# Mead for Survival..



## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

I don't know about y'all but when SHTF I like to partake in adult beverages.

This is the first adult beverage in history. Mead Honey Wine.

"Asia, pottery vessels containing chemical signatures of a mixture of honey, rice and other fruits along with organic compounds of fermentation dating from 6500-7000 BC were found in Northern China. In Europe, it is first attested in residual samples found in the characteristic ceramics of the Bell Beaker Culture (c. 2800 - 1800 BC). The earliest archaeological evidence for the European production of mead dates to before 2000 BC


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I tried making mead a few times but didn't care much for it until I put a little lemon juice in to add some acidity then it was pretty darn good.

As long as there is something sweet to ferment, there will be "adult beverages" and people willing and ready to make them.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I'll have to try making mead! I'll bet it's way better than pruno!


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Mead, now we're talking 
I think videos like that are great because they show how simple making it can be. Of course like anything, making it is easy, making it GOOD is a whole other story.

A straight mead is more or less the most difficult one to make great because if anything is slightly off or the honey doesn't have a lot of flavour there is no way to hide it. Throughout most of history though, honey, more than anything was used in combination with other things to make great drinks. The list of combinations is endless;
Rhodomel-honey and roses
Melomel-honey and any fruit
Metheglin-honey and spices
Pyment-honey and grape 
Cyser-honey and apple
Braggot-honey and beer
etc.

Not only can you make the mead itself, you can distill it to make hard liquor or make vinegar.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Davarm said:


> I tried making mead a few times but didn't care much for it until I put a little lemon juice in to add some acidity then it was pretty darn good.
> 
> As long as there is something sweet to ferment, there will be "adult beverages" and people willing and ready to make them.


I saw a video where they added frozen lemonade. How much lemon juice did you add?


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

RevWC said:


> I saw a video where they added frozen lemonade. How much lemon juice did you add?


It was a few years ago and I dont remember how much it took but I added a little at a time until it was to my liking.

I spent a few years in Northern Italy and I'd compare it(in taste) to many of the house wines I had there.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well I just bottled my first round of homemade beer. Its a blackberry lager that has been fermenting for a month. I decided to do a fruit beer since im sure the regular lager would be similar to a million brands available at any liquor store. And since it was just sitting there I had a small sample. Very tasty and packin a kick like a mule!!! Now that it is bottled it will take a week or so to carbonate but I might leave it a tad longer. My next go round will be a raspberry pilsner beer. Gotta get in 8 servings of fruits and veggies you know.......


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Most of the time you will definitely want to add some kind of acid to the mead, you can do that with fruit of course, a few oranges or a lemon. A only slightly less "natural" alternative is to buy some from a home brew store, they have a variety of types (citric, tartaric, etc.) in powder form that are cheap and will last forever.

A lot of the time you will want to add some tannins as well, grapes or raisins are the most common but there are many other sources of tannins, even tea is used sometimes.


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## tc556guy (Apr 28, 2011)

I've never made mead, but I enjoy buying bottle or two every year as a break from wine and hard cider


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

I make a few 5-gallon batches of mead every year. I've got 5 gallons of cyser ready to bottle now. Cyser is made with apple cider rather than spring water; it's a combination hard cider and mead. It should be perfect when autumn rolls around.


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

I've wanted to try this for a long time. The video looked simple enough but I wish he hadn't skimmed over the part about adding the blackberries!!!


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## ETXgal (Jul 12, 2014)

I am glad I came across this post. I was just talking about this very thing yesterday. I plan to take notes and print them off. (let's just be kind and say I don't have a photographic memory) Today I am going to learn how to make wine. (peach to be exact...later it will be elderberry) I have heard a little about mead, and it is on my list to learn. This reminds me, I need more honey! I like raw unfiltered honey the best, good for a lot of things.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Post how you make your peach and elderberry wines - that would be great to know how to do.

I added a couple ripe peaches to a batch of mead (primary fermentation only) last summer and it gave it a very nice mild peach flavor.


