Moonlight Meadery

Merry Meadmas (or is that Meadmust?)! In Episode 25, we celebrate the holidays with audio from the multitude of mead masters we’ve had the fortunate opportunity to interview this year. You’ll hear from Ken Schramm, Brad Dahlhofer, Paul Zimmerman, Michael Fairbrother, Sergio Moutela, and Jeff Herbert. Topics include agave meads to make margaritas; the historical mead figures of Eva Crane, Roger Morse, and Keith Steinkraus; the acidity of honey and using acids for modifications; and using teas and hot peppers in making your mead.

Alehorn_ice There’s a lot here so get out your pen and paper to take notes! And don’t forget your AleHorn! Tysen tries his out in the episode, and has nothing but praise, well, except that he needs the extra large tankard for his fancy ice.

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Continue reading “MM025: A Merry Meadmas with the Mead Masters”

In this episode, we bring on Michael Fairbrother to discuss making mead consistently. Michael is the founder and head meadmaker at Moonlight Meander and the current president of the American Mead Makers Association. His number one tip, make more mead! Michael went so far as a homebrewer to make 60 batches a year to hone his chops. We also discuss yeast selection, batch size, and temperature control.

Michael’s thoughts on honey quantities in mead:

As soon as I got away from trying to think of things from a pound perspective to a ratio perspective, it all just clicked into place, like the magic key that opens the door. So 25% honey, 75% water or juice, depending on the ratio, is my de facto go to recipe for anything I want to make.

Right click here to download the mp3 directly.

Continue reading “MeadMakr 014: Making Mead Consistently with Michael Fairbrother”