Thundy
New Member
I'm looking for inspiration for my next batch of mead, for those that have been brewing for a long time, what's the best you've made out of the bunch? Can you share the recipe?
I've taken to brewing low-effort sparkling tea mead. More refreshing and less cloyingly sweet than typical meads:
1 gallon sparkling tea mead
- 5 regular tea bags steeped in a couple of cups of hot water (I mostly use Jasmine Green Tea, but have started to branch out. I have a Blood Orange Rooibos in the fermenter as we speak)
- 11oz to a pound of your favorite honey. 11oz is the sweet spot for me.
- Fill with water and mix well.
- Any champagne or wine yeast. US-04 can be used as well but I have never tried it.
- Add airlock.
Let the brew ferment for about 4 weeks until well settled and no longer bubbling, and then bottle with fizzy drops like beer. Bottle condition for at least two weeks, but longer is always better.
Feel free to take hydrometer readings, I never do. It comes out dry, sparkling and refreshing.
Yes, it's a refreshing light alcohol sipper with hints of tea and is fairly dry. If you want more alcohol you can add a shot of vodka when serving.Are you using 11oz of honey in a gallon of water/tea? I'd say its fairly low on the ABV scale? I usually use 3.5lb of honey in a Gallon recipe. Comes out around 12-14%
I’m working on an apricot mead right now made with 3 lbs of honey in each gallon, and real apricots from the supermarket. I used some canned and some dried. Apricot flavor added at bottling. It needs to clear more but this is probably the best of all the meads I’ve made. My wife who swears she hates mead even liked this one when I pulled some for tasting.
Do you remember whether you used dried or fresh elderberries? I have 4 lbs of dried that I need to start putting to good use.Sorry, no recipes to share. Best so far have been a 9.5% dry traditional, a 12% elderberry melomel, and a 9.5% cyser.
Fresh. I would guess about 2 pounds to a gallon.Do you remember whether you used dried or fresh elderberries? I have 4 lbs of dried that I need to start putting to good use.
Thank you, in advance, if you do reply.
Happy meading!
Thank you. Unfortunately, I have no access to fresh, so I'll be rehydrating the dried ones I haveFresh. I would guess about 2 pounds to a gallon.
Love huckleberriesI just finished a 2021 bottle of 9% abv huckleberry melomel that was amazing. I see more of this in my future, maybe a little higher abv.
For those unfamiliar, huckleberries look like blueberries, except a darker color. They taste wonderful, more grape-like than blueberry to me. They grow wild in the mountains near here, and have never been domesticated.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry
I made a lemon ginger too and it's also my favorite that I've made so far.Lemon Ginger, getting ready to make it again. Now if I can just remember what yeast I used.....
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