I turned a Bucket Of Honey Into Mead & Distilled It

[@StillIt]

Get your own kick-ass shirt from Into The AM here: intotheam.com/CTC

[@milesjohnson4526]

Those are some sweet cloths man. Will be buying

[@vagabondwastrel2361]

I have a really weird idea but hear me out. use some in a brine to pickle cucumbers.

[@joe8172]

You should do a colab with Paul from Hives Manawatu. Not only does he have great honey, he also makes tasty mead :)

[@Pub2k4]

Use the leftover product to make the mead equivalent of apple pie moonshine… I guess since mead is just honey wine, the distilled product is a brandy…. So an apple pie brandy

[@peterrobak]

I live in Asia & can get a lot of durian. Can you tell me what yeast to use, how much sugar, & fruit to add to a 1 gallon mash?

[@hivesmanawatu3337]

Hey there! Glad you finally got around to this video! You had a lot going on when we last talked, including a full time job - I didn't realise it had been that long though. From memory that honey is from Ballance Valley - primarily a pasture honey, likely with some bush honey (Rewarewa is common in that valley and has a malty caramel flavour). Our honey has minimal processing and is generally kept to small regional batches so it usually has a lot more flavour than the supermarket stuff. Really cool to hear how much of that honey flavour and character made it through the still. It should be really nice after oaking Paul

[@mndlessdrwer]

I'm glad you were able to make this kind of video happen through your generous gift of honey. It was a fun watch.

[@nzbeeman]

The way Jessie described it I thought it may have been a kamahi blend. It doesn't look too dark so probably not too much Rewarewa in the mix

[@venividicredi4993]

Looks like the extra bottle needs to be tasted by the Manawatu beekeper - b4 being reproduced and added to inventory for the online shop

[@emilewilmar4919]

Rewarewa honey was my favourite honey for mead, this stuff looks great

[@_Gecko]

I didn’t even realize there were different types of honey, cool

[@bluejacketapiary9170]

Not a drinker but I am a beekeeper. A couple thoughts from the honey side. Try this with a spring harvested honey and a fall harvested honey. In my area, Typically they are night and day different. Spring=light, fruity, and floral honey. Spring is when flowers, fruit trees, etc are blooming. Fall=earthy, dark, “dirty”, almost molasses flavored honey. That’s when I see more weeds blooming and crops like buckwheat which makes an almost black (think char brown) honey.

[@anthonyantoine9232]

Buckwheat honey is unreal. I love the stuff.

[@ninjakiwi1324]

put it in a port barrel. that would match well with the floral honey.

[@nathanhowell9548]

I agree.

[@blackbaron9544]

Second this, would love to see how it turns out

[@Tangowastaken]

This!

[@chrisreid2113]

Just did honey wash and double distilled then put it down on brandy soaked staves. Both French and US oak

[@AKtmbr]

amburana barel please (braziliam wood)

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Raisins != nutrient. Fermaid O is the best product to use. Fermaid K containts DAP, which isn't the best for making mead. Fermaid O is purely organic sources of amino nitrogen (versus the urea in DAP), so the yeast can metabolize it better. Raisins don't do jack, except impart a bit of tannin and flavor. Especially not just 25 of them. I personally prefer EC-1118, or Kveik for mead, but 71B is fine. I've used it. Doesn't ferment as cleanly as EC-1118 (more off flavors), but the esters are good. Both require aging before it hits peak anyhow, so those off flavor dissipate. Kveik is great for excellent mead in just about a month or two, rather than 6 months to a year.

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

It was great working with you on this!

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

It doesn't actually surprise me how much of the honey character is coming through especially on the nose. When I take a mead to complete dryness, the nose ALWAYS starts off with a sweet STRONG honey note.

[@Cliff82]

Do you ever use DADY to make mead with? I'm trying it out for the first time and from what I've gathered I'm expecting close to 20%.

