Reddit Reddit reviews The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations

We found 61 Reddit comments about The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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61 Reddit comments about The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations:

u/motodoto · 35 pointsr/AskMen

Start doing stuff.

  1. Brew some mead. it's easy. - https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802 - Great book to start with. - https://www.goferment.com/blogs/recipes/91223107-joes-ancient-orange-mead - Or just do this first to see if you like it. Very very easy, and kinda fun.

  2. Pick up a cheap instrument on craigslist - Guitar/keyboard/bass - and just start learning it. Use youtube video instructors as guides. Definitely don't skip learning scales and theory.

  3. Camping. Become that guy that camps every weekend. Absorb how to camp best in life. Learn to pack tight, efficiently, and backpack into camping spots, whatever...

  4. Fishing, very relaxing, and a huge skill cap. Since you liked competitive gaming, fishing is big.

  5. I mean... since you were a hardcore gamer, what about Chess/Go? Join a local club, and discover another strategy game.
u/mathuin2 · 13 pointsr/mead

Ken Schramm's "The Compleat Meadmaker" (2003, still available on Amazon) was probably the book that helped me take my brewing more seriously. I'm a little biased because my brewing style is no-boil and for years I traded time for money and stress (no nutrients, no measurements, just wait long enough and it'll finish) and that really worked for me a decade ago.

With regard to more current resources, I like a lot about TOSNA. I'm not convinced on whether the fourth addition is worth it but I appreciate the effort put into matching the requirements of the yeast and the concentration of the must to the amount of nutrient added. This site implements TOSNA and other protocols in an easy-to-use interface -- if you're looking to tune your recipe, you could do worse than start there!

Finally, both this subreddit and http://gotmead.com/ have tons of resources. Now that I'm finishing with school, I look forward to exploring the wiki in detail.

u/balathustrius · 12 pointsr/mead

> Also, if you have any links

I love when people ask.

Getting Started

  • You might want to start with the sidebar link, The Basics.

  • Get a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm. It's due for an update, but it's still the densest source of meadmaking information out there. The biggest changes are probably that Ken no longer heats most of his musts at all, and he uses staggered nutrient additions. (I believe a Second Edition is in his schedule in the next couple of years.)

  • I wrote a lot about yeast nutrition in mead here.

  • There might be some extended information in this post I made to /r/mead.

  • The BJCP Mead Exam Resource page has lots of good information, too. Some of it is very old, however. Check dates!

  • You can look over my entire recipe log, here. Later recipes are better documented. At some point I should probably go back and remove or update old recipes for people wishing to recreate them.

  • Learn to use the mead calculator. Note that it does have a help page.

  • Learn to use a hydrometer.

  • Be wary of information more than 5-10 years old. Meadmaking has changed dramatically in the last decade!

  • Read up on yeast strains. You can find information on each at its manufacturer's website, or retail websites. For example, here are the Lalvin strains. If you want to use a tried-and-true wine yeast strain, pick up some 71B-1122.

    __

    Here are some thoughts and general knowledge to help you make good decisions about which articles are trustworthy.

  • Heating the must has fallen out of favor for many meadmakers. Some still do it, though, and recently there was a post here which strongly suggested that heated must meads have a fuller body, but less aroma. (I don't heat my honey.)

  • If you aren't heating anything, it takes a while to mix in the honey, but it will dissolve eventually. A drill with a stirrer attachment is really handy.

  • Don't ferment an X gallon mead in an X gallon carboy or bucket. Get a bucket that gives you about total mead + 1/5th volume of head space or more. (6, 7.9, and 2 gallon buckets are popular.) Rack it into the right sized container right after, or near the end of, fermentation.

  • If you've brewed before, you know just how big of a difference the right yeast can make. Stay away from bread yeast.

  • JAOM is a popular starter recipe, but it has some gotchas. If you do it, use a real wine yeast. D-47, Red Star Pasteur Champagn, 71B-1122 all work great. Use the orange zest and flesh. Get rid of as much pith/mesocarp as possible. Rack off of orange and spices after about a month.

  • Mead musts are totally nutrient deficient. There really isn't any short answer for how to supplement the required nitrogen and micronutrients. Here (edit: fixed link) is a long answer that I wrote out of pure frustration. This also covers staggered nutrient additions to some degree.

  • Mead benefits from aeration/degassing of the must for the first third to half of fermentation. Drill stirrers are useful for this, too.

