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Winter Mead (well sort of......)

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  • Winter Mead (well sort of......)

    I found this on another site, some time ago, but got it up and running before Christmas (mid november I think).

    Anyway, I racked it for a final time yesterday, so I thought I'd post the recipe.
    Winter Mead (melo-meth)
    Recipe Type: Extract
    Yeast: See below
    Yeast Starter: 1 quart
    Batch Size (Gallons): 3
    Original Gravity: ??
    Final Gravity: ??
    Boiling Time (Minutes): 00
    Color: deep red
    Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days/70
    Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 56 days/70
    Additional Fermentation: 6 days/70
    Here's the recipe:
    6 to 9 lbs honey - I used 9 lbs of clover
    6 whole cloves
    6 whole allspice (crushed)
    3 2-inch cinnamon sticks
    1 gallon apple juice
    1 gallon cranberry juice
    water to top off

    I actually got this recipe from a newsletter I used to get and had it laying around with plans to make it someday. Last September I decided it was time. I got real anal about the juices, since that makes most of the fluid, and I don't know how much of the flavor to account to those juices or not. I went to the local Whole Foods Market and got pure, not-from-concentrate, cranberry juice, which was surprisingly hard to find, for about $7 per quart. I also got the apple juice, same way from the same market.

    Yeast:
    The original recipe calls for Red Star Premier Cuvee yeast but I used the White Labs Sweet Mead yeast.

    My method:
    I heated the honey enough to be able to pour easily, no, I don't pasturize or boil, and some water to put in the container for the remainder. I filtered the juices into the carboy, again, no heating, and added the spices and honey. I then added water to top off the carboy, checked the temp, and pitched the yeast. The recipe says let sit for two weeks and top off with water but I racked it here and topped it off. Then after another 2 months I racked it and added wine conditioner to kill the yeast and resweeten some. I let that sit for another week and bottled it. When I bottled, I got a taste and, unlike all other meads I've made, it was good right then. I've had several people try it after that and they all liked it. My wife and I had a bottle with Christmas dinner.

    After this experience, I will make this recipe quite regularly since it is my favorite so far.
    So, what's it like ?

    Well, I don't recall which yeast I used, plus as I've often forgotten to take SG/OG readings I can't say how strongly it's worked out. Though I suspect reasonably strong i.e. I don't recall what it was that I did between making the recipe/finishing fermentation, but I ended up with 4 demijohns full (with about 1 to 1.5 inches of air space). When I racked it last night, I aimed at getting 3 full DJ's, with as little airspace as possible. This has meant that I had a bit left over on the lees/sludge of the fourth. So I had a bit of a "sample" (about a pint or so), this morning I've ended up with a hangover, which I don't normally get when I've drunk a bottle or so of wine.

    In colour, it's a nice rose looking, that in some light shows a slight orange.

    It has a pleasant mouth feel, not too heavy, but not too light.

    It has a nice fruity flavour, I can't detect any of the apple or spices particularly but it has retained some of the astringency that can be noted with fresh, unsweetened cranberries (as well as the gallon of cranberry juice, I used about 700gm's of frozen cranberries that I'd been given). I'd guess that it would be described as "medium sweet".

    All in all, it's drinkable now, but I'm gonna age it to see what happens.

    regards

    JtFB

    p.s. Oh and the only diversions I made from the original recipe, are the addition of the frozen cranberries mentioned above. I used ground allspice as I couldn't find any whole ones. The juices used were cheap supermarket apple juice and "Ocean spray" classic cranberry drink (no preservatives and about 25% juice from concentrate). Which might be why the original author of the quote said it came out deep red, while my effort came out like rose.
    Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    Some blog ramblings

  • #2
    I'd like to taste some of this methinks.....you get this far North John?

    I think my advice to anyone trying this recipe would be to use their hydrometer (it is your friend) and establish a reasonable start SG I would suggest around 1.090 this will mean less chance of stuck ferments, also prepare a yeast starter in advance and get it going really well before pitching.

    use a good quality yeast ..Lalvin 71B-1122 I would suggest.

    ferment it to dry and back sweeten if required

    you mustn't trust old recipes when it comes to amounts of sugar/honey as they were written when sugar/honey was not as well refined and so it took more of it to get to a specific gravity.

    and the most important thing...keep good records

    regards
    Bob
    Last edited by lockwood1956; 27-01-2008, 03:46 PM. Reason: spelling errors EEK!
    N.G.W.B.J.
    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
    Wine, mead and beer maker