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

@@Cliff82 I haven't. Wine yeasts are more my wheelhouse for now. Looking for info on flavor profiles and esters from other yeast strains to better match what I'm shooting for.

[@sheldoniusRex]

Are there any other fruits which go well with honey which can be used to provide nutrients to the yeast? I'm thinking of fermenting with some orange and lemon in the brewer. Do those fruits work as well in a brew as they do elsewhere? What about tea? I like honey in hot tea, would tea in the mead be just as good?

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

@@sheldoniusRex Great questions! Citrus is a bit tricky since honey's already fairly acidic. If you add wedges without squeezing them, it'll introduce the acidity slowly enough to allow for a clean fermentation, and the fruits DO provide good nutrient for the yeast. Tea is good, but make sure you can remove it before too long or it will bitter after a few days (as oversteeped tea is wont to do). You could also make the tea ahead of time and use in place of water (at a weaker concentration than you would drink as regular tea).

[@enric.7814]

You could try to fortify a mead when it is at 3-8% and stop the fermentation with the honey spirit to make a port style mead and than age that on French Oak. Could come out very interesting.

[@josephbrooks3980]

I made "honeyshine", as i call it and it was delicious by itself but i also took some and back sweetened it with the original honey which reinforced all those floral sweet and honey notes. I loved it! Just an idea to try 😁

[@stevepenney2073]

wheres the love button

[@ginsengaddict]

Seconding this. A liqueur made from honey based on distilled mead is such a honey-ception concept, it sounds too good not to try.

[@RoraighPrice]

oh man, can you imagine, rest the "HoneyShine" in new french oak. then taking a 2nd batch of the same honey, making a beer from it and ageing it in the same used honeyd oak barrel.

[@WhiteWolfeHU]

Yeah it’s called mead, you make mead and drink it. You made honey flavored hard liquor. Because you know more alcohol equals more good so keep killing your liver! 👍🏻 What a fucking waste of mead.

[@stevepenney2073]

@@WhiteWolfeHU you need a suppository

[@dansarmar1]

I distill my mead in reflux mode and get 95% ABV spirit. I then use it as a base spirit for Gin. The honey profile is subtle and makes for a very nice product.

[@mndlessdrwer]

That sounds like it would be delicious if you can keep the juniper flavor from overwhelming everything. One of my favorite gins is a pretty Japanese Gin because it has an attractive floral component to it. Adding back in just a tiny bit of honey would also help reinforce those flavors even further.

[@verneblestien315]

I enjoy a honey gin, Barr Hill Gin out of Vermont.

[@joeclifford183]

@@mndlessdrwer that sounds like the Roku, one of my favourites too. I’ve always wanted to get into distilling, maybe once my kids grow up and I have more time haha. This inspires me though.

[@mndlessdrwer]

@@joeclifford183 yep, that's it. It comes in an absolutely beautiful bottle and tastes quite delightful even to the me who drank too much gin in college and grew to be a bit nauseated at the taste of it thanks to some unpleasant overconsumption. It's all about the balance of juniper flavor compared to everything else. If the juniper really jumps out as the only particularly prominent flavor then I can't really drink it...

[@joeclifford183]

@@mndlessdrwer yep I hear ya. My wife loves gin but doesn’t love those heavy on the juniper. I love bathtub, that’s heavy on the juniper but is smooth and doesn’t rely solely on juniper to carry it home.

[@jennabronson4704]

Just to clarify, raisins add little if any yeast assimilable nitrogen. They do add some tannins and color, but that’s about it. For a 5 gallon ferment aiming for 14%, I usually add a half pint of 15psi-sterilised water from boiled whole oats.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Fermaid O is easier, but that process would provide some amount of amino nitrogen (just like beer wort does).

[@jennabronson4704]

@@Vykk_Draygo yeah, I have an excess of oat water from growing oyster and lions mane mushrooms, so I have it on hand for making agar and liquid mycelium cultures anyway

[@benjaminderringer1680]

Made a corn and honey mead. Aged it in new oak. It tastes like honey cornbread whiskey. On of my favorites so far!

