Well I had to go to the liquor store today because I wanted to try this mead that I haveread so much about and I'm also making some JOA. It came in a cute little blue bottle from Boulder, CO. It is called Redstone Meadery, Honey Wine with Vanilla Beans and Cinnamon Sticks. A bit costly, $25.00 a bottle. Anyway I thought it sounded really good. I chilled a little glass and then I had my first taste. It teasted like medicine. Wished I lived close to someone, I would give it to them. Hate to waste it since I paid $25.00 for itbut I can't drink it. I pouredmyglass out and got a glass of Merlot that I made, much better. I guess I'm just not a mead drinker.
My first taste of Mead
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......... and that is one of Redstones most popular meads. I had the opportunity to taste a couple of different meads before I started making them. The first was awful, it was way too sweet and tasted raw. The second was a traditional Orange Blossom Mead and it was fantastic. I have since made my own OB Mead and it is very close to the winerys. I'm glad I looked around and tried it again. Since then I've made about 20 or so different meads with a Sparkling Maple Mead just waiting for me mix together. So far the best at bottling was by far the cranberry with my son's graduation mead a close second. Try a couple more they really are great.
VPC
VPC
I have only tried 1 bottle of commercial Mead and it was disgusting!!!!!!!!! My local home brew shop always has all kinds of wines, beer, and mead to try though and most are very good so I wasnt discouraged from making it and so glad I did and do, I and everyone who tries my meads love it, especially the blueberry which started out as Waldo's recipe and then i tweaked it to my taste.
Hi Sadie, you aren't the only one to pour good money down the drain with non-standard wines from commercial sources - I bought a local winery's Blueberry wine and yikes it was disgusting - no blueberry flavor really and was oxidized tasting. ugggh. It wasn't as much as your mead but it was pricey for what it was anyway. I later made my own blueberry wine and was pleased with that.
Go ahead and make your own mead, and if it turns out bad it's at least as good as the commercial stuff, and if it turns out good you can brag that it's head and shoulders above the quality of a $25 bottle of commercial mead!
Keep the faith in your own efforts - not only is making your own fun and can be economical, it can (easily) reward you with superior results to (some of) what you can buy.
Go ahead and make your own mead, and if it turns out bad it's at least as good as the commercial stuff, and if it turns out good you can brag that it's head and shoulders above the quality of a $25 bottle of commercial mead!
Keep the faith in your own efforts - not only is making your own fun and can be economical, it can (easily) reward you with superior results to (some of) what you can buy.
Good advice Pelican. I will continue with my JAO, I was going to dump it but I will let it keep doing it's thing. I would like to try some blueberry. I don't want to make 5 or 6 gallons yet. I would like to try a gallon and see how it turns out. Does any one have a recipe for 1 gallon. I know this stuff has to taste better than what I had last night or no one would be making it or drinking it.
Here you go Sadie:
Blueberry Mel
Orange Blossom Honey (until SG reaches 1090, about 3 1/2 lbs.)
Blueberries about 3 - 4 lbs.
Go Ferm, DAP, Yeast Nutrient, Pectic Enzyme
Water to 1 Gallon
Lavlin 71B
Oak - not necessary but believe me blueberries love oak and so does honey
Any kind of honey will work so whatever you can find will be perfect. Don't be afraid to use the clover honey from Sam's either, you can make a great mead with that stuff. Another fruit you can use instead of blueberries is blackberries. Also don't be afraid to use cranberries or limes. The sweet - tart is fantastic. And if you search the forum you'll find several recipes.
VPC
Blueberry Mel
Orange Blossom Honey (until SG reaches 1090, about 3 1/2 lbs.)
Blueberries about 3 - 4 lbs.
Go Ferm, DAP, Yeast Nutrient, Pectic Enzyme
Water to 1 Gallon
Lavlin 71B
Oak - not necessary but believe me blueberries love oak and so does honey
Any kind of honey will work so whatever you can find will be perfect. Don't be afraid to use the clover honey from Sam's either, you can make a great mead with that stuff. Another fruit you can use instead of blueberries is blackberries. Also don't be afraid to use cranberries or limes. The sweet - tart is fantastic. And if you search the forum you'll find several recipes.
VPC
Thanks Vcasey.
Gaudet, it was not that it was sweet it just had a real medicine taste to it. If it were in the Winter time and you had a badhead coldit might be good to put in some hottea or something but tojust drinking it, I don't think so. Someone else tried it last night and I did not say any thing good or bad because I wanted to get their opinion and they said "it taste like what my grandma would give me when I was a kid and I was sick". Maybe when I go to Wookstock 2009 there will be some there that I can try.
Cyndy
Gaudet, it was not that it was sweet it just had a real medicine taste to it. If it were in the Winter time and you had a badhead coldit might be good to put in some hottea or something but tojust drinking it, I don't think so. Someone else tried it last night and I did not say any thing good or bad because I wanted to get their opinion and they said "it taste like what my grandma would give me when I was a kid and I was sick". Maybe when I go to Wookstock 2009 there will be some there that I can try.
Cyndy
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Sadie said:Thanks Vcasey.
Maybe when I go to Wookstock 2009 there will be some there that I can try.
Cyndy
When my wife cooks oriental style food she adds some chicken broth/stock - so I guess that would make it Wokstock! Is that the same thing as Wookstock?
Appleman, I think I was thinking of Woodstock, I'm not sure. I am excited about Winestock 2009. Hope to try lots of great wines and learn as much as I can. I'm ready to start some new wines but not sure which ones. Hopefully when I leave I will have lots of new ideas and lots of wine kits to bring home with me. I will sample some for you Appleman.
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You might be old enough to remember Woodstock-barely. Of course if you didn't go you are probably more likely to remember it than if you were there from what I heard.
Dean
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Sadie, DAP is Diammonium Phosphate and is a yeast nutrient. I usually add mine in 3 doses. 1/3 12 to 24 hours before fermentation, 1/3 once the yeast has started, usually 24 hours after yeast innoculation, and the final 1/3 around SG 1.030 to give the yeast a kick to finish things off. The end result of multiple doses is that the mead is usually smoother when it hits the appropriate age.
Here is the link for one I did that turned out pretty danged good Sadie
http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1622&KW=Blueberry+Mead
http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1622&KW=Blueberry+Mead
Sadie, I use DAP the same as any yeast nutrient and I use the same process Dean described. Keep in mind that honey is a very poor source of nutrients and as a result can be challenging to ferment, spreading the dosages out just helps the process along and yes you can add it all up front if you want just make sure you monitor the mead and don't be afraid to give it a good stir while its in the primary. Also honey can ferment very slowly so sometimes its hard to tell if its stopped or just meandering along. I am in the final stages of a Mocha Mead and a Cranberry Cyser that each took 10 months to ferment and if I get lucky I may get them in a bottle about a year after I started them. So have fun making the mead, don't be in a hurry cause if your are it isn't and know you will make a better product then what you bought, even better because you made it.
VPC
VPC
Thanks guys.
Waldo, I'll be heading up that why next weekend for my kayak trip, Jasper, Arkansas, hope the weather is not to cold. Looks like you guys are going to be getting some rain. If you change your mind you are welcome to join us. Looks like there will be about 25 of us. I will be taking some of my blackberry wine for them to try out. That is the only one that is ready.
Cyndy
Waldo, I'll be heading up that why next weekend for my kayak trip, Jasper, Arkansas, hope the weather is not to cold. Looks like you guys are going to be getting some rain. If you change your mind you are welcome to join us. Looks like there will be about 25 of us. I will be taking some of my blackberry wine for them to try out. That is the only one that is ready.
Cyndy