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by lockwood1956 View Post
      I'd like to taste some of this methinks.....you get this far North John?
      No, I don't do much (if I can help it) tramping. 2 of my colleagues will be in Selby about 0900 tomorrow morning, whereas I'll be in Milton Keynes. I might not have to backload, whereas one of the others is collecting in Driffield and the other in Lincoln.
      I think my advice to anyone trying this recipe would be to use their hydrometer (it is your friend) and establish a reasonable start SG I would suggest around 1.090 this will mean less chance of stuck ferments, also prepare a yeast starter in advance and get it going really well before pitching.
      Yes, as ever, you're right. I'm trying to get into the habit of doing things properly
      use a good quality yeast ..Lalvin 71B-1122 I would suggest.
      I can't say for certain, but I think that it what I did use. It's sort of become my yeast of preference - after my 3 yeast experiment.
      ferment it to dry and back sweeten if required

      you mustn't trust old recipes when it comes to amounts of sugar/honey as they were written when sugar/honey was not as well refined and so it took more of it to get to a specific gravity.

      and the most important thing...keep good records

      regards
      Bob
      Ha ha! yes I can't honestly say how old that recipe might be - I found it about 6 months ago.

      I suspect that using "cranberry drink" irrespective of the 25% mentioned on the pack, wouldn't have produced a deep red colour like the original author asserts. Plus, as seems to be usual getting fresh cranberry juice is prohibitively expensive (hence my inclusion of the frozen ones I had).

      Curiously enough, because it was yesterday evening that I was racking/inspecting, my colour description was in artificial light. I had a look in daylight today and it looks more orange in colour.

      As for keeping notes, that's something I'm in need of doing - I normally stick a decent sized label on the DJ, but on this occasion I forgot.

      I might have a go at scaling it down to 1 gallon next time as it looks easily divisible by 3.

      regards

      JtFB
      Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

      Some blog ramblings

      Comment


      • #4
        FB - With the spices I believe this would have to be refered to as a Metheglin. Remember those SG readings - prior to pitching the yeast and at the same time a pH reading. I would surley use a yeast nutrient and energizer; the yeast needs this with honey to get a good clean unstuck ferment. The liquid sweet yeast will leave some residual sugars in the mead. You could still test the SG in the mead in the DJ's to confirm that. Cheers hope it works out for you. Daw.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by StockeyDAW View Post
          FB - With the spices I believe this would have to be refered to as a Metheglin.
          Yes, I also noticed that DAW, except the use of the fruit might also make it melomel??? Hence on the original of the recipe I posted the author just said "Winter mead melo-meth". I suspect he couldn't decide the correct name for it either which is why I titled the thread like that.


          Remember those SG readings - prior to pitching the yeast and at the same time a pH reading. I would surley use a yeast nutrient and energizer; the yeast needs this with honey to get a good clean unstuck ferment. The liquid sweet yeast will leave some residual sugars in the mead. You could still test the SG in the mead in the DJ's to confirm that. Cheers hope it works out for you. Daw.
          With any luck, and help from the various tips I've had from the more experienced and knowledgeable forum members, I'm getting round to proper recipe management i.e. taking SG's etc, though I've yet to start taking proper notes - I try to remember to put it in my blog, so that any info is available as public domain stuff.

          You've reminded me though, I did add the appropriate amount of nutrient - well, I'm not quite sure if it was wine specific nutrient, as it was the Wyeast nutrient.

          Yes the recipe did seem to stick, well not so much stick, as stop quite high (and my efforts to unstick it came to nothing). It stopped at about 1.020 (ish). Though I seem to recall basically just following the recipe, with a few current (materials wise) modifications. Like using "cranberry drink" (25% juice). It didn't have the preservatives so I figured it should be OK - though I'd hoped that by using the frozen cranberries I had at the time should have helped that a bit.

          I can see Bob's point about starting from an initial SG, so that a desired %abv is achieved, then if "it" needs it, back sweeten.

          I'm guessing that there was a bit too much for the yeast (71B I think) to cope with, hence the 1.020ish stopping point.

          It doesn't seem too bad tasting - well it could be considerably worse, which is why I've racked it one last time and put it to age (in bulk, 3 x 1 gallon demi-johns).

          I'll see how it's getting on in 6 months or so, and I intend to make a much greater effort to control the next "brew" I make (got the honey and yeast for 2 x 1 gallon batches of straight mead).

          One thing I was wondering though (well 2 actually), should the starting pH be in the 3 to 3.5 range and depending on which yeast I use (for example, something that will finish at about 14 %), how many points above the number required for 14% should I go to make it a "sack" mead ??