[@sweetthunderoflove1]

Can you tell me how

[@connorkitchen7156]

share this knowledge

[@salt-monkeymcgee401]

interesting

[@sweaspurdoddd5466]

When we needed him most he disappeared

[@ChillestSkeleton]

@@sweaspurdoddd5466tbf sometimes you dont get notifications on older comments

[@vialb2]

Just keep a sample (250 ml or so) in dollar store bottle just to compare with whatever you do with the rest. It’ll always be a good reference for long term aging and see how your product evolves.

[@shortforcalamity]

I've brewed a couple meads and I find French oak works wonders for my brews, I add about 20g of medium toast chips per 5L for a week and that seems to do the trick. It imparts a light woodiness and really lets that characteristic vanilla flavour of the French oak shine through

[@ziggybarth5026]

Finally!! Very few people have done this and recorded it, thankyou

[@ChrisVZ77]

Currently doing my first ever distilling run using some orange blossom mead I made 3 years ago. I’m extremely impressed with what I am collecting. Nice light honey flavor with barely any alcohol taste straight from the still. Gonna be hard to keep this around for very long.

[@alexmcmath4227]

Try it on second use brandy barrel wood, honeyed brandy is a wonderful pairing

[@WaydUncaged]

For the guys that have been here for a while you’re probably used to it but I’m brand new. I just learned about his laugh.

[@MisplacedAmerican]

As a huge mead fan, this definitely got my attention. I think it would be great to keep the clean 2.4 run as it is to see how it mellows out (if at all) over time and compare it to the oaked version. I bet this would make an amazing Mint Julep in the summer. If you can spare a small test, might I suggest making some basilcello, I make my own limoncello from time to time and I was amazed at how well this basilcello went down (ignore the green swamp color and careful not to over sweeten it)

[@Fenixsweden]

As a homebrewer focused on mead, i´ve been looking like a madman after someone who distilled mead but to no avail! So Thank YOU! Been thinking to distill mead myself but since that is illegal here in sweden, i´m really glad to find this video, that makes it easier for me to decide what to to hereafter!

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

You can build a water distiller legally though. ;)

[@Fenixsweden]

@@VndNvwYvvSvv true, true, would though it´d be hard to convince the police of that, if they ever came on knocking :P XD But the thought still remains, i´d really like to start a company and distill mead,,

[@neastop]

@@Fenixsweden Also had that thought (in Sweden). How complicated/expensive is it to get a license to distil? I've often wondered how these small distilleries (Stockolms Bränneri, Hernö etc) got started.

[@Fenixsweden]

@@neastop I have no idea actually. I´ve googled some questions but never really got a good answer,, been thinking about just sending an email to one of the destilleries to ask,, just haven´t gotten around to it yet,, but it is a interesting question..

[@Half_Centaur]

I might take a pint of the honey liquor and infuse lemon peel into it. Not the flavor profile you mentioned, but they compliment each other so well.

[@oyeatia3844]

So I watched this back in July out on a job, I'm a homebrewer but work doesn't let me be home as much as I'd like. I missed out on a beekeeping apprenticeship for work, but I was able to get a LOAD of honey and just today I did my first run of mead (vinegar and sacrifice not included) and I was just as astonished as you about the honey notes! Thank you and all that are like you for providing us lurking homebrewers with quality advice and reassurance brother.

[@sellitbetter]

As a mead maker myself, you should do a plum or cherry wood, for about a month or so and then check it it will play very well with those flora notes and help bring out that chocolate flavor you mentioned at the honey tasting.

[@tylerferrell2959]

1st a-b comparison after the age then maybe try an age in Riesling barrels or chunks of wood whatever is available

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

Yeah, it might be very different if properly aged first, not just raw off the primary

[@kaecycorbin6399]

US mead-maker here. I've been thoroughly enjoying your videos, and they've been tickling my interest in distilling. But this video right here has got me wanting to jump on in and buy a still just so I can taste what you've made! You've also earned my subscription - RIP my wallet (and liver)!

