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Welcome to NewBees

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ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
529
0
0
Mead Making is easy and a lot of fun. The hardest part about the process is the waiting.

Over the Weekes to Come, I and a few other people will assemble our best suggestions for new meadmakers and try to post them here in an easily understood and accessible manner.

The Plan is to have several topics at the top of this thread that provide an introduction and address issues that you should be aware of when first starting out. the Sticky posts will be edited in responce to questions when a lack of completeness or clarity is brought to our attention. I've never tried to compile this type of information for refrence before, I ask some patience as I learn the process.

John the ThirstyViking

P.S. I see the Forum is relocating to new software, this may affect us, so I'll try to save the information for reposting.
 

GntlKnght

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 9, 2004
265
1
0
60
I know one thing of the things I really appreciated earlier this year when I started was your simple cyser recipe!!! It never made it to bottles! One wonders if it would have improved with age!!! ::)
 

toolboxdiver

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 3, 2005
255
0
0
61
toolboxdiver.tripod.com
Thank you all here I have learned alot from you veteran Mead makers, and I have been doing it for about 8 years I have nowhere the vast experience I have encountered here, Thanks
 

jab

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 15, 2004
557
0
0
50
radiofreeomaha.net
8 years...heh, that's almost as old as this thread! :p So have you managed to save any that long? I have a box that I am determined not to touch that has a bottle of each in it. It's one of those 'catch 22' things. Don't drink it because you want some really aged mead but if you never touch it then you will never know if it's any good.

-Jason
 

JamesP

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 3, 2003
654
1
18
Brisbane Australia
I'm keeping some of my first batch for a few years to see how it goes.

Is anyone on the forum disciplined enough to set aside small bottles with the plan to taste a bottle a year (or half-year),

ie for a 5 year storage plan, allocate 5 or 10 bottles out of each batch and label them for tasting on a certain date each year or half-year?
 

toolboxdiver

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 3, 2005
255
0
0
61
toolboxdiver.tripod.com
jab said:
8 years...heh, that's almost as old as this thread! :p So have you managed to save any that long? I have a box that I am determined not to touch that has a bottle of each in it. It's one of those 'catch 22' things. Don't drink it because you want some really aged mead but if you never touch it then you will never know if it's any good.

-Jason

I have 1 bottle of Mead 5 years old and 1 bottle of Peach Melomel 4 years old and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out...lol I took a girl to dinner 2 weeks ago and brought along a bottle of my peach Melomel and she loved it it is fantastic.
 

Brewbear

NewBee
Registered Member
May 10, 2005
959
0
0
Hi ThirstyViking,
I keep looking for your recepe for Quick and Easy Cyser but I'm unable to find it :-\
Could you please direct my steps? Is it still posted somewhere?
BTW, quite a few of the links were "dead", or I srewed up somewhere.

Health, wealth , and happyness
Ted
 

Dori

NewBee
Registered Member
May 24, 2005
7
0
0
Hello All
Just wanted to say thank you for a great site - I just made my 4th batch (25 liters), and this time I put in fruit - I'm not sure about the english name for it (in hebrew it's called "pitango"). fermentation was stuck for at least 2 days and I was pretty worried; I searched the web for some advice and found it here. I did what it said - sanitized a new vessel, siphoned the must and added a fresh starter. the thing has been bubbling like mad (and I mean MAD - I'm thinking of selling co2 to coca cola...) for 3 days now. you can imagine my relief. to celebrate the rebirth of my melomel I made some sima (some call it simha) which I think would be ready in a week.

whoof, I wrote too much. thanks again for the great database that saved my 25 litres. much appreciated!

Dori Coren

Rehovot, Israel
 

pain

GotMead Owner
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Apr 5, 1996
1,698
18
38
North Carolina
gotmead.com
Glad you liked the site, Dori! I've spent the last 8 years putting it together, and will probably spend the next 20 expanding it!

Glad the info here was able to help you save your batch. Check out the rest of the site, I've over 1200 pages of info on every possible approach to mead.

Vicky
 

lostnbronx

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 8, 2004
1,020
1
0
Hey Dori!

Welcome to the group! Sounds like you made a melomel -- what fruit did you use? Care to post the recipe in the Brewlog section, or in Recipes?

-David
 

Dori

NewBee
Registered Member
May 24, 2005
7
0
0
Hello David

I know it's a melomel, I just don't know the name of the fruit in English. still looking for it. maybe I'll take a picture of it and soimeone here would recognize it?
ofcourse I would post the recipe, I'm going to do it now ;)

well, I found it! it's called Eugenia uniflora, it's something tropical.



[attachment deleted by admin]
 

lostnbronx

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 8, 2004
1,020
1
0
Dori,

I've never seen that before, but it looks delicious! What's it taste like?

-David
 

Dori

NewBee
Registered Member
May 24, 2005
7
0
0
David

It tastes tropical, you know, that sweet and sour undefined taste ;)

the ripe fruit are sweeter, the younger ones are more sour. I tried to pick more of the ripe ones to get more sugar. at the moment the must looks like it came from someones stomach, but I hoping it will clear sometime in the near future...
 

Dori

NewBee
Registered Member
May 24, 2005
7
0
0
;D

lol oskaar, you must be an expert at finding these thins, eh?

yes, it is this fruit. have you had any experience with the likes? can you give me any tips regarding melomels of this kind?

thanks in advance!

Dori
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
8
0
34
The OC
Hi Dori and welcome to the forum.

Regretably I have no experience with the infamous Surinam Cherry, however as far as fruit in the mead goes I'd say you'll want about 8 pounds or more per five gallon batch to get the character of the fruit in it. Depending on how sweet/tart the fruit is you may need to add more honey or more fruit to the starting recipe in orde to keep it balanced in flavor.

Personally when I add fruit to the primary I go close to double what I would in the secondary because during fermentation the flavor will change as does the flavor of the honey and most other things you ferment. To bring back some more of the original flavor you can add more to the secondary and rack on top of it.

Also, it is a good idea to freeze your fresh fruit, thaw and mash it good before you add it to the primary in order to release the sugars more efficiently. You can put the fruit in a sanitized grain bag, or let it float free.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar
 

Igor

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 21, 2005
20
0
0
Greating all. Myself and my neighbor have made several different meads. Among them a blue berry and a Cinnamon ginger warm ups, which I happen to be comsuming at present, which might explain why I find it hard to type. I have just found your site and am fascinated by it. Then next mead I want to make is a port mead. :D
 

lostnbronx

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 8, 2004
1,020
1
0
Igor,

Welcome to Gotmead! This is a great place to exchange info, and to just hang out. Can you post your recipes for the blueberry and ginger meads in the Recipes section of the Forum? It would be great to learn about them!

-David
 
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