OneCerebralSamurai

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So the Mayans supposedly predicted the end of the world for 12/21/2012, and some of us think it would be nice to make a special, Mayan inspired, mead to toast when that day arrives.

The Mayas used cocoa and vanilla, so I've decided to use these for my End-of-the-World mead:

6gal batch
20+ lbs of honey (start with OG~1.14 and top off with honey after each racking as necessary - finish with an SG~1.010 - 1.015?).
16oz cocoa powder (12oz in primary and 4oz in secondary)
4oz vanilla powder (3oz in primary and 1oz in secondary)
6 tea bags steeped (add tea only)
1cup raisins (yeast food)
4tbsp lemon juice (acid)
5tsp yeast nutrient (staggered)
5tsp yeast energizer (staggered)
2pkg Lalvin EC-1118

I figure 1 month in primary, 1 month in secondary, and then rack every 2 months until SG is stable (1.010 - 1.015) and there are no more lees. Bottle somewhere around 8 – 12 months.

This thread is for anyone who is interested in creating a special, Mayan inspired mead to post recipes and exchange information. Let's have them!

dlester

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I like the idea. But, the Mayan calendar doesn't predict the end of the world. They just ran out of room and couldn't add anymore days, LOL.

Come back and post how it turned out.

Cheers,

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OneCerebralSamurai

Recipes 

In case anyone's interested:




I changed the recipe slightly from what's posted above, but I can't edit that post.

I'll add another video in a week or two describing the degassing and staggered nutrient additions. For now I'll just say that it dropped 6 gravity points on day 1, 8 points on day 2, and 10 points on day 3.

Any thoughts or suggestions by all you Mead Masters would be welcome.

saltwater09

Recipes 

Samurai, try a batch of mead with chai tea in place of the regular tea, and use a whole box (24 bags of Tazo) per gallon. Comes out niiiice!

I did a gallon of Chai Vanilla mead that came out way too sweet. The flavors would have been perfect with a little less sweet and a lil more kick! Silly me for using "Mead Yeast".

OneCerebralSamurai

Recipes 

The way I treated my yeast must have worked, because they are going nuts. To summarize:

OG = 1.142
@ 1day SG = 1.136 (6 point drop)
@ 2day SG = 1.128 (8 point drop)
@ 3day SG = 1.118 (10 point drop)
@ 4day SG = 1.104 (14 point drop)
@ 5day SG = 1.084 (20 point drop)

I was going to degas and add nutrient through day 5, but it passed the 1/3 sugar break on day 4. This seems impressive to me, given that I started at 1.142. There is a TON of CO2 dissolved which made it difficult for me to take a gravity reading, but I didn't degas because it's past the 1/3 break. It sounded like I had a bucket full of fizzy soda in the fermenter!

biochemedic

Recipes 

Throw some chilli's in there! I make what I refer to as "Mayan Stout" that has cinnamon, coccoa and chipotle peppers added to may base stout recipe. It was loosely inspired by DogFishHead's Theobroma...I've thought of using that basic spicing regimen in a mead as well...

BTW, it's easier to mix cocoa into solution if you heat it

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saramc

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@saltwater09--are you saying use an entire box of Tazo Chai (24 bags/gallon??)

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K5MOW

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GREAT Video. Cant wait for part 3.

Roger

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PUGBREW

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Your recipe looks really good I might have to pick up stuff to do this. I think I going to come up with a rig that has a bucket top and and paint mixer that is sterilized so I can hook up a drill to mix everything. I am sure there is someone on here who has made a rig like that. I really like the yeast starter you mixed up I think that is going to be my next big step is making starters from now on. You are getting great production on of your yeast.

Keep up the good work and looking forward to part 3

Pugbrew
5 gallons standard mead
5 gallons Carmel apple cider
1 gallon hard cider
5 gallons Hef

OneCerebralSamurai

Recipes 

It looks like degassing REALLY, REALLY has a large effect (I read the sticky, so that's why I did it this time).

@ 6day SG = 1.076 (8 point drop) and the mead is extremely "fizzy". I'm still way below the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, so it's pretty clear that it's the CO2 that's slowing them down.