A quick rant !

I like to try and be helpful around the mead making forums. Often in respect of stuff that newer mead makers ask, and especially when it comes to getting ingredients that might have local equivalents.

Equally, we (as in us lot this side of the pond) have to often "make do" as the stuff you see mentioned on the mead forums where there's a high proportion of American mead makers, just isn't easily available.

There's a lot of info out there. It may be that it's been posted by one of us UK based mead makers, so it's easier to ask the "why's and wherefore's". Even if it's been posted by one of the US based mead makers, it might just need a bit of a pointer to set someone in the right direction.

They just need to have a bit of a search, and read the fucking guidance. Hell ask a few questions, there's plenty of people who will explain why if they do X, they won't get Y, they'll go straight past Z and end up back at D.

High gravity/strength is fine, just don't put all the fucking honey in a batch at once. It will cause problems stressing the yeast and possibly resulting in off flavours that may either take years to mellow, or even not at all. It's easy to make a batch that needs to meet certain criteria, but it's likely that if it's suggested that it's made in a certain way, then there's a fucking reason for it.

Don't try and re-invent the wheel, you'll just end up looking like a cunt who can't even make basic recipes. Plus you'll stress yourself out trying to work out "what went wrong"......

Ok, I'll get off my soap box.........