[@rayfox212]

Start watching barley and hops, bearded and bored, beaver diy as well and you will definitely kiss your wallet good bye. But it's just so darn much fun. Hope you jump down the rabbit hole and enjoy. Happy distilling.

[@NeutronLD50]

love the countdown timer thing you were using on the top of certain parts of the video. great idea!

[@andrewwinch4602]

As a mead maker, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Now I HAVE to! For your second jar, why not treat it like a mead and either back sweeten it with a similar honey (if you remembered what it was lol) or macerate some botanicals/fruits in it, or both?

[@russellmcgahee942]

Yea I have done the Mead thing too. I did wild Flower Honey; but it seemed like it was missing something after the initial brew. I added three Spice cloves to fifteen gallons and it was outstanding. Recipe three and one half gallons of Wild Flower honey to eleven gallons of water heat to 150* F for one hour. Add hand full of chopped Raisins and three spice cloves let cool to 89 * F add distillers yeast. Let Ferment for about a month and distill. Make sure to use an air lock during fermentation between the tank and atmosphere.

[@danielhughes6896]

Would love to see someone do this with Bochet, which is a mead made from caramelised honey, It has toffee/caramel/bourbon like flavours. it would be really interesting to see what it would be like distilled.

[@tabithavanderpool418]

Oh my that sounds awesome. I've only brewed a few personal gallons but that sounds like a yummy thing to try

[@dakota5660]

As a guy who's spent countless hours watching beekeeping videos and uses for honey, "first year beekeeper so the vids were part of my self learning process." You are the first person I've ever come across or heard about doing this with honey! Now I want to try it

[@microwavedsoda]

so weird. I just finished the Pillars of The Earth book and that got me wondering how mead was made and here you are. Amazing

[@StillIt]

Now thats a good book!

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

Do they happen to describe the mead in this? Asking for a friend 😂

[@microwavedsoda]

@@MethodtotheMeadness Just that King Stephen's guard had a massive hangover from too much wine and mead

[@microwavedsoda]

@@StillIt its the best I have ever read.

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

@@microwavedsoda I'll still give it a read, can't ignore these recommendations, but I was hoping to get some more content out of it.

[@jimwhipple9784]

Jessie We've done many, many batches of Mead. We have a Great beekeeper just down the road from us We've also got a great friend that does organic strawberries. Done a bunch of batches and it is exquisite I can only imagine how that would work out if you distilled it Gonna do it!!!

[@billybobjones4317]

I am a Bee Keeper and until I got my first Hive, I always thought what they sold in the SHops was real Honey. The first time I tasted Honey from my Hive, I was very surprised at the viscosity as well as the Colour and Flavour. As you described, I also tasted Caramel, something similar to the Old Hoadley's Violent Crumble minus the chocolate coating as well as a few lesser flavours I really couldn't place, until I started grinding my own Beans and bought a Coffee machine, one of the Beans I got had the same under tones as my Honey. I would say the combination of all the different Flowers in my area is what gives my Honey it's lesser flavours and they change depending on the time of the year as well as if it's the start of a Season, middle or end. I live in an area where the Bees can forage and make Honey 365 days a year. I now supply my whole family as well as friends with Honey as trying to eat the stuff from the Supermarkets is just impossible after eating fresh raw Honey. I was having about three gallons of Honey left over every harvest and was how I found Mead. We now no longer by Wine as I make three different meads, a More Dry version an almost draught version and a close to a Moscato version. I am very pleased as are our friends and family now that I discovered Mead :) The Bees are a great Hobby as I am retired and had some time left over each week and rather than sit and watch TV or spend more time on the computer, I found Bees to be a much healthier as well as a hobby that pays back more than it costs to start. Never thought about Distilling the Mead ? and is why I am watching this video :)

[@danpszeniczny9664]

I keep bees as well and am very interested in distillation. Honeybees are a wonder to me. The bees will ferment pollen and nectar so I have to think that this aroma will permeate the hive and uncapped honey and add to the finished honey taste and smell.