  • Using dry yeast, starters aren't necessary. Just pitch two packets (which are about $1 each!) for 5 gallons of must. Rehydrate your yeast every time. If you use a rehydration nutrient like Go-Ferm or Go-Ferm P.E., it makes a huge difference (for the better) in lag time. (For one gallon, you can use the whole packet, or half the packet.)
u/MarsColonist · 7 pointsr/mead

In bulk, expect to pay $3-6 a lbs (12 lbs/gallon) for good honey by the time you get it to your doorstep, and it hasnt seemed to get any cheaper in the past few years. Youll need 3-4 lbs of honey per gallon of finished mead. The two easiest and cheapest to find are wildflower and clover; neither really require the beekeeper to do much but harvest.


Wildflower honey can be all over the place in terms of taste, depending on the native plants around the bees and the season that the bees went to town. It makes an okay mead. Clover honey also makes a so-so mead. Personally, I would buy Orange Blossom. If West Coast, try Miller's in California, if east coast try Dutch Gold. I buy my OB by the 5gallon pail, and it is $165-185 delivered to Texas; I like Miller's only slightly better, but it is slightly more expensive for me.


There are lots of crazy varieties of varietal honey where the beekeeper takes the hives to areas where a single plant is blooming in mass. Just a list of some of the varietal honeys available: Blackberry, Buckwheat, Mesquite, Tupelo, Basswood, Blueberry, Cotton, Fireweed, Raspberry, Sage, Star Thistle, Apple, Alfalfa, Huajillo, Heather, Mint, Saw Palmetto, Sourwood... certainly not a comprehensive list. I believe there is a large list in Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker. My favorite premium honeys for making semisweet traditionals: tupelo, meadowfoam, sourwood, and mix of mesquite/orange/buckwheat; be aware, some of those will run you $70-85 a gallon, and a gallon is enough to make 3-4 gallons of semisweet mead. Oh, and there is BeeFolks for everything, but they are raw honey and are not cheap.


NB: Be wary of cheap honey sourced from other countries!!!! Certain Chinese honey sources have been banned due to: dosing bees with antibiotics (which makes it way into the honey); blending in HFCS, or feeding bees HFCS in the winter rather than their own honey stores; ultrafiltering to remove pollen to hide the source of the honey (not that ultrafiltering is bad, you just cant tell the source). Also "Product of USA" may just mean it is blended and packaged in the US. There are unscrupulous brokers that turn a blind eye to the that shipment of "Indian honey" that is likely Chinese honey... I personally dont use SueBee clover honey from Sams/Costco for mead anymore, but it is cheap ($12 / 5 lbs), but there is probably a reason for that... Cheers!

u/aMazingMikey · 7 pointsr/mead

Storm has helped a ton of us to learn to make mead the right way. He'll help you too if you'll stop the name calling. This book is looked at as the published authority, although I've heard it's slightly dated:

https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802

On the other hand, this sub's wiki is probably some of the best info around. I'm not kidding.

u/_Exordium · 6 pointsr/mead

[Ken Schramm's Compleat Meadmaker] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0937381802?pc_redir=1397498837&robot_redir=1) is a great place to start, its an absolute wealth of knowledge on just about everything mead. It's definitely worth a good read!

u/mfinn · 6 pointsr/mead

The most important advice anyone can give you in this thread is to buy "The Compleat Mead Maker" by Ken Schramm. Never look back.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

u/ismellmyfarts · 6 pointsr/Homebrewing

If you find making mead enjoyable and want to read some more up on it i can recommend The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm

A great source of information both for beginners and more advanced meadmakers. He's also a beekeeper, so he has a whole chapter dedicated to various types of honey too :)

u/madk · 6 pointsr/Detroit

>Schramm's is arguably one of the best in the world. The owner literally wrote the book on mead making.

u/FotAoS · 5 pointsr/Homebrewing

I've heard that "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm is quite good.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0937381802

u/NiceBootyGuurrrrlll · 5 pointsr/mead

Definitely, that's a good way to experiment without having to dedicated a large batch that might not work out!

Mead, when young, has many flavor characteristics that are rough and sharp, and when aged over a given amount of time, these characteristics will smoothen out and blend together. This is a very simplified definition, but in general mead does better with age. Some flavors will not age out, and thus can be considered off-flavors.

If you haven't already, check out the Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm. It's basically our bible on mead, and a great place to start! Check out the 'Everything you need to know' on the sidebar, as that offers awesome guides/articles to making better mead!

u/Stubb · 5 pointsr/Homebrewing

The Compleat Meadmaker is a must-have for brewing mead. It has a ton of good information on brewing classic mead styles plus guidelines for numerous variations.

u/wolflordval · 5 pointsr/mead

This is the bible of meadmaking. make sure you get a copy, all of the questions you're asking are answered there.

u/[deleted] · 5 pointsr/todayilearned

I would refer you here for the mead-ists side of the debate.
http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802

u/bailtail · 4 pointsr/mead

>How do you get your ingredients and what’s the most important part about them?

