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What kind of honey makes the best mead?
clover honey
There are several different types of honey that can be used for mead but the most common is a good clover honey. Clover honey gets its name from what the bee’s make it out of. You can also acquire a raspberry, orange blossom or other varietal honey. You can use almost any honey in the making of mead.
Can you use store bought honey to make mead?
It’s simply a fermented combination of honey and water. Though mead can be made using commercial wine or beer yeast, to make mead “like a Viking”, it should be spontaneously fermented… without yeast added. If you have access to raw honey or a honeycomb, by all means use them, but also feel free to just use plain honey.
How much honey do I need for 5 gallons of mead?
A typical mead batch consists of 15 pounds of honey for a 5 gallon mead batch.
How do you make really good mead?
Making Mead – basic method
- Mix honey and water together in a container of choice, whether that be bucket or demijohn.
- Add mead yeast and some sort of additional nutrition to the honey water mixture.
- Fit the airlock to your vessel and wait.
- When the bubbling stops, that tells you the first fermentation is finished.
Do you need to use raw honey for mead?
Good grapes make good wine – good honey makes good mead. Mead honey should not have been pasteurized or heated, but filtered is acceptable (it removes the bee particles, wings, antenna, twigs, leaves, etc. All other honeys need to be 90\% varietal.
Should you carbonate Mead?
We feel that the decision to carbonate mead is very much a matter of preference. Since yeast produces Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and alcohol during fermentation, your mead will initially have some level of dissolved CO2 in very low quantities. Usually it’s just carbonated enough to be irritating.
What is raw clover honey?
Clover honey is a variety of honey made by honeybees. As the name suggests, bees make this type of honey by collecting nectar from clover (Trifolium) flowers. Some heat the liquid prior to bottling, whereas others sell the honey raw. In either state, clover honey provides some significant health benefits.
Should you Stir mead while fermenting?
Fermentation. Unlike with most beers, during mead fermentation, you still have work to do. You’ll get best results if you stir the mead during the first third to half of the fermentation. Stirring twice a day is generally sufficient (if you have a fast fermentation, you might want to stir three or four times a day).
Is filtered honey OK for mead?
Mead honey should not have been pasteurized or heated, but filtered is acceptable (it removes the bee particles, wings, antenna, twigs, leaves, etc. that may have made it in during the cullection process). All other honeys need to be 90\% varietal.