Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I have a fun new Mead Making Project and it is called the “Groovy Coconut Mead”. I named it this because the coconuts I used are called One Groovy Coconut. Anyway, coconut mead sounds like it might be delicious but how about fermenting it right in the coconut? Yup, thats right! I drilled holes in the coconuts, put the must in there then put the rubber stoppers and airlocks right in em. Lot of fun and let’s see how it comes out. Two coconuts gave me about a quart.

More about the project including a video here: One Groovy Coconut Mead

Popularity: 5% [?]

If you have been following along with this blog you probably know that I have been making a lot of mead. I and some business partners have been developing it with the intention of making a commercial meadery. So we have been doing a lot of experimenting with meads and so far that has been a lot of interesting (and delicious) work. 

Mead does take time and it will probably be two years before our first bottles of mead hit the market so to fill the gap in time between then and now we are launching a line of products for home brewers and mead makers. The first product is now officially launched and it is the Renaissance Carboy Cover.

If you brew your own beverages you understand the importance of keeping it protected against the adverse affects of light. These carboy covers will help you do this. They come in four different colors and fit carboys between the sizes of 5 and 6.5 gallons. 

The covers have some nice design elements. They are made of water-resistant nylon so are very easy to clean. They have an elastic band at the bottom so you can place them on your carboy without any lifting and they have a drawstring at the top for a snug fit around the neck. They fit carboys ranging from five to six and a half gallons in size.

If you are curious about the covers or would like to learn more visit the Renaissance Mead Website.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I have just started twelve new batches of Mead (the front two rows in the picture).

I have been reall wanting to get a good handle on the different types of yeasts and how they affect both the taste of mead and the fermenting cycle so what I did is make all of the variables identical including temperature, honey, water, sanitation and everything else except for the yeast. So, now I will be able to track comparatively speaking how each type of yeast develops, how long they take and how they taste.

It should be an interesting experiment that will yield some good results. If there is no noticeable difference between many of the batches I will be able to identify which type of yeast matures into a good mead the fastest.

Interesting Notes within the first couple of days. Some of the yeast are off to a great start and some are slower. Some yeast have already started quite a nice leeds accumulation and some have not. There is also a marked difference in color across the various batches.

Some info:

• Type of honey used is wildflower directly from an apiary.
• All Equipment sanitized using Easy Clean
• Must santized with Potassium Metabisulfate and allowed to sit for 24 Hours
• After waiting period yeast energizer and nutrient added, then yeast pitched

Lots more mead making stuff on my website here

Popularity: 16% [?]