Looking for advice on how best to use 5 gallons of Mead
  • woodmanwoodman
    Posts: 10
    I plan on drinking it of course, so no suprises there. I would like to try a few different finishing techniques on my 5 gallon batch of mead. It was made in December, so no major rush to get to drinking it now. I was thinking about maybe adding fruit to a galloon or so, maybe make a sparkling mead out of some, maybe put some on oak..
    Im basically looking to get feedback on things you guys might have tried that really turned out nice or that you would like to try. Recipes, examples and advice are all appreciated.
    This was made with a very nice, amber colored ragweed honey that came from my good friends backyard hives in Washington state. He takes very good care of his bees and the honey they produce. Barely filtered, no pasturization or anything funky. Totally hippie style organic..lol(I can say that as I am from California)hehe
    I look forward to hearing what you all think.

    Cheers
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    make a strong black tea (unsweetened) and add it into a gallon or so. that's pretty good. also, hitting some with lemon can be fun.
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    I like the fruit idea, maybe some blackberries
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • Evan_BEvan_B
    Posts: 312
    I think all of your ideas are pretty good ones! Split it up and try different things! Not sure how the oaked one would turn out, but I bet you track down some interesting fruits/berries to try as the weather is warming.
    Amigo, lay them raises down.
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    Good to have you posting finally!

    I like the fruit idea, maybe try a toasted oak spiral in some.

    On the tea angle, how about brewing something like blackberry sage tea for it?
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    i like the idea of splitting it up into like 10 .5gal experiments and try a bunch of different stuff. that would make an awesome writeup!
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    Lakewood said:

    i like the idea of splitting it up into like 10 .5gal experiments and try a bunch of different stuff. that would make an awesome writeup!


    I was thinking exactly this as I typed earlier, a couple teas, some berries, some herbs, some oak or other charred wood, combinations of the above....
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    Hmmm.... any manzanita near you?
    always wanted to use the berries in mead ...

    Certain flowers might be fun to try also ... daylillies ... redbud blossoms ...
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,654
    bacon.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    ceannt said:



    Certain flowers might be fun to try also ... daylillies ... redbud blossoms ...



    neither one of those have much scent though. use something with big smell like honeysuckle, elderberry or heather.

    also, toss in some hop tea into one of them. slightly hopped mead, why not?
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,654
    frydogbrews said:

    slightly hopped mead, why not?



    because no.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • woodmanwoodman
    Posts: 10
    You guys have some good ideas! I had already thought about doing some type of fruit mead, but I'm really digging that tea idea! The wife has some awesome tea's from teavana and I could already imagine how some of them would taste in the mead. Green tea, Java Matte would be pretty interesting, golden monkey.. Great stuff! I'm thinking I will split that batch into at least 5 one gallon batches and experiment from there. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use at least one gallon to make a nice sparkling mead for poolside when the temps around here get ridiculous. If any of the experiments turn out great I will do some bottles for long term storage. Thanks for the great ideas & keep them coming.
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    for sparkling mead, backsweeten just a touch. if you sparkle it bone dry, the bubbles push a strong rocky, minerally smell into your nose....not pleasant. just a tiny bit of sweetness. say 3 tablespoons of stevia to a one gallon batch.
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    frydogbrews said:

    for sparkling mead, backsweeten just a touch. if you sparkle it bone dry, the bubbles push a strong rocky, minerally smell into your nose....not pleasant. just a tiny bit of sweetness. say 3 tablespoons of stevia to a one gallon batch.



    Fry knows his mead, I never question him on this stuff, in fact he know his shit on a load of stuff. :D
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    load and shit, same sentence. perfect.
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    frydogbrews said:

    load and shit, same sentence. perfect.



    I WAS talking about you wasn't I? :-))
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • woodmanwoodman
    Posts: 10
    frydogbrews said:

    for sparkling mead, backsweeten just a touch. if you sparkle it bone dry, the bubbles push a strong rocky, minerally smell into your nose....not pleasant. just a tiny bit of sweetness. say 3 tablespoons of stevia to a one gallon batch.




    This is EXACTLY the kind of info I was hoping to get! Thanks very much for the helpful hint, I will definitely put it to use.
  • woodmanwoodman
    Posts: 10
    azscoob said:

    frydogbrews said:

    load and shit, same sentence. perfect.



    I WAS talking about you wasn't I? :-))


    Great dialogue, I love it. You can feel the love in the air!
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,419
    I've had samples of two different meads from fry. Really. Epic. Stuff.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
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