Hop-Head Mead

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
meadist

meadist

Member
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Link to recipe and notes here

Ingredients

3 gal water
7 lbs Clover Honey (~9.25 cups)
3 tsp Yeast Nutrient
3 g EC-1118 - Lalvin Yeast
1 oz Cascade Pellet Hops
1 oz Citra Pellet Hops
1 oz Centennial Pellet Hops
1 oz Cascade Leaf Hops
3/4 cup Corn Sugar


Directions

In a large brew pot, boil 3 gallons of water.
  • With the pot removed from the burner, add 3.5 lbs honey. Make sure to stir the water so the honey dissolves completely and doesn’t burn on the botttom of the pot. When the honey fully dissolved, return the pot to the burner.
  • As the liquid starts boiling again, add 1 0z Cascade pellet hops and boil 60 minutes. After 15 minutes add ½ oz Centennial hops, After 15 more
  • minutes add ½ oz Citra hops. After 15 more minutes add the other ½ oz Centennial hops. with 5 minutes left in the boil, add the other ½ oz Citra hops. (it helps to contain the hops in individual muslin bags)
  • At the end of the boil, remove the pot from the burner and let cool to about 90 degrees fahrenheit. Dissolve the remaining 3.5 lbs of honey
  • Add the must to a 3 gallon primary fermenter, aerate, and pitch the yeast.
  • Seal fermentor with airlock and store in a dark place at a temperature of about 70 degrees.
  • After 2 weeks, with a siphon, re-rack the mead into a sanitized 3 gallon carboy.
  • Add the cascade leaf hops in a muslin bag to the secondary.
  • After 2 weeks, re-rack, then let age for 4 months.
  • Dissolve the corn sugar in 1 cup warm water and add to carboy.
  • Fill sanitized bottles and let age for at least 2 months.
  • Serve chilled in a tulip glass, and Enjoy with friends!

Link to recipe and notes here
 
Brewed up a variation of this today. Any tricks for bringing the aging period down or it is necessary to age that long? Thanks.
 
meadist said:
Link to recipe and notes here Ingredients 3 gal water 7 lbs Clover Honey (~9.25 cups) 3 tsp Yeast Nutrient 3 g EC-1118 - Lalvin Yeast 1 oz Cascade Pellet Hops 1 oz Citra Pellet Hops 1 oz Centennial Pellet Hops 1 oz Cascade Leaf Hops 3/4 cup Corn Sugar Directions In a large brew pot, boil 3 gallons of water. [*]With the pot removed from the burner, add 3.5 lbs honey. Make sure to stir the water so the honey dissolves completely and doesn’t burn on the botttom of the pot. When the honey fully dissolved, return the pot to the burner. [*]As the liquid starts boiling again, add 1 0z Cascade pellet hops and boil 60 minutes. After 15 minutes add ½ oz Centennial hops, After 15 more [*]minutes add ½ oz Citra hops. After 15 more minutes add the other ½ oz Centennial hops. with 5 minutes left in the boil, add the other ½ oz Citra hops. (it helps to contain the hops in individual muslin bags) [*]At the end of the boil, remove the pot from the burner and let cool to about 90 degrees fahrenheit. Dissolve the remaining 3.5 lbs of honey [*]Add the must to a 3 gallon primary fermenter, aerate, and pitch the yeast. [*]Seal fermentor with airlock and store in a dark place at a temperature of about 70 degrees. [*]After 2 weeks, with a siphon, re-rack the mead into a sanitized 3 gallon carboy. [*]Add the cascade leaf hops in a muslin bag to the secondary. [*]After 2 weeks, re-rack, then let age for 4 months. [*]Dissolve the corn sugar in 1 cup warm water and add to carboy. [*]Fill sanitized bottles and let age for at least 2 months. [*]Serve chilled in a tulip glass, and Enjoy with friends! Link to recipe and notes here
Click to expand...
Meadist, 9 posts.. Where you been! Lol

Looks very interesting.. I'm a newb to meads so subscribing this one!
 
Pretty sure I'm the only one posting in this thread...new batch is on tap. It's very hoppy. I dry hopped with about 3 oz and keg hopped with 1 oz. Still trying to fine tune this to get it just right. May even need to be back sweetened a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Sounds super freakin tasty since i love mead and i love hops. i will definitely give this a try soon. Just gotta re-up my hop supply, I'm thinking of trying this with some crazy fruity hops like some calypso and belma...
 
