jondthechemist

Recipes 

Here is my Juniper Mead recipe to date:

*Straight into fermentation vessel*
4# Blackberry Honey
1 stick cinnamon

*Boiled*
half gallon spring water
1 star aniseed (whole)
0.5 tsp coriander seed (crushed)
2 stick cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
1 bag green tea (caffeine free)
0.5 oz ground ginger
0.5 tsp fennel seed (crushed)

Boiled ingredients, removed spices (except cinnamon and ginger) and added to fermenting vessel once cooled.

So I plan to add in a few juniper berries in a spice bag and allow to soak in the secondary until the flavor I am looking for shows up.

jondthechemist

Recipes 

so about a month later I have tasted the mead and instead I added 12 crushed Juniper berries to the concoction and I have allowed it to ferment. There is a hint of Juniper smell to the mead, but it is still lacking a juniper flavor. I cannot taste juniper at all in the mead and it is very disappointing.

Perhaps the addition of junipers is not large enough during the fermentation period? I know that flavors can get lost if they are added early on during fermentation.

Side notes: I used the variety Juniperus comminus and they are pea-sized. The fermentation is still going pretty well, but looks to be nearing the end (I'd say at most 2 weeks left before its bottling time)

TheBrewingMedic

Recipes 

If its still fermenting then a two week estimation to bottling time is crazy fast. Your best bet to get juniper flavor is wait til fermentation stops and either add more juniper berries then or rack to secondary (my personal preference) and add the berries to that and give them some soak time and the whole thing time to clear before going into bottles.

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Watch and Listen to your Mead....It will tell you when the next step is.

mpelechaty

Recipes 

Everything I have read recommends boiling crushed juniper berries for 15 min and then using that as water in the mead or if its beer do it in the boil. You might need the boil to extract the flavors from the berries.