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Old Brewer New to Mead

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BadKarma

BadKarma

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 12, 2010
25
0
0
SW Missouri
Howdy y'all. I'm an old hillbilly homebrewer, 10 yeas as a brewer and 47 years as a hillbilly. My best friend and collage roommate was a mead maker, but I recently got interested when I started scaling down my beer brewing to 2.5 gal batches and smaller. Now my horizons are opening up to mead and wine. I stopped brewing the 5 gal batches because I like a lot of variety and 5 gallons is hard to get rid of when you live in an area where everyone has drunk the Budweiser koolaid.

Anyway, just thought I'd say Howdy. :icon_geek:

Now a quick question:

Is there anything I should know before I attempt my first small batch? Thinking a 2.5 gal or a 1 gal. Anything I should keep in mind?

Thanks for a great site.

Karma
 
Medsen Fey

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
May 23, 2007
9,004
53
48
Fusel Shack, in the swamp west of Ft. Lauderdale
Welcome to GotMead BadKarma!

There are quite a few differences to get used to with mead making. Reading the NewBee guide will give you some idea. Some of the biggest are the requirements for nutrients which is uncommon for beers, the need for aeration which sounds like heresy to most brewers, and the extended time period required for aging.

That last one is a doozie. A traditional mead can easily take 1 to 2 years to reach maturity before which it can taste unpleasant. That's a far cry from the 2-4 weeks many beers require. It could literally test the patience of Job so be prepared. Of course that also turns into an advantage if you make a 5 gallon batch - it can age for years so you don't have to worry about getting rid of it in a hurry.

I hope you'll have fun with it.

Medsen
 
W

wayneb

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Feb 7, 2007
5,794
11
38
Evergreen, CO (west of and above the Denver smog!)
Hey, Karma! Let me add my welcome to the "Gotmead?" community, too! I think Medsen gave you excellent advice - read the Newbee Guide and that should answer most of your questions. If you still have any, post them here before you start your first batch and we'll do our best to help you get started with mead.
 
BadKarma

BadKarma

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 12, 2010
25
0
0
SW Missouri
Thanks y'all.

Well step one is done, I ordered the Complete Meadmaker, it should be here wednesday. I'm old hand to the research thing, I hate to go into something blind, so I tend to research the crap out of everything. It took me a year to switch from extract brewing to all grain. Heck I still do a dry run the night before a brew day, just to be sure.

But I will have to work on the patience thing, I have the patience of a gnat!!!!!
 
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