Our first batch of Honey Mead

Honey mead– a alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey.

Otherwise known as honeywine. Yum!

My husband and I decided to try our hand with honey mead. We made our first batch of mead in August 2011. We were told it would take at least a year for good results; 6 months before it’s palatable. So we pitched the yeast, we fermented, we siphoned, and siphoned again….and siphoned again…… and we waited……. for 7 months. We opened our first bottle of Vanilla Oak today, made on 8-15-11, with 13% alcohol. I used a super dark honey to begin with, found at a local apiary. The flavor is rich and oakey. Not too sweet, not too dry. Not bad for our first try:)

Now, initially, at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd months, the mead had a strange sweet yeasty taste to it. Not very pleasant. But after 7 months, I can tell the aging has definitely made a difference.  We’ve been nervous, impatiently waiting until we could open our first bottle. Now  I’m looking forward to the one year mark.

We have approximately 30 gallons of mead/wine in various stages of fermentation and aging. That’s a lot of alcohol

The following are the different flavors we have made:

Green Tea and Ginger Metheglin

Fall Spice Metheglin

Red Zinger Metheglin

Vanilla Oak Mead

Sweet mead

Apple Melomel

Persimmon wine (fruit wine)

Loquat wine (fruit wine)

And the one I’m still waiting on…..Liquid Sex Chocolate Mead. It takes 2 years to age! It better be worth the wait!