just about every thing you could need.
I maybe telling you something you know already but it's call 'Alabrew' and it's on highway 11 next to a car wash in Roebuck.
Been in the SCA since 1999 myself and my wife goes back to around 92.
Tarot.
I maybe telling you something you know already but it's call 'Alabrew' and it's on highway 11 next to a car wash in Roebuck.
Been in the SCA since 1999 myself and my wife goes back to around 92.
Tarot.
Welcome to my funhouse, CarGirl! Like Oskaar says, cruise around here, and check out the techniques and recipes. You'll find an incredible diversity in mead-making techniques and styles, and mead makers from 1-batch newbies to folks who've been brewing meads for 30+ years.
Keep an eye on the recipe database, we've already got over 200 recipes in there, and I've got about another 100 to add, including a *lot* of prize-winning recipes.
And while the forums here are amazingly informative, don't forget to surf the site at large and see all the great articles we have.
Oh, and drop a line into your Kingdom board, we've SCA forum boards here....
Vicky
knowne in the SCA as Maryam al-Zahra, living in Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia and member of Shadow Legion, associate member of Wulfgaard
Keep an eye on the recipe database, we've already got over 200 recipes in there, and I've got about another 100 to add, including a *lot* of prize-winning recipes.
And while the forums here are amazingly informative, don't forget to surf the site at large and see all the great articles we have.
Oh, and drop a line into your Kingdom board, we've SCA forum boards here....
Vicky
knowne in the SCA as Maryam al-Zahra, living in Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia and member of Shadow Legion, associate member of Wulfgaard
Muirghein Tarot said:
Thanks so much for the directions! I saw Alabrew but didn't know where it was located.
This kit I ordered was on sale, reduced by approximately the amount of shipping. It doesn't have everything I believe I should have, so I'm going to make a trip to Alabrew. I saw on their website that they have 1 1/2 gal primary fermenters and drilled lids. This kit comes with a 1 gallon glass carboy only.
Did I read correctly that we here in the great state of Alabama are allowed 5 gallons of homebrew at any given point in time? No sense in brewing 5 gallon batches, then, the way I see it.
And are we meadmakers bound by the 6% alcohol law that binds beer brewers? There is a poster here on this board that I recognize from a weather bb that I frequent who told us once about Free the Hops and the campaign to have the Alabama beer alcohol law changed. Is mead considered a wine or a beer in Alabama??
Vicky - GM Webmistress said:
Thanks for the welcome! You do have a fantastic place here!
I've already seen that recipe for small mead that calls for vodka to stop fermentation rather than Campden tablets. One of the reasons I wanted to learn about brewing was so that I could make my own and avoid as many chemicals as possible. Chemicals are the bane of my existence.
There is so much information here that I could read for a year and still find new things.
Yep you read it right but to quote Mal from Serenity "I aim to misbehave"
To be charged I would think you would have to be the subject of a police search warrant. I have looked up the law trying to find the penalties for the crime, I think it is a fine equal to the tax you would pay for the alcohol plus court cost.
Several people I have talked with have mentioned making up to 100 gallons here in Alabama so I won't be the first or the last to bend this law. Just because we are in a group that deals with anachronisms doesn't mean we should have to put up with a law that is one.
Look up the laws to start a winery here in Alabama it's good for a laugh.
As far as I know Mead is not even considered since they don't seem to know about it. I believe it's considered a wine.
And I don't think we are bound by the 6% laws since we are not selling what we make and I think that law applied to sales.
Happy meading
Tarot.
Hello to one and all!
I will say I am new to brewing in general. I made a few batches of beer about 7 or 8 years ago. But none since. I just retired from the Navy and since I won't be moving as much and not having to leave as much, now is the time for me to begin brewing mead. I must admit I have never had any. But I know I will like it as I am one of the few weirdos I know who could drink honey straight out of the jar!! When I made the beer, the most fun was making it. Not that I didn't enjoy drinking it!! For now I will read and search for information and just keep reading then when I am ready, I will jump in feet first!!
I will say I am new to brewing in general. I made a few batches of beer about 7 or 8 years ago. But none since. I just retired from the Navy and since I won't be moving as much and not having to leave as much, now is the time for me to begin brewing mead. I must admit I have never had any. But I know I will like it as I am one of the few weirdos I know who could drink honey straight out of the jar!! When I made the beer, the most fun was making it. Not that I didn't enjoy drinking it!! For now I will read and search for information and just keep reading then when I am ready, I will jump in feet first!!
