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What mead are you going to make next and why?

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My thought to you would be to would be to make a 1 gallon test batch of plain honey mead (or a five gallon batch and split it into five singles!) and go on ahead and tinker with infusions and amounts as they age. This will give you an idea of how each of these infuses and how much is too much. While your at it you could throw cocoa nibs into one and see about how chocolate plays with your other additives.

good luck!

/wolfie
 
Kee said:
... snip...There are a couple of other herbal aphrodisiacs I'm familiar with, but I don't know that the flavors would enhance this mead.

Any ideas on what I'm missing?
Click to expand...

My phone number and a bottle of your mead! >:D

Anyhow, I'd recommend getting the base mead first, and then adding back the chocolate, maple and strawberries, then adding a tea of the herbs to your taste. Once you have a sense of what the herbal addition and character will be and you can adjudicate in future recipes how you wish to add.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
My next batch will be a large (18gallon+) batch of my renowned Elderberry port/mead... It's great. Actually looking for a better name...

then I am going to do a bee pollen test,

if I get to strawberry picking, I might make a strawberry mead....
 
Planning a cherry, definitely a JAO, and considering a blueberry.
The wife is certain we'll be going to AA soon! :drunken_smilie:
I tell her I am supporting the carboy industry.

_________________________________________________

5gal Pomegranate Chamomile in primary
5gal spicy holiday mead I submitted as Home for the Holidays in primary
3gal 4-berry (blue, straw, red & black) aging
2gal sweet mead aging
1gal Home fo rthe Holidays aging
 
Well, at least you'll have someone to sit through those exciting AA meetings with you.

"Hi, my name is Oskaar . . . and I'm pretty sure you're all a bunch of raging alkies!"

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
I'm torn between a cherry cyser or a straight up cherry mel I haven't made any cysers apart from Falls Bounty which is nearly finished fermenting so look forward to sampling that, I quite like the idea of a cherry cyser so might opt for that one, then I am going to give Oskaars Mutiny on the Bounty a go too, :cheers:
 
Thank you, Wolfie. I'll try the schizandra in a smaller batch.

Oskaar, I'll send you a bottle in a few years. I owe you that after pouring through all your advise on this site!
 
Well I decided to have a little fun this morning.

My 3 boys have always watched me cook up a batch, handed me things, etc. but have never made one themselves.
Soooo....I decided to show them how! I stood in the corner and directed them. It was KILLING me!

We They just pitched the yeast on a gallon of JAO, are huddled around the glass jug we
used so they can watch and are expecting bubbleage at any minute.

Where's my camera???
 
Welcome to GOTMEAD Wolfsden :)

Head on over to the recipe discussion board and see if you dont need any details hammered out, or maybe you'll inspire someone else.

See ya on the boards

/wolfie
 
Beninak said:
Let me chime in here and say that in case anyone is tempted by the idea, Pumpkin Blossom Honey does NOT taste very good fermented, nor is it necessarily a good honey choice for a pumpkin pie mel/meth.

my $0.02 based on personal experience :sad1:
Click to expand...

Wow; that is so opposite my own experience. I just finished the primary fermentation on a batch of Pumpkin Blossom and I found it potent without being hot and wonderfully floral, both in nose and taste. I actually intended it for a medium-sweet melomel, but decided to leave it as a 'straight' mead (not up on terminology, yet; sorry) as I didn't want to mess with the wonderful floral flavor.

It may deteriorate later, but right now, I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off it.

As to my next one, I'm about to start two. One will be my first rhodomel (using the best bits of the recipes and comments I've found here). The other will be my first mead that uses bee pollen as a nutrient/energizer. I plan on using wildflower honey, Lalvin 71B-1122 and bee pollen. If all goes well, I'll split it into 5 1-gallon batches and try varying amounts of pollen and flower petals to see what floral characters I can bring out.

-------------------------------
Currently Aging:
- 5 gallons of Ered Luin (sparkling blueberry melomel with Brazilian Tropical Flower honey)
- 5 gallons of Menelvagor (a pale, very dry metheglin with lemon balm, borage and elderberry)
- 5 gallons of Caradhras (an intense, dry blueberry melomel with 19# of berries in it)

Currently in Primary:
- 5 gallons of Pumpkin Blossom mead (medium-sweet 'straight' mead)
- 5 gallons of Brazilian Tropical Blossom mead awaiting a destiny

Currently Contemplated:
- 5 gallons rhodomel
- 5 gallons wildflower/bee pollen
 
As with all "varietal" honeys, the location and condition of the nectar producing plant can vary widely, and can contribute to significantly different flavors in honey from multiple sources... which translates into noticeable differences in the meads that result. The most striking case of this that I can think of is the difference between east coast and west coast buckwheat honey. The east coast version is musky smelling, and produces a mead that smells not so faintly of the bottom of a horse stall. The west coast version has none of that "barnyard" character.

Oh, "straight mead" isn't such a bad descriptor, but a mead having no other flavoring ingredients (neither fruit nor herb/spice) is called a traditional mead. If it is made from only honey, water and yeast, that is called a "show mead."

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks, wayneb; that explains the difference between Beninak and my experiences, alright.

Question: what's the difference between show mead and traditional mead? They both sound the same, in your description. A show mead uses no energizer, nutrient or other additives, perhaps?

Thanks again!
 
Show Mead - Honey, water, yeast

Traditional Mead - Honey, Water, Yeast and nutrients and may also be coopered in oak.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
Something with fresh blueberries in it. We picked 5 gallons yesterday ( 32.5 pounds ) for only $25.00!!! I couldn't believe he was only charging $5 per gallon, pick your own of course. :icon_thumright:

On a sad note he said he might get rid of all the blueberry bushes next year. I'll bet we could have picked 1,000 gallons that wer egoing to waste :sad10: :sad10:
 
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