Our Chocolate Mead Experiment

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How long in the Primary?

  • 1 month

  • 3 months

  • 6 months

  • 9 months

  • 12 months


Results are only viewable after voting.

brauhausjoe

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On brew day we brought 2 ½ gallons of water to ~185 degrees stir in 15 pounds of honey, 5 tsp Acid blend, and 5 tsp yeast nutrient. We let it cool to room temperature, about 80 degrees using an ice bath, poured the must into a Fermentation bucket and add enough water to give us 5 to 5 ¼ gallons. Pitched in White Labs Sweet Mead yeast , mixed well with all sanitized gear.


Notes: No yeast starter this time, but we aerated VERY well. Took a little longer to cool down. For the powders we added about 1/3 gal to the 1 gal jug, swirled it around till it looked good and dissolved then topped it off and put the airlock on top. The bars were frozen and then beaten to get them in the jugs.


Our Original Gravity was:

1.120


We added flavoring to the 1 gallon jugs as listed:


031 – 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup

032 – 1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar

033 – 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars

034 – 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder

035 – 6oz by weight Nesquick coco milk mix

036 – 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder


Here is a picture of what we have at the end of transfer day:

meade06_01_800x600.jpg



12/23/08:

looks like 34 ( 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder) trying to escape:

meade06_02_700x933.jpg




Sanitized a small spatula, cleaned the neck and replaced the airlock:


meade06_04_700x933.jpg




Here is a family shot:


meade06_03_800x600.jpg
 
looks like 34 ( 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder) BLEW OUT, SWIMBO was a little upset...Notice the ceiling and were the airlock is...

meade06_07_700x933.jpg


Here is another ceiling shot:

meade06_08_800x600.jpg


Looks like his buddy, (36 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder) is trying to follow suit...

meade06_09_700x933.jpg


Decided to setup the old blow off system to hopefully stop future events.

meade06_14_800x600.jpg
 
On a separate note looks like the bars are starting to rise up! Here is 32 (1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar)

meade06_10_700x933.jpg


And his buddy ,33 ( 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars)

meade06_13_700x933.jpg
 
Thats a mighty fine looking family you have there!

I think I may be a distant cousin... Let me know when you have your 'reunion' ;)
-Me
 
Thats a mighty fine looking family you have there!

I think I may be a distant cousin... Let me know when you have your 'reunion' ;)
-Me

Thanks, we are thinking 6 months on the primary and then over to the secondary for 6 months. So it might be a 1 year reunion. Of course, there might be samples in between.....
 
Plan to! :ban: I will update as much as I can during the "heavy" fermentation. Then it might be a while....but we will update.
 
I woud be interested too. What I read on other chocolate meads it took 2 years aging to become good and loose the bitter taste. Thinking on doing a chocholate mint with a little vannilla as a rounding out. So you can be sure that people are taking notes. Thanks for the great pictures.
 
The Morning after and we have no blowouts! Here is how it looks:
meade06_16_800x600.jpg


Here is an action shot of the blow off:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDd66CJRMs]YouTube - meade06 vid01[/ame]

Here is 32 (1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar) looks like the whole bar has floated to the top and it is actively fermenting.
meade06_17_700x933.jpg


Here is 33 ( 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars) Not as much of the bar floated to the top but it is actively fermenting
meade06_18_700x933.jpg
 
The 6oz by weight Nesquick coco milk mix is going along just fine,
meade06_19_700x933.jpg


Here is 31, 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup. Not much going on here at all.
meade06_20_700x933.jpg


Action video of the above:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSV5B5oN7-s]YouTube - meade06 vid02[/ame]
 
We could not decide how long to leave things in the primary. So we decided to let the board help us out. Please vote to let us know.

Thanks!
 
It takes however long it takes- so I didn't vote. I like to rack when the SG is 1.020-1.010 or so.

Interesting experiment- thanks for letting us see the pictures!

I'm not a chocolate fan, but I do like mead, so I love seeing the photos. Thanks.
 
It takes however long it takes- so I didn't vote. I like to rack when the SG is 1.020-1.010 or so.

Interesting experiment- thanks for letting us see the pictures!

I'm not a chocolate fan, but I do like mead, so I love seeing the photos. Thanks.

Agreed, we hope to not pre-maturely rack the mead :rockin: But we have heard/read many different ideas for how long to leave everything in the primary. We are thinking we will go with the vote, a kind of community mead experiment.

Taking readings from 1 gal jugs is going to be a little tough, but we are going to figure it out.

Then comes the secondary poll... :D
 
Merry Christmas!

