Mead and Cider (and Peary too) Mmmmm

[Une]

l'm impressed l would not know where to start, l bet the aroma is wonderful.

[Heming]

Oh, and I've heard of people using champagne yeast (either Wyeast or Red Star) to good results.

Oh, that might be a good idea - or maybe secondary fermentation with champagne yeast and aging on the sediments to get that lovely biscuity note.

Hm... Maybe I should get the equipment out and have a go...

[NewEnglander]

If you can find one gallon glass jugs of cider from Whole Foods you're most of the way there. After that you just need yeast and an airlock, more or less.
A buddy sent me THIS link earlier in the week, adding to my compulsion to brew up some cider.

[jkane]

I had the "sweet" yeast ferment out to 14%! Then again, I had a dry yeast get to 18% a couple years ago too. You never know. If only the yeast would really die at 11% like it is supposed to. ;)

The Sac Mead I am making and adding the absinthe spices to is the dry yeast. I am hoping for 17-19% from it. Then when it's done, I plan to add a "super yeast" that is supposed to get to 24%. Then add all the spices which need alcohol to dissolve.

I've used champagne yeast. It is clean and dry. Does not add any other flavors and is a good non-descript way to ferment alcohol. Same as the super yeast strains! I use them after the regular yest dies to add alcohol, but not as the primary fermentation when I want some of the yeast by products to remain.

I once had a friend over and he saw my racking shelves full of carboys. He asked if I was selling equipment since i have 25 carboys lined up. This is a left over from wine making. When it has to sit for a year or 3, I ended up with a lot of carboys. Now I do only 1 or 2 batches of wine a year, so most carboys are empty. The last 4 years we have been making a lot of mead instead. Just kegged last years a couple weeks ago. This is my first year kegging mead instead of bottling. It is so much easier. But ... I only have 12 kegs, and one needs parts right now. So may not be able to keep doing that for all of them!

I think it is time to sample the black raspberry cider tonight.

[NewEnglander]

All this talk of mead is getting me thirst too. Once I kick this flu I need to bottle the raspberry mead and my Joe's Ancient Orange mead and have a few samples.

[Ayin McFye]

We just brewed 59 gallons of Mead on Sunday, and will brew another 59 gallons this weekend.

We just purchased two 59 Gallon french oak barrels (freaking expensive) , and will have about 120 gallons of mead aged in french oak this time next year.

360 pound of orange blossum honey, over 1200 375ml bottles, and needless to say lots of mead.

We've never aged our mead in french oak and are excited to see what happens to it. We don't add any fruits or berries, or any other junk to our mead. Just straight, traditional honey mead.

here are the two barrels we just purchased.

[NewEnglander]

Good gods, man! Is this in a commercial meadery or your own home?

[Ayin McFye]

Good gods, man! Is this in a commercial meadery or your own home?

As long as we stay under 200 gallons a person a year we don't need to get our license yet. We're going to push it right to 200 gallons though, and use the revenue gained to start our meadery.

Our game plan is to be able to have 400 gallons of mead on hand by the end of 2010. Either still brewing or already bottled. We'll use that revenue to actually start our official business.

If you're ever here in Arizona, let me know, and we are always happy to share our product.

[NewEnglander]

Best of luck with your ventures! You might be hearing from me if I try another batch of mead here at home.
Wassail!

[Madadh]

I have 5 gal of Scottish Heather Honey mead just sitting. 3 gal in a carboy just aging, the rest in 4 one litre bottles to taste for the next 4 years. I also have three gal of Wildflower honey mead in a small oak cask aging. Once I have drained the four bottles of Heather Honey mead I will shift that to the oak cask.

I like to take 2lbs of honey (buck wheat is great) add water to five gallons. Add 5 tsp of yeast nutrient and than add a packet of red star montrachet dry wine yeast. Cap this with a co2 valve and let it sit for a month. Then shift it to a second carboy for three months. I use a packet of Liquor quik Super Kleer to clear the mead before bottling. This produces a fine dark dry mead at about 16-18% alcohol content.