type of honey

I was quoted a price of $7.00 dollars a pound by a
bee keeping group here in Maine.

Bill

First post before editing it was just the cheaper one I looked at, after I noticed it wasn't pure honey I went back and edited it to link to the pure honey

how much hops to honey
I think i'll try wild flower honey and Australian Stella hops
both claim to cast Floral hints,, and semi-sweet
DAWG::

BernardSmith said:

You might want to avoid buckwheat. Tupelo honey makes an incredible mead but the secret is in the yeast and in feeding the yeast enough nutrient while fermenting at lower rather than higher temperatures. That said, any honey blend will make a decent mead and if the honey doe snot have a really distinctive flavor you might consider boiling the water you will use to dilute the honey with a flavor rich hops for 10 - 15 minutes... Hopped meads are very delicious.

Click to expand...

I might use 1/4 to 1/2 oz per gallon. Remember , it's not for a beer so the hops are not being added to balance the residual sweetness from unfermentable sugars in the malt. The idea is to provide additional flavor notes if you are making a low alcohol mead since low alcohol can mean less flavor in a mead. I have seen some old folk recipes from eastern Europe where people added hops to low alcohol meads made to be drunk a few weeks after the yeast was pitched
Nelson Sauvin hops can add a fruity, a wine-like flavor

ok you lost me, is that link.. webstaurantstore.com monarch's choice wild flower is or is not pure honey, I read the description an it looks like real, do you know if it is or not, i'm disabled so moneys tight, but I only want the best whatever I buy, thank you for your time Winenoob66
Richard

Winenoob66 said:

$270 for 60 lbs?

Check these guys out

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/21/bulk-honey.html

Click to expand...

what do you think of this site, webstaurantstore.com in the search box put in bulk honey. I'm looking at the monarch's choice wild flower honey
let me know what you think about this site
richard

Jericurl said:

Have you decided where you are going to get your honey and which kind yet? It would be a lot cheaper for you to find something local, but if you don't have that option, I can post a couple of links from beekeepers I've used.

Click to expand...

Sounds fine to me.

The link there now is to pure honey

ok I want higher alcohol not hot but as up their as I can get it and still have flavor, so do I still go 1/4 to 1/2 per gallon , I want as high an alcohol with equal flavor, wild flower honey an Australian Stella hops are both said to give floral notes, so this is what I want to try a real mead, I'll be starting with a 6 gallon carboy after fermentation with plans on bulk aging in a 5 gallon carboy I have airlock rubber stoppers to fit down to a wine bottle all the way up to a size 11.5,,, so as I'm racking I can top off with any extra mead, I always make my country wines with a few gallon, half gallon an smaller bottles so when I get to 5 gallon bulk aging everything is still pure, I know a lot top off with similar types but I an just a poor dumb hillbilly an mighty proud of the fact,, I by choice live a very slow laid back life, an I just got this hang up toping off with anything but what I started with, I've never bone a kit, nor made what a lot call real wine made with grapes I'm country an so is my style an my wines and fixing to be meads, I need advice and so on from anybody an every body, because the only reason I'm here is to learn from ya'll
DAWG::
Richard

BernardSmith said:

I might use 1/4 to 1/2 oz per gallon. Remember , it's not for a beer so the hops are not being added to balance the residual sweetness from unfermentable sugars in the malt. The idea is to provide additional flavor notes if you are making a low alcohol mead since low alcohol can mean less flavor in a mead. I have seen some old folk recipes from eastern Europe where people added hops to low alcohol meads made to be drunk a few weeks after the yeast was pitched
Nelson Sauvin hops can add a fruity, a wine-like flavor

Click to expand...

Deezil said:

3lbs honey / gallon, should ballpark you about 1.085-1.090 SG
3lbs honey = ~1 quart

Click to expand...

You'll still want to shoot for something like this.
It might come in as high as 1.100, which is still okay.
Every batch of honey is different.

You can push the alcohol higher in future batches, when you have a better understanding of how it changes the profile of the finished product. You don't need to push it higher to enjoy the mead though, it's not necessary.

I've never done the hops things, so you'll want to listen to Bernard for that, for sure.

