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06-10-2008, 03:32 PM
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#21
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 2,141
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I bottled my batch of this last night after a month in primary and another month in secondary. The batch yielded 22 12-oz bottles. I bottled straight from the secondary, leaving about an inch or so in the bottom of the carboy. My FG was 1.013, which seems high compared to Malkore's FG of 1.005. Hope I don't end up with bottle bombs! I'll have to check regularly to make sure pressure isn't building, I guess.
It looked, smelled, and tasted awesome. The color was light straw gold and crystal clear. It smelled of clove and cinnamon, but the orange was more subdued. When swirled it put off a fresh, dry, honey-wine like smell that I can't really describe but was wonderful. Taste followed the smell; it was sweet but light and not cloying.
This homemade mead was much better than the Chaucer's Mead I bought as a comparison. The Chaucer's was thick and syrupy and not very interesting. I was disappointed by the Chaucer's and thought to myself that if my mead tastes like this, then this will be the first and last batch I make. But to my delight, my mead was much better. Even SWMBO liked it, and she is disgusted by the very idea of honey.
Next I want to make a dry mead and a cyser, but those will have to wait until Fall when the house cools off enough for fermentation (sorry, but the freezer is for beer!). |
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__________________
Primary/Secondary:
Kegged: #77 Newcastle Brown, #79 California Common, #80 Old Bushy Tail Special Bitter
Planned: American IPA, Dusseldorf Alt, American Amber
I use secondaries!
Last edited by Beerthoven; 06-10-2008 at 03:42 PM.
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06-10-2008, 04:13 PM
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#22
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lake St. Louis, MO
Posts: 1,362
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Chauncer's is the first Mead I had as well. I didn't care for it at all. I thought it had a weird slightly off aroma also! I tried some type at a fair not long ago and it was much different. Much more wine like and smelled good. I have no idea what brand it was though. In any event even Chauncer's wasnt horrid enough to turn me off to trying, so my batch is in the basement chugging along as I type.
__________________
PRIMARY - Irish Red
PRIMARY - Apple Bee Cider
PRIMARY - Dunkelweizen
PRIMARY - Orange Blossom Mead
"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -- Mahatma Gandhi
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06-11-2008, 07:02 PM
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#23
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Washington D.C. Metro area
Posts: 512
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I didn't see a 5 gallon recipe in the thread. Would this version work for 5 gallons? I wonder about the cinnamon and cloves.
5 tsp orange zest
Juice from 2.5 oranges
12.5 lbs honey
5 sticks cinnamon
5 whole cloves
Yeast nutrient and energizer
Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead
Thanks.
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06-11-2008, 07:20 PM
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#24
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 2,141
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cugel
I didn't see a 5 gallon recipe in the thread. Would this version work for 5 gallons? I wonder about the cinnamon and cloves.
5 tsp orange zest
Juice from 2.5 oranges
12.5 lbs honey
5 sticks cinnamon
5 whole cloves
Yeast nutrient and energizer
Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead
Thanks.
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Personally, I wouldn't use that many cloves. Those things are deceptively strong for their small size. I'd go with 3 or maybe 4. Same for the cinnamon sticks.
__________________
Primary/Secondary:
Kegged: #77 Newcastle Brown, #79 California Common, #80 Old Bushy Tail Special Bitter
Planned: American IPA, Dusseldorf Alt, American Amber
I use secondaries!
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06-11-2008, 07:24 PM
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#25
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Washington D.C. Metro area
Posts: 512
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beerthoven
Personally, I wouldn't use that many cloves. Those things are deceptively strong for their small size. I'd go with 3 or maybe 4. Same for the cinnamon sticks.
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Yup - that's exactly what I'm thinking too, and why I posted. For the above recipe I just multiplied the original recipe for 2 gallons by 2.5 to get to 5 gallons.
Now how to figure out hop utilization hmmmm.... 
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06-17-2008, 07:58 PM
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#26
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Washington D.C. Metro area
Posts: 512
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cugel
5 tsp orange zest
Juice from 2.5 oranges
12.5 lbs honey
5 sticks cinnamon
5 whole cloves
Yeast nutrient and energizer
Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead
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Should this be tablespoons for the zest or teaspoons?
Thanks!
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06-17-2008, 08:02 PM
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#27
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 2,141
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tsp is the abbreviation for teaspoon.
__________________
Primary/Secondary:
Kegged: #77 Newcastle Brown, #79 California Common, #80 Old Bushy Tail Special Bitter
Planned: American IPA, Dusseldorf Alt, American Amber
I use secondaries!
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06-18-2008, 03:51 PM
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#28
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Washington D.C. Metro area
Posts: 512
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beerthoven
tsp is the abbreviation for teaspoon.
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Right - but having 5 teaspoons of zest replace the "orangeness" of 5 whole oranges? Seems more like 5 tablespoons to me. No?
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06-25-2008, 06:58 PM
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#29
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 199
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beerthoven
Next I want to make a dry mead and a cyser, but those will have to wait until Fall when the house cools off enough for fermentation (sorry, but the freezer is for beer!).
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I made about 1.5 gallons of cyser this past fall. Turned out well, once it had cleared. Before that, it was very bitter.
And with most meads, let it age.
__________________
Will
www.comicsbyemail.com
Fermenting: Blackberry Wine
Aging: Mulberry Wine, Mint Mead, Dandelion Wine, Mesquite Mead
Drinking: Apfelwein
On Hand: Peach Mango Wine, Huck's Cider, Mulberry Mead, Orange Spice Mead, Cyser, Apfelwein, Maple Cinnamon Mead, Hard Cider, Brown Sugar Cider
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06-26-2008, 03:56 AM
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#30
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 31
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im gonna try this
Im gonna try a 1 gallon batch of this tomorrow, I will let is age for quite a while before I try it though.
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