Sherry Mead

Hi guys!

I had this idea after I mix a bit of Sherry and a sweet mead I had made, which was really good!

Please tell me what you think.

A simple 15-16%abv half-sweet mead (please correct my honey dosage if I'm wrong)

6 gallons
20 lbs of Buckwheat Honey (80% sugar content)
71-B Narbonne Yeast

Then WLP700 Flor Sherry in secondary with some oak chips

Thanks!

Sounds like fun, I seem to recall that the flor has a narrow ACV range, thinking 14-16% ACV is the ideal, but 17% will inhibit development. Are you sure you want to use all buckwheat honey, that is a bit intense is it not?

Please keep us posted.

The 71b says to be 14%abv tolerant... If it could really stop at 14 and leave the extra sugar for the flor sherry to go up to 16, it would be just perfect, but I've heard it can go up to 15-16 in fact. I'll see what happens. If the 71b finish at 16 or higher, well... I don't know what I'll do.

For the buckwheat honey... I don't know. I just really like the one I got from my local beekeeper. That said I never did a really high alcool sweet mead, only dry ones, so... I don't know, maybe should I mix 50/50 with wild flowers or clover ?

If I had a local source all my meads would be made with buckwheat honey. It's the most flavorful honey I've ever had. I'm even about to break down and order a five-gallon bucket of buckwheat from Dutch Gold.

I'm curious to see how the sherry mead turns out. I researched the idea myself. But I have no idea what the sherry yeast adds to a drink. So I dropped it.

SouthernGorilla said:

If I had a local source all my meads would be made with buckwheat honey. It's the most flavorful honey I've ever had. I'm even about to break down and order a five-gallon bucket of buckwheat from Dutch Gold.

I'm curious to see how the sherry mead turns out. I researched the idea myself. But I have no idea what the sherry yeast adds to a drink. So I dropped it.

Click to expand...

Same as you.. but instead of dopping it, I'll just try it.

At White Labs, they say: This yeast develops a film (flor) on the surface of the wine. Creates green almond, granny smith and nougat characteristics found in sherry. Can also be used for Port, Madeira and other sweet styles. For use in secondary fermentation. Slow fermentor.