I look to source ingredients locally, when possible. Farmer's market, local co-op, etc. Specialty ingredients such as certain honey varietals that are regionally specific (tupelo, meadowfoam, mesquite, orange blossom, etc.) are typically ordered online after reading a fair number of reviews to get a sense of what I'm buying. Penzey's (online) is my go-to for spices. Quality is far-and-away the top priority when sourcing ingredients. It shows in the final product. Compromise in this area will cap the quality of your final product.

>What was the most helpful source of information at the beginning?

Honestly, the r/mead wiki is pretty damn helpful. I also recommend The Compleat Meadmaker and The Complete Guide to Making Mead. These are the two that got me started, and they are both quality publications.

>What equipment do you have/ how long have you used it?

Oh god. I just moved and realized how much equipment I actually have. It's...probably excessive.

2 x 5-gal primary buckets
2 x 2-gal primary buckets
1 x bottling bucket
8 x 1-gal glass jugs/carboys
5 x 3-gal glass carboys
2 x 5-gal better bottles
1 x 6.5-gal better bottle
1 x 6.5-gal glass carboy
Requisite number of air locks, bungs, stoppers, etc.
Hydrometer
Refractometer
Auto-siphon
Silicone tubing (replaced all vinyl tubing)
Handheld bottle capper (for crown caps)
Portuguese floor corker
Bottle tree
*Buon Vino mini-jet filtration system

I'm sure there more that I'm forgetting, but this gives the general sense.

u/wizardofo · 4 pointsr/mead

Pick up a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker

u/asatterlund · 4 pointsr/Homebrewing

You should buy & read this http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802

  1. You'll lose the delicate aromatics of the OB honey with the clover; maybe set it aside & use it for backsweetening.

  2. Absolutely no need to boil!!! You basically kill a lot of the honey character by boiling. Bacteria can't grow in straight honey, so there's nothing to kill, and it's not like you need the melanoidin effects or isomerization of hops.

    here's what you should do instead:

  3. sanitize carboy
  4. Put containers of honey in large tub of very hot water to make it easily pourable
  5. Pour honey into carboy
  6. Add water
  7. Mix thoroughly with a lees stirrer or other stirring device
  8. Rehydrate yeast
  9. Pitch yeast
  10. let ferment


    If you want to make it even better, aerate & add staggered nutrients. Here's something I posted about what I learned at NHC last year - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/what-i-learned-nhc-183897/
u/kerbythepurplecow · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I made this exact recipe back in October 2010. Eventually I took a bit out and bottled it with various spices. I now have only a few precious ounces left, but it is more delicious than I can possibly describe.

Mead is quite forgiving and not (often) prone to infection. It just needs lots of patience. Even a crappy mead made through a simple method (ala this recipe) can produce amazing results given time.

I can only imagine what properly prepared batches will taste like as mine are all aging far in the back of a cupboard and I'm trying to forget they're there.

If you're interested in learning about mead making in greater depth, there's always The Compleat Meadmaker and don't forget the fine folks over at r/mead.

u/gfxprotege · 3 pointsr/mead

Ken Schramm's book was the first and only book I purchased about meadmaking. After reading this, its mostly been just finding recipes and advice on various forums.

https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802/

u/Decembermouse · 3 pointsr/mead

I've read a number of books about mead. This one is so far the best.

u/I_Got_2_Pickles · 3 pointsr/TheCreatures
u/Boris_Da_Blade · 3 pointsr/mead

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

Start there if you look to make future batches. Also, I wouldn't have used distilled water. Spring water is better. Yeast needs vitamins and minerals. I would also use better yeast in the future. Lalvin D47 is a good mead yeast. I'd replace your baloon with an airlock. They are really cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W

I'd keep what you have out of direct sunlight (so in a closet or throw a blanket over it) and I'd keep it at 70 degrees F.

u/nothing_clever · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

It's approximately 2-3 pounds of honey to a gallon of water, or a 5 gallon batch is 10-15. For a 5 gallon batch, the rule of thumb I heard is every pound of honey adds approximately 1% ABV. Example: a one gallon batch with 2 lbs honey is equivalent to a 5 gallon batch with 10 lbs of honey, or a mead at 10%. But this doesn't account for if you want it to be sweet.

Also: 1 gallon of honey weighs approximately 12 pounds. So a 5 gallon batch of mead using 12 pounds of honey comes out to 1 gallon of honey and 4 gallons of water.

Every time your honey gets processed (Def'n processed: heated above 160'F), you lose the honey flavor. It's up to you to decide your final priorities, but to be perfectly frank, I'm cheap and use cheap, over processed honey. I make up for this by picking tasty recipes (JAO, or Orange vanilla cinnamon metheglin which is easily my favorite so far.) The honey I use is Sue Bee, 6 lbs for ~$11 at Save Mart ($1.83 /lb, the cheapest I've seen.)