[@eknuds]

I watched a documentary about how sometimes exporters to the US cut their honey with corn syrup and maybe even worse.

[@jimathybindlenim6359]

Please never quit you are doing the planet a solid brother 🙏 💪

[@KubedPixel]

I've only made mead once before and it was lovely. I just treated the honey as a sugar wash. Honey, water, yeast, ferment. Can't remember what the yeast was I used though. After fermentation, I just did 1 alembic run and that's it. Still had the colour and flavours. I'm going to do another one soon but add jasmine and thyme into the pot as it's distilling.

[@BeardedBored]

I've always wanted to try this. Very cool to know that you can get so much flavor back. I'm voting for Cherry and Manuka wood:-)

[@brandongreene9615]

You gotta try the sassafras thing man haha

[@wiseguysoutdoors2954]

I was thinking that, or maple, with the sweetness of the honey. Medium toast might've interesting. Might have vacation this fall, may head for Texas. Love to get together with you and George if possible.

[@tomblankendaal3228]

Well please do try... Different honeys from different places taste nothing the same. But they're all so sweet. What if Beaver joined in and we could have a comparison around the world?

[@jasonpowell8582]

Send me a message Bearded. I “hypothetically” might have what you need.

[@ljlj4510]

Blend it with some of the peach brandy 👌🏻

[@michaelhaugen9878]

Greetings. I have been brewing my own Meads now for a year and a half. I have plans in the works to do something very similar... Still a Mead. This video gives me a much better idea of what volume I need to start with to arrive at the final distilled product.

[@KevinKos]

Mead is such a great drink! I helped my friend, who's a beekeeper, with creating delicious mead with some wormwood and my next video will be using that in a bee-inspired Negroni. Thanks for leaving a comment on my channel, it brought me here and you've got some awesome content! Keep it up, brother.

[@MethodtotheMeadness]

ooo I'll have to check out that mead cocktail video!

[@44065dave]

Done this many times. Makes a good drink. Very floral.

[@joe1138gz]

Jessie, you could try some traditional mead techniques like citrus zest or fruit. Personally I'd like to see you do the equivalent of an metheglin with spices and citrus zest.

[@jammybizzle666]

Meddyglyn if you're using the original Welsh name :)

[@elixwhitetail]

A bochet mead (the honey is caramelized before fermentation) would be very interesting as a not-whisky, in my opinion.

[@iAmEbolaWoT]

I have a metheglin recipe that I created called "Panty Dropper". It is a chocolate mead. I would love to distill it and see what it taste like. Unfortunately it is illegal where I am to have a home distillery. :(

[@sdogg73]

I just tossed four different meads into the still at once. one of which was a spiced cyser. I basically replease all the water in my traditional mead recipe with apple juice and then add all the spices traditionally found in an apple pie. Let me tell you, those spices came through in the final product and it is delicious.

[@sdogg73]

I made four batches of mead for my wedding a few years ago. Traditional, Peach, strawberry rhubarb and a spiced apple. after 2 years and having leftovers i tossed them all in the still and it came out wonderful. The best batch ive distilled to date. the spices from the spiced apple mead "cyser" came through splendidly. The final product was also surprisingly sweet. I cant wait to try another batch.

[@user-gc9yr1be6r]

This is something that I have wanted to try for a long time. I make my own mead and wonder what it would taste like using flavored meads. Particularly, one that I make from a recipe called "Viking blood" mead. Add blood oranges, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves into the mead.

[@leonardmettlach2614]

Man that sounds great

[@tediffrig1336]

Seep tea into the clear. Made a camomile mead that is awesome. So use it as a cold brew floral tea base

[@magnushagelberg]

thank you thank you thank you for this. I've been curious about this since your mead episode. btw.. do try some caramelized honey, it makes wonders for the aftertaste.

