Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: Beleg813 on October 17, 2007, 08:59:28 pm
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There's something that really makes me want to make some old honey mead, traditional as possible, and drink it out of a polished / decorated horn...
I've read loads on some brewing of mead, wines, beers, just not the real old-school traditional form of it. Anyone ever experimented with anything like this?
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Send me a gallon - I'll let ya know what I think ;D, how old ya say ya were? Sorry couldn't resist - I've never heard of it.
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Beleg813,
I gave a couple of gallons of honey (I keep bees) to a friend that is a brewmaster. A year or so later I got two types of mead in return. One was "regular" and the other had some ginger in it. Sounds wierd, but tastes great on a hot summer day. He said he uses champagne yeast to get a bit more bubbly and more fermentation. Somewhere I saw a reciepe for mead that was supposedly copied right off of an old viking's tombstone.
Be careful. I have a theory that the vikings were so mean because the sugar in their honey mead gave them excruciating hang overs...
Keith
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Ya Sure! Ya Betcha! Dem der me ancestor ya talken bout. Nah wer my axe! (Burp!) :o
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From what I've read mead can vary in flavor based upon what type of flowers the bees made their honey from.
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Haha Cowboy you are the first person (and I've told loads of friends, coworkers about my honey mead brewing ideas) to want to try some. I'll hold you to it! I'll send you a batch of my first mix of honey mead. Whether that's a good thing or not will have to wait till you taste it! I'm 27 so, I'm of age to drink (barely I know :P), now to make good honey mead--I'm still probably too young.
Keith, that sounds really good on a hot summer day or a biting cold day. I think there are probably as many recipes for mead as there are for anything else that you could brew. I've always had notorious ground-breaking hangovers from Champagne perhaps it's the carbonation at that level coupled with alcohol...and thusly also why the Vikings had bad-hangovers. We'll just have to ask Cowboy after he tries my first batch :P
D. Tiller, it's funny but my first impression of Vikings (ok a bit of personal research so someone more knowledgeable please jump in!) were that they were all based, lived, fought, etc in the Scandinavian region...but they were pretty spread out (sea-faring as they were), and I do have some Viking heritage it seems...maybe it's my Viking heritage that is prompting me to think about brewing some old honey mead :D
DanaM--yeup from what I've read what type of honey you choose has a huge effect on the taste. Granted clover honey and raspberry honey are different, but what makes it awesome to me is that they gather the sweetness from whatever plants are nearby as well. So, you get this interesting sort of random flavor mix...perhaps even if you were to get two raspberry honey's from two different bee'ers. That's just way cool to me :)
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A brother at our Parish makes honey mead. He recently gave us a bottle. A Brother making mead suprised me
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A brother at our Parish makes honey mead. He recently gave us a bottle. A Brother making mead suprised me
Now, see, that's a profession I could do...lotta reading, lotta mead-making, lotta drinking, and a whole lotta prayin' for forgiveness about drinkin too much :D
Joking aside, a really good buddy of mine went to Christian Brothers University....he informed me that all of the brothers (monks) were not only ridiculously educated...but also heavy drinkers :)
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Dont you all think there is a reason why so many monesteries in Europe make various types of distilled stuff? :) I guess legend has it the guy who invented Champaigne was a monk. A very good brand is named after him, but I can't spell it. B&B was made by the Benedictines, and the Trapist monks make some good stuff. Some of the finest beers are made by religious orders in Germay. Hurrah.
You can get commerically brewed and bottled mead in a good liquor store, if you have to try it soon. I have a bottle downstairs, but haven't yet tried it.
Dane
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The old-timers of my grandfather's generation here in the Smokies used to brew up a sort of high-test mead known as " methaglin". I guess the recipe came over from the Scottish highlands with their ancestors. I never got a chance to try any, but it sounds interesting. I doubt if anybody makes it around here these days.
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Dont you all think there is a reason why so many monesteries in Europe make various types of distilled stuff? :) I guess legend has it the guy who invented Champaigne was a monk. A very good brand is named after him, but I can't spell it. B&B was made by the Benedictines, and the Trapist monks make some good stuff. Some of the finest beers are made by religious orders in Germay. Hurrah.
You can get commerically brewed and bottled mead in a good liquor store, if you have to try it soon. I have a bottle downstairs, but haven't yet tried it.
Dane
Yeah, from what I've read the commercially bought Mead just isn't as good--or it's way expensive. I'm thinking I'll just have to curb my enthusiasm to taste mead into action of actually making it...too bad this whole "make a bow" business is so time consuming :P
Hey Hillbilly, that's interesting if that's the same thing that I'm thinking of "Metheglin" then it's a mead that uses spice and/or herbs as additives. I bet that'd be a really awesome recipe :) I was thinking of making a "Melomel" sort of mead--I've actually talked to an individual online about some honey, and I'm thinking I'm going to find me a good honey (this'll be a while) and go from there (well, after the next few paychecks--they just don't pay military enough :P) Hopefully, I'll be able to save up for a decent brewing kit--throw some bottles in the corner and let 'em sit for a bit while I'm making a bow....and can finish the mead and the bow many years down the road and have a nice drink and perhaps a nice shoot :P
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I have a friend who brews it and I really like it. And I'm not a big drinker. It seems to take a long time though. He usually puts some together a bit before thanksgiving and it's ready for the foloowing thanksgiving or christmas.
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Yeup, according to what I've read, it's a long process waiting for the Yeast to do their work and to die off leaving you with the tasty-sweet goodness...I think like other things it also depends on the type of mead you are making, level of alcohol content, taste, etc.