3lbs/gallon will give you a very nice finished product though, provided everything else goes acceptably well - sanitation, fermentation, racking, aging.

Pushing the alcohol higher with meads, increases the amount of honey, which makes the solution/must a harder place to propagate the yeast. More honey influences the acidity, and honey itself is already lacking in yeast nutrition, so adding more increases the gaps within the nutritional profile. They have an abundance of vitamins and nutrients that they need in small quantities but the main course never shows up until you add formulated yeast nutrients.

So adding more honey makes the fermentation more difficult due to the nature of honey and yeast, alters the finished product both in ABV and TA/pH, is more expensive (more honey), and the kicker here, the alcohol will actually hide the flavor if you crank it up high enough.

ok thank you,
you and the others are giving me a basic understanding,
so in about two to two an one half weeks I should have everything to start,
as for sanitation, I single my whole house is a mess by any standards, except my wine room, clean as a whistle, live traps under benches just in case a rodent was to visit, floor covered in food grade Diatomaceous Earth, for ants and any other insects, every thing ran thru double strength sanitizer and water heater for wine room single element took out 2,500 watt element replaced by 5,500 element and element temperature control turn up to maxed out, you don't want to get your hands in the way and must have a rag to flush out stainless steel racking can, when I use vaccumpumpsmans vacuum racing/bottling gear run thru first with double strength sanitizer then scalding hot water, (built first house by my self age 15 and was federal grandfathered carpenter , residential plumber and electrician by age 15.)
FHA. HOMES,,,,,,, WASH HANDS BEFOR ENTERING, THEN SANITIZE INSIDE ROOM, wear surgical grade dust mask over my tracheostomy tube. anyone know how to make me or my winery cleaner feel free to let me know as I said on interdictions I AM HERE ONLY TO LEARN, and I can never thank you people for being so free with your knowledge
DAWG::

Deezil said:

You'll still want to shoot for something like this.
It might come in as high as 1.100, which is still okay.
Every batch of honey is different.

You can push the alcohol higher in future batches, when you have a better understanding of how it changes the profile of the finished product. You don't need to push it higher to enjoy the mead though, it's not necessary.

I've never done the hops things, so you'll want to listen to Bernard for that, for sure.

3lbs/gallon will give you a very nice finished product though, provided everything else goes acceptably well - sanitation, fermentation, racking, aging.

Pushing the alcohol higher with meads, increases the amount of honey, which makes the solution/must a harder place to propagate the yeast. More honey influences the acidity, and honey itself is already lacking in yeast nutrition, so adding more increases the gaps within the nutritional profile. They have an abundance of vitamins and nutrients that they need in small quantities but the main course never shows up until you add formulated yeast nutrients.

So adding more honey makes the fermentation more difficult due to the nature of honey and yeast, alters the finished product both in ABV and TA/pH, is more expensive (more honey), and the kicker here, the alcohol will actually hide the flavor if you crank it up high enough.

Click to expand...

sorry to bother you but can I get a clear-faction , 3lb honey to one gallon water, or 3lb honey then water to bring up to one gallon, I've ordered wildflower honey, an one ounce of Stella hops, ya'll give me impression to start softly and with more knowledge then I can tweak and experiment, and ya'll have never steered me wrong, and I know both you men and you ladies have forgotten more then I'll ever know, so with the step feeding and the recipe posts, I am taking yalls guidance on this mead, I'll be starting in a 6 gallon carboy, do I do as with wine put it in a open ferment barrel for the first week to ten days taking readings of course from hydrometer,,,and stir daily or do I start a mead in a carboy, I know with the ferment barrel after around 10 days my guess only I'd rack it to a carboy and air lock it (right?) I need to know if I use 3 lbs. to a gallon or 3lbs then water to finish off a gallon, and if I stir daily or go straight to a airlock, wine room kept in the low sixties, it has own ac window unit, plus I have central HVAC, I bulk and ferment my wines at low and slow temps already, and as long as I'm breathing I have no problem waiting 2 years, I want a semi-sweet with as much alcohol with out the alcohol taste, I guess I'm saying I want good taste yet at least some kick, I mainly only drink a glass or two at bed time, ,,
thank you an all the rest for your time an knowledge,
dawg::

Deezil said:

Beautiful answer!


