Anyone brew their own mead?

[Apollyon No.11964345]

I've got 5 gallons of strongly spiced cyser mead going right now.
This run consists of 1 gallon honey, 4 gallons cider, 6 cinnamon sticks, and 1 oz of cloves. The yeast is K1V-1116, I'm hoping it preserves the apple flavor. Once it finishes fermenting, I'll rack it into a clean jug and add fresh nutmeg and ginger.

[Apollyon No.11964354]

>>11964345
I almost forgot.
The starting gravity was 1.132. If the ferment finishes to dryness (gravity 1.000), the alcohol level will be nearly 17%.

[Anonymous No.11964358]

>>11964345
it's almost impossible to make good mead without pro-grade equipment, specialized yeast that can get to 13-20% alcohol, or a bunch of adjuncts, the fermentation is too clean

that said, I'm brewing a coffee mead and so far it smells really good, we'll see how it turns out. I supplemented a bunch of brown sugar for depth

[Anonymous No.11964379]

>>11964358

im going to go ahead and disagree with you there

[Anonymous No.11964388]

>>11964345
not /ck/

[Apollyon No.11964390]

>>11964358
I've got decent equipment, and the yeast is easy to get. Find a homebrew store or search Amazon for racking canes, refractometer (max range 1.130), K1V-1116 yeast, and a floor corker for when you're ready to bottle.

[Anonymous No.11964399]

>>11964358
Why is pro equipment needed?
I've only brewed mead once in my life and it came out fine, about 18% ABV and super sweet - not something I'd want to binge on but it kept the subtle flavours of the Tasmanian honey I brewed with.
I still have a 6 year old unused tub of the honey, weighs in at around 6KG.
Time for another go?

[Anonymous No.11964400]

Carboys aren't worth the hassle though, food grade plastic canisters aren't going to dissolve anything into the worth.

[Apollyon No.11964423]

>>11964400
I use them for a combined ferment and bulk age. Just swap the bubbler for a cork when it stops and leave it for 3-6 months.

[Anonymous No.11964437]

>>11964399
wild yeasts produce enough off-flavors in the early stages to ruin the final product unless you've got really great, complex honey, even if the innoculated yeast eventually wins out

you need more-or-less perfectly clean equipment from start to finish, which is much easier to manage in a system that drains downward, aka expensive

>>11964399
if you've got good raw honey, buy champagne yeast from total wine or off the internet, obsessively clean everything with the solution that brewers use

[Anonymous No.11964589]

>>11964437
Based advice.
Thanks, anon.
We actually used sterile equipment and champagne yeast the first time but will keep the same rigmarole for the second brew.

[Anonymous No.11964664]

>>11964345
this straight up looks like jenkum

[Anonymous No.11964688]

Get the fuck out . Now

[Anonymous No.11964714]

>>11964388
Eat shit and die you gay retard

[Anonymous No.11965983]

>>11964688
no u

[Anonymous No.11966002]

Brewing a batch of Joe's ancient mead rn. Letting it sit an extra month. A little worried about the raisins sitting in there. Can they get botulism? Anyways, I'll be bottling it this weekend. I'll post results maybe.

[Anonymous No.11966008]

>>11964345
I got a gallon going right now

[Anonymous No.11966015]

>>11964437
>ost impossible to make good mead without pro-grade equipment, specialized yeast that can get to 13-20% alcohol, or a bunch of adjuncts, the fermentation is too clean


You really are exaggerating. I use a glass container and an airlock. I sanitize everything by washing followed by starsan. I then use a specialized yeast i purchase on amazon for 3 dollars and bottled spring water. It comes out great.

[Anonymous No.11966019]

>>11966008
Best webm I've seen in a long time.
Thanks, based anon.

[Anonymous No.11966026]

I honestly got into brewing mead thanks to playing Wonderboy on Sega Master System.
Based Sega, creating alcoholics from such a young age.

[Anonymous No.11966041]

>>11966026
if you're an alcoholic it's because of bad uncivilized genes, don't blame sega

[Anonymous No.11966049]

>>11966019
Thanks anon I wish I did a better job but I never really planned on filming it. Next time I make it i'll try to get some high quality webms going.

[Anonymous No.11966050]

>>11966041
I thank Sega for helping me find what keeps me warm at night.
What part and of the comment was blame?
Negative anon is negative.

[Anonymous No.11966051]

>>11966049
They're really awesome.
Next time I brew mead I'll try a time lapse using one of the spare security cameras

[Anonymous No.11966103]

>>11964358
>specialized yeast
wow so hard to get along with a glass jar and airlock that costs 9 dollars including shipping

[Anonymous No.11966163]

>>11964423
Well aging may be different, then the natural porosity of plastics may play a role, I'd maybe use those green hard plastic milk jug looking containers.

I've had two carboys break on my hands simply from the temperature differences caused by the wash water, though those were really "acid bottles" originally used in making fodder, those are still abundant in sencond hand stores and flee markets. For a real carboy made for brewing one would have to pay an arm and a leg in a brewing store, that's what I'm so envious of America - the economies of scale, you can count on having some shack that stocks, for example carboys, within few hours of drive without having to go to the single store in the capital that stocks the item and pay premium or order abroad and pay for shipping instead.