I have never used those, I've stuck with C hops and simcoe. But I think fruity hops would work great in this. Current batch, I really think the issue is I let it sit on the dry hops way too long and it got grassy. Next time I will do a short blast of dry hops right after fermentation, let it clear, and then dry hop it again right before I put it on tap.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Helly said:
Current batch, I really think the issue is I let it sit on the dry hops way too long and it got grassy. Next time I will do a short blast of dry hops right after fermentation, let it clear, and then dry hop it again right before I put it on tap
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Helly. How long did you let this current batch dry hop? I was thinking of doing a 7 day with mine, but this will also be my first time using these hops so its a learning experience in a few ways I suppose.
 
Way too long. Like a month or more. First couple times I stuck to 7 days give or take and I loved it. I set this one up then I hurt my back this summer and forgot about it. So you will be fine.
 
Just tasted the latest iteration. Still working as it was at about 1.012 but it's got a real nice flavor. I pitched on top of a US-05 yeast cake from a Cascade pale ale. I will be much more careful about the dry hopping this time around. SWMBO is super excited that we're going to have our "India Pale Mead" on tap again.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Have my own version of this that is waiting to be kegged.

Only boiled a small portion of the honey to let some of the mead characteristics shine through. Did a boil with 1oz Centennial for bittering, 1.5oz centennial and 1 oz cascade for aroma, and 2oz each of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Rakau dry hopped at 1oz each for 7 days. First dry hop was near the end of primary fermentation to extract some of the juiciness from the hops, second dry hop was about 2 months later. It's ready for kegging and tastes awesome.
 
Looks a little like resurrecting the dead, here, SeanTheWheatBrewer, but the hop head mead tastes really good although I still maintain that there is absolutely no need to boil of the volatile flavor molecules in the honey in order to isomerise an ounce or two of hops. You simply boil the hops in water to which you have added a drop or two of lemon juice (lower pH is the critical factor not a sugar solution).. But that said, the "best" yeast is the yeast you most prefer to work with for the characteristics you want the mead to exhibit.

You could try a saison yeast, a clean fermenting ale yeast (US 05 or 04), 71B or 47D (the last two are good wine yeasts - both, in my opinion, excellent for mead). Another option is DV10 yeast. This yeast produces a lot of glycerides and so increases the viscosity of even a drier mead so the mouthfeel is richer. Bottom line: there is no "best yeast". There is only the yeast you want to produce the characteristics of the mead you want - so check out the yeast labs' spec sheets.
 
I like the looks of the original recipe here. Though I think (having not tried either) I support @bernardsmith in not boiling honey.
I also wanted to know what the OG, FG, and ABV of this mead was. I tend to make my meads very strong but perhaps that is not
the best way for hopped meads.

I just dry-hopped a mead the other day with tettnang. Wanted to simply add some floral aromas to some wildflower honey mead.
 
As a wine maker once said, (was it Jack Keller? I don't recall) - just because you can ferment something does not mean that you oughta. Are you making a mead to enjoy or to get you smashed out of your skull? If all you want is get drunk then buy a bottle of scotch or vodka. If what you are looking for is the magic pleasure that a drink balanced with flavor, alcohol, and aroma can provide then aiming for "strong" drinks may not be the best approach. One pint of a lower ABV mead or a glass of a higher ABV mead or shot of a high ABV mead may all contain the same amount of alcohol... But on a hot summer day after working in my yard or after a 12 mile bicycle ride in the fall or sitting in my living room in a winter's evening a pint of a smooth flavor-rich mead is all but unbeatable..
 
bernardsmith said:
If what you are looking for is the magic pleasure that a drink balanced with flavor, alcohol, and aroma can provide then aiming for "strong" drinks may not be the best approach.
Click to expand...

What I am looking for is the OG, FG, and ABV of the original posted recipe - which obviously depend on a few things - and is helpful for getting similar/repeatable results.

I was not looking for directions on how to get drunk or how to enjoy mead.


bernardsmith said:
If all you want is get drunk then buy a bottle of scotch or vodka.
Click to expand...

All I want is to make a hopped mead.

Also I think there are many people who would take issue with your statement as many people enjoy both scotch and vodka. Also curious that you didn't mention any other beverages. Did you know that beer, wine, rum, bourbon, brandy, chicha, tequila, ouzo, soju...the list goes on and on...all also contain alcohol and can be used to, as you so eloquently put it, "get drunk".
 
