mead

Brad’s Tart Cherry Mead – Mead Case Study

by Brad Smith on January 15, 2024 · 2 comments

This week I thought I would mix things up a bit by presenting a very high gravity Tart Cherry fruit mead made with widely available ingredients. High Gravity Mead Design I started making high gravity melomels back in 2016 as I have always been fascinated with the style, which I find to be some of […]

Ken Schramm joins me this week to discuss which fruits work best in meads. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio element. Topics in This Week’s Episode […]

Carbonating Your Beer with Stout Mix Gas

by Brad Smith on February 14, 2023 · 0 comments

This week I take a look at how to carbonate your stouts using a stout mix of 70% nitrogen, 30% CO2 gas to get a smooth creamy head on your stout as well as its use in wines, mead and cider. What is Stout Mix Gas? Most home brewers use carbon dioxide (CO2) gas cylinders […]

This week Michael Fairbrother joins me from Moonlight Meadery to talk about Cider which has become his top selling beverage. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio […]

Ken Schramm joins me from Schramm’s Meadery to discuss growing fruit for use in his big fruit meads. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio element. Topics […]

Working with Fruits in BeerSmith 3

by Brad Smith on September 19, 2021 · 2 comments

This week I cover some of the basic concepts of using fruit in BeerSmith for making beer, wine, cider or meads. Fruit Basics BeerSmith 3 supports the use of fruit juice, purees, honey and whole fruits natively when making beer, mead, wine and cider recipes. Typically most fruits are added during primary or secondary fermentation. […]

Michael Fairbrother from Moonlight Meadery joins me this week to discuss honey varieties and mead making. Michael is owner and founder of the award winning Moonlight Meadery. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. […]

BeerSmith Web Recipe Editor Overview Video

by Brad Smith on May 30, 2021 · 5 comments

Here’s a video overview of the major features available in the BeerSmith Web beer, mead, cider and wine recipe editor which works with BeerSmith desktop to make it easy to create and maintain your recipes. Related Videos: Overview for Existing Users | BeerSmith Detailed Overview | Building a Recipe | The Design Tab | Find/Scale […]

Mead Making Fundamentals – Part 2

by Brad Smith on February 16, 2021 · 0 comments

This week I cover mead making fermentation and finishing. Last week in part 1, I provided an overview of mead making and the first steps of making the must, pitching your yeast and adding nutrients. This week I will cover the remaining steps. As I covered last week the key components of modern mead making […]

Mead Making Fundamentals – Part 1

by Brad Smith on January 24, 2021 · 0 comments

This week I take a look at the fundamentals of modern mead making, including staggered mead nutrients, degassing and finishing a mead. Modern Mead Making I started making mead a few years back, and it has been an enjoyable addition to my beer brewing hobby. Most home brewers have the equipment for mead making with […]

Staggered Mead Nutrients and BeerSmith 3

by Brad Smith on December 29, 2020 · 0 comments

This week we take a look at some alternative strategies for adding nutrients to your mead for proper fermentation. I also explain the TiONSA and TONSA 3 models which are implemented in BeerSmith. Staggered Nutrient Additions A key part of modern mead making techniques is the staggered addition of mead nutrients. Prior to the adoption […]

Steve Piatz, the author of “The Complete Guide to Making Mead” joins me this week to discuss mead making techniques. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio […]

This week I take a look at some basic concepts of backsweetening as well as how to use the backsweeten tool in BeerSmith to sweeten beers, meads, wines and ciders. Backsweetening Basics Backsweetening is the process of adding sugar, juice, honey or other sweeteners to beverages like mead, beer, wine or cider after the beverage […]

Michael Fairbrother and Berniece Van Der Berg from Moonlight Meadery join me this week to discuss mead. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or on Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file [audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-197-Mead.mp3] Topics in This Week’s Episode (49:19) This week I welcome […]

This week I look at how to adjust the free sulfite levels in your mead, wine or cider to achieve good shelf stability. Most commercial wines, meads and ciders have the words “contains sulfites” somewhere on the label. Sulfites, a name for Sulfer Dioxide (SO2), is a preservative that is widely used in winemaking and […]