So here's my idea. I want everybody to tell me what I should do different as this will be my first mead.
-12lbs wildflower honey
-Additional honey for sweetening amount to taste
-2 gallons old orchard mixed berry juice
-water to 6 gallons
-12lbs strawberries or 8 lbs raspberries, whichever I can get first.
-yeast energizer/nutrient per NAS
-k-meta
-sorbate
-optional oak/vanilla beans (haven't decided yet)
-yeast 71B
Process:
-Sanitize all equip
-rehydrate yeast
-add juice
-add honey and water using no boil method
-add energizer/nutrient
-oxygenate
-add must to rehydrated yeast
-take OG
-pitch 2 packets of 71B
-continue to oxygenate/add nutrient and energizer per NAS
-ferment dry
-cold crash
-add k-meta and sorbate
-age
-once strawberries/raspberries are available to pick at farms rack onto berries/vanilla
-further age with oak
-sweeten to taste with additional honey
-bulk age
-bottle
-win?
Discussion-As you can tell I haven't made up my mind with a few things. Firstly I'm not sure if I want to use all water and honey or mix in some juice with it. The juice may add some nice berry flavor. Secondly I'm not sure about oaking or the vanilla beans. After reading Ken Schramm's book a few times they sound like absolute must haves in a recipe. What do you guys think?
I plan on back sweetening with honey. I am aiming to get a mead that doesn't have a whallop of a ABV but it still sweet. I figure short changing the sugar on the front end then back sweetening is my best bet. My wife and I prefer a sweeter drink. Maybe something like an orange blossom would go good here. I also plan on adding the fruit to secondary after fermentation has stopped. I read that you can get better aroma/flavor by doing it that way.
Anyways, feel free to rip my recipe apart. I want to do it right.
-12lbs wildflower honey
-Additional honey for sweetening amount to taste
-2 gallons old orchard mixed berry juice
-water to 6 gallons
-12lbs strawberries or 8 lbs raspberries, whichever I can get first.
-yeast energizer/nutrient per NAS
-k-meta
-sorbate
-optional oak/vanilla beans (haven't decided yet)
-yeast 71B
Process:
-Sanitize all equip
-rehydrate yeast
-add juice
-add honey and water using no boil method
-add energizer/nutrient
-oxygenate
-add must to rehydrated yeast
-take OG
-pitch 2 packets of 71B
-continue to oxygenate/add nutrient and energizer per NAS
-ferment dry
-cold crash
-add k-meta and sorbate
-age
-once strawberries/raspberries are available to pick at farms rack onto berries/vanilla
-further age with oak
-sweeten to taste with additional honey
-bulk age
-bottle
-win?
Discussion-As you can tell I haven't made up my mind with a few things. Firstly I'm not sure if I want to use all water and honey or mix in some juice with it. The juice may add some nice berry flavor. Secondly I'm not sure about oaking or the vanilla beans. After reading Ken Schramm's book a few times they sound like absolute must haves in a recipe. What do you guys think?
I plan on back sweetening with honey. I am aiming to get a mead that doesn't have a whallop of a ABV but it still sweet. I figure short changing the sugar on the front end then back sweetening is my best bet. My wife and I prefer a sweeter drink. Maybe something like an orange blossom would go good here. I also plan on adding the fruit to secondary after fermentation has stopped. I read that you can get better aroma/flavor by doing it that way.
Anyways, feel free to rip my recipe apart. I want to do it right.