When Paul Toovey had an excess of honey from his beehives, he went searching for ways to utilise the precious sweet product.

After watching a video on YouTube, Paul, who runs Chill House Mini Farm on Phillip Island, decided to try his hand at making mead.

Mead, or honey wine, is the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man, and dates back to Ancient Greek and Egyptian times.

Paul said his first attempt was “extraordinarily good”. He shared it with friends, who gave it a thumbs up, and so he kept going.

He has since brewed hundreds of bottles of mead and his faith in this “nectar of the gods” has proved well placed, after he won three medals at the Red Hill Mead Show recently.

With two bronze and one silver award – in three separate categories – Paul is now exploring ways he can share the delicious drop with a wider audience.

“My long-term goal is to get a licence to produce it commercially, so it can be on sale through local outlets and at local markets,” Paul explained.

The expansion would still be on a boutique level – “it’s too early to commit to a massive, purpose-build facility” – and Paul said his current production level would provide plenty of stock.

“In the past, I’ve been making 50 litres every few months. That stocks up pretty quickly.”

Medals

His recent win at the Red Hill Mead Show provided a confidence boost for the amateur mead maker, who cheerfully admits he had never brewed anything before.

“There was no plan involved. I just thought I’d give it a bash because I had the honey … and it went from there.”

Alongside the glory of a potential medal haul, Paul said getting the feedback from the judges was a major motivation for entering the show.

“You get a report of the judges’ comments and you can see what they’re talking about. It’s a good help for me to get feedback from people with experience in the industry.”

Paul’s three medal winners were entered into the Berry Melomel, Stone Fruit Melomel and Traditional mead categories.

Melomel is made by fermenting honey with fruit and Paul admits, this is where his heart is.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it, but I am doing fairly good meads and getting fairly consistent success."

Paul is also now working on creating a Good Sessions Mead, which is more like a beer in strength and body.

Creating

Although making mead is very simple (add honey, water and yeast and you will make mead), there are a number of factors to getting it right. The quantity of honey, type of yeast, managing pH levels, temperature, measuring gravity and the racking process are all important.

To create a Melomel, fruit is added to the mix, however adding fruits also makes the mead behave differently.

The fermentation process can take between two to four months and like a good wine, it gets better with age.

Keen to share his product with a broader range of people, Paul is looking for opportunities to run some tasting events and perhaps run some mead making workshops in the near future. Keep an eye on Paul’s Instagram page for updates.

Instagram: chillhouseminifarm