Mead my little honeys!

[LouieMacGoo]

Today I got 6 lbs of star thistle honey dropped off at my door by a good friend who doesn't brew but used to raise bees. I had mentioned to him about wanting to making mead so today while he was in the neighborhood he brought some by. I've never made mead before so I guess it's time to get something brewing. I'm thinking about making 2 one gallon batches, one being a strawberry mead. The other maybe a burnt or bochet mead but I'm open to other ideas or suggestions.

[Foothiller]

You have 2 good ideas right there, and they are undoubtedly things you would like to try. My advice is: go for it!

[mashani]

Just some hints from my previous mead making experiences:

Depending on how fast you want it to get done, yeast nutrients on a schedule are a very helpful thing with mead. You don't *need* them, but it helps the fermentation get done faster and the end product drinkable faster. MoreBeer has a good guide on nutrient schedules to use.

Also, I would highly recommend NOT boiling it. Just bring it up to 160 or so and hold it there for 20 minutes. Every mead I made doing this vs. "boiling the crap out of it" like lots of folks do has gotten done sooner, been ready to drink sooner, and had better aroma and flavor. Obviously that is not an option for the Bochet mead though, which gets it's flavor and aroma from boiling MORE then the crap out of it

And of course hydromel types of mead (like standard beer strength, IE 4.5-7%) are done a lot faster then stronger stuff. And they can be just as delicious IMHO.

[EvolvingCaveman]

I think I will chime in even though I have just been at mead making for a year and I gave most of my mead to my son an his new bride for a wedding gift.
I would recommend heating the honey just enough to get it out of the jars. The commercial meaderies do not heat their honey. This keeps the aromas.
Honey is naturally antibacterial. I want to do a bochet as well but I would use some cheaper store bought honey with the true source label (so you know it is honey!).
Why use good honey when you going to drive off all the aromas in the cooking process. I also heard of using a crockpot set on low to slowly caramelize your honey.
Good Luck!!!!

[LouieMacGoo]

I think I will chime in even though I have just been at mead making for a year and I gave most of my mead to my son an his new bride for a wedding gift.
I would recommend heating the honey just enough to get it out of the jars. The commercial meaderies do not heat their honey. This keeps the aromas.
Honey is naturally antibacterial. I want to do a bochet as well but I would use some cheaper store bought honey with the true source label (so you know it is honey!).
Why use good honey when you going to drive off all the aromas in the cooking process. I also heard of using a crockpot set on low to slowly caramelize your honey.
Good Luck!!!!

Someone from my HBC also suggested not doing the Bochet with "good" honey and to save that recipe for the "cheap stuff". So I think I will ditch the Bochet idea for now.

[Foothiller]

Given the discussions of nutrients etc., you will get the best flavor by minimizing heating, as stated above. Nutrients are very important for a drinkable mead without extended aging. Just using nutrients in the right amount can make a good mead in a month, but even better is to use staggered nutrient additions, like dividing nutrients in 3 additions a couple of days apart to keep the mead from blasting off and then fizzling. Also, especially with a mild fruit like strawberry, use staggered feeding, even waiting until primary fermentation slows before adding the fruit.

[LouieMacGoo]

Thanks for all the replies, some good info. The good thing is I don't have to rush into making anything since honey doesn't really go bad. Does anyone have any tried and true mead recipes they care to share?

[EvolvingCaveman]

I have not done a strawberry melomel yet but I will be going by this recipe http://winemakersacademy.com/matts-strawberry-melomel/.
It should have strong strawberry flavor. I already have 4 pounds of strawberries in the freezer and I am waiting for cooler weather
which is coming soon. I will be using 2 pounds of orange blossom honey instead of 3 pounds which should give me 10% ABV.
I will be bottle conditioning it if it taste good dry.

Cheers.

[mashani]

but even better is to use staggered nutrient additions, like dividing nutrients in 3 additions a couple of days apart to keep the mead from blasting off and then fizzling. Also, especially with a mild fruit like strawberry, use staggered feeding, even waiting until primary fermentation slows before adding the fruit.

Totally agree with all of this. Feeding doesn't just help with the aroma/flavor preservation, but it also helps "get it done/drinkable sooner and cleaner" as the yeast have a lot more time to get used to the increasing alcohol levels and adapt. (this is the same reason I feed strong Belgians the sugar). FWIW, the guides that MoreBeer has on-line for mead making describe the staggered nutrient schedules. That's why I recommended you check them out.