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About My Brews

Several years ago, my kids got me a Mr. Beer kit for Father's Day and I found the process interesting and decided I wanted to learn more. Over the next few months, I found a local brew store that I could purchase other equipment and upgrading my beers along with it. I started out with all malt extract beers and tried my hand at partial mash brewing finding the flavor of the later more enjoyable. It also gave me the opportunity to experiment with different recipes and types of beers including a Kolsh and an Imperial Stout.

Recently, my wife and I discover a meadery in Prescott, AZ while on vacation there and became interested if it was something that I could do. I had been brewing beers for a number of years as was looking for a new challenge to try. I had tried making wine from a kit and ended up making a moldy, smelly, mess that ended up being tossed down the sink. Mead, however, proved much more forgiving partially from the natural antibiotics found in honey, the primary fermentable sugar in mead. My first mead was a Cherry Melomel which my wife and I found delicious which currently let me to try out other meads as well.

Technical Brewing

Although I have been brewing beers now for several years, I have decided to start with something a little more difficult; mead. Mead is an ancient fermentable drink dating back to almost 30,000 years. Although it has fallen out of favor in place of craft beers and wines. It has experienced a recent resurgence. Using the beer making equipment I already had and some glass jugs I bought, I looked up how and made my first batch of Cherry Melomel. After sampling the results before it even had a chance to age, I was determined to make several more batches.

Each batch goes through five stages before being tasted by family and friends. I start with the honey, water, and yeast with a bit of acid to adjust the pH in the primary fermenter for about 30 days. I then move it to the secondary fermenter and add any fruit and/or spices at that time for another 30 days or until it starts to clear. I then move it again to a clarifier for the sediment to settle out to the bottom of the jug. Next, I move it to another clarifier to get any residual sediment out before bottling it and letting it age. Total time between making the mead to drinking is at least six months and sometimes even longer.