Mead

I want to try making this. I think I'll make a 5 gallon batch then break it down into 1 gallon containers; 1 gallon will be bottled right away, 1 I'll do a spices metheglin, 1 will be a herbs (bay, thyme...), 2 will be honey jack, but that will get split and half will be seasoned with spices.

Honey is $15/80oz at Meijer (0.19/oz) and on $55/gallon on amazon (0.43).

Use 18C/140oz honey for a 5 gallon batch. A 2:1 ratio would use 200oz.

Bochet is a variety where the honey is partially carmalized before brewing.

18 Cups = 13.5 lbs = 144 oz

Make up some labels that read "Valhalla: Witness Mead" with a picture of Nux on it.

Metheglin

I'd also like to try making Metheglin, which is spiced mead. Here's what I ant to try

• cloves
• cinnamon
• orange zest
• vanilla
• juniper (if I can find it)
• fennel

A handful of raspberries could add a great flavor and good color. I'd actually be inclined to add them after to keep more of the sweetness. Maybe backsweeten with a bit of maple syrup.

11/2018

Start on 11/7. I started with a smaller bucket because the large bucket was in use with a wine kit. I mixed 190oz honey with water until I had 4 gallons. The water was heated to 160F to sanitize. Once the temperature got down to around 110F I added the yeast. This is 17.8lbs, this might be a bit much, but if it ends up being a 6 gallon batch, it should be just about right.

The mead actually came out a little weak. Most of it got used to make metheglin that was seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg and oranges. I also backsweetened with more honey. This came out really good, Lauren in particular liked it. Though it started fermenting int the bottle which caused some problems.

The final product was really good.

1/2019

Forgot to take notes, not sure exactly when I started. I bumped it up from 190oz to 240oz for the mead and that came out really well.

I seasoned it with oranges, nutmeg and cinnamon. Last time the pith left some bad flavors. So this time I peeled just the zest off and added that, then cut out the flesh and added that (and squished it a little).

6/2019

Making a batch of strawberry mead. See Strawberry Wine

12/2019

Started with 240oz of honey. I misread the hydrometer and over diluted, so it's starting at 12%PAV. I may need to bump it up a bit later.

I want to keep the oranges, nutmeg and cinnamon, but I also want to add a bunch of raspberries, probably 1lb frozen.

I ended up leaving the flavoring in a little too long and it took on an unpleasant flavor. I was able to get it back, but it took a lot of cajoling and it lost some of the essential metheglin flavor.

1/2021

I started on 1/25 with just over 240oz (15lbs) of honey. It's starting at 13%PAV. This is the first batch I'm doing in the basement in winter. It gets pretty cold so bought a heater and regulator and I've wrapped it in blankets. After I did that it did start bubbling faster. Racked on 2/10, tasted good, still pretty sweet. I added a bit more honey, maybe 1lb.

I'm using EC 1118, which goes up to 18%, which is probably why I keep getting back fermentation and it takes so long to completely stop. I'm not sure this is a problem - I kind of like the higher ABV but if I want things to go faster, using something with lower tolerance may help. As stated, I started at 13% and that took 15lbs of honey. I could need as much as another 5 lbs to get all the way up to 18%.

This time I want to do the oranges first and make sure I get the peels out quickly. Probably just a day. Then add some frozen raspberries, again probably just a day. Finally, I can add cinnamon and nutmeg and let it sit for a while until the flavor is right.