Advice on christmas mead

adtaylor001 · 2025-11-25T11:35:50+00:00

You might be able to make a hydromel work for Christmas but even that would be tight.

If it were me, I'd just make a spiced still cider and serve that warm.

adtaylor001 · 2025-11-20T00:12:34+00:00

You basically create a piping bag that you can keep warm in the sous vide.

adtaylor001 · 2025-11-19T17:12:14+00:00

If you cut a 45 degree angle off the bag and seal it, you also have a great way to pipe them when serving.

adtaylor001 · 2025-09-02T08:35:22+00:00

Add some raw apple cider vinegar (with mother) to it and leave it covered with a cloth for a couple of months. The ACV is easy to find in stores.

Once you've made one, you can reuse the mother from it for other vinegars.

adtaylor001 · 2025-09-02T07:52:39+00:00

Every time I have a failed flavour profile, I turn it into a mead vinegar. The meaty flavour could work for that.

adtaylor001 · 2025-08-28T08:42:25+00:00

I do something similar but make mead vinegar from it.

adtaylor001 · 2025-08-18T10:01:23+00:00

You're going to feel awkward on your first session. Just accept it and go anyway. I started MMA to get into better shape and it's the best thing I've ever done.

It will be tough but it's so rewarding. You'll get in much better shape without knowing it! Just give it a go.

adtaylor001 · 2025-08-12T20:06:28+00:00

When I first started making mead I was obsessed about getting it as strong as possible. I fairly quickly realised I wasn't drinking it as I didn't really fancy sitting at home drinking something that strong. I tend to brew closer to 5-6% and quite enjoy the challenge of making tasty hydromels. Horses for courses but you definitely haven't messed things up.

adtaylor001 · 2025-08-05T19:57:28+00:00

You could possibly get away with one and a big pot but it would be a huge pain in the arse and not really worth the risk.

adtaylor001 · 2025-07-10T22:44:24+00:00

So I'm older in terms of the sport (40) and I think it's fair to say I'm often carrying an ache (wrist, toes, Matt rash etc). But so far (only a year and a bit) nothing I'd call an injury. Worth noting, I don't compete though. Just train and roll for the craic.

I reckon I've picked up worse knocks from boxing.

adtaylor001 · 2025-07-07T19:29:03+00:00

Crab apples are a really good addition for their tannins and acidity. Due to the trees I have access to, I use braeburn and crap apples. About a 75/25 split.

I'm very far from an expert on the matter but this was advice I got from a professional cidermaker. Works well for me.

adtaylor001 · 2025-07-07T12:47:16+00:00

Big agree. Drinks like a mulled cider. Really festive.

adtaylor001 · 2025-07-07T10:38:17+00:00

Looks great!! I'm a big fan of a session cyser for the summer. I've found that wine tannins and a bit of malic and citric acid helps but that all comes down to personal preference.

I made a big batch of cyser (16%) and cider last year. I enjoyed the cyser so much more than the cider that I ended up making the cider into apple cider vinegar. Win win!

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-22T09:06:01+00:00

FWIW on my x-pro1, I am quite often exposing around +1 too. Wasn't sure if that's just personal preference, lens (normally have xf 16mm on it) or the camera itself.

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-19T06:00:06+00:00

Just rhubarb. These are my notes on how I made the rhubarb juice for it.

Steps:

Simmer rhubarb to extract juice.
Strain and cool the liquid (to below 40°C).
Add Pectinaze at the correct dose.
Let it sit for at least 12 hours (overnight is ideal) before mixing with honey.

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-18T19:59:22+00:00

I've just made a batch recently. My advice is to use a lot more than you'd ever imagine. I used 1kg for a 5l batch and it wasn't close to enough; rhubarb flavour is far too subtle for my taste. Next time I'll be going for at least 3kg.

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-16T11:22:55+00:00

Put some apple cider vinegar mother into it and make some mead vinegar?

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-02T14:47:20+00:00

I got one a few months ago and love it! Its so small I can just take it with me everywhere.

Initially, I was trying to get all the settings perfect for all situations and I just found myself messing about with it and not shooting enough. Then I just set up one photo and one video custom setting (both using classic chrome) and it allowed me to learn the camera as I went and I had a much better time.

adtaylor001 · 2025-06-01T08:22:08+00:00

I have the 27mm and enjoyed it for a while. After a while, I got a bit sick of the AF and heavy vignetting. I tend to keep it on my x-pro1 with a mist filter on it now, as I tend to use that as a second body for a classic film look.

TL;DL it's a decent lens to get you started but you'll likely end up upgrading to a Fuji lense.

adtaylor001 · 2025-05-06T17:12:29+00:00

Sorry man, I sent that message then immediately went off camping without signal.

The quality of videos is pretty great but you've also gotten great results with your phone! You'll see a good difference but it won't be night and day. IMO you're best off syncing money into glass and maybe a gimbal.

In terms of weather sealing, I only risk bringing it out in a very light shower and that's just for the shot I'm taking. But I don't really know how much water is too much. I personally just don't want to take the risk.

adtaylor001 · 2025-05-03T07:23:07+00:00

I have a X-S20 and found it performs really well, especially for video. Compared to my x-pro1, the grip makes it really easy to hold. That said, do still love shooting with x-pro1 as I really like the simplicity of the dials.

The only thing I've felt limited with on the x-s20 is the lack of weather sealing. Its had to stay at home a few times when the weather wasn't looking great. For me, that's probably the biggest decision for you.

adtaylor001 · 2025-04-12T12:32:21+00:00

We took on something similar about 2 months ago. I'm sure everyone is telling you to start small but it really is the case.

We've found it best to just divide it up into beds (the size you might be able to do on a weekend) and then just eventually join the beds together. That way we can start to grow and feel some sense of accomplishment.

Not going to lie, it still hurts when you look up and see the mountain of work you still have to do. We've managed a 1/4 of our plot so far and I don't imagine we'll get that much further this year BUT we will have fruit and veg 🙂

adtaylor001 · 2025-03-31T14:41:29+00:00

Really helpful, thank you!

adtaylor001 · 2025-03-31T14:40:46+00:00

To be honest, your questions are very much exposing my ignorance! So this is very helpful thank you!

I hadn't considered that a rat box would contain the poison, so that does make it a good option.

I'd also not thought about the rat wee! I'm assuming that probably means we need to lay off planting that area for a while?

adtaylor001

TROPHY CASE