[@mgmcd1]

I use Tupelo or Orange Blossom honey for my BBQing. Tupelo is the sweetest honey you can get. OB has a strong orange flavor without tartness, so is great to add to a sauce.

[@walkered]

Fantastic as always! I love making mead! I make a rhubarb mead every other year and let it cellar for a year. So good, I think I'll have to distill a batch soon. Maybe make the mead and then distill it with the rhubarb as a vapor botanical. Hey! Maybe you could use the extra for another amazing gin experiment?

[@1320crusier]

Ive been using Champagne yeast for my mead and it works pretty well.

[@IndecisionTelevision]

I have very little interest in drinking and have been trying to figure out what it is exactly I like so much about your videos. You tasting and describing honey made it clear. doesnt matter the substance, you're a good, word user

[@jonmoore8916]

Love this! I make mead and have been talking with an acquaintes about distilling said mead. Idk if Balcones is available to you, but they are a distillery that is local to me and they have a similar product that is one of my favorite spirits. It is made from honey, figs and turbinado sugar. It's called Rumble! I definitely suggest checking it out.

[@bourbonbrofessor9938]

Visited Bardstown Ky last weekend. Happened to be wearing my Still it shirt, and someone noticed it. Of course had a conversation about distillation. Imagine that! And picked up 50 pounds of malted barley cheap..

[@BEAVERDIY]

Super video, have always wanted to do honey but so expensive. Cool result, on the second go for a fruity wood lioe apple or cherry.

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Sugar Maple Toast Infusion Spirals??? (they have them on AIH !!!)

[@Fatlax73]

This is awesome!!! I love how you can tell you have been "sampling" the merchandise at the end of the video!

[@ancestralwisdom448]

When I make mead, I throw in 1 tsp of boiled yeast and 10 whole raisins in as nutrient, and it seems to work excellently! Mixing half honey and half apple also helps the nutrient quantity, and gives you a delicious apple/honey spirit as a final product!

[@AKtmbr]

Try aging it on Amburana Wood, its a brazilian wood thats brings a "sap" (tree thing) + almondish notes. Its my favourite!

[@pookymd]

Aging it in a bourbon barrel would be interesting. I'm thinking honey flavored bourbon (i.e. American Honey) but in reverse. Bourbon flavored honey!!!

[@stevepenney2073]

great idea

[@scottfenner4051]

I've made 2 batches of mead and honestly it's so fun and delicious it's a very good starting wine/liquor to get going with brewing

[@luiscastaneda5481]

I love brewing with honey and making meads different seasons make different honey so there are an infinite possibility for dif6floral flavors to come through

[@ckimsey77]

[@basolisk3057]

I'd like to point out that most "honey" sold in major stores like Walmart is not actually honey but a flavored corn syrup or something of the like. That's why there honey is 1/5 the price of a market honey and also why is won't work for mead. Glad yours was sorted from a real source 👍

[@RingerDaClown]

I've been making a lot of mead and have been thinking a lot about how it would work distilled. So thanks a lot for this.

[@themisanthrope4646]

After watching some of your videos, my wife has downloaded divorce papers and threatened to print and file them if I do so much as a single liter of distilling. There is an exception to this threat! We have been looking into immigrating to New Zealand for some time now and are slowly making efforts to do so. She thinks it would be insanely awesome to learn this craft at that time. Especially because I'm a major fan of science, chemistry and general tinkering of any kind. What better way could anyone possibly think of to amuse someone like me?

[@tonyoliver4920]

The side spirt: Make a spiced “rum”, honey works well with spices especially cinnamon back sweeten with honey

[@jkh4q]

You should take that other honey and grab some edible flowers and herbs from a farmers market and make a super floral gin sort of thing. Edit: Not necessarily disincluding the option to macerate in (I would imagine) used wood chips/staves/barrel.

[@Luciffrit]

Haven't distilled anything before but I've made mead and also a mead like wine from maple syrup. I'd say have a crack at that. It comes out bright pink once fermented.

