VineLabs Honing Mead Making Kit met gist en Starter Home Brew Accessoires, Herbruikbaar, Stap-voor-Stap Brouwproces, 1 Gallon, Gemaakt in de VS

Excited to try my first batch when its done, 5 stars for very responsive and supportive customer service support. The airlock broke when I was inserting it into the stopper. I emailed their customer support address and they responded quickly and sent out a package with not only a new airlock, but 2 new stoppers and an entire set of yeast, sanitizer and feed in case this batch doesn't work out. Only complaint I could have is that it seems other people have had issues with the airlock breaking so maybe it needs to be made of a different type of plastic that's less rigid or have softer stoppers for the carboy.

This mead kit is very similar to several other mead kits out there. I am not sure which brand was first, but they are all very similar to one another. This kit is designed for someone with no experience that wants to follow basic directions and create a tasty alcoholic beverage they can impress their friends and family with. I did a lot of homebrewing back in college 15+ years ago, so I am pretty well versed in homebrewing, albeit rusty. This kit was a great way to get back into it!The instructions are somewhat vague in that they do not explain the science of why you are doing a certain step, and sometimes they over simplify steps to make the kit appear easier. For instance, the directions say to heat the wort (but not to a boil), yet it doesn't explain why you are heating or to what temperatures. The heating is for low-temperature pasteurization of the honey to sanitize it. If you are using a pasteurized honey (most commercial honey is pasteurized), you can pretty much skip this step and mix the honey directly in the carboy. If you use raw honey, you want to aim for 150-degrees Fahrenheit for at least 5 minutes, or 140-degrees for at least 22 minutes. When rehydrating the yeast, the ideal temperature of your one cup of wort is between 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit to hydrate. You want to 'pitch' your rehydrated yeast wort mixture back in when the wort in the carboy is around 75-degrees. The instructions also say to suck the hose to get the mead flowing when bottling (because it does not include an auto siphon). Do NOT do this. Your mouth has bacteria/yeast than can be introduced and lead to off smells and flavors. A better way with the included equipment in the kit is the water method where you flood the tube and start it by draining the water.While the kit is very basic, it will produce tasty mead. Stick to all glass and metal utensils/containers as they are easier to keep sterile. A spray bottle is the best way to use the included sanitizer for easy coverage. You will need either flip-top bottles or crimp cap bottles with/crimper to seal your freshly made mead. The bottles and 2.5lbs of honey will set you back probably another $40USD on top of this kit. If you are purchasing this as a gift, I recommend gifting flip-top bottles with the kit because most people forget they need sealable bottles until it is time to bottle their mead.The most glaring omission for the kit is a clamp for the tubing, so that you can stop the flow and release it when filling bottles. You will have to squeeze the tubing by hand to stop the flow. The kit does not have a hydrometer to measure specific gravity (identifies exact alcohol content), but it is understandable one was not included for cost and simplicity of not confusing first time brewers. The included stopper does not fit very well (the durometer is pretty high). You want to make sure the stopper is completely dry to get a good seal onto the carboy.Overall this is a simple, easy to follow kit for the most part. A little bit of prior research by watching videos can definitely help out in the process of making your mead. This kit is budget friendly and a great introduction in the world of homebrewing. This kit is also highly giftable and a reasonable value. Overall I recommend it because the world needs more homebrewers out there.

Wow, I did not know mead could be this enjoyable and easy. I'd never done anything like this before, but I like mead, so I wanted to get the best quality product I could find. I'm glad I went with these guys. You can tell the quality of the glass and other materials compared to what other mead making kits. I had a buddy with one of the Chinese-made set ups. Nothing wrong with it necessarily, but this kit is clearly a step up. The instructions were well-written and clear. Wouldn't change a thing.

This product is great! I have never made mead before and as a beginner I felt the instructions were very clear and I was able to follow them without any issues! The products themselves are quality and I can tell I will be able to reuse these products for a long time. I would recommend this product to any beginners like myself looking to get started because of the clear instructions, but also for experienced mead makers because of the high quality materials! And not to mention the great price for everything you get. VineLabs really knocked it out of the park with this one!

Well packaged. Just about everything you need comes in the.box minus a hydrometer that measures out the potential ABV%. I will say this it took reading the instructions several times before understanding it and also had to have them read to me once. No, I'm not stupid, but maybe need new glasses and the instructions to be a bit more clear. Plus some of the booklets instructions were written on a semi dark blue on black paper, yuck, reading those instructions where a nightmare. Humorously when I read the "Gather" the honey and gallon of water. I had to math here and do hope they meant a US gallon and not imperial, because unfortunately no one sold spring water in a gallon jug nearby. I'd recommend steering clear of tap water, since it is usually over treated, and just sticking to bottled spring water that way you are getting a better chance of high quality mead in the end. The contents in the kit have served there functions well and so far are doing exactly what was intended. The box was fairly well packed and the gallon jug and other contents made it to my house okay. It is a good starter kit for the price. Box has a nice design but like I said the instructions definitely need some work done to them to make them easier to read.