Cinnamon Vanilla Methiglin

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bubbachunk

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This was a user request so I am posting it up. I seem to not have taken as good of notes as I usually do though so some of it is from memory.

19lbs of Orange blossom honey (any light honey will work)
3x 5" vanilla beans in secondary (split and scraped)
4x 4" cinnamon sticks (just used Kroger brand but will look for higher quality next time)

I started this 12-4-09 and upon tasting it on 12-25-10 it is really starting to come into its own. To be honest this is much sooner than I had expected it to be drinkable given the high alcohol content. I had originally hoped to dry this out to around 1.010 but the yeast pooped out on me. However this may have been a blessing in disguise because the sweetness plays very well with the cinn and vanilla flavors. Also since it is about 14.5% ABV it does not coming off as overly sweet at 1.030.

Other notes
*Used hightest stepped nutrient additions
*Fermentation temps were ~60-65 degrees F for the majority of the time most likely playing a role is the yeast not finishing out
*Kegged for aging when crystal clear
* I did not boil at all, I just had to input a time in order to post the thread. I use Ken Schramms no heat method on all of my mead

If you have any questions feel free to post them up :rockin:
 
Resurrecting an old one here. Thinking about a blueberry vanilla mead.

How did you find the vanilla flavour with the 3 pods of vanilla bean?

Thinking about a pound of blueberry per gallon, but not sure on the quantity for the vanilla bean to make it taste good without overpowering the other flavours
 
I think if you want to blueberry to come through I would cut down the beans to 2 and check every couple of weeks.
 
Remember to keep in mind that vanilla fades a good deal with aging, what might seem like a very vanilla-forward mead at first becomes much more mild and integrated at time goes on, also depends on what kind of beans you use.
 
Bit late in the post but im looking at making a 1 gal batch so looking at
4LB Honey
2 vanilla beans
1cin stick
Now do I put both the vanilla beans and the cinnamon stick in the secondary for the duration.
Tia
 
I did a similar recipe for my first mead. I ended up mixing with with a cider I had (angry orchard I think). Was absolutely the best mead I've made. the cinnamon went very well with the apple flavor while the sweetness from the mead balanced the tartness from the cider. I'm trying now to figure a way to recreate it from scratch instead of making the mead and mixing it with store bought cider.
 
Ok but you mixed together after fermentation. Would it be the same if I went the same way as JAOMs recipe , obviously with vanilla and cinnamon and chucked it all in the primary.
Would this affect the flavor?
Or chuck it in the secondary for about a month?
Also should I STOP fermentation when reaching FG or let it ferment out? Looking for 1.010 - 1.020
I did go into my brew shop and they gave me a HIGH alcohol yeast!! Its a mead so don't want it too dry.
Do I use any additions like campdon tabs, finings as I cant see any reference to any of these..

Planning on starting sometime thus week so as much info would be great.
Thanks all
 
I mix it post fermentation, though the mead is pretty good on it's own. Looking over the recipe it's almost exactly what I make. I add the vanilla and cinnamon to the secondary for around a month or two, though I found a "forgotten" batch that had it in for 8 months, didn't effect the flavor very much but it made a huge difference in clarity. I always say you should stop it when you feel it's reach where you want it. remember though if you are going to add honey to sweeten it back up post fermentation, make sure to add some potassium sorbet to stop the fermentation from kicking back off. I ended up with a very dry, very alcoholic (24%) very not good mead by accident that way. As for yeast I'd use a white wine yeast from red star with an alcohol tolerance around 12-15% (I normally end up around 12-13%)

Hope this helps.
 
Hi.
Quick question. Last night I racked my mead to secondary and add my Vanilla and cinnamon, this morning there is quite a bit of sediment and some of the vanilla within it. Now my question is, should I re-rack off the sediment and away from the vanilla and cinnamon and let it clear before re introducing the spices? Dont want to screw this up.
Tia
 
doesn't matter if the spices have mingled with the lees, set it and forget it, taste after a while to see how the spices are integrating, rack when the flavor is good.
 
I'm am currently making a mead like this. Found an article (http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1977-redstone-meadery-vanilla-bean-cinnamon-stick-mead-clone) and thought that is my next one!

I've been brewing (mostly beers) for 10 years, do you find that this mead does often take 3 months to ferment? And actually age it for 1 or 2 years? Does it make that big a difference aging it that long?

I often do age the port or wine I make, usually keeping a few bottles. I have some bottles 7 years old. I'm don't know if I have the patience to age a whole batch for 1 year or more. Lol!
 
This was a user request so I am posting it up. I seem to not have taken as good of notes as I usually do though so some of it is from memory.

19lbs of Orange blossom honey (any light honey will work)
3x 5" vanilla beans in secondary (split and scraped)
4x 4" cinnamon sticks (just used Kroger brand but will look for higher quality next time)

I started this 12-4-09 and upon tasting it on 12-25-10 it is really starting to come into its own. To be honest this is much sooner than I had expected it to be drinkable given the high alcohol content. I had originally hoped to dry this out to around 1.010 but the yeast pooped out on me. However this may have been a blessing in disguise because the sweetness plays very well with the cinn and vanilla flavors. Also since it is about 14.5% ABV it does not coming off as overly sweet at 1.030.

Other notes
*Used hightest stepped nutrient additions
*Fermentation temps were ~60-65 degrees F for the majority of the time most likely playing a role is the yeast not finishing out
*Kegged for aging when crystal clear
* I did not boil at all, I just had to input a time in order to post the thread. I use Ken Schramms no heat method on all of my mead

If you have any questions feel free to post them up :rockin:
Trying to figure out if any sterilization of vanilla or cinnamon needed, pre addition?
 
I made this a while back and out of all the meads I have made, this appears to be everyone's favorite so far. Started another batch last week. Thanks for sharing!
 
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