Homebrew Mead Wine

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Originally Posted by DOC

Instead of honey can I just try to make mead with refined sugar instead? I think the vikings would have used it if honey costs so much and sugar (had it been around) been dirt cheap.

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The honey adds flavor and depending on the honey type, different "notes". You could make a fermented beverage, but it wouldn't be mead.

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Originally Posted by GilpinGuy

Today I got shit ton of honey, frozen fruit and water to get a bunch of 1 gallon batches going in the next few days - 8 gallons (a lot for me anyway). I am impressed with my strawberry, blackberry and raspberry meads. Same recipe, just different fruit. All of these came out good. A bit of back sweetening and they were yummy.

I'm dismayed that the orange came out nasty. I've read that it's not necessary to take the rind off so I didn't, but it came out wicked bitter...and tasted like rind. Any advice for oranges would be awesome....besides take the rind off, LOL

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Look up the recipe for JAOM. Super easy and tasty. The outer rind is good, the white stuff under the rind is less good.

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

The honey adds flavor and depending on the honey type, different "notes". You could make a fermented beverage, but it wouldn't be mead.

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Bingo. Grain as the main sugar source = beer. Fruit = wine. Honey = mead.
Hmm, technically rum is made primarily from sugar canes, but then you have to deal with distillation. Would be fun to try though.

In practice, I've tried a few things made from mostly sugar water, with mixed results. I have used raw sugar, sometimes in decent amounts, to add to fruit juices and call that "wine" though the purists may disagree. You can easily convert the sugar into invert sugar too, which is supposed to help make fermentation easier. I usually do it with a couple of my "regular" recipes, but I'm not convinced how much it helps - especially compared to adding nutrients which does seem to make an actual difference.

Here you go. Those containers are easily $100, and these are full of "used honey". :D
https://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/g...462676412.html

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Originally Posted by Brian

Bingo. Grain as the main sugar source = beer. Fruit = wine. Honey = mead.
Hmm, technically rum is made primarily from sugar canes, but then you have to deal with distillation. Would be fun to try though.

In practice, I've tried a few things made from mostly sugar water, with mixed results. I have used raw sugar, sometimes in decent amounts, to add to fruit juices and call that "wine" though the purists may disagree. You can easily convert the sugar into invert sugar too, which is supposed to help make fermentation easier. I usually do it with a couple of my "regular" recipes, but I'm not convinced how much it helps - especially compared to adding nutrients which does seem to make an actual difference.

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I think using pure sugar sounds like some sort of prison booze isn't it?

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Originally Posted by Brian

Look up the recipe for JAOM. Super easy and tasty. The outer rind is good, the white stuff under the rind is less good.

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I found this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/t...ge-mead.49106/

Looks yummy. This will be my next batch.

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Originally Posted by DOC

I think using pure sugar sounds like some sort of prison booze isn't it?

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Yeah, basically. It's just gonna be high octane hooch.

Fun fact -- I had a teacher in high school who, as a teenager, had been a civilian POW in the PI under the Japanese. His entire family, being American missionaries, were rounded up. Before the pressure started on the Japanese, they would have access to things like fruit. So his older brother decided to make some hooch with bread and fruit. Gave himself a bladder infection. In a Japanese internment camp. In the Philippines. Ouch.

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

Yeah, basically. It's just gonna be high octane hooch.

Fun fact -- I had a teacher in high school who, as a teenager, had been a civilian POW in the PI under the Japanese. His entire family, being American missionaries, were rounded up. Before the pressure started on the Japanese, they would have access to things like fruit. So his older brother decided to make some hooch with bread and fruit. Gave himself a bladder infection. In a Japanese internment camp. In the Philippines. Ouch.

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Oh damn. I was hoping for a more happy result like they had secret stashes of hootch for when things got really bad.

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Originally Posted by GilpinGuy

Oh damn. I was hoping for a more happy result like they had secret stashes of hootch for when things got really bad.

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Nope. But they did do things like eat rats, bugs, and such as the Japanese gradually reduced their daily rice allotment.

Brewing 4 gallons now. 2 gal. of strawberry and 2 gal. of blackberry. I'll do 2 gals. of the JOAM when I get to the store and get some oranges.