Sweet Potato Pie Mead
 

Last March I decided I wanted something for the holidays and pumpkins just aren't available that time of year. Even finding canned pumpkins in March is difficult. Having been raised in the south I knew how similar sweet potato and pumpkin pies taste.

Since I mentioned this mead in another thread I've had a couple of requests for the recipe. It's kinda complicated but now, at almost 5 months old, it's pretty good. I only made two gallons since it was the first time making it. In fact, I've never even heard of anyone making it before.

5 lbs fresh sweet potatoes
4-4.5 lbs alfalfa honey
1.5 cups dark brown sugar
10 oz raisins
1.5 cinnamon sticks
1T blade style mace
5 green cardamom beans
6 cloves
1T fresh grated ginger
71B1122 yeast

OG 1.071 before adding sweet potatoes

Steam sweet potatoes and mash. Place in straining bag along with the spices and the raisins. Pitch yeast. There'll be many suspended solids, even with the straining bag.

rack in 3 weeks and top with dark rum (no more than a pint for this amount). The mead will ferment to dryness at this point.

After another month rack onto 8 oz alfalfa honey and 4 oz apple juice concentrate. Add two campden tablets or 1/8 t (teaspoon) k-meta and 1/2 t of potassium sorbate.

Wait another couple of weeks and bottle when clear. It provided me with 5 750ml and 3 375ml bottles.

This is a medium sweet mead that tastes just like sweet potato/pumpkin pie and should accompany a holiday dinner very nicely.

That sounds interesting. But, I totally dislike cardamom, but I think my mom overdid them as a spice in her pumpkin pie, and I think that's what did me in.

This does sound good! I have a pumpkin pie mel racked as we speak.

I made this last night and was a little short on sweet potatoes and I had to add water to come up to 2 gallons did yo uadd any water to yours? And if I'm reading this correctly you let it go for three weeks then rack onto the rum and add k meta correct? how much k meta?

Wow, this sounds amazing!!!

:mug:

I'm hoping I did it right and it will be done by thanksgiving.

I edited this recipe to include precise amounts of k-meta and sorbate. For some reason I said to add the k-meta when racking onto the rum. It should be added after fermentation is complete and when you backsweeten.

I don't remember about the water but you'll be fine.

It's really quite good and goes very well with Thanksgiving dinner for either the main course or the pumpkin pie dessert.

Awesome thanks! It smells pretty good so we shall see. :rockin:

Couple of questions
 

I would love to try this out. Wish I had looked at the recipe a couple of months ago so it would be ready in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm thinking if I start it now or a month or two, then the added wait time should make it all that much better.

When you made your first batch, what was your primary fermenter? A 3 gallon or a 5 gallon? How much water did you use? Where did you find the alfafa honey & could I use a clover honey? Where did you find the blade mace and the green cardamon beans?

Sorry, for all the questions, but I'm still new to the process but I'm already looking into bigger batches.

I always use a plastic pail or trash can for my primary and I think the smallest is five gallons, and that's what I would have used.

Almost all our local honey here in Central Nebraska is alfalfa and it's really just a sub-variety of clover anyway so yes, clover would be just fine. Any light to medium honey would work since the spices predominate.

I bought the spices at a farmers market in Kansas City but you can also order them from a spice house online. Crushed would be ok and you can use nutmeg instead of mace. Mace is a bit more delicate in flavor than nutmeg but they can be used interchangeably.

Good luck!