[@surgonan]

Just an FYI: Most cheap store bought “honey” is really flavored corn syrup. Especially true for anything that comes in a bear. Real raw honey from an apiary is the best thing to get for making mead. I actually prefer Fermaid O, nothing wrong with Fermaid K but it uses synthetic nitrogen sources. Fermaid O is organic sources of nitrogen and dead yeast hulls. Yes, yeast are cannibals...

[@sgarnon]

go to local markets, theres usually a co op selling awesome honey

[@surgonan]

@@sgarnon I know local bee keepers and trade cases of mead for honey.

[@maskcollector6949]

You can find Organic Grade A raw honey at the store nowadays, just buy from a local keeper.

[@surgonan]

@@maskcollector6949 that’s a gimmick. There is no grading system for honey in the USA and there are no regulations for “organic honey”. Honey can’t be claimed as 100% organic, not in the traditional sense. Bees can easily collect pollen from a 5 miles radius. They are wild insects and don’t just collect pollen from “organically grown plants”. Companies that classify their honey as organic only do so because they can charge more from people that don’t know any difference. Again there are no regulations required to call it organic.

[@jefferyzielke7665]

I make this every year. I build in some DME for nutrition and flavor. I then age it with white oak. It is a very special sprit.

[@TalKScribe]

Step 1: Grow a beard.

[@Aaron-bq9my]

Accurate

[@jimbrialinnocent3633]

Listening to people talking about something their knowledgeable about is always amazing to me.

[@jerridschilling259]

OOoo, put some Jalapeños in it and make it a slightly sweet, slightly spicy liqueur.

[@lancetower3321]

I have been thinking of doing this. But keeping some wash, and fortify with the distillate.

[@tday99music]

Appreciate the honesty in advertising, glad to see the content you can share with us

[@kapstersmusic]

If you really want to try some flavorful mead, drop about 5-10 stuffed cups of aromatic rose petals into just off-the boil-water (for a 5 gallon mead batch). Then add 1 gallon of honey, ferment once it cools enough. K1V-116 handles honey well, up to about 14% abv, and I think is has a great flavor profile. If you use pink rose petals it will actually tint the mead pink, provided you use the boil first technique!

[@jasonmorello1374]

from the little straight meads I have done, I find pure honey alone to dry and subtle, and also difficult to clear. So, I go for a mix, of 5-8 lbs honey, 2 gallons fruit juice(peach, apple are really nice), 3 gallons distilled water, for a base 5 gallon run. I do agree on the wine yeasts as they more acid tolerant and alcohol tolerant on average. My next mead I plan to do a variation on hopped mead, but instead of hops using a large quantity of shredded ginger. Honey, Ginger and Peach just sounds amazing.

[@dire_prism]

I like the idea of backsweetening with honey, as well as perhaps making a fortified mead. Or perhaps a mead "gin" with traditional mead herbs.

[@HavocParadox]

Orange blossom honey mead.. is fantastic.. So much flavor

[@williamtrailor9321]

Love the freedom units conversion. I was confused when you said liters.

[@KandRbar]

I did this last year with a baking spice infused mead I made. The mead was not good so I turned it into mead brandy and aged it with applewood and cherrywood. It was very good after that.

[@miladmoghaddassi]

I did that before and divided to 2 different batches... One with oak only and the other 2 liters with oak and 1 tbsp of honey and pepper seeds. I think the results was fantastic.

[@igounfazed]

I have distilled mead as well as sugar water for flavored (tea'ed) vodkas. I've also run a single run mead through a ceramic filter (took a very long time). All were enjoyable.

[@jasoneubanks645]

The Up North Distillery in Post Falls, Idaho specializes in honey distillates. They make a fine product

[@lukaturk]

Heat up to 35C and mix in raw honey - best winter dring. In Slovenian "Medica".

