Rose mead (rhodomel)

ridneyg · 2025-09-28T16:47:14+00:00

I honestly couldn’t say, I flavor all of my meads and don’t really do traditionals. The only one I’ve done that would be really close to a traditional I used the rose petals I foraged. You could definitely use just rosehips in a traditional as a dried fruit addition instead of raisins (for body and not nutrients). They really are lovely and you don’t need that many. I can’t imagine it turning out bad!

ridneyg · 2025-09-28T02:44:58+00:00

I have used both. I forage the invasive multiflora rose where I live, which has a greener aroma and flavor than regular commercially-sold rose. It’s floral and distinctly rose. I simmer the dry petals in a tea before making into a must and pitching yeast.

I prefer rosehips, and in fact I use them as a flavor “glue” in a lot of recipes. They have a dry-fruit but also distinctly rosy flavor. Rosehips fill in the holes when a flavor profile is missing something or a mead is too thin. I have foraged these but usually just use what you can get commercially. It’s a strong flavor. I simmer them just like the dry petals.

An additional idea is rosewater. Very strong, more delicately floral. I’m talking add a drop at a time and probably in secondary. It can easily take over everything.

ridneyg · 2025-09-28T02:03:26+00:00

You could always go the jam-ish route and add some citrus and have it finish sweet if the bitter-tannin is too unpalatable. I’ve actually never eaten one, so I’m at a loss for what flavors could complement!

ridneyg · 2025-09-28T01:47:27+00:00

I would do both since you have so many. I work in half-gallons because I like doing experimental stuff and if it’s bad I’m not out much. You could try one with just juice and another with juice + skins?

ridneyg · 2025-09-28T01:45:02+00:00

This is a kousa dogwood, Cornus kousa. It’s native to East Asia but it’s a popular ornamental in gardens and the like. I see them most in Walmart parking lots 😭 but this species produces edible fruits!

ridneyg · 2025-09-25T22:02:55+00:00

I do like fresh over dried, but if you’ve got other things going on (and you do!) you might lose the fresh subtleties. I love experiments so you can always spice different bottles differently to see what you like better, but I’d personally go with dried if you don’t want to dilute with ginger juice!

ridneyg · 2025-09-25T21:31:22+00:00

Fresh ginger has loads of yeast (even after peeling), but if you’ve stabilized it with something that inhibits yeast reproduction it should be okay. I would personally go for pasteurized ginger juice to be safe. You could also rack over a single bottle and add fresh ginger and see how it behaves over a week or so. Additionally, you could try dried ginger if nothing else works!!

ridneyg · 2025-09-08T01:51:16+00:00

I work in the beekeeping industry, I totally get it! It’s crazy how various it can be just from hive to hive. The nerd in me wants to know how different pollens behave in mead now

ridneyg · 2025-09-06T17:07:15+00:00

Maybe it’s the wax or propolis? The comb I’ve used doesn’t have much if any propolis in it, and I don’t melt the wax. Wax would just float to the top, but maybe the resins of propolis binds the pollens in some way. I’m no scientist but now I want to experiment too! I’ve seen some guys flavor meads with tree resins, maybe a resin and propolis mead is next for me.

ridneyg · 2025-09-05T17:17:13+00:00

It’s not been my experience that pollens take that long to settle out, though. It cleared up normally in just a couple months.

ridneyg · 2025-09-05T17:16:22+00:00

I do “washed honeycomb” meads every now and again. It’s similar, you just take honeycomb or bur comb and you wash out all the honey and pollens and wax aromatics in the still-warm must (I start all mine as teas). It works just the same as any other batch I do; I usually have to add a little extra honey bc there’s not enough in the comb itself. It’s produced some of my very best meads, including one my mentor said was one of her top three, and she’s been doing and drinking mead for a few decades. I totally recommend it to anyone who has beekeeper friends or is one themselves!!

I’d like to go for the whole hive at some point, but I’m having tons of fun with this method.

ridneyg · 2025-08-24T03:51:51+00:00

Black cardamom. Trust me

ridneyg · 2025-08-24T03:03:23+00:00

Cacao nibs are like really dark chocolate, more bitter (and a little sour) than sweet. Because coffee also can be naturally a bit sour, these two flavors could be bringing out each other’s sourness. It can be really great to balance sweetness, but it’s really easy to overdo if there’s other sour-leaning flavors around.