The flavor of the honey to use depends a lot on the recipe. Some call for a specific honey.

There are a lot of people on here (/r/homebrewing) that insist that sanitizing your honey/water by boiling them is unnecessary. If/when I'm in a hurry (a bad idea), the most I do is sanitize whatever ingredients are going in. Quick trick that I've been meaning to try is to soak whatever it is in as little vodka as possible.

If you happen to live in the Bay Area, there's this excellent honey they sell at Save-Mart (might be sold elsewhere in the country, I've never been able to figure that out.) The honey is something like "Raw mountain" something. I don't have any handy. It comes in a 5 pound can, with a large yellow sticker across the front. Usually about $15, but I've seen it on sale for $12.

Yeast: Depends on what you want, really. Champagne yeast will go up to 18%, some say 20 if you push it. If you want it sweet, you'll either need a weaker yeast or some way to kill the yeast. I've only ever used champagne yeast (EC-1118, will eat anything), but then, I don't have a very delicate touch.

This book is definitely recommended.

And really, come see us in /r/mead. It's a lonely subreddit. The last post was 4 days ago. And feel free to ask questions.

One thing I've learned about mead: there are a few dozen categories of mead. Almost every culture has invented their own. Just figure out what you like. And experiment. Experimentation is the best, especially when you end up with some mead.

u/bubbaderp · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

If your looking to get into mead Definately look into reading Ken Schramms The Complete mead maker http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318922141&sr=8-1

the standard ratio for a medium mead is 3 pounds per gallon. A quart is about 6 pounds. In honey your looking for as little processing as possible eg dark is better. Be carefull about varietals as some can get pretty dark flavored eg buckwheat. Clover or orange blossom are good starts.

u/somethingtoforget · 3 pointsr/mead

Strawberry flavor does not transfer well to mead without large amounts. As others have said, you will want to rack once the strawberries are white. Generally, for a weak flavor like strawberries, the fruit is added closer to bottling so that you don't lose the flavor to time.
I'd suggest picking up this book. It's a quick and easy read.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802/ref=cm_lmf_img_3

u/ChiBeerMan · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Get a copy of The Complete Meadmaker by Ken Schramm. Best book on the subject IMO. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0937381802/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1369915766&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

u/drawsmcgraw · 2 pointsr/mead

I agree that there's nothing to worry about here. Also, EC-1118 is aggressive and has an alcohol tolerance of about 18% and could go even higher if coaxed.

My rough-estimate for percent alcohol is as follows: 40 points of gravity per pound of honey per gallon of water. That is, 1 lb of honey in 1 gal of water would give a SG of 1.040. For a 5-gal batch, 16 lbs of honey in 4 gals of water:

(16lbs * 40)/4 gals = 1.160

So my calculation says your starting gravity was more of 1.160 (more or less). I see that conflicts with Kurai_'s answer, though, so I'm interested in how they arrived at it (unless they meant to type 1.150).

Alcohol. Generally speakinig, I do 8 points of gravity per percentage of alcohol. That is, if your yeast fermented 80 points of gravity (say, from 1.100 down to 1.020), then your mead would be 10% abv. This is just my rouge estimate. If you want precision, you'll need lab gear and knowledge.

You say the calculator told you your must should have been closer to 1.150 when you started. That jives with my estimation of 1.160. Let's say your starting gravity was 1.150 and your finishing gravity is now 1.010 (which is what I took away from your post). The calculation goes like this:

1.150 - 1.010 = 140 gravity points fermented
140 / 8 = 17.5% ABV

This makes more sense because EC-1118 has an alcohol tolerance of up to 18%. If your goal was a sweet, high gravity sack mead, then congratulations - you nailed it. Now put that jet fuel away for a year or so because it's going to need the aging.

If you're the reading type, The Compleat Meadmaker is very approachable and has tons of techniques and helpful science.

Nothing to worry about here except fending off people trying to steal your goods. Also be sure to always measure your starting gravity.

u/doublesecretprobatio · 2 pointsr/mead

the first thing you need is a copy of 'the compleat meadmaker':

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

the second thing you need is to read it.

u/AFewShellsShort · 2 pointsr/mead

This is recommended on the mead wiki

Check this out at Amazon.com
The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations https://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381802/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_jw40DbGRM6G22

u/JamesAGreen · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Best book ever: http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

Best cyser I've ever had: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/b-nektar-zombie-killer/141980/

Pick both up, read, read, read, and practice! Practice makes perfect with homebrewing. Pitch a healthy amount of yeast for meads and you won't have an extended ageing period (although I would plan on taking your time with it, be patient!) Very cool hookups you have there, use them to your advantage and learn everything you can about cider apples, cider blends, and honey. Bees are actually quite fascinating, and the history of honey/mead is really cool. Ken Schramm's book is phenomenal.

u/theshad0w · 2 pointsr/mead

Choosing your honey is a lot like choosing the ingredients for an entree. In reality both will work, it just depends on the flavors your going for. Taste it, do you like it? Then try it out!