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## ETXgal (Jul 12, 2014)

I learned how to make the peach wine today. It is my friend's secret recipe, so I cannot give all the details. He said a local place that sells wine and beer making stuff, has a kit, with everything you need. I was amazed at how much sugar the recipe uses. I also saw him pour up the remnants of the plum wine he made earlier. You siphon the wine from the big bottle, which is about 6 pounds...that goes into smaller bottles. There is a little sediment at the bottom of the big bottle. (do not siphon that into your regular sized bottles) Once you put the corks in, you must leave the bottles sitting up for one week. (just in case the cork pops, that way you won't lose a whole bottle of wine all over the place) Then after that week, you must place the bottles on their sides. He said if you don't the cork will eventually dry out, crack, and ruin your wine. So store them on their sides.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

A good website for mead...

http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/index.htm


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

RevWC said:


> A good website for mead...
> 
> http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/index.htm


I watched a bunch of his stuff on youtube yesterday. Finally saw the part where fruit is added.  I have a bazillion blackberries in the freezer, but I think I might like to start out with raisins, oranges, and/or cinnamon. :droolie:


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

PrepN4Good said:


> I watched a bunch of his stuff on youtube yesterday. Finally saw the part where fruit is added.  I have a bazillion blackberries in the freezer, but I think I might like to start out with raisins, oranges, and/or cinnamon. :droolie:


Raisins, oranges and cinnamon is a great way to start. The raisins and oranges give the yeast some nutrients plus citric acid, tannins etc. The cinnamon adds a great flavour. You can also add some other spices if you like.

If adding much fruit, some people like to add pectic enzyme, it isn't necessary though.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

If it is mead you will need bee hives, 2 to 4 per family.
Now spice wine is an old drink too.
Spices & grapes, any sweet fruit will do, but grape are best, IMHO.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

crabapple said:


> If it is mead you will need bee hives, 2 to 4 per family.


Up here in the Canadian prairies we average around 150lbs of honey/hive, that will make somewhere around 150-30 gallons of mead (there is a huge variation). That's in the range of 150-750 standard (wine) bottles per hive:droolie: My kind of family!

It is hard for me to imagine having only one hive though, I tried it briefly and the lack of redundancy caused me too much stress so I agree 2-4 is usually a good area. Once you get over that (in our area at least) things start to get crazy. For example a person could go from having a terrible year, make a whole bunch of splits and have great weather the next and end up with 10 hives and a literal metric ton of honey to deal withvract: Now, I am not saying this happened to me but let me tell you I have a vivid image of exactly what a ton of honey looks like in supers when you don't have commercial equipment


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

Slightly OT, but I found RAW HONEY at my local Walley World!!  (My colony died over the winter.)  

Slightly more OT, I'm going to save my blackberries for wine. 

Oh yeah, question: how do you get the chunks of oranges & cinnamon sticks back out of the narrow neck of the carboy when you're done? I'm sure they're easy to get in, but how do you get them OUT...? :dunno:


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

PrepN4Good said:


> Slightly OT, but I found RAW HONEY at my local Walley World!!  (My colony died over the winter.)
> 
> Slightly more OT, I'm going to save my blackberries for wine.
> 
> Oh yeah, question: how do you get the chunks of oranges & cinnamon sticks back out of the narrow neck of the carboy when you're done? I'm sure they're easy to get in, but how do you get them OUT...? :dunno:


A Hammer......& a hard surface!??


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Few years back I made pineapple wine from pineapple can juice with some added fruit to it,13% alcohol was the final result, and with a friend made rice wine,18% alcohol, now if we had distill it we would had made sake, the cost of honey down here is too much for honey wine, maybe I bring down my equipment from the attic and give it a go, hope the wife lets me.:laugh:


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

PrepN4Good said:


> Oh yeah, question: how do you get the chunks of oranges & cinnamon sticks back out of the narrow neck of the carboy when you're done? I'm sure they're easy to get in, but how do you get them OUT...? :dunno:


Not really all that bad imo, they get pretty mushy after a good steady fermentation. A lot of people use a plastic pail for primary fermentation to avoid the issues, I prefer not to. Long times spent in a plastic pail will cause issues and I don't rush mead, other than the initial aerobic phase. I also rack thrice as an absolute minimum (primary to secondary then secondary to aging, then to bottles) usually once more between secondary and aging, depending on the ingredients and the lees.


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## ETXgal (Jul 12, 2014)

You can use a mesh bag like a painters mesh bag, to put your fruit in. Mash it up good while it is in the food grade plastic bucket. (it is IN the bag, which is closed off at the top, so very little can get out) The fermentation process will make everything go soft. Then pour the contents from the bucket, into a glass jug at a later time. When the wine is ready, you can siphon off the jug, which should be on a table. The bottles you plan to pour into, will be below the table height, which makes siphoning easier.


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