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Confucius · 08-18-2009, 09:12 PM

So I was munching on some honey roasted peanuts today (bear with me here, this does go somewhere), and the honey got me thinking about mead. I've been wanting to get another batch going for some time now, and was thinking of new and interesting meads. My thoughts drifted to nuts as a flavoring, and almonds, being used in Amaretto (a favorite of mine) seem like a logical choice, so what do you think? Could an almond mead be made?

I know that fermentation wont get up in the range that most Amaretto is at (25%-28%), but with a hardy yeast (any suggestions?), staggered nutrient and honey additions, and a strong starter the abv wouldn't be to far off. As far as flavoring, Amaretto is apparently actually flavored with apricot pits, but I have heard they are pretty high in cyanide, so I'm not sure where to go on that count.

Any suggestions?

Matrix4b · 08-18-2009, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Confucius

So I was munching on some honey roasted peanuts today (bear with me here, this does go somewhere), and the honey got me thinking about mead. I've been wanting to get another batch going for some time now, and was thinking of new and interesting meads. My thoughts drifted to nuts as a flavoring, and almonds, being used in Amaretto (a favorite of mine) seem like a logical choice, so what do you think? Could an almond mead be made?

I know that fermentation wont get up in the range that most Amaretto is at (25%-28%), but with a hardy yeast (any suggestions?), staggered nutrient and honey additions, and a strong starter the abv wouldn't be to far off. As far as flavoring, Amaretto is apparently actually flavored with apricot pits, but I have heard they are pretty high in cyanide, so I'm not sure where to go on that count.

Any suggestions?

For the best flavor I would use almond extract. Yes, I just bottled a vanilla almond. If you use the actual almonds dry roast them to bring out the flavor. I used almond slices and because I didn't roast them, I needed to touch up with some almond extract.

ScottM · 08-20-2009, 08:00 PM

Sounds like it would be worth a 1 gallon batch experiment, anyhow. Maybe two experiments, one with almonds one with apricot pits. Of course it may be a drag acquiring all those apricot pits. And almonds aren't exactly the cheapest nut. There's an Amaretto extract that I use around Christmas to make Amaretto flavored hard candies. Pretty cheap and a little goes a long way. Most grocery stores carry it in small bottles on the Pharmacy counter, for some reason?

wayneb · 08-20-2009, 10:10 PM

The alcohol content in many extracts is so high that they either need to be sold through pharmacies, or in licensed liquor stores.

elbajista · 08-20-2009, 10:25 PM

I'm definitely interested in this idea. subscribed.

Confucius · 08-21-2009, 12:09 AM

I think I'm probably going to try just one gallon and use almonds in secondary and extract if it needs it. If I had been thinking of this a month ago I would have had all the almond pits I need, maybe next year I'll give that a try.