If, however you're looking for a more pragmatic approach I suggest The Compleat Meadmaker (Yes, the spelling is correct).

I can't remember exactly which page because I'm at work, but there is table, table 7.3 which contains the various varieties of honey and what their characteristics are most likely to be. Including flavors, sugars, Ph, etc.



u/RedWing007 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Here is a basic version and this book has very good info. Basically the yeast needs more nutrients than what the honey has, so you have to give it some every other day and then staggered from there.

u/BrothersDrakeMead · 2 pointsr/mead

It's fermenting. Did you check the specific gravity before adding more sugar and sealing it up?

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of The New Complete Joy of Hombrewing by Charlie Papazian and/or a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm

If you're going to back sweeten your mead you need to add potassium sorbate to prevent the yeast from starting back up.

u/Ahks · 2 pointsr/winemaking

For Mead and honey wines of various types.
https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802

If Mead tickles you come visit us on /r/mead :)

u/Beaturbuns · 2 pointsr/mead

Also, I suggest picking up Ken Schramm's book: The compleat meadmaker. It reads super easy - just like he's talking to you, and is great for anything from creating your first mead to honing in on a recipe you've been doing for years. Some parts are a bit outdated, but it's still an extremely useful book.

u/DynamicDork · 2 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Try this, pretty easy to follow with some pictures.

I've also liked this book.

Also, I've brewed in small batches only so I could experiment with different flavors.

Cheers!

u/CapOnFoam · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

I've made a lot of mead. I'd recommend getting Ken Schramm's book. He talks about fermenting with fruit. My recommendations:

  1. Use fruit in primary. Freeze it first to break down cell walls, then thaw it before fermenting.
  2. Use a large (10 gallon) sanitized bucket. Mix the honey & water (use a lees stirrer and a drill), put the fruit in a giant hop bag, and put the bag o' thawed berries in the mixture.
  3. Add nutrients (Fermaid K & DAP) & pitch your yeast
  4. Cover that bad boy & fix up a blow-off assembly.
  5. Every day for a week, use your lees stirrer to get CO2 out of the mead. It's ok, let everything get mixed up. You might need to have someone hold the fruit bag out of the way. You're going to get a LOT of foam, so proceed cautiously. This is why you use a huge bucket - otherwise you make a giant mess.
  6. Every other day, starting on day 2 of fermentation (day of pitching being day 0), add 4.5g of Fermaid K and 2g of DAP. Do this 3 times, every other day. So 6 days in total. Degas on these days, too (degas first).

    After that, put an airlock on it and let it sit. After a month or two, rack it off the lees & fruit into a carboy with minimal headspace (purge with CO2 if you can) and hide it away again. It should be ready to drink in another month or so, but letting it sit for a while will let it get even better. So delicious.
u/nago · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Ken Shram's The Compleat Meadmaker has a handful of melomel recipes. I don't know if there's a raspberry-only recipe, but he has a multi-berry melomel recipe that's got strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries. If you go to Amazon do a Search Inside This Book for black raspberries you should be able to find it.

Also, that book is a great in general for meadmaking tips and information.

u/cearum · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Once you get more into mead making, give The Compleat MeadMaker and Making Great Mead a read. Both are great to provide a more detailed view on meadmaking, and different ways to go about it. :)

u/Monsieur-Anana · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Great book. Probably the best beer brewing book available. On another note check out The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations

u/swiss_nut22 · 2 pointsr/pics

I would highly advise learning to make some mead if you haven't! Very rewarding and easy craft i got into this year with a extensive history! Good book of reference i got with everything you need to know. Just need 15lbs of honey you can spare... :)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

Just bottled our first batch of orange blossom honey mead. Fucking amazing stuff.

u/Kimalyn · 1 pointr/mead

I don't. We're just starting, so we have this kit

We did the 5 gallon beginner recipe from this book. It didn't occur to me until after initial brewing that having all that surface area touching the air could be bad during the secondary fermentation.

u/Doctor_Brain-Wave · 1 pointr/mead

The pressure from the built up carbon dioxide would have forced the cork out of the bottle, thereby avoiding showering the area with glass. That's the lesson you should have learned and that's the lesson someone should have taught you (or you should have learned from research) before you bottled your first ever batch of mead in growlers. The other lesson you should have learned was not to back sweeten without first dosing the batch with Camden tablets unless you were making a sparkling mead in champagne bottles.


