Homebrewing

So just what else did Glenn do when he wasn't taking care of baby Maia??!!??

Well, with 3 gallons of honey laying around; what else - Let's make some MEAD!!!

Back in summer 2001 (just before Tripzilla), Monika, her co-worker Greg from Stepan and myself decided to make some mead with honey we received from Wisconsin.  We made three types: traditional mead (which never made it past primary fermentation), a mixed berry Melomel, and lastly a Braggot (which I still have 3/4 bottle left - it's pure drinking bliss!!)

We had received a 3 gallon pail of honey from Wisconsin earlier in the year and both Monika and I knew exactly what we were going to do with it - yes -> MEAD!!!.

So here I am weighing out some honey for a Braggot recipe.  A braggot is a mead made with malt and hops; a pseudo wine/beer.

Here's a picture of the hops (used an ale type hop) in a steeping  bag, hydrometer, and our yeastie friends multiplying. 

Our must/wort concoction - almost ready to be put into our primary fermentation carboy.

Our temperature is at 75 degrees F and is ready to have the yeast pitched.

Here we are!!!  The yeast had been added and the airlock has been put on!!!  The garbage bag is used to keep out sunlight since this will kill off the yeast and stall fermentation. 

As you can also see, I've taken a baseline specific gravity.  This will help determine the percent alcohol at the end of the process.  So this batch goes down into the basement to ferment.  After a couple of months, it will be racked into another carboy and then eventually bottled.  I'm aiming that this batch will be ready to drink by Maia's 1st birthday in 2007.

In the meantime, I've just finished a mead recipe that should be ready in 3 weeks and I'm researching a good Melomel (fruit mead) for the rest of the honey we have.  Stay tuned!!!

FYI:  Much of the information for mead-making I've read from www.gotmead.com and by the book: "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm.  If your interested, definitely check these out.