Devo9

Recipes 

I have JUST decided to do a sweet strawberry mead and have it ready for my 1st wedding anniversary (June 25th).

I want to have a sweet finish because that's how my wife likes it. Here's what I am thinking:

14 lbs. Clover honey
½ cup of raisins
3 lbs of frozen strawberries
3 sticks of cinnamon
1 Vanilla Bean
a pinch of nutmeg
1 pack of sweet mead yeast or ale yeast
Water filled to 5 gallon line

My calculations give me a OG of about 1.1 and if I can find a yeast to give me a final ABV of 9% - 11%, I'll end up with a FG of 1.035 (for 9%) to 1.021 (for 11%).

I am not sure what yeast to use. I was hoping for some suggestions. I am also wondering about the spices I plan on adding. Any suggestions there? Will this be too sweet? Should I reduce the honey?

Any feedback would be great! Thanks!

EDIT:

New Revised Recipie: (Final revision, I hope)

Ingredients
Primary Ingredients
12 lbs. Clover honey
½ cup of raisins
~4 Gallons water (fill to 5 gallon level)
1 pack of D47, 71B, or Montratchet wine yeast (still deciding)

Secondary Ingredients
12 lbs. of frozen strawberries (Juiced, if possible)
3 lbs. of rhubarb
2 Vanilla Beans
Zest from one lemon
1 teaspoon of Thyme

Backsweetening Ingredients
2 lbs. Clover honey
strawberry juice to taste

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daugenet

Recipes 

I am thinking you may have too many cinnamon sticks and be short on the strawberries. :-)

paraordnance

Recipes 

2-3 lbs of strawberries recomended per gallon. You will have virtually no aroma or flavor from strawberries.

Devo9

Recipes 

OK, thanks! I will up the strawberry content to about (15 lbs) 10 lbs then! And should I drop the cinnamon sticks to just 1 stick?

Is the cinnamon going to work with the strawberries? Is there something that would work better? I want a little bit of complexity, just strawberries sounds too dull and boring!

So revised recipie would be:

14 lbs. Clover honey
½ cup of raisins
10 lbs of frozen strawberries
1 stick of cinnamon
1 Vanilla Bean
a pinch of nutmeg
1 pack of sweet mead yeast or ale yeast
Water filled to 5 gallon line

EDIT:15 lbs of strawberries sounds like a lot... that's more strawberries then honey! I am thinking this might be a little bit of over-kill...

Maybe I should go with 10 lbs. of strawberries.

nukinfuts29

Recipes 

I would think the cinnamon might be a bit much with the other flavors, but i'm no expert.

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Heckle

Recipes 

I did not make a mead but I did make a beer with strawberries. I used 8 lbs of frozen strawberries in 5 gals of beer. I added then into the secondary. Ended up with a nice tart strawberry flavor. If this helps any.

Devo9

Recipes 

Yes, that's a huge help, thanks!

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paraordnance

Recipes 

In regards to cinamon sticks, 3 that is not that much actually. Look at JAOM which uses 1 stick per gallon. You should be good there, but I'm not sure how well it will play with strawberries

kevokie

Recipes 

What about rhubarb? Honestly I dunno what would go with strawberries, but people do make strawberry rhubarb pie. A strawberry mead sounds great. Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

Devo9

Recipes 

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea! However I want to keep the strawberries as the main flavor, so maybe just a bit of rhubarb. So, I think I finally have a good workable recipie!


14 lbs. Clover honey
½ cup of raisins
12 lbs of frozen strawberries
3 lb of rhubarb
1 Vanilla Bean
a pinch of nutmeg
1 pack of sweet mead yeast or ale yeast
Water filled to 5 gallon line

Thank you to everyone for your input!

Now I just need to figure out the best yeast to use. Will Nottingham yeast go beyond 11% ABV?

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