My First Mead

Update 12/23 - Bottled. Only got about 3/4 gallon. It's pretty tasty, so we'll see how it ages. Easy to make, so I'll probably throw in another one soon, too.
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Because why not. Based on what some people recommend as a mead to start with - Joe's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead. And because I had the itch and was lazy. Just like any recipe, I made changes and subs based on what I had and what seemed like a good idea.

Mead Batch #01
Joe's Ancient (1 gallon)
-3lbs Mesquite Honey
-1 large navel orange
-1/4 cup dried blueberries
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 clove, whole
-dash nutmeg from grinder
-1/8 tsp Fermaid K
-1 tsp bread yeast
OG: 1.110 (calculated)
FG: 1.019
ABV: 12%
Brought a half gallon of water with yeast nutrient to a boil. Washed and cut the orange, and jammed it into my fermenter. After water boiled for a little bit, tossed in berries, spices, and killed the heat. Added the honey while heating a quart of water in a tea kettle. Used the hot kettle water to rinse out my can of honey. Let it cool off a bit, and poured everything into the fermenter. Topped off to 1 gallon with the left over kettle water. As it turns out, 3lbs of honey is dang close to 1 qt in volume and with the orange this method got me just about on the nose for volume. Let the whole mess cool to room temperature and added the yeast. I know, it makes no sense, but I'm just going to trust Joe on this one. Fermented at ambient in the dark. Waiting for mead.

I'm actually sort of excited about this. It's a lot faster than brewing, and there are a few recipes I want to try - persimmon mead, t'ej (hopped, had some at GABF...dang good stuff), chocolate mead...maybe even one that's just mead. Damn. Now I have to go to the Renaissance Festival.

The First Batch

Welcome! This blog will be dedicated to our foray into the world of homebrewed beer. For me it started when the ladyfriend and I slipped into a brew supply store a few months back and decided to give it a go. As our first attempt, we brewed an irish red ale from an extract kit. A month later and a tasty red was in our glasses. Onward and upward...

The Beer
Batch #1
Irish Red Ale (MoreBeer Kit145), English Ale Yeast (White Labs)
Fermented in primary for 2 weeks, no secondary.
OG: 1.048 (temp. corrected from 1.046)
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.7%-5%
I lost my original notes on this one, so no recipe or calculated IBUs.

This is a good one. There's a reason the kit's a top seller. MoreBeer recommends the Irish Ale yeast, but the English Ale yeast was suggested to me by an employee at the shop and it does not disappoint.