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Mead help
Any thoughts on this recipe for a 2 gallon batch of Mead?
2 gallon recipe
6 lbs clover honey
2 lbs raspberries
1.6 oz fresh ginger
Citric Acid
Yeast nutrient
champagne yeast
I have never done a Mead before, any insight on the ins and outs of brewing this?
I'm guessing you're going to have a fairly dry mead. 6 lbs. of honey in two gallons is a whole lot of fermentables. Probably pack quite a punch.
I was initially going to use 3 or 4, but someone I talked with recommended 3lbs per gallon as a reference. Seems like a lot.
I am okay with packing a punch, but I don't want to kill people with alcohol burn. Any thoughts on a more appropriate amount of honey? How about the champagne yeast? Think that will work out?
I wouldn't call myself an expert mead maker. I've made four or five cyser and three meads so I definitely would listen to others advice as well. With my cysers I generally use around 5-6lbs. of honey for a five gallon batch but this is in addition to the juices being used. The meads I've made have all had fruit in them at one stage or another, I just prefer them a little sweeter than dry. I did make a batch of still raspberry mead with close to the same ratio of honey as your batch and whoa! Quit a bit of alcohol warmth and a bit of a funky robotussin flavor (probably more from raspberries in the primary.) This was only made about a year ago and it is getting better so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I would use your champagne yeast, though, as it is designed for high gravity. Wine yeasts work well in my experience too. Good luck, you'll probably be aging this for a long time to get the full potential of this beverage.
I looked through "the book" (C. Papazian 3rd edition) and with the exception of 1 recipe, all that are there call for 13# to 17# per 5 gal. so I am guessing that 6# per 2 would produce a fairly medium mead. The thing is, they all call for at least 6-8 months to mature. and most I have tried were aged for over 1 year. That is quite a commitment!..But hey, If you have the time, have at it. You won't regreat it.
I just made my first mead, so I am certainly not an expert, and it still fermenting away. I used 20 lbs of honey for a 5 gallon batch. I used a sauvignon blanc yeast which won't ferment out quite as much as a champagne yeast. I was basically trying to get a mead that is off dry. With the champagne yeast, you will probably ferment out pretty well, and as was mentioned, you will probably get a relatively high alcohol content. I think that my alcohol content is supposed to be in the 17% range, but I should have a bit of residual sweetness left.
If you don't want a dry mead, and you want to keep the alcohol content down, you will need to change your yeast. Wyeast makes a sweet mead yeast that is supposed to leave a fair amount of residual sugars and keep the alcohol content in the beer range rather than the wine range.
I have heard that pretty much all meads need to age for a while, so patience will be key.
I'd like to do a two gallon experimental batch that someone requested. Strawberries, cinnamon, vanilla, and cayenne pepper are the flavoring ingredients. Have any of you worked with a combination similar to this....? If so, how long did it take to ferment and mature?
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