1st Mead Recipe Ideas

**Sun Devil** · 08-28-2008, 06:02 AM

I've been brewing beer for a few years and recently decided to try making mead, mostly because of what I have read here and online. Being an AZ native, I purchased 11.75 lbs of orange blossom honey and a packet of D47 yeast.

I'd like to make a 3-4 gallon batch and then split it at secondary into 1 gallon fermenters. For one I'd like to keep as is to see how unspiced/flavored orange blossom honey turns out. The rest I am still trying to decide on.

My wife likes the peach flavored beer from 4 Peaks so I thought I might try one with peaches. See any reason why peaches and orange blossom honey might not work? How many peaches/lbs of peaches would work for a 1 gallon batch?

Any ideas for the other 1 or 2 batches? I'd like them all to be still meads with a siginicant % of alchohol.

One final question (for now), what is an ideal primary fement temp for this type of mead? My house (in AZ) is about 77-78 right now, I have a fridge with a temp controller where I ferment by beer that is usually around 67-68F that I can use. Which would be best, or does it matter?

Thanks, Sun Devil

gratus fermentatio · 08-28-2008, 04:30 PM

Hi sundevil: I think a peach melomel would be tasty, though peaches take a long time to clear; Ken Schramm ("The Compleat Meadmaker") has a recipe for a tasty ginger/peach melomel that you might like. I made a variation of it with apricots & it was very good.
12lbs honey
3 gal water (water to make 5 gallons)
2 teaspoons yeast energizer
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
2.5 teaspoons pectic enzyme
10-12lbs fresh peaches blanched, peeled, halved & pitted
1.5-2 oz. fresh ginger root peeled & mashed
Lalvin D-47 yeast
You could always just rack your mead onto your peaches in secondary, you'll get more fresh peach flavour that way. As for the others, maybe a braggot, or a cyser? You can find out more about the D-47 yeast (and a lot of others too) here: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp Hope you find this info useful. Regards, GF.

**Sun Devil** · 09-08-2008, 04:51 AM

Thanks for the info. I picked up a copy of his book and it appears to be fairly helpful.

Is it best to prepare a starter of D47 prior to pitching instead of just rehyrdating? When I make beer I always prepare starters (I usually use WL liquid yeast) so am familiar with the process. I've never used D47 (or any other dry mead/wine yeast for that matter) so not sure of the best way to deal with it.

Thoughts?

**summersolstice** · 09-08-2008, 10:51 AM

Rehydrate your D-47 with Go Ferm according to the direction on the Go Ferm bottle. It takes all of 20 minutes.

Ecnerwal · 09-08-2008, 12:45 PM

With nearly 12lb of honey, go for 4 gallons. In my experience 3lbs/gallon is a lot easier to convince to work in a reasonable time than 4lbs per gallon - not that it can't be done, but for your first time out, no point in raising the bar too high unless you have a strong reason to do so.

**BigKahuna** · 09-08-2008, 01:32 PM

Orange Blossom Honey is what some of the best mead in the world is made of. It doesn't taste like oranges though, so adding peach will be a great addition. I'd back off of that recipe on Ginger though. Ginger is a palate clenser, and it'll over power pretty easily.

I agree with the 4 gallon batch size, it's going to give you nice strength, and a great flavor....especially with the D-47.

**Sun Devil** · 09-14-2008, 06:22 AM

Thanks for the replies on this one.

I followed the recommendation and ended up with about a 4.1 gallon batch size and an OG of 1.106. How does mead (with D47 yeast) ferment relative to beer with a top fermenting ale yeast like WLP001 or 005? I'm used to a rolling ferment that threatens to blow out within the first 12 hours. I pitched the rehydrated D47 about 30 hours ago and have steady bubbling but don't see much of a kreausan. Just curious as to how this stuff typically behaves during primary, temp is currently around 68F.

I'm still planning on splitting this 3-4 ways for secondary.

Thanks for all the info thus far.

Ecnerwal · 09-14-2008, 12:26 PM

I have not used D-47, but mead is, on the whole, slow - I have typically used ale yeast (I'm very low fuss, not too concerned with styles, and I like what it does for beer, and have so far also liked what it's done for mead), and it's still slow. Nice steady bubbling may be as exciting as it gets, though it can pick up some in the early phases.

**claphamsa** · 09-14-2008, 01:03 PM

yeah, no chance of blowoff! which is good

its slow. bubble bubble bubble

I usually ferment at about 68. and have no real problems with that. is your honey all dissolved? thats always my problem!

**summersolstice** · 09-14-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Devil

Thanks for the replies on this one.

How does mead (with D47 yeast) ferment relative to beer with a top fermenting ale yeast like WLP001 or 005? I'm used to a rolling ferment that threatens to blow out within the first 12 hours. I pitched the rehydrated D47 about 30 hours ago and have steady bubbling but don't see much of a kreausan. Just curious as to how this stuff typically behaves during primary, temp is currently around 68F.

While this isn't a very good photo, this is typical of a healthy pyment fermentation using D-47, proper nutrients, and sufficient oxygenation.