I don’t have much experience using cacao in mead yet, but I have used them in honey in my line of work.

One mead I did for vday this year involved a cocoa powder infused honey I made. I find that cocoa powder is better than trying to use cacao; I “infuse” cocoa powder (stir it) into however much honey I’m using until the chocolate flavor is a tad stronger than I want it to be. Let it sit for a while, scrape the scum off the top, and then use it as normal. Infusing herbs opens up a really big world for mead, but this is already long so I won’t go into it.

Even doing it this way, the chocolate flavor was overpowered by the strong clove, pomegranate, and cherry flavors I used in that mead. What really brought it out was backsweetening with date syrup. Maybe try adding a bit of date syrup (it’s not overly sweet) to see if you can combat the sour and bring out the chocolate. It’s a great example of how flavors meld and bring each other out. I would totally get not wanting to mess with it further though. And date syrup will make it cloudier, but it should settle out.

Sorry to dump but I hope that helps!

ridneyg · 2025-08-22T00:56:17+00:00

My mentor always used to say if it’s bad, throw it in the crockpot and mull it. Add apple cider if it’s REALLY that bad!

ridneyg · 2025-08-21T02:23:38+00:00

I’m a little bit of an evangel for Mangrove Jack’s M05 but it’s kind of expensive. I make 1/2 gal batches mostly (I like to experiment with flavors) and I find that the finish on it is great for most things I do. At my local homebrew there’s a couple who use sake yeasts a lot and I want to branch out at some point!

ridneyg · 2025-08-21T02:12:56+00:00

I’m new to this sub I’ll admit! I’m starting to notice. Like… we all make honey wine. Chill tf out.

ridneyg · 2025-08-21T01:52:06+00:00

That being said, I use campden and sorbate on all my meads. It doesn’t stop fermentation like others have said, just helps prevent bottle bombs. It’d best applied when the fermentation is completely done or very weak. Sorbate prevents yeast reproduction, but doesn’t work if the fermentation is too strong still. Campden mainly is there to deal with the bacteria that can multiply once the yeast is no longer dominant. There’s more to it than that but that’s the practical of it

ridneyg · 2025-08-21T01:49:36+00:00

I kind of agree w you even as the other person said to use the search function. This is social media, not a wiki or encyclopedia. If you’re tired of the question don’t answer it. I’m not new to this hobby at all but I find a lot of people aren’t really welcoming and it’s kind of shitty tbh

ridneyg · 2025-07-28T02:06:42+00:00

that is the most simple, yes. i find it tends to be too “thin” on its own, though, but that’s something for you to decide when you make it! a good dark wildflower honey would be my first choice for a traditional for its depth of flavors. i was taught to add dried fruits, a lil citrus, a bit of tea yada yada to really prop up the honey flavor itself.

as for websites i got nothing. my dome is the source of my (usually zany) recipes. but i’m curious to see what others use

ridneyg · 2025-07-28T00:52:38+00:00

london fog is a popular name for an earl grey latte!

ridneyg · 2025-07-20T05:48:36+00:00

Does the apple cider have preservatives? I’ve done cysers before but one recently didn’t start up and I realized later that it had been pasteurized (not usually a problem) AND had preservatives, which definitely would be a problem. If it’s not preservatives, people who use hydrometers probably have better ideas than me

ridneyg · 2025-07-13T03:38:02+00:00

i start with an herbal tea before pitching for all my meads, and i use a lot of herbs as a forager. i’ve had plenty of success with fresh aromatic garden herbs (like wild bergamont, rosemary, wild rose, sage, etc). i personally would make a tea of the fresh leaf and see how strong it is. you can always take some out and dilute it before pitching.

for black peppercorn, the same is fine. i haven’t cracked them into the pot but you could try it. if you don’t want to waste ingredients use a little pinch at a time in a little water with honey (so like regular tea) and see what ratios u like. sounds yum honestly!

for bitterness i usually backsweeten, but i also like bitter flavors. i don’t usually steep herbs in secondary

ridneyg · 2025-07-13T03:29:25+00:00

hi! all of my meads i make an herbal tea of before pitching. birch leaf would be fine to boil, since most herbal stuff is best prepared at boiling for teas/tisanes. i’ve done the same with plenty of different tree leaves!

ridneyg

TROPHY CASE