Prickly Pear Cyser

I just joined and have yet to meet anyone on here so I thought I would jump right in. Here is one of my favorites.

Prickly Pecker

• Apple juice to 5 gal
• 3 pints prickly pear juice
• 2 lbs dark brown sugar
• 5 tbs yeast nutrient
• 5 tsp pectin enzyme
• 1 gal clover honey
• EC-1118 (Hydrated)

Secondary

• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 2 vanilla beans

OG: 1.170; FG: 1.012; ABV: 21.1%

I live in West Texas so I collect a 5 gal bucket of prickly pear fruit in season. I then puree them and let it sit in the fridge for a day. The solids separate and float to the top leaving about 3-4 pts of prickly pear juice.

I don't boil the honey so I heat 1/2 gal of apple juice to around 160F. Then I add the brown sugar and honey to soften while I stir. I then simply add all the ingredients into a glass carboy, hydrate the yeast, and add when must is room temperature.

Wassail!
-SB

This comes out dry I am guessing?
Thanks,
GTG

Nevermind, I see the notes above. I'm going to give this one a try.
GTG

I made this one up about 2 weeks ago and changed it a bit. I used piloncillo sugar at 1.5 lbs and added 11.75 oz blue agave nectar. I also upped the prickly pear juice to 1/2 gallon.

GTG

Eventually ended up adding another 3 quarts of prickly pear juice, 7 lbs of apples from New York and some more mesquite/orange blossom honey to this at secondary back in October 2011. Just bottled it with some sour orange rind and vanilla extract steeped together for a bit in some water. Not real hot but warm and flavorful. It should age nicely. Pictures to come.

GTG

links not working

My batch ended up being good, still have a few bottles left. I'm starting a new batch this weekend with citrus honey and using one of the Yeast Bay brett blends for my primary. I've got a gallon of prickly pear puree I'm using as well as some mesquite syrup I thought I would try also.