Homebrew Tasting :: The Mead That Wasn’t Meant To Be

I’ve had this idea to make a low ABV sparkling mead fermented with ale yeast for awhile now. A few weeks back, I think I mentioned something about this idea in the Reddit homebrewing community, which resulted in a cool conversation with a user named u/NocSimian, aka Reed, who ultimately offered to send me some mead he had made. I received a bomber from Atlanta the following week and refrained from reading any of the details of what went into making the mead until I had tasted it “blind.” Here’s how it went:

This experience has absolutely inspired me to try my hand at mead making! I’m thinking I’ll throw together a small batch using only honey, water, and ale yeast, probably stick with my cider go-to, SafAle S-04, and force carbonate it to about 2.8 volumes. We’ve actually got quite a few farms around my area that sell honey, I’ll try to source mine from them… or Costco if I’m lazy. Reed was kind enough to share his recipe, should anyone desire to (attempt to) replicate this deliciousness.

RECIPE
~12 lbs Goldenrod Honey (from hobby apiary in Western Pennsylvania)
Water (enough to bring blend to 5 gallons)
10 lbs Organic Blueberries blended and added directly to carboy without Campden or pasteurization
Lalvin 71-B Yeast rehydrated in 180˚F water and pitched around that same temp
Danstar Belle Saison yeast rehydrated in 90˚F water, pitched a couple days after 71-B shows no signs of active fermentation

Thanks again to Reed for graciously sharing this mead with me, it was a lot of fun! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment.

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15 thoughts on “Homebrew Tasting :: The Mead That Wasn’t Meant To Be”

  1. If you’re going to be making anything other than a traditional mead (e.g. cyser, pyment, melomel, metheglin, etc) the Costco honey is perfectly fine, as the honey character is taking a back seat to whatever you’re adding. However, for a single varietal mead I recommend going for the good stuff and sourcing local or exotic.

    1. I got a good deal on the goldenrod ($20/gallon) and was what I had on hand. Otherwise I would have used clover/wildflower.

      1. Yeah, I’d imagine the big mead makers aren’t sourcing boutique honey… or maybe they are? I really want to get my hands on some Moonlight, but like I said in the video, it’s nowhere to be found in the area I live.

      2. yeah – 1 gallon is ~ 12lbs. Density changes per batch and I was measuring by volume as opposed to weight so I’m not totally sure on the exact poundage.

      3. Moonlight gets their honey from Dutch Gold. I’ll want to believe they’ve used some varietals in their product line but I can’t recall which ones

    2. Interesting. I made a cyser about 8 months ago using the best honey Wal-mart sold, and as of last tasting (2-3 months ago?) it had this weird, medicinal almost plasticy flavor that I attributed to the cheap honey. Could it be something else?

      1. My guess would be the water you used, at least that that impact it might have on beer… but perhaps WalMart uses low quality honey… which I just can’t imagine.

  2. An ale yeast may not do what you expect on a mead must; pathways that produce certain esters or phenols may not be available or may be MORE available in a must vs a wort. For example, a Hefeweizen yeast can produce banana like flavors by interaction with ferulic acid. Some honeys have been measured to have 10x as much ferulic acid as a typical wort, maybe you would end up with a whole lot more banana flavor.

    1. Thanks for the great info! I actually don’t really know what to expect, I just want to try it for fun. I’ll probably used Nottingham and ferment cool (60°F) just to keep the ferment as clean as possible.

      1. Fermenting cool will help you get a clean flavor, so will keeping an eye on your nutrients. Musts are pretty poor in nutrients and you can avoid stressing out the yeast (potentially causing off flavors) by using staggered nutrient additions. The BJCP mead study guide is pretty up to date on the state of knowledge on mead fermentation. Check out section 8.3, especially 8.3.3 on page 54: http://www.bjcp.org/mead/Mead_Study.pdf . It gives you an easy method for nutrient additions to ensure a healthy fermentation.

        A traditional mead (nothing but honey) can be an acquired taste, even some of the commercial ones are pretty rough. Are you thinking to make one with fruit or spices?

        I am actually planning some ‘varietal session mead’ 1 gallon batches. Aiming for 4-5% alc meads using different honey varietals (orange blossom, wild flower, raspberry, tupelo, etc). I will probably ferment them dry and back sweeten, hoping to avoid the hot/alcoholic harshness I’ve tasted in a lot of traditionals.

      2. Since it’ll be a small batch, I’ll probably keep things very simple, maybe throw in some organic mixed berries. I don’t think I’ll mess around with nutrient additions, as I’ve heard it may not be all that necessary with lower OG musts. Plus, this really will be more experimental in nature. I like the idea of blending varietals, which I’ll do if I can find a good source, but I may end up with just clover or orange blossom… we’ll see. Cheers!

      3. I got a 1 gallon batch of Mesquite honey going on now. Should be ready for sampling in about a month.

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