3lbs honey / gallon, should ballpark you about 1.085-1.090 SG
3lbs honey = ~1 quart

Depends on what you're shooting for,
If you're making a mead - as in, honey only, then it depends on how much (and how) you like your honey
If you can handle the flavors of the darker, bolder honeys, then you might consider a mead made with them

But usually Clover, Wildflower, Blackberry, are preferential - something lighter.

If you're adding fruits, then it depends on what you're showcasing - the fruit, the honey, or both?
If its the fruit, then your honey need only be something like Clover or Wildflower
If its the 'both', then you'll want something that's worth showcasing
Likewise if it's the honey, with a slight fruit undertone, then you'll want something worth showcasing

There's a lot of room for self-expression/art in all of this..

Click to expand...

3 lbs of honey is roughly 1 quart. I usually empty the jar into my primary, then use super hot water (not boiling) to fill the quart jar 3 times. That's four quarts worth of liquid which equals 1 gallon. Stir really, really well. I have a drill with a fancy stirring attachment (a plastic clothes hanger I cut) that makes quick work of this step. Then I take a hydrometer reading and see where I am at and add more honey or more water, whichever gets me to the starting SG I wanted.

Likewise, if you add 1 gallon of honey, fill/rinse the gallon jug 3 times into the primary. That should get you into the ballpark.


Hope that helps.

thanks, that's what I wanted to know, 1 part honey to 3 part water, thank you Jericurl, so with all the post from above ,, I go plunging in, but not as blindly anymore
dawg::
gawd gotta love this forum an it's gracious people,

Jericurl said:

3 lbs of honey is roughly 1 quart. I usually empty the jar into my primary, then use super hot water (not boiling) to fill the quart jar 3 times. That's four quarts worth of liquid which equals 1 gallon. Stir really, really well. I have a drill with a fancy stirring attachment (a plastic clothes hanger I cut) that makes quick work of this step. Then I take a hydrometer reading and see where I am at and add more honey or more water, whichever gets me to the starting SG I wanted.

Likewise, if you add 1 gallon of honey, fill/rinse the gallon jug 3 times into the primary. That should get you into the ballpark.


Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

@hounddawg

Richard,
Have you started your mead yet?

sadly no. I had to put it back a month, I've gathered everything but my honey
so the third of next month I will order my wild flower honey, you know how bills are they come from nowhere and multiply while in route to your mail box,
so I have been forced to wait, but as soon as my honey comes in I will post for sure,,,
Dawg

Jericurl said:

@hounddawg

Richard,
Have you started your mead yet?

Click to expand...

sadly no. I had to put it back a month, I've gathered everything but my honey
so the third of next month I will order my wild flower honey, you know how bills are they come from nowhere and multiply while in route to your mail box,
so I have been forced to wait, but as soon as my honey comes in I will post for sure,,,
Dawg

Click to expand...

Oh no hurry, just wanted to see how you are coming along is all.

We are getting to be mead snobs over in this household! It seems like we just want to make mead only and no wine at all here lately.
If you end up liking it you may have to start budgeting for honey!

al right I'm an easy mark... lol
I hollered at my nephew 10 or 15 minutes ago, well shucks now I got 30lb coming of wild flower honey, I plan to start with a 6 gallon carboy, your a bad, bad gurl.. LOL JUST WONDERING HOW LONG DO YOU AGE YOUR MEAD,,
Dawg::

Jericurl said:

Oh no hurry, just wanted to see how you are coming along is all.

We are getting to be mead snobs over in this household! It seems like we just want to make mead only and no wine at all here lately.
If you end up liking it you may have to start budgeting for honey!

Click to expand...

hounddawg said:

LOL JUST WONDERING HOW LONG DO YOU AGE YOUR MEAD,,
Dawg::

Click to expand...

As long as I can keep Manthing out of it. It's usually ok at 6 months, but after a year is when it really starts to bloom.

thank you
an please be nice to your MANTHING,, LOL ,,
Dawg::

Jericurl said:

As long as I can keep Manthing out of it. It's usually ok at 6 months, but after a year is when it really starts to bloom.

Click to expand...