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More from foxfeather
I try not to post too many photos here, but I wanted to share this. :)
This year
mbala and I had some leftover 'wet' honey from our bees we wouldn't be able to store, so we decided to make mead!
I've got a blog post with lots of photos and info here: http://ofbees.com/2015/01/mead-making/
We made cyser (apple cider mead), ginger mead (massively gingery ginger), and a plum melomel (herbal plum wine). After the first racking we've got 11 gallons which is now mellowing, should be ready in about a year. :)
This year
mbala and I had some leftover 'wet' honey from our bees we wouldn't be able to store, so we decided to make mead!I've got a blog post with lots of photos and info here: http://ofbees.com/2015/01/mead-making/
We made cyser (apple cider mead), ginger mead (massively gingery ginger), and a plum melomel (herbal plum wine). After the first racking we've got 11 gallons which is now mellowing, should be ready in about a year. :)
Category Photography / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 641 x 488px
File Size 56.2 kB
Well, we have our own bees so the honey was just part of the harvest this year that we weren't able to sell since it wasn't ripened enough. And since we live in Minnesota, cider is actually really reasonable when in season (tons of apple growers in the local area) - so we figured was worth the risk! :)
It's basically a matter of water content - when bees collect nectar it's very watery, they fan it and add enzymes, dehydrating it down to the perfect moisture level for storage, then they cap it off. When you end up with honey that isn't 'ripe' yet you can't store it long term, its got enough water in it that it will ferment
Nope! The laws for selling liquour are *insane*, it's basically impossible to be a small home brewery. It's really unfortunate. There are some clauses that allow cider-only from apple growers, but it's very tightly regulated, but mead falls under the category you would need a dedicated winery license or to join up with/piggyback on someone elses. We looked into it out of curiousity and it's a case of very aggressive and unfortunate regulation that basically bars anyone from doing it as a hobby. We can gift bottles, but that will be pretty much it forever.
The cyser is low alcohol so is almost drinkable now, the other two are like that - sort of rubbing alcohol w/other flavors. I figure will take a long time to mellow but we're in no rush. It's amazing how time flies, it's been a few months already! What sort did you make? :)
I have a basic mead going, I think if you google "Camelot mead" you get a close approximation. It has orange rind, which gets surly without a long aging period. We do about 40 gallons of cider a year, so I really should try a proper cyser outside of doing my secondary cider fermentation with honey (which is delicious!)
Oh, wow! I can't wait till we have apples so we can make our own cider as well. The cyser is kind of disappointing right now because w/4 gallons of strong flavored cider, I expected an apple taste - but it just tastes like normal mead. Maybe the flavors will come out eventually, but it's just not there atm. I had hoped it would turn out more like a typical cider cider.
Very nice! This year was particularly bountiful in the fruit department, so I was able to make six 5-gal carboids of golden delicious cider, santa rosa plum-zinfandel wine, and some santa rosa/elephant heart wine. Have about three carboids full of flat-up zin that probably needs bottling, by now. I love making my own wines, glad to see other people into it!
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