Etnabrews said:
What I am looking for is the OG, FG, and ABV of the original posted recipe - which obviously depend on a few things - and is helpful for getting similar/repeatable results.

I was not looking for directions on how to get drunk or how to enjoy mead.




All I want is to make a hopped mead.

Also I think there are many people who would take issue with your statement as many people enjoy both scotch and vodka. Also curious that you didn't mention any other beverages. Did you know that beer, wine, rum, bourbon, brandy, chicha, tequila, ouzo, soju...the list goes on and on...all also contain alcohol and can be used to, as you so eloquently put it, "get drunk".
Click to expand...
Etnabrews said:
What I am looking for is the OG, FG, and ABV of the original posted recipe - which obviously depend on a few things - and is helpful for getting similar/repeatable results.

I was not looking for directions on how to get drunk or how to enjoy mead.




All I want is to make a hopped mead.

Also I think there are many people who would take issue with your statement as many people enjoy both scotch and vodka. Also curious that you didn't mention any other beverages. Did you know that beer, wine, rum, bourbon, brandy, chicha, tequila, ouzo, soju...the list goes on and on...all also contain alcohol and can be used to, as you so eloquently put it, "get drunk".
Click to expand...

bernardsmith eats farts
 
I guess these folks know how to get drunk, but I'm still trying to figure it out. I pour the mead in my butt, but then when I sit up straight, it just dribbles out.

Bernardsmith, you seem like a capable chap. Care to advise?
 
One pound of honey mixed with water to make 1 gallon of must increases the gravity of the water by 35 points (1.035). The SG can be determined by simple arithmetic. 7 lbs honey - 3 gallons water. (about 1.080 +/-) - the ABV of a mead starting at 1.080 is about 10.5 %.
 
bernardsmith said:
Looks a little like resurrecting the dead, here, SeanTheWheatBrewer, but the hop head mead tastes really good although I still maintain that there is absolutely no need to boil of the volatile flavor molecules in the honey in order to isomerise an ounce or two of hops. You simply boil the hops in water to which you have added a drop or two of lemon juice (lower pH is the critical factor not a sugar solution).. But that said, the "best" yeast is the yeast you most prefer to work with for the characteristics you want the mead to exhibit.

You could try a saison yeast, a clean fermenting ale yeast (US 05 or 04), 71B or 47D (the last two are good wine yeasts - both, in my opinion, excellent for mead). Another option is DV10 yeast. This yeast produces a lot of glycerides and so increases the viscosity of even a drier mead so the mouthfeel is richer. Bottom line: there is no "best yeast". There is only the yeast you want to produce the characteristics of the mead you want - so check out the yeast labs' spec sheets.
Click to expand...
And I still maintain that I dislike the green, vegetative flavor and aroma that I get from boiling hops with just water and no sugar source. So tired of you talking just to hear yourself talk. It's a constant with you about everything!
 
Etnabrews said:
I like the looks of the original recipe here. Though I think (having not tried either) I support @bernardsmith in not boiling honey.
I also wanted to know what the OG, FG, and ABV of this mead was. I tend to make my meads very strong but perhaps that is not
the best way for hopped meads.

I just dry-hopped a mead the other day with tettnang. Wanted to simply add some floral aromas to some wildflower honey mead.
Click to expand...
I have made probably 20 different versions of this recipe and have gone with OG's from 1.04 all the way to 1.09 and have found that I am happier to keep it around 1.05-1.06. I ferment it out all the way dry.

I also do recommend boiling just a small portion of the honey with the water and hops. IMO, boiling hops in just water always gives me a vegetative flavor that I am not a fan of.
 
Tried boiling with hops and a little honey, came out tasting well after 3 weeks and I’m trying an additional 2 weeks of secondary fermentation with orange juice
 

Similar threads

rkhanso
My first SMaSH recipe. Opinions appreciated
Replies
7
Views
316
fluketamer
F
Æ
Sold Free Hops
Replies
5
Views
583
t^3
T
F
Hops potency loss over time?
Replies
10
Views
519
Dog House Brew
Dog House Brew
theirondude
Adding Hops
Replies
3
Views
207
flipster
flipster
RyPA
All NEIPA recipes taste the same
2
Replies
60
Views
2K
RyPA
RyPA

Latest posts

Back
Top