2011 National Mead Day

[vcasey]

August 6, 2011 is the AHA's National Mead Day. This years recipes have just been posted here:http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/MeadDay2011.
I will be making the pyment this year but will wait until the fresh juice from Cali. is available. My mead day recipe will be a buckwheat and orange blossom blend that I'll post as soon as I finalize the recipe.

You can find past mead day recipes here: http://wiki.americanhomebrewers.org/AHAMeadDay

 

[Waldo]

I've gotta get hold of CrackedCork and get his input on doing an Elderbery Mead using steam juiced Elderberries. Thats the one I want to try and my Elderberries will be ripe very soon

 

[paubin]

I looked over all the recipes listed and will have to try most. Never did like heavily gingered or mint....lol. Great link V !!!


Pete

 

[Brewgrrrl]

That sparkling ginger mead was my first mead (it is adapted from Papazian's book, "Homebrewed Adventures") and I'd recommend giving it a try using less ginger (the original recipe is only 2oz rather than 52 - yikes, that seems like a lot of ginger). Either way though, the ginger flavor mellows with time. After a couple of years the batch I made was like champagne and everyone who tried it loved it.

BTW, per Papazian's recipe you can naturally carbonate that mead when the fermentation is complete. Just add 3/4 cup corn sugar to the batch at bottling (and use beer bottles or champagne bottles with champagne bottle stoppers) or 1/3 a cup if kegging. I bottled mine and it carbonated perfectly.

 

[Cracked Cork]

http://www.oatmealjack.com/Elderberries/WineRecipies.html

One day I will learn that judges like sweet country wines, we made this with honey and backsweetened it with wildflower. I also suggest using poplar, locust or some other local fantastic honey to make this mead with. Of course you can also drop down on the fruit if you dont have that many berries, maybe even drop in a few raspberries and strawberries to give it a little more nose on top of the honey.

I cant do any this year but I tasted some elderberry chocolate syrup at Village winery in Waterford in Virginia last weekend, the balance of elderberry and chocolate was perfect, it that was made into a wine people would be scratching at the door wanting a bottle of that stuff.

Good Luck Waldo, Door is always open, Crackedcork

 

[vcasey]

The starters were bubbling away with in 1/2 hour of the yeast being added! Buckwheat is on the left, OBH is on the right.

Easiest way to make sure the honey is well blended is to use a stick blender or your glass blender, sanitized of course and use as little as water as possible. Adds lots of air for the yeasties.

Elderberry is on my short list of meads or wines (or both) to make. Perhaps next year along with maybe a smoked cherry mead.

 

[vcasey]

Happy Mead Day!

I kept it simple added enough water and honey to get about 3 gallons of each to an SG of 1090. I did add some raisins to each and some French Med toast oak dust. Once they finish fermenting they'll be stabilized and racked together onto some more French oak that has been soaked in bourbon. Once there I'll put it to bed for a year then I'll rack it to a keg if its clear and let it sit for a couple of years before I think about bottling.

Bourbon Barrel Mead
OBH on the left and Buckwheat on the right.

 

[vcasey]

The meads have finished fermenting and were stabilized and then racked together. Today they were racked over the bourbon soaked oak (1 oz.) and will sit for about a year. After that I'll rack for another year or 2 before I think about clearing and bottling. I may even cheat and just rack it to a keg - out of sight, out of mind.

 

[paubin]

Looks awesome V !!! I'm hoping to make a pyment with the fox grapes that grow everywhere around my house. Since discovering them a few weeks ago I see them everywhere...lol...hoping the birds stay away until they ripen.

Pete

 

[uavwmn]

My first crack at making mead was 3 yrs ago. I made the orange blossom mead. Opened up a bottle yesterday. BLEH!!!!! It was awful!!!
I think my mead making days are over. lol

 

[vcasey]

My first crack at making mead was 3 yrs ago. I made the orange blossom mead. Opened up a bottle yesterday. BLEH!!!!! It was awful!!!
I think my mead making days are over. lol

Was that the Ancient Orange? If so use blueberries or blackberries and real wine yest. Add the honey like you would using sugar by taking the SG, makes all the difference. And don't forget the secret ingredient - time.

 

[uavwmn]

Yes, it was the Ancient Orange mead. And it tasted......ancient! lol

 

[vcasey]

I've heard more bad then good so I've not tried the JAO and most likely never will, something about using bread yeast.
For a gallon pick up some blueberries or blackberries (or some of each, 6-8 lbs total) and good honey from the source if possible or go to a health food store and get something light like Orange blossom or Tupelo (3-4 lbs). Use 71B or Sweet Mead yeast and all the usual suspects. Mix as usual but use a blender to get the honey mixed well with the water so you get a good SG reading of about 1090. Treat it like any other wine from here and feel free to add some oak or sweeten just a little bit. The tricky part is after you bottle, you need to put it away - for at least 2-3 years. Just shove it in the back out of sight out of mind. At the 2-3 year mark open 1 bottle, if you don't like it, try another bottle a year later. I have noticed mine seem to become enjoyable around the 5 year mark.

 

[Wade E]

I made the JAO also and cant stand it but please dont judge Meads by that!!!! Ive made some meads that are just plain awesome and took best fruit mead (Melomel) last year with Raspberry Mead. Try a Blueberry or Raspberry yourself before giving up on them due to that JAO.

 

[paubin]

Back when JAO was all the rage, I be leave I mentioned that using bread yeast was going to turn a lot of people off from meads. I had made a citrus melomel and unfortunately only made 1 gal. I was fairly new to meads at the time but that one came out great. At 1 1/2 yr old it was very nice. Unfortunately the wife liked the bottle I opened as a test and the rest as they say is history. So please don't judge meads by JAO, that would be a big mistake.

Pete