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Beleg813, where are you located?
Dick
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I'm in Howard County, Maryland close to Baltimore and D.C.
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Hi Folks, I 'm not much of a drinker, but I did brew mead a few times, ( years ago!) I'm betting that googling "mead recipe" will get you a ton of recipes. Honey has enough yeast in it to start fermenting as soon as you lower the sugar levels by diluting ~ 1/2 and 1/2 with water. Any steps past that are mainly just gilding the lily. Of course relying on wild yeast risks fermantation with a yeast that may produce off flavors, so you may want to use a commercial wine yeast. Mix honey ~ 50/50 with fresh apple juice and the finished product is merowin.
Boil the water and add to the honey. Be sure to ferment in a very clean (ie. boiled), nonreactive, covered container. Once the bubbling has totally stopped and the yeast have settled, you should gently decant the mead into boiled bottles and seal. The initial yeasty taste will resolve with a little aging. Or drink it fresh, that's probably what the vikings did.
Ron
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That sounds awesome M-P--thanks for the tip(s). That sounds right down my alley :)
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Hey D.Tiller (Dave)
My Dad is Nordic decent (You know about Ballard, Seattle) and my Mother was a VanDeventer. I went to the Clan gathering at the King County fairgrounds a few years ago and knew I had the right clan tent by all the war-making hardware scattered around in racks and piles... My heritage probably fuels my need to make arrow throwers.
Yes, honey varies greatly and it's taste is dependant on what the bees are feeding on. My honey is typically very light colored and mild flavored. Mostly maple and other things from the Black Lake swamp behind my place. Other things affect what the honey looks and tastes like too. Most beekeepers give extracted honey comb back to the bees to refill as it takes a lot of energy for the bees to make the wax. The re-used honeycomb turns dark colored, and so does the honey. Clover honey in stores is a generic mix of all the different cheap honey that the suppliers can buy. Some honeys - such as that made from almond orchards - is not even edible and used for hog feed. Commercial bee keeping is becoming more about fees for pollination for large crop yields than it is about the honey sales. Humm... all this talk of Mead, guess I'll have to do some sipping this rainy Western Washington Sunday.
Keith
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Yep! I know Ballard very well. Its only arround 1/2 an hour from the home and 1 1/2 hours durring rush hour. My mothers side of the family are all Hagstroms and Van Ripers. My Dads side are all Scotts and English so it makes a great mixing of the warrior clans there.
We should have a mini bow gathering here in the Northwest! Bring bows and lots of mead!!! ;D Though that will mean it will need to be arround a year away if we want to start brewing today. Anyone have some favorite recipies???
David T
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Ok so I want some, ya going to ToeJam if so please bring an ample supply ;D
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Once I start making Mead...I'd gladly trade it in large quantities for one of your nice bows DanaM :P
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Where is ToeJam?
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I make mead pretty often (more often than most people :D). I'd be glad to share some recipes if anyones interested.
Right now, Ive got half a gallon aged about 8 months, waiting for the next feast. :)
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TOJam(not toejam) is Pappy's bow building gathering and archery shoot in the spring at Twin Oaks(the T and O in TOJam) Bow Hunting Club near Clarksville Tenn. It is a "MUST GO" to anyone that can make it. We even had folks from Utah(Justin) and Germany(Marius) last year. ;D
Toejam is what you find when you remove your socks! :o Pat
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This years TOJam will hopefully include some Yoopers ;D One visit and we will probably be banned for life >:D
Yea its about time to change into my winter socks and long handles getting cold brrrrrrrrrrrr
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Yep! I will try to be at "ToeJam" (I Like this spelling better!) ;D Cant wait to go this year, if I can make it!
Nice and rainy here in the Northwest. Temps arround 50 so not too bad. Just broke out my waders and wet suit!
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Metalking00, I don't know if you seen the forums or not, but Gotmead.com has great advice, great suggestions for starting out, and a whole truckload of recipes.
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I bet it would be good with some of this orange blossom honey around here. :)
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Metalking00, I don't know if you seen the forums or not, but Gotmead.com has great advice, great suggestions for starting out, and a whole truckload of recipes.
Yeah, thats where I got my first recipes from when I started out. Its a great site if you want to learn to make mead.
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I've never made mead, but I've made a lot of different types of wine from Elderberry sweet to Merlot dry. I always used wine yeast of different types depending on the type wine, and used a hydrometer that tells you the sugar content so that you can add more or dilute in order to have the final alcohol content you're after. I didn't use grandpa's old recipe, pretty much used the same techniques and chemicals as a winery would...higher chance for a good result that way. :)
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Just checked out GotMead.com and think I will make one of them recipies with the alc. content up in the 21% range and bring a couple jugs to "ToeJam". I cant wait to see them folks after a couple glasses of them stuff. Pappy should have a real big smile on his face!
Think if I mailed it to Pappy to hold onto for ToeJam that there would be any left when I got there?
David T.
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Buahahah doubtful! But, you could make me a few jugs of it..I promise I'll keep it safe >:D
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I have a special jug allll for you!!! >:D
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Found a recipe in a book about 30 years ago and decided to make some, it was a spiced mead. I did not care for it but then I don't really care for alcohol anyway
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Marc, how long did you wait before you drank it? If you still have a bottle lying around try it now. I bet it had mellowed out and is the nectar of the gods...or vinegar! :-\
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I don't remember exactly but I'm sure it was less than a year. I only made a couple bottles and I drank a bit more than I do now back then, now I don't drink at all.