I really don't mean to come across as a prick, but in the past two years I've been making mead and participating here, I've seen countless people dive headfirst into this hobby without so much as a cursory lesson in mead making. Sure, it takes no brains to throw store bought honey, tap water, bread yeast, and Sunmaid raisins into a milk jug and tie a balloon over the mouth with a couple holes punched in it, but honestly, that's disrespecting the hobby, the process, and the mead itself.

As in depth and confusing as Ken Schramm's The Compleat Meadmaker gets in later chapters, I believe that everybody that insists on going through with even one batch of mead needs to read at least some of this book.


u/uberfission · 1 pointr/mead

I think I remember reading in http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802 that orange blossom has a very high sugar content. So if you're going with a JAOM, I think more sugar = more better. Also, The Compleat Meadmaker is an okay book if you want a reference for some basic procedure/recipes.

u/Kijad · 1 pointr/mead

I'll have to wait to get it - I believe it was a recipe from The Compleat Meadmaker but I'd have to find out which particular recipe we used.

u/moonshinewillie · 1 pointr/mead
u/zofoandrew · 1 pointr/mead

You won't know if you made major fuck ups immediately unless fermentation stops way short or never starts. If you were making a 14% beer, you would want to age it for a year before it really hits its stride. Please do not give up if your mead tastes horrible after fermentation. It will get better and your subsequent batches will improve as you improve your process and take better care of your yeast.

Here is my guide to making your first mead. While you are managing fermentation, read this book and you will learn the basics and beyond.

Pushing the yeast past their alcohol tolerance: Yeast can tolerate alcohol only to a not-so-certain point. For instance, 71B-1122 (the most commonly used yeast for mead, i suggest you use it your first time) will go to 14% alcohol, sometimes a little more, and it will stop fermenting. If you have enough honey to ferment to 15% or 16% alcohol, there will be residual sweetness left in the mead.

For your first mead, I suggest you use enough honey to ferment to 14%. If you want more sweetness when it is done, dissolve 1/2 a pound at a time (if youre doing 5 gallons) in water and add it to the fermenter. Taste it in 24 hours and see if you want to add more. You can not take things out so be careful when adding sweetness and spices to your mead.

Become familiar with the mead calculator in the side bar and don't hesitate to ask questions here if you cant find the answer with a few searches

u/snugy_wumpkins · 1 pointr/leanfire

/r/mead is a wonderful resource, as is The Compleat Meadmaker. http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

From there, it's logging your recipes and patience. The sidebar in /r/mead has tons of fantastic information and the community is generally very nice.

u/ohbenito · 1 pointr/mead

https://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478545311&sr=8-1&keywords=complete+meadmaker
this is a great place to start learning.
do take into account that he is talking from a wine makers perspective.
very good meads can be made from more of a beer/brewers tech also.

u/EavingO · 1 pointr/mead

As is listed in the wiki that TripleBangin linked The Compleat Meadmaker is a great starting point and depending on where you live if there is a decent home brew store you may want to check there. I'd also say dive in and go for a learn by doing. Large batches of mead can get expensive just in your honey budget, but a gallon of mead isn't all that bad(though a few assorted reusable parts will add to the cost of that first batch).

u/tatsuu · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

If you are looking for brewing things other than beer, The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Shramm is a good authority on mead.

I have also heard good things about The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers by Claude Jolicoeur if you are looking to make some ciders. I haven't read it, but it is the next one in the stack.

u/cardeeznutz · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Also, check out The Complete Meadmaker, it's very informative and pretty cheap.

u/gaelraibead · 1 pointr/pagan

Have you discovered r/mead and r/homebrewing yet? Also, if you don't own a copy already, Ken Schramm's Compleat Meadmaker is the single best book EVER. I've got a blueberry melomel and an orange-mango melomel about ready to bottle sometime in the next two weeks, and the wait is KILLING me.

Awesome, I'll add it to my wish list!

u/Shanbo88 · 1 pointr/mead

It's "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm. I've been wanting to start into meadmaking for a long time now and anything I read around the forums pointed towards the book. People seem to use it as a sort of reference guide for almost anything.

Here's where I got it :D

u/searchmyname · 1 pointr/AdviceAnimals

List of Michigan Brewers. Probably a little out dated.

I would recommend trying Oddside whenever you can get a chance, by far my favorite "new to bottling" Michigan brewer. The Livery has amazing sours/wilds if you ever catch them at a beer fest or go to their brewery.

Theres a ton of other information I could give but I say look into it yourself!