[@JuanBrolo]

This coming across my suggested is so awesome lol. I've now watched 20 videos and I'm hooked. Thank you for the content. When I get paid I'll be joining the community

[@markpeene4757]

You should try reverse distilling mead it is really easy and makes it a lot better than the regular mead and you don't need a distilling setup

[@RobnKath]

Just an idea make a grape mead/port and fortify the mead with the un-oaked spirt this is something I tend to try after I harvest my grapes this year.

[@Asrashas]

Wow. I've made some mead a couple years ago. Always wondered how it would be distilled, but didn't have the right opportunity to try it out myself. Huge thank you for doing this.

[@bahadorparyazani181]

I like it all natural so Instead of yeast nutrient I use grape syrup (ripe grape juice cooked and concentrated). just add 10% of wash volume and It is dry in 3 days, it also adds more complexity to the flavor. Add 1-2 gr of Saffron to 20 lit wash and it will taste like heaven. P.S. I also do a single pot still (no stripping run) to maintain the flavors, honey flavors are very volatile when distilled.

[@thefirstbushman]

We made some meadshine over 2weeks and it turned out great definitely dry however compared to our other batches it was a pleasant change from the sweetness and god it knocks your socks off

[@RaidNat35]

I like the Port barrel idea.

[@stevepoulsen83]

Very excited for this. I make a bit of mead and when i stumbled across your distilling videos the first thought was "Ooooh i can distil a mead!". Cant wait to see how it turns out after the oaking!

[@brockstanford7608]

I live near many beekeepers, but never really gave it much thought to distill a mead and oak it. Now I'm excited to try it myself!

[@jacobingraham1055]

Look up a Bochet Mead and make one of those to distill. It will be your new favorite. It comes off strong caramel notes.

[@thisolddog2259]

Orange blossom honey comes out nice with ec118. About 40 days.

[@MrRedeyedJedi]

I've been considering doing this, so thought I'd look it up. I think yiy should age the spare in a cask

[@chrisjohnson9645]

I have found that if you flavor your mead with fruit that fruit flavor really comes through when you distill. Strawberry is great. I did strawberyy-rhubarb. Think about sweetening with honey. You can do the white by the glass. Try sweetening the oaked as well. Just a hint.

[@HKRXPRS]

If you still have the start and end of the run I'd combine that with a slightly caramelised Box Gum (or similarly strong) honey and a few burnt oak chunks and leave it a few weeks. You could also add some cinnamon, vanilla or maltodextrin when proofing for added flavour and/or mouth feel.

[@Theysaywhatnow1]

From the look of the honey along with your description as deep with the earthy and bitter flavours of caramel, chocolate and coffee along with it being from Hives Manuatu it is probably field honey from an area with a lot of Rewarewa and Manuka trees. Very good honey overall.

[@trevorruta3316]

I've been making mead for about a year now. I would love to see you do this again, but step feed your mead. You can get anywhere north of 16% step feeding.

[@thermonucleardevice]

I've actually had good results using OYL-61 for mead, ripped down to .998 (12.5 abv) in a couple weeks. Thin, angry honey water at first, but was quite sweet and full bodied after a few months in bottles. Going to try some metheglyns this summer.

[@agreen9813]

Thank you...🙏 I’ve been making mead for years now, and I have always wanted to distill some, just to see. I’m very curious how it turned out.

[@StillIt]

Nice, honestly man it's getting better and more honey like the more it sits. Definitely worth a try, although silly expensive if your paying for the honey.

[@thepiratepenguin4465]

I found 1kg honey to 3L of spring water with 5g of Active Dry Yeast works well for me. I all so added Rooibos tea, Cinnamon sticks & Star anise for additional flavours. I still have to wait 6 weeks before I can try my first batch.

[@0623kaboom]

I think you went at your first try the right way you got advice of someone you trust with what you were starting with .... meade ... got as close to what they suggested as you could .. then went with what you know and worked from there ... BUT you saved some unaltered ... to try a few other things with at a future date ... perhaps put some in a ceramic container and see what happens as it concentrates down like a single malt scotch