Honestly, if I'd get back to brewing, it would be stell or nothing after the initial fermentation.

[Anonymous No.11966237]

Why does this thread exist when the other booze thread got deleted?

[Anonymous No.11966242]

Ive got 1 gallon of mead and 1 gallon of cherry mead brewing in my closet right now

[Anonymous No.11966288]

So can you talk about alcohol in food and cooking or not?

[Anonymous No.11966323]

>Use to brew
>Had a major rain storm come in
>Mildew popped up all over the house
>Even after cleaning up everything most of my recent brews have been infected in some way

>>11966288
It's basically cooking

[Anonymous No.11966326]

>>11966050
being alcoholic is a negative thing since it kills you and burdens those around you

[Anonymous No.11966338]

>>11966326

compared to over eating. what do you think kills and burdens people more? booze or obesity? I'm betting fat fucks clogging the healthcare system but it'd be a good horse race.

[Anonymous No.11966387]

So you can talk about shitbox energy drinks and low percent shit like beerand wine coolers here, but other booze no?

The last thread people were reaching out to each other for addiction help, but the assholes running this forum deleted it. Fucking scum level humans running this board.

[Anonymous No.11966405]

>>11964345
How do I brew l'alcool ?

[Anonymous No.11966411]

>>11966387
>The last thread people were reaching out to each other for addiction help
Because this board is for food and cooking, not for fixing your addictions. There are PLENTY of resources out there for that.

[Anonymous No.11966431]

>>11966326
you'ree doing it wrong, alcoholism and self destruction are different things, sure those self destructing are quite commonly alcoholics but it doesn't mean that all alcoholics are self destructing
it only kills you and burdens everybody around you if you choose to do that intentionally to punish them/yourself. I've seen real alcoholics last well into their 70's and they started drinking at 15.

[Anonymous No.11966442]

>>11966411

by all means lets be an anal retentive asshole if it means attending to your autism. fuck people, am I right?

[Anonymous No.11966451]

>>11964345
How do I brew strong alcoholo *without* distilling?

[Anonymous No.11966493]

>>11966451
i don't think you can get past something like 15% without distilling.
When i was in middle school i found a book in he school library that showed how to make a still and moonshine. So i showed it to my father and he was like lets do it! Got a pressure cooker drilled two holes in the top, one for a blow out plug and the other for some copper tube from HomeDepot along with a fitting to attach the tube to the lid. in a plastic 5 gal jug we put a some bread yeast and sugar and topped it off with a home made bubbler and let it sit for a week.

[Anonymous No.11966516]

>>11966451
distilling is pretty simple as long as you know to throw away the early stuff that comes out also keep the temp low as possible to help with that. you'll need to re distill it several times to get the % up and then run it through a carbon filter

[Anonymous No.11966525]

>>11966451
>>11966493
You need a specific strain of yeast. EC-1118, for example, can ferment up to 18% easily.
It's also well known for it's ability to easily kill and cannibalize other strains of yeast.

[Anonymous No.11966566]

I have a 2 gallon batch of mead going, pitched the yeast last week.

[Anonymous No.11966597]

>>11966566
Any particular recipe, or just honey and water?

[Anonymous No.11966600]

>>11966525
18% is really good
i hav sugar cane growing in my yard, do you think i could just mash up a bunch and toss it in a jug with EC-1118. i ask because cooking cane down into a simple syrup is a pain in the ass and takes a lot of time.

[Anonymous No.11966607]

Don't add nutmeg moron

[Anonymous No.11966619]

>>11964345
Sam?

[Anonymous No.11966635]

I did a 2 gallon batch of Maple Mead a few years ago. After aging it on some burbon soaked oak, it was incredible. Before I did that one, I did Joe's recipe.

[Anonymous No.11966712]

Recently started with mead. Left one is a very simple recipe, right is done with cinnamon and raisins for extra yeast nutrients. Had a taste today and turning out really well! Also there is a homebrew general on /diy/.

[Anonymous No.11966714]

>>11966597
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/JAO-bomm/

[Anonymous No.11966773]

>>11966635
you got a recipe for maple mead? i would like to try that soon.

[Anonymous No.11966872]

>>11966516
My reflux still gets 95% first pass.

[Anonymous No.11966904]

>>11966773
http://www.greensandmachines.com/2016/08/maple-mead-acerglyn-mead-batch-2.html

[Anonymous No.11967023]

Any of you have experience with Wyeast nutrient for mead?

[Anonymous No.11967030]

made ginger beer, it had mixed rezultz, tazted like turpentine, and looked like pizz bottlez

[Anonymous No.11967064]

>>11966872
i'm not very similar with reflux stills, how do you deal with methanol? with pot stills you need a bunch of passes and by throwing away the early stuff you almost guarantee methanol free by the end

[Anonymous No.11967087]

>>11967064
Methanol has a lower boiling point than ethanol, so you just toss out the first runnings

[Anonymous No.11967209]

>elder scrolls loving nigger actually brewed his own mead
What the fuck

[Apollyon No.11967872]

>>11967209
You seem to have gotten lost. >>>/pol/ is that way.