Jump to content

M' Wife's bees.....


Recommended Posts

57 minutes ago, Garufa said:

So, who makes Mead with all their honey?

If I had bees I’d be making mead out of it all, except what’s needed to provide for the bees.

 

or if I could hook up with a bee owner and make mead and split the batches. 😂 

Link to comment

I have a couple gallons worth of honey from 2 years ago that crystalized for some reason. I'm going to be making mead out of it here soon.  I want to try a few different recipes, so I'm drinking down a couple 1 gal jugs of wine to use as carboys for each batch. The wife said that was a lot of wine to have to drink up, I said "challenge accepted"

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
44 minutes ago, analog_kidd said:

I have a couple gallons worth of honey from 2 years ago that crystalized for some reason. I'm going to be making mead out of it here soon.  I want to try a few different recipes, so I'm drinking down a couple 1 gal jugs of wine to use as carboys for each batch. The wife said that was a lot of wine to have to drink up, I said "challenge accepted"

Want to borrow a 5 gallon carboy?

Link to comment
4 hours ago, analog_kidd said:

I have a couple gallons worth of honey from 2 years ago that crystalized for some reason. I'm going to be making mead out of it here soon.  I want to try a few different recipes, so I'm drinking down a couple 1 gal jugs of wine to use as carboys for each batch. The wife said that was a lot of wine to have to drink up, I said "challenge accepted"

All honey will likely crystallize eventually. It is a super saturated sugar solution. The higher glucose to fructose ratio lends itself to crystallize more quickly. You can put it in a hot water bath (100-110 deg) and it should. liquify. If it has not been sealed really well and the water in the honey has been allowed to evaporate it may crystallize more quickly. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, Snaveba said:

All honey will likely crystallize eventually. It is a super saturated sugar solution. The higher glucose to fructose ratio lends itself to crystallize more quickly. You can put it in a hot water bath (100-110 deg) and it should. liquify. If it has not been sealed really well and the water in the honey has been allowed to evaporate it may crystallize more quickly. 

I read something recently with a good idea... it said if you've got a lot of crystallized honey, replace your oven bulb with an incandescent 100W bulb.   Verify the temp, but it should be about 150 deg. Stick all of it in there overnight to liquefy it.  Then be sure to swap the oven bulb back in before you use the oven. 

Link to comment

That’s a good idea. Purists say don’t take it above about 110 deg or you may destroy the natural enzymes.  I have a design for a “hot box” that uses a light bulb to heat the box. I will try the oven trick and monitor the temp. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Thanks for the offers to borrow a carboy. I'm set up with several of my own, as I make a fair amount of wine already. I was just going to use the gallon  jugs to make a couple different recipes, instead of making one 5 gal batch. Can't  say that I've even ever had mead before, and I'd like to see if there is one recipe or another that suits me.

Do any of you all have a recipe to share?

Link to comment
47 minutes ago, analog_kidd said:

Thanks for the offers to borrow a carboy. I'm set up with several of my own, as I make a fair amount of wine already. I was just going to use the gallon  jugs to make a couple different recipes, instead of making one 5 gal batch. Can't  say that I've even ever had mead before, and I'd like to see if there is one recipe or another that suits me.

Do any of you all have a recipe to share?

All mine are 5 gallon+. But a quick check looks like 3 lbs per gallon.  

Link to comment
2 hours ago, analog_kidd said:

Can't  say that I've even ever had mead before,

Might want to get some before to try and see if you like it? I have not tried it either, but heard its a unique taste?

Might be able to find it at that big store in Turkey Creek?

Edited by ReeferMac
Link to comment

Is Mead really so good as to spend $30 per gallon on honey to make it? Now, if you have your own bees, then the honey is much less of a cost (other than the time and effort spent tending hives, extracting honey, etc). Does good mead cost >$30 per gallon?

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Snaveba said:

Is Mead really so good as to spend $30 per gallon on honey to make it? Now, if you have your own bees, then the honey is much less of a cost (other than the time and effort spent tending hives, extracting honey, etc). Does good mead cost >$30 per gallon?

I get 5 gallons out of 45.00 bucks worth of honey. (Now mind you, that’s the cheap Walmart stuff).

 

if I could find someone to sell me honey @30.00 a gallon I’d be all over that.

Link to comment
On 8/27/2021 at 4:23 PM, Garufa said:

So, who makes Mead with all their honey?

 

On 8/28/2021 at 6:17 AM, ReeferMac said:

Its my understanding mead takes quite a bit of honey to make... A quick search turned up a recipe suggesting 2-3lbs of honey per gallon of mead.

I used to make a lot of mead, cider, cyser, pymet, and other variants. Typically I was in the 2.5 to 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon range for most of my meads. I would buy in bulk from keepers I had come to know or small operations like orchards or farms that kept bees as part of their operations. Using store bought stuff is a risk. Half of it comes out of china and half of that is (at least in part) corn syrup. 

I started out making beer an transitioned to mead and cider variants when I found I tolerated it and enjoyed it more. I had begun to have some health issues with beer. 
Sadly now I don't tolerate much alcohol at all so my making days are behind me. 
Back in the day I actually won quite a few medals with my meads and ciders at homebrew competitions. Got a bit of a reputation for it and was asked to do radio radio and speaking gigs about it over the years. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
33 minutes ago, dralarms said:

I get 5 gallons out of 45.00 bucks worth of honey. (Now mind you, that’s the cheap Walmart stuff).

 

if I could find someone to sell me honey @30.00 a gallon I’d be all over that.

That came out wrong on my part. I meant $30 worth of honey (3lbs) to make a gallon of mead. 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Snaveba said:

That came out wrong on my part. I meant $30 worth of honey (3lbs) to make a gallon of mead. 

Oh, ok.  😂. I get 5 lbs from Walmart for under 14.00. (I don’t actually go to Walmart, my wife picks it up when she feels like it without me asking. So I use it).

 

 

Link to comment

Damn. Sorry. Once the bottle only has a couple or 3 shots, fill it up with honey. It takes a few days to mix itself, but it's awesome on breakfast cereal, mixed with oatmeal & is especially good as a BBQ or roast glaze. 

I marinate my dove breasts in it for poppers & use mix it with home made blackberry & chili jam as a dipping sauce for wild game. Delish!

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

TRADING POST NOTICE

Before engaging in any transaction of goods or services on TGO, all parties involved must know and follow the local, state and Federal laws regarding those transactions.

TGO makes no claims, guarantees or assurances regarding any such transactions.

THE FINE PRINT

Tennessee Gun Owners (TNGunOwners.com) is the premier Community and Discussion Forum for gun owners, firearm enthusiasts, sportsmen and Second Amendment proponents in the state of Tennessee and surrounding region.

TNGunOwners.com (TGO) is a presentation of Enthusiast Productions. The TGO state flag logo and the TGO tri-hole "icon" logo are trademarks of Tennessee Gun Owners. The TGO logos and all content presented on this site may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission. The opinions expressed on TGO are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the site's owners or staff.

TNGunOwners.com (TGO) is not a lobbying organization and has no affiliation with any lobbying organizations.  Beware of scammers using the Tennessee Gun Owners name, purporting to be Pro-2A lobbying organizations!

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to the following.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines
 
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.