BRGriffith
Well-Known Member
Hello All!
Lately I've been obsessed with buttery MLF'ed Chardonnays such as Toasted Head and Kendall Jackson. So I started thinking (which is always dangerous) about how I could apply this to a mead. Toasted Head is barrel fermented, which adds some very nice character which I'd like to emulate.
I'm thinking the recipe would look something like this:
5 Gallon:
~15 Pounds Wildflower Honey
~1 Cup Med+ American Oak In Primary
-To Emulate Barrel Fermentation
-For Vanilla, Caramel, Roasty Character
SNA
Lalvin D-47 - Leave On The Lees For Tropical Notes
-Looking For Coconut, Pineapple, Etc.
Shoot For SG:~1.100
Now as for the buttery character, I don't really want to try to put this through MLF, so I have some other ideas. I know leaving it Sur Lie will contribute a velvety, buttery feel alongside an emulated barrel ferment, but I'm not sure it would be quite enough. There is an imitation butter flavor from McCormick, but it contains Propylene Glycol and Yellow food dye.
My question is whether or not these things would negatively affect the mead, if anyone has used something like this before, and if so, in what quantity? I'll be looking into this and posting progress, pictures, etc.
Thanks for looking guys!
Lately I've been obsessed with buttery MLF'ed Chardonnays such as Toasted Head and Kendall Jackson. So I started thinking (which is always dangerous) about how I could apply this to a mead. Toasted Head is barrel fermented, which adds some very nice character which I'd like to emulate.
I'm thinking the recipe would look something like this:
5 Gallon:
~15 Pounds Wildflower Honey
~1 Cup Med+ American Oak In Primary
-To Emulate Barrel Fermentation
-For Vanilla, Caramel, Roasty Character
SNA
Lalvin D-47 - Leave On The Lees For Tropical Notes
-Looking For Coconut, Pineapple, Etc.
Shoot For SG:~1.100
Now as for the buttery character, I don't really want to try to put this through MLF, so I have some other ideas. I know leaving it Sur Lie will contribute a velvety, buttery feel alongside an emulated barrel ferment, but I'm not sure it would be quite enough. There is an imitation butter flavor from McCormick, but it contains Propylene Glycol and Yellow food dye.
My question is whether or not these things would negatively affect the mead, if anyone has used something like this before, and if so, in what quantity? I'll be looking into this and posting progress, pictures, etc.
Thanks for looking guys!
