The Mead House – Page 15 – Making great mead at home

Episode 84

The Mead House

Episode 84

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In this episode, Ryan and Jeff critique JD’s H1 & H2 braggot offerings, (recipe for H1 is below), Facebook Friends, the crew tackles a few questions posted by our friends in a few facebook mead groups. In the interest in promoting mead, the introduction of mead to people who have never had it before can be an experience. How do you introduce your friends to mead? Plus – summer is coming, and if you’re not prepared for the heat with cooling methods, then why not consider yeasts that like it hot?

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H1 Braggot full recipe 8% ABV

3.15 lbs Pilsen LME

8 oz Pilsen DME

5 lbs caramelized wildflower honey (Add when temp falls below 100ºF)

Steep the following for 30 min at 155ºF in 2.5 gallons of water

8 oz Crystal 120

.75 lbs Honey Malt

2.5 oz Roasted Barley

8oz Victory malt

Hops Schedule

.5 oz Cluster hops @ 60 min

.25 oz Cascade hops @ 15 min

.25 oz Centennial hops @ 15 min

.25 oz Centennial hops @ flameout

.25 oz Cascade hops @ flameout

1.5 tsp yeast nutrient added at the same time with honey (honey needs it!)

SAFALE 05 yeast

Ferment at 68º until it quits! Rack to secondary until it clears

Episode 83

The Mead House

Episode 83

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Mazer Cup gold medalist, Josh Mahoney, returns to The mead House and sticks around for the whole show! He talks about his Double 50 award winner, a little on bee keeping, Jeff discovers an accidental infection that leads to a tasty sour mead. So you’re a mead maker and now you think you want to be a bee keeper and have your own honey source? Put some thought into it first, Jeff and Josh talk about the reality of bee keeping.

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Be sure and contact us on Twitter @themeadhouse, facebook at The mead House, or right here via the Contact Us page!

Episode 82

The Mead House

Episode 82

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JD, what’s HTO?! Listen for it! Kyle Peterson from WineHaven joins us to talk mead while we enjoy a few glasses of his award-winning Stinger mead! The son of a long time bee keeper talks about his effort to produce Stinger, making mead in general, and a bit of advice for JD’s Mead Port project. Do you have a batch of mead you’re just not wild about? Wait before you toss it, Ryan leads a discussion on blending, a way to salvage a mead that’s just isn’t up to par. Facebook Friends, William from Main has a braggot project he’s working on and Alex Haag discover’s a new use for Anova’s Sous Vide machine!

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Episode 81

The Mead House

Episode 81

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Slam the door open & hit the lights! Welcome to The Mead House!

This episode we cover a number of Facebook Friends, including using Oxy-Clean, a Blueberry Melomel, bread yeast and much more! JD has a couple projects he’s working on, particularly a Blackberry/Cherry mead Port. His concern is leaving enough residual sweetness behind to keep from having to do a whole lot of backsweetening. The crew talks about using a honey malt grain in meads and ciders, and finally, JD has re-vamped his cooling system.

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Episode 80

The Mead House

Episode 80

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Chrissie Manion Zaerpoor, author of The Art of Mead Tasting and Food Pairing, joins the show this episode. If you’re into the culinary culture, love to cook and make mead at home, this is a “must-have” book to go with your best cookbooks. She has tasted meads and foods from all over the world, and owns the first, and maybe only, world mead bottle shop in Yamhill, Oregon. She was a founding director of the American Mead Makers’ Association, and is a multi-time medalist at the Mazer Cup. We’ll also discuss barrel aging and we’ll reach into the mail bag.

Don’t forget to rate us 5 stars on your favorite listening app, you can find us right here at The Mead House, iTunes and Stitcher Radio. Thanks for listening!

Here’s a few resources;

Wisdom from the Wood: 8 Barrel Aging Life Lessons

Aging 101: The Science of Aging Liquor

Barrel Aging for Homebrewers

Is mead barrel-aging the next big thing in beer?

Episode 79

The Mead House

Episode 79

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Celebrating 2 years here at The Mead House, episode 79 includes a report from co-host Jeff Shouse on his trip to 2018 Mazer Cup International. Jeff talks a bit about his experience as a judge, and gives some insight on the entry and scoring process. JD runs through a bourbon barrel cyser recipe with a twist, adding oak chips during fermentation, and using honey malt to add some mouthfeel and more honey character. See his recipe below!

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JD’s Bourbon Cyser Project

5.5 gallons Tree Top (or any preservative-free apple juice)

2+ lbs honey to bring SG to 1.070 (lightly caramelized clover honey)

1 lb honey malt steeped in 2 gallons of apple juice for 24 hours at room temp.

5 cans frozen juice concentrate (1 in fermenter at start, 2 when yeast bottoms out, 2 in secondary)

3 oz oak chips (your choice) for fermentation

2 oz American Oak cubes soaked in bourbon (4 weeks)

1-2 vanilla beans*

Starter (24 hour)

1/2 gallon apple juice

1/4 cup sugar (or enough to reach SG of 1.070)

1/4 tsp yeast nutrient

1 pack Cider House yeast

The Plan

Bring the steeped honey malt up to 170º for 10 min to sanitize, cool, then add to fermenter.

Prepare fermenter and dump the apple juice in, aerating well. Add the honey malt first, then the honey to SG 1.070.

Make sure the temperature of your starter and must are the same, around 70ºF and pitch your starter. At first signs of fermentation, reduce the temperature slowly over 24 hours to 58º-65ºF for the next 4 weeks.

Rack to secondary, adding 2-3 oz of soaked oak cubes and liquid and 1 or 2 split vanilla beans* and 2 cans of apple juice concentrate after stabilizing. I may add more bourbon for a more bourbon barrel-like flavor. The intent is not to have a bourbon cider, but more of a barrel aged flavor.

*Vanilla Beans – I may add the split vanilla beans to the soaking oak cubes & bourbon in order to extract more flavor.

Episode 78

The Mead House

Episode 78

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JD and Ryan at the table this episode, Jeff is getting ready for his trip to the Mazer Cup in Colorado. In this episode, Facebook Friends looks at several issues including a recipe by Shawn Larson using Shagbark! Ryan leads a discussion about using alternative bottle carbing sugars, and aging. Modern mead making implies make it fast so you can drink it now, but are we overlooking what JD calls, “time does a bottle good?”

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Episode 77

The Mead House

Episode 77

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Test batches, how do you handle yours? JD says all his batches are test batches! What do you do with 80 gallons of expired organic apple juice that has started to ferment, and Jeff talks about allergies and clearing agents using shellfish.

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JD & Jeff

The Mead House

JD & Jeff

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It’s just JD and Jeff this episode and Jeff has a new experiment going on!

Episode 76

The Mead House

Episode 76

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Award wining, longtime mead maker and brewer, Pat McNealy, joins The Mead House crew for this episode. We review a few facebook posts, and JD talks about making labels.

Thanks for listening, we appreciate all of out listeners! Make sure and give us 5 stars on your favorite listening venue, iTunes, Stitcher Radio, or your favorite podcast player!