Thought I'd share a pic of my first batch !

[ukmastiff]

Well I do like to try different pass times and this is one I used to partake in many many years ago . I gave up mainly because of the headaches and the state my guests would get in to.

Here is a photo of batch one.



Believe it or not that glorious colour is entirely natural , almost radio active I'd say but entirely natural

We have here two demi's of Ciser ( thats not a typo) , 90 percent apple juice but with about ten percent blackurrent , natural honey used for blow out alcohol content not packet sugar !.

One old English Mead with spices and finally glowing on the end is
One dodgy tropical coctail pineapple and mango style with a tough of honey.

None of this I may add has been made from kits as I prefer the mystery.

I also have another 8 empty demi Jons in the garage

Under those oak beams is as close as my drink is ever going to get to being
' aged in oak ' ( or aged)

Let no one say I go for half measures ! !

[selfraising]

Oooh they look delicious! Is it a lot of work?

[coreopsis]

Well I do like to try different pass times and this is one I used to partake in many many years ago . I gave up mainly because of the headaches and the state my guests would get in to.

Here is a photo of batch one.



Believe it or not that glorious colour is entirely natural , almost radio active I'd say but entirely natural

We have here two demi's of Ciser ( thats not a typo) , 90 percent apple juice but with about ten percent blackurrent , natural honey used for blow out alcohol content not packet sugar !.

One old English Mead with spices and finally glowing on the end is
One dodgy tropical coctail pineapple and mango style with a tough of honey.

None of this I may add has been made from kits as I prefer the mystery.

I also have another 8 empty demi Jons in the garage

Under those oak beams is as close as my drink is ever going to get to being
' aged in oak ' ( or aged)

Let no one say I go for half measures ! !

Nevermind,when's the party?

[Snadger]

Its a hobby I keep coming back to about once every five year. I have a cupboard set aside for the demijohns and barrels and bottles and extra demijohns (about a dozen) in the garage.

Maybe it's time to dig em out again.

Looks impressive ukmastiff and I can only asume that the three demijohns which are 3/4 full are to allow for a vigourus fermentation?

[ukmastiff]

You got it m8ee , three of the are for a quickie get some alcohol in stock type fermentation and must definately have the gap left for about three days. The mead is a slow maturing quality brew ( like me lol) so is topped up.

Go on dust your kit down and give it a go for spring. Sitting outside quaffing and chatting about the state of young growers today you know you want to

I just hope the other three are drinkable, I will be posting an honest appraisal ( if I can still type).

My fellow grapes would be most welcome to a taste, who knows, maybe in the summer one or two may actually visit , plants in hand of course heheh.

Inverness seems a long way to come though even for free drinks

[bubblewrap]

What's the turkey for?

When my father was alive I can remember we made 38 gallons of Blackberry,Elderberry & Damson wines one year, the problem was getting enough bottles good job I was in good books with my pub's landlord.

[hypnophil]

Hi Ukmastiff
How did these turn out?
What ratio of honey did you use compared to what sugar would have been in?
They look tasty!
Thanks

[ukmastiff]

Lo there , they turned out in varying degrees from superb to rubbish. From memory ( which i lost after drinking them) the one using a pure pressed
'carribean' type mix which sounds awful turned out the best. The one using pure pressed apple with blackcurent was awful , and the one with top quality pure pressed apple juice was top class scrumpy.

Re the honey instead of sugar I googled it it is on the web I really cant tell you from memory. In general if usng pure pressd juices I used only a small ammount of honey.

The mead was interesting , I tried it and itmwas like awful lighter fuel with no taste , i stuck it in a garage to forget about it ( and let it mature) like does homebrew really mature ( not usually) and only tried it again last week out of curiosity. Well the mead had totally changed and was very fragrant sort of like a cross between port and sherry. So mead defo must mature and proves what do I know re home brew ? not a lot !

Regards Mas

[Two_Sheds]

The mead was interesting , I tried it and itmwas like awful lighter fuel with no taste

We bought some supermarket mead, and it was truly horrible

[Hilary B]

Mead varies. If you use stongly flavoured honey, it need ages to mature. If you use less flavourful honey, it is insipid (Not from personal experience because I've never tried, but got the same impression from several books I've seen mead recipes in).