Hark! Did I hear my name....Mead to the rescue. What needs knowing? Anyway, you can buy mead kits but they rip you off. I can get local honey here in SF but they want a fortune. I usually buy from
http://www.millershoney.com/ and I just saw the prices and they've increased a lot since I last bought. I buy 5 gallons at a time of usually Orange Blossom. Last time I bought a year and half ago was probably $75, now it's $105. Glad I have a good amount left.
Making mead is easy if you follow simple rules. The same is said about wine and I'm sure Wayne will agree the physical act and basic knowledge of wine making is easy. The problem is what happens when something goes wrong, what to look out for during the entire process and the hardest part is how to adjust (for many things acid, sugar, ML, etc...). So making basics is easy. You do need some tools basically a hydrometer is essential. If anyone is seriously interested I can make a detailed post on how. If anyone is interested start now with a few simples things. Bee (get it bee..ha ha), be on the look out for local honey, good deals can be had at farmer's markets. Honey shouldn't be expensive for good raw honey. Although that statement is true the current trend is more expensive as bees all over the world are dying due to enviroment, actually has scientists baffled, so demand is up and production is down. You need raw honey so don't buy store bought honey, raw honey is fresh and can be filtered and heated a little just to move it around while processing, most store honey is heavily heated and destroys many wonderful things in the honey. Nex thing is pick up some yeast, next time your around a home brew store get some Lavin 1122B or D47 or Prise De Mousse Champagne yeast. The Prise is called something different I always forget, I started using Prise about 16 years ago then they changed the name about 8 years ago for some reason. Just get a couple packs of Lavin and you'll be set. Get a hydrometer. You really can start with that. You don't need big pots or stoves...long story, but the biggest argument in all of mead land is to boil or not to boil your wort (pronounced wert, means the raw unfermented liquid). I won't go into the diatribe but you don't need to boil. If you have malice and forthought you should order some 2 oz. mead nutrient packs from
http://www.thebeveragepeople.com/ . Other mead nutrient packs are not kosher, I mean they're just repackaged beer nutient kits. The beverage people make from scratch a nutrient pack made from natural chemicals from a study of mead in the 60's where the scientist actually broke down the exact chemicals needs to provide the correct diet for yeast in a honey solution...another long story, but honey is deprived of lots of nutients on it's own.
Holy cow how long can I make this post...mind you I'm in bed on my laptop...read me a bedtime story Mayor McCheese.
P.S. Bee Legs Rule.
Tea, what part of Aussie do you live? Because Aussieland has some awesome wines...Hell I might open a Penfolds right now, alas I'm about to go to bed and after all that wine the only people I would be able to insult with my drunken rage would be in my dreams and that would just be a waste...Oh I mentioned this because you said you live in the tropics and don't have access to grapes. You can buy kits from Canada that some amazing frozen slurries that are not like boxed kit wines, very fresh, but shipping would again be a problem, but think of it this way you're lucky enough to have Nicole Kidman.