Disheartening Results.......... more thought..........

So, ok, I've been putting more thought into what it is that I want, or are at least aiming for....

What is it then ? Well, I "think" I'm aiming for a strong(ish) mead, that has good aroma, but also a distinct honey taste. Sweet, well sweetish, though not as cloyingly/sickly sweet as the commercial meads I tasted the other year. So I'd guess something that has a final gravity of around 1.010 to 1.020 and not the 1.040 mark of the commercial ones mentioned before, they were just like drinking watered down honey.

The actual honey type may, or may not be an issue, as might the yeast(s) used. I sort of like the idea of using D21, which according to the writings of the late Brother Adam (of Buckfast Abbey, bee breeding/mead making fame) alluded to as being a good yeast for meads. But, when I dig around, there's a lot of other yeasts used, especially by the members over at Gotmead. The problem is, that apart from the "usual suspects" by Lalvin/Lallemand i.e. EC-1118, K1V-1116, D47, 71B, RC-212, they (Lalvin/Lallemand that is) do a hell of a lot of different yeasts. So which one is likely to be the best for meads like that ?

There's also the issue, of whether they're available in "home brew sized packs". A lot of them aren't, but if I could only work out the best choice, even if it's not available in home brew packs ("morewine" seem to repackage some that are normally only available in commercial size packs/quantity).

I've seen mention of DV10, ICV-D80, ICV-D254 and R2 also used successfuly in mead making (remember, that some, like RC-212 and R2 are mainly for "reds") so whether I'd need to check those out as well.

As for the honey ? Well, yes, it's possible to get honey from lots of places, plus from a lot of the reading that I've done, it suggests that the strongest tasting, darkest coloured honeys are the best for mead making. Though higher levels of alcohol and sweeter tastes suggest making meads more of a port/sherry type (not using the same techniques, just sweeter and darker etc). For anyone who reads this blog, you'll know that with the kind help of one of the members at Gotmead and a work colleague, I managed to get hold of a 14kg bucket of Buckwheat honey from Poland. Now this isn't quite like the Buckwheat I've read about in many places, it's not as dark as I'd expected, though it is darkish. Plus it's different tasting, but doesn't seem to have the "farmyard" type character I'd read about, but it is quite "malty" tasting and less of the strong honey taste you get from a lot of the blended honeys (blended for eating/cooking I'd guess).

Realistically speaking, I have to rely on what is available from Paynes, my local honey wholesaler. Who have some nice honeys, but not a huge range and nothing like the wonderfully exotic sounding honeys available from places like the Bee Folks and other wholesalers in the US.

Of course, not all of the ones available from the Bee Folks (and similar wholesalers) would lend themselves to mead making, but there's also the problem of shipping. For example, having worked my way through their website, it seems that the cheapest method of shipping would be the USPS (the United States Postal Service). So to make it anywhere near cost effective, (I've used a 5 gallon/60lb bucket of "Killer Bee" honey in my example - which would cost £153.98 at the moment) the cheapest method of shipping is "USPS Priority Mail International" and that's gonna cost £143.21 so only about £10 less than the honey (I don't mind that it might take a while to get here). So the cost of the honey would be £297.19 which equates to £4.95 per lb of honey. That's the kind of price I'd expect to pay for a "very premium" type honey, like Scottish Heather honey. But it's the cheapest way to get it from the US.

So, as you can see, all the "what's best" kind of thing is a bit of a PITA.....

Ah well, I guess I'll just plough on and try to make meads that have come out better than most of my attempts have thus far........

Disheartening Results..........

Been a "busy bee" today, as there was about 10 or 11 gallons of various brews that needed racking etc....

So why the strange thread title ?

Well, it's one of those days where I've got the "WTF" thoughts going through my head.

Why ? Well as I was racking various brews, not many of them taste like I think they should. And I don't really know why that is.

For instance, a good few years ago, a reasonably local brewery, not only made some excellent beers (real ale type), but they also made a range of country wines. I'd tasted about 5 or 6 of these and the only way I can describe my memory of them is as "alcoholic fruit cordials".

Now a lot of my knowledge and understanding of how wines "should" be made comes from the great and good at places like Wines at Home and Gotmead etc etc.

So, what if the "wine making" methods that are taught, explained and encouraged at these excellent places, are wrong. That's not to be critical of what they're about, but the fruits and flavours used in "Country" wines aren't grapes, so why does it seem that my country wines just taste like mediocre or badly made grape wine ? Or why is it that my meads mostly have a reasonably "honey like" aroma but don't seem to reflect that in the taste ?

Of the multitude of gallon batches I've just been working with, 1 of the meads and one of the fruit wines (actually, it was mixed fruit melomel), nearly tasted like I thought they should.

Unfortunately for me, the mead was one that I'd forgotten to label, and hadn't checked properly when it was fermenting as I measured the gravity and it was sitting at 1.020 so not as sweet as a dessert mead, but certainly nowhere near dry (and probably not finished it's fermenting - which is too late now as it's been racked, sulphited, sorbated and then topped up with an unimpressive chenin blanc that I made by accident....). The mixed fruit melomel has a light almost rose colour, a good level of fruitiness to the taste, but not a lot of body. Still the taste, apart from the lack of body, was good, so it's also been racked and then I've topped it up with sour mash whisky.

Perhaps it's that I'm not as conscientious in my efforts, maybe I should make more effort to record what I do so I can repeat the recipes, maybe I should just make high alcohol meads that are then topped up with honey syrup and then left to age in bulk. Damn I just don't know.....

There was 4 other "reds" amongst the many brews, 2 of them showed a little promise, inasfaras, they actually had some taste of what they were intended to be, I could taste the black currants in the black currant melomel and the raspberry in the apple and raspberry melomel. So I've just racked them out of their respective 1 gallon jars into a 5 gallon jar, topped it up with some of the mediocre chenin blanc wine, added about a half pound of frozen black currants that I had, so I'll leave it to steep on the small amount of fruit and then I think I'll add some honey syrup at a later stage to sweeten it up and then put it away to age (after I've removed the fruit). I might even add some whisky or brandy just to up the alcohol content as well.


Last time I "went through my brews" that needed something doing to them, I just took all the ones I didn't like or weren't looking like they showed any promise and took them to a friend who has a still and chucked the lot through that, to recover the alcohol so I could fortify some other brews.... And got a telling off from Keith for being to impatient.

I suppose half the problem is that I don't know any other home brewers/home wine makers around here to compare brews. I don't even know if I'd want to compare brews, especially if it turned out that mine were a load of shit......

I'll just have to think about how (or if) I want to continue.........