Also for you mead lovers, we have B. Nektar and Shramm's, owned by [the man that wrote the book on mead making] (http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning-Variations/dp/0937381802/ref=la_B001KCJ71K_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404363819&sr=1-1), both housed in Ferndale Michigan.

Here is a list of the "Best Of 2014" beer list from Rate Beer. You can see Michigan listed quite a few times, especially in the mead category.

1 51 North Brewing Company (coming soon!) - Lake Orion
2 57 Brew Pub & Bistro - Greenville
3 Arbor Brewing Company Pub and Eatery - Ann Arbor
4 Arbor Brewing Company - Corner Brewery - Ypsilanti
5 Arcadia - Battle Creek
6 Atwater Block Brewing - Detroit
7 B.A.R.T.S. Bay City - Bay City
8 Bad Bear Brewery - Albion
9 Barking Cat Brewing Company (coming soon!) - Otsego
10 Barn Brew Pub - Grand Ledge
11 Bastone Brewery - Royal Oak
12 Batch Brewing Company - (coming soon!) Detroit
13 Beards Brewery - Petoskey
14 Beggars Brewery (coming soon!) - Traverse City
15 Bell's Brewery - Kalamazoo
16 Bifferhaus Brewing Company - (coming soon!) Jackson
17 Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse - Gaylord
18 Big Lake Brewing - (coming soon!) Holland
19 Big 'O' Brewery (at Good Neighbor Organic) - Northport
20 Big Rapids Brewing Company (located inside Blue Cow Cafe) - Big Rapids
21 Big Rock Chop House - Birmingham
22 Bilbo's Pizza & Brewing Company - Kalamazoo
23 Black Lotus Brewing Company - Clawson
24 Blackrocks Brewery - Marquette
25 Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery - Ann Arbor
26 Boatyard Brewing Co. - Kalamazoo
27 B.O.B.'s Brewery - Grand Rapids
28 Bravo Restaurant & Cafe - Kalamazoo
29 Bravo Zulu - Williamsburg
30 Brewery Becker (coming soon!) - Brighton
31 Brewery Ferment - Traverse City
32 Brewery Terra Firma - Traverse City
33 Brewery Vivant - Grand Rapids
34 BrickSide Brewery - Copper Harbor
35 Cheboygan Brewing Company - Cheboygan
36 Chelsea Alehouse - Chelsea
37 CJ's Brewing Company - Plymouth
38 Constantine Brewing Company - (coming soon!) Constantine
39 Copper Canyon Brewery - Southfield
40 Cotton Brewing Company (coming soon!) - Adrian
41 Cranker's Brewery - Big Rapids
42 Dark Horse Brewing Company - Marshall
43 Detroit Beer Company (The Beer Co.'s) - Detroit
44 Dewey Cannon Winery & Brewery - Three Oaks
45 Dore Riverview Complex - Bay City
46 Dragonmead Microbrewery - Warren
47 EagleMonk Pub and Brewery - Lansing
48 Elk Brewing (coming soon?) - Grand Rapids
49 Falling Down Beer Company - Warren
50 Fenton Winery and Brewery - Fenton
51 Fetch Brewing Company - (coming soon!) Whitehall
52 The Filling Station - Traverse City
53 Fletcher Street Brewing Company - Alpena
54 Fort Street Brewery - Lincoln Park
55 Founders Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
56 Frankenmuth Brewery - Frankenmuth
57 Frog Island Brewery - Ann Arbor
58 Gonzo's Bigg Dogg Brewery - Kalamazoo
59 Grand River Marketplace - Jackson
60 Grand Rapids Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
61 Granite City Food and Brewery - Troy
62 Gravel Bottom Brewery - Ada
63 Great Baraboo Brewing Company - Clinton Twp
64 Greenbush Brewing Company - Sawyer
65 Griffin Claw Brewing Company - Birmingham
66 Grizzly Peak Brewing Company - Ann Arbor
67 Harmony Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
68 Harper's Restaurant & Brewpub - Lansing
69 Hereford & Hops Brewpub - Escanaba
70 The Hideout Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
71 Hometown Cellars Winery & Brewpub - Ithaca
72 Hopcat - Grand Rapids
73 Jaden James Brewery at Cascade Winery - Kentwood
74 Jamesport Brewing Company - Ludington
75 Jasper Ridge Brewery - Ishpeming
76 Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales - Dexter
77 Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery - Ann Arbor
78 Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant, Brewery, Distillery - Traverse City
79 Keweenaw Brewing Company - Houghton
80 Kilkenny's Irish Public House - Traverse City
81 Kraftbräu (coming back soon?) - Kalamazoo
82 Kuhnhenn Brewing Company - Warren
83 Lake Superior Brewing Company - Grand Marais
84 Latitude 42 Brewing Company - Portage
85 Leelanau Brewing Company - Leland
86 Liberty Street Brewing Company - Plymouth