          Or is that a problem, because the yeasts attribute of 14% is only approximate ? or is it accurate to say that if the spec for a yeast says 14%, will it only go that far, or will it go further, and I have to start reading about chaptalisation to get "sack" mead ??

          regards

          JtFB
          Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

          Some blog ramblings

          Comment


          • #6
            All that I will say FB is that if you want to make it into a Sack Mead (sweet) then you would be starting out with honey in the area of 4 pounds per gallon. There would be no other additions - fruit or spices ? Oh, come on how about some ginger, cinnamon or cloves in there (I would like that also - but then we get into the Metheglin). As far as I am aware if spices are added then it is a Metheglin. With this high of a Starting Gravity (SG) you will need to use a high alcohol tolerance yeast such as Red Star Premier Cuvee or LalvinEC-1118. If you want some sweetness in the Mead you can always back-sweeten along with sorbate to your taste. Cheers hope this helps. Daw

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by StockeyDAW View Post
              All that I will say FB is that if you want to make it into a Sack Mead (sweet) then you would be starting out with honey in the area of 4 pounds per gallon. There would be no other additions - fruit or spices ? Oh, come on how about some ginger, cinnamon or cloves in there (I would like that also - but then we get into the Metheglin). As far as I am aware if spices are added then it is a Metheglin. With this high of a Starting Gravity (SG) you will need to use a high alcohol tolerance yeast such as Red Star Premier Cuvee or LalvinEC-1118. If you want some sweetness in the Mead you can always back-sweeten along with sorbate to your taste. Cheers hope this helps. Daw
              Been looking for a few recipes that have ginger in them. I wouldn't use cloves though, as I didn't like the Ancient Orange at all. I only used 3 or maybe 4 cloves but they over powered everything else.

              4 lb of honey per gallon (imperial) is what I normally use. Bob has mentioned an approximate starting gravity of 1.090 a couple of times. Is that a good number to start at, if I have no other reference ? or would you suggest higher or lower ?

              Plus yes, I think that you're suggestion would be spot on i.e. use a high alc yeast, then sorbate and back sweeten with honey, that way I'd get the honey flavour I'm looking for (well I think that's what I'm looking for, but as I can be indecisive, I'm not really sure ).

              Thanks for the recommends and suggestions DAW, excellent as ever.

              Now I'm just in need of a suitable set of starting numbers as guidance rather than blindly following a recipe.

              regards

              JtFB
              Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

              Some blog ramblings

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by fatbloke View Post
                Been looking for a few recipes that have ginger in them. I wouldn't use cloves though, as I didn't like the Ancient Orange at all. I only used 3 or maybe 4 cloves but they over powered everything else.

                4 lb of honey per gallon (imperial) is what I normally use. Bob has mentioned an approximate starting gravity of 1.090 a couple of times. Is that a good number to start at, if I have no other reference ? or would you suggest higher or lower ?

                Plus yes, I think that you're suggestion would be spot on i.e. use a high alc yeast, then sorbate and back sweeten with honey, that way I'd get the honey flavour I'm looking for (well I think that's what I'm looking for, but as I can be indecisive, I'm not really sure ).

                Thanks for the recommends and suggestions DAW, excellent as ever.

                Now I'm just in need of a suitable set of starting numbers as guidance rather than blindly following a recipe.

                regards

                JtFB

                I am going to make a new post with an attachment of a Mead Calculator from Got Mead. I believe something very helpful concerning how much honey and fruit to add to our Mead's to get to the Starting Gravity that we want. I am creating a new post for this as it will be easier to locate it through the search box for later reference. I like Bob like something in the 1.090 area the most and do some of the clear Mead's like the Tropical Fruit/Coconut Spice near the 1.120 area approximately 12 - a maximum of 16 %alc/vol. I want to maintain as much of the honey and fruit flavor as possible and enjoy the ones in the 1.090-1.105 the best of all approx. 3 - 3.5 lbs of honey per gallon. Cheers hope this all helps. Daw

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by StockeyDAW View Post
                  I am going to make a new post with an attachment of a Mead Calculator from Got Mead. I believe something very helpful concerning how much honey and fruit to add to our Mead's to get to the Starting Gravity that we want. I am creating a new post for this as it will be easier to locate it through the search box for later reference. I like Bob like something in the 1.090 area the most and do some of the clear Mead's like the Tropical Fruit/Coconut Spice near the 1.120 area approximately 12 - a maximum of 16 %alc/vol. I want to maintain as much of the honey and fruit flavor as possible and enjoy the ones in the 1.090-1.105 the best of all approx. 3 - 3.5 lbs of honey per gallon. Cheers hope this all helps. Daw
                  That's the kink of thing I was looking for DAW. I've seen Bob's SG/ABV calculator/conversion chart, but wasn't sure about whether it's exactly the same for mead/fruit/sugar i.e. dependant on the type of sugar that the brew contains (sucrose/fructose/glucose) or not.

                  I'll look for your other post DAW, but your numbers can be guidance for a couple of small experiments.

                  TVM. Much appreciated.

                  regards

                  JtFB
                  Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

                  Some blog ramblings

                  Comment

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