…which was not fun; but we’re back. It was a good time; I actually had more than one drink! Turns out that my uncle-in-law makes mead now. Good mead. And when I say ‘good’ it’s by my standards, which are very, very high. Certainly good enough to win SCA contests — which are likewise very, very high*.
I figure we’ll get back to the swing of things tomorrow.
Moe Lane
*My wife feels that mead-making might be something that I should do. I must admit, it’s a hobby that one can pursue without rushing about.
My complements to your Uncle-in-Law; from what I understand, making good mead seems to require an almost mystical combination of science and art.
Glad you and your family made it home safe, this is always a bad weekend to travel in my area (Phila).
Haven’t tried mead, but I’ve been brewing beer for 2 years now. entered my first pro-am competition and took 3rd out of 60 entrants. It was a smoky porter with chipotle. Very nice and drinkable.
I have tried brewing mead. The process is deceptively simple compared to beer yet, as Mr Jeboyle notes, mind-boglingly delicate in it’s accomplishment.
.
I heartily encourage this plan and wish you the best of luck with it.
I’d recommend making beer over making mead.
Commercially-processed honey in the U.S. is often (read: almost always) heavily adulterated. Unless you know someone who owns an apiary and is willing to sell you raw, unpasteurized honey, your results will *not* be what you’re hoping for.
.
I haven’t done it in awhile (and my copy is a couple of editions old), but can highly recommend Charlie Papazians’s The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062215752/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1527535912&sr=8-1
It covers mead as well as beer.
.
😉 My unsolicited advice is that hops are best used in moderation, and that crystal malt is some of the best stuff ever conceived.
I’m in the SCA. I know a guy who can hook me up with the good honey.