87 The Library Restaurant & Brewpub - Houghton
88 Lily's Seafood Grill & Brewery - Royal Oak
89 The Livery - Benton Harbor
90 Mackinaw Brewing Company - Traverse City
91 Michigan Beer Cellar - Sparta
92 Middle Villa Inn & Microbrewery - Middleville
93 Midland Brewing Company - Midland
94 Midtown Beer Company - Lansing
95 MillKing It Productions - Royal Oak
96 The Mitten Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
97 Motor City Brewing Works - Detroit
98 Mount Pleasant Brewing Co./Mountain Town Station Brew Pub and Steakhouse - Mount Pleasant
99 New Holland Brewing Company - Holland
100 North Peak Brewing Company - Traverse City
101 Odd Side Ales - Grand Haven
102 Olde Peninsula Brewpub - Kalamazoo
103 Old Boys Brewhouse - Spring Lake
104 Old Mill Brewpub & Grill - Plainwell
105 Ore Dock Brewing Company - Marquette
106 Original Gravity Brewing Company - Milan
107 Osgood Brewing - Grandville
108 Our Brewing Company - Holland
109 Patchwork Brewing - Decatur
110 Paw Paw Brewing Company - Paw Paw
111 Perrin Brewing Company- Alpine Township
112 Petoskey Brewing - Petoskey
113 Pike 51 Brewery - Hudsonville
114 Quay Street Brewing Company - Port Huron
115 Rare Bird Brewery and Taproom (coming soon!) - Traverse City
116 Red Jacket Brewing Company - Calumet
117 Redwood Brewing Company - Flint
118 Right Brain Brewery - Traverse City
119 Rochester Mills Beer Company (The Beer Co.'s) - Rochester
120 Rockford Brewing Company - Rockford
121 Round Barn Brewery - Baroda
122 Royal Oak Brewery (The Beer Co.'s) - Royal Oak
123 Rupert's Brew House - Kalamazoo
124 Saugatuck Brewing Company - Douglas
125 Schmohz Brewing Company - Grand Rapids
126 Sherwood Brewing Company - Shelby Township
127 Shooter's Firehouse Brewpub -- Munising
128 Short's Brewing Company - Bellaire
129 Soo Brewing Company - Sault St. Marie
130 Sports Brew Pub - Wyandotte
131 Stormcloud Brewing Company (coming soon!) - Traverse City
132 Sue's Coffee House - St. Clair
133 Sugarfoot Saloon - Cedar
134 Sullivan's Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill - Frankenmuth
135 Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub - Paradise
136 Tapistry Brewing - Bridgman
137 Traffic Jam & Snug - Detroit
138 Travelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum - Okemos
139 Tri-City Brewing Company - Bay City
140 Unruly Brewing Co. - Muskegon
141 Upper Peninsula Brewing Company (coming soon!) - Marquette
142 Vander Mill - Spring Lake
143 The Vierling Restaurant & Marquette Harbor Brewery - Marquette
144 Vinomondo Winery; Brew Pub - Fort Gratiot
145 Walldorff Brewpub & Bistro - Hastings
146 White Flame Brewing Company - Hudsonville
147 Wiltse's Brew Pub - Oscoda
148 Witch's Hat Brewing Company - South Lyon
149 Wolverine State Brewing Co. - Ann Arbor
150 Woodward Avenue Brewers - Ferndale
151 The Workshop Brewing Company - Traverse City

u/SirLamplover · 1 pointr/mead

I couldn't find mead anywhere in the store either, anywhere I asked I just got weird looks. So I did some online research and it turns out that one of the local wineries makes award winning mead. I'm pretty blessed though as there are about 20 wineries less than 5km from my house, and about 100 if I'm willing to go 30 minutes.

I went and tasted 6 meads and bought a bottle (This one). They ranged from semi-sweet to very very sweet (30g/L to 100g/L residual sugar). The one I bought was their "dry mead". It didn't have as strong of a honey taste as I expected. It reminded me of white wine, but don't get me wrong it did have some great notes of honey in the flavor and aroma. Their sweeter ones definitely had more honey flavour and were very viscous (because generally more honey is used to make them) and they also generally had a higher ABV (due to higher specific gravity). Even though the mead i bought was their dry mead, it still contained 30g/L and I was definitely hanging the next day from it. However using the technical notes on their site I gather I can make a drier mead myself.

If you like white wine, you will like mead and I am having a lot of fun learning and planning my first batch. I'm reading this book and it is excellent. Use this to help calculate how much honey you will need, your potential ABV and SG. Also take a look at Gotmead.com and homebrewtalk.com.