Everything is still the same, except 31 ( 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup) Looks like there is a build-up on top and we have slight action in the airlock!
meade06_22_700x933.jpg
 
dude this is epic..i had wanted to do something like this but with beers and a base wort but this is muc larger scale. that top pic #31 looks like its going to be awfully interesting. i look foreward to hearing how these come out. Very nice!
 
dude this is epic..i had wanted to do something like this but with beers and a base wort but this is muc larger scale. that top pic #31 looks like its going to be awfully interesting. i look foreward to hearing how these come out. Very nice!

Thanks, It started here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/small-batch-question-75799/ It is a great way to play and discover. And hopefully if you find one you like, multiply by 5 and get a full batch. I would love to do this with beers as well, I believe the guys a BasicBrewing have done quite a few 1 gal batches. I think it is the base malt experiment.
 
Looks like 34 ( 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder) and his buddy, (36 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder) are done with their time out. They are still fermenting away and have re-joined the rest of the family.
meade06_23_800x600.jpg


Here is a Video of the fermentation.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-OPK9h4Vtc]YouTube - meade06 vid03[/ame]
 
Just wanted to give an update, almost a month later and here is what they are looking like.

meade06_24_800x600.jpg


From left to right we have:

031 – 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup
032 – 1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar
033 – 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars
034 – 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder
035 – 6oz by weight Nesquick coco milk mix
036 – 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder

Dont think we are going to make the 1 month racking time. Sorry. I should have thought a little better when I put it up.
 
search the interent and see if you can find compressed cocao. they sell it in the caribbean islands like Dominica and Haiti. It is very unrefined and might be perfect for your chocolate mead.
 
Wow! I've never been much of a mead fan but I'm watering at the mouth looking at those pics! Kudos on the experiment. I'm sure you'll have one hell of a recipe out of it. :D
 
search the interent and see if you can find compressed cocao. they sell it in the caribbean islands like Dominica and Haiti. It is very unrefined and might be perfect for your chocolate mead.

Thanks, Maybe we will give it a shot for our next round. :rockin:

Wow! I've never been much of a mead fan but I'm watering at the mouth looking at those pics! Kudos on the experiment. I'm sure you'll have one hell of a recipe out of it. :D

Thanks eschatz, We are actually new at mead, this board has been a great help. We plan to follow this through, the recipe will be out there for all to use. The only bad thing it (if you consider it bad) is the wait. Wish I could taste it now!

We will keep everyone updated as we go.
 
21 March 09: 3 months later, we racked to secondary. We set them out about an hour before racking. We did not take gravity reading this time. We will when we bottle. We did not know how much we were going to have.

meade06_32_800x600.jpg


Here is an after-rack shot:

meade06_33_800x600.jpg


We tasted; yes we know to early. Not ready yet. Give it time.....with that said, here is what we and the wifes came up with:

031 – 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup:
Light Chocolate smell and taste, very smooth
032 – 1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar
Creamy buttery texture, not a bad taste. Low Alcohol taste.
033 – 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars
More chocolate taste (cocoa). Higher Alcohol burn, but not in a bad way
034 – 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder
Smells really good, bitter chocolate taste.
035 – 6oz by weight Nesquick coco milk mix
Light chocolate aroma. Very sweet with just a hint of chocolate. Very smooth
036 – 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder
Smells great, same as 34 but rounder. Definite bitter cocoa flavor
 
Awesome! I would love to hear some final words on this when you bottle. Did you prime the carboys with any co2 before or after your racking, since you do have a fair amount of headspace, or is it still fermenting strongly at this point? I would hate to hear the final tasting went poorly because of oxidation.

I am thinking of doing one or two gallons of this in a month or two and would love to use your research as a base for mine :)
 
Awesome! I would love to hear some final words on this when you bottle. Did you prime the carboys with any co2 before or after your racking, since you do have a fair amount of headspace, or is it still fermenting strongly at this point? I would hate to hear the final tasting went poorly because of oxidation.

I am thinking of doing one or two gallons of this in a month or two and would love to use your research as a base for mine :)

Thank You. We will be keeping everyone informed as we progress. No, we did not prime with CO2; *so far* it has not been a problem. You are right, oxidation would be rather upsetting.

Our idea with this is to shoot for taste. Once we have the taste we want, we will do larger batches and take better gravity readings, ect.
 
Awesome, sounds like by the time I have open carboys you will have some proven recipes for me :mug:
 
We're going to give it at least three months in the secondary, so will be taking a closer look sometime towards the end of June, and make a determination as to what to do at that time.

We may bottle, rack to tertiaries, or just leave it for a while longer.

Since the racking in March, all six have cleared nicely, some to complete clearness (abloe to read through), others still a little cloudy but able to see through ( you can see how many fingers I'm holding up

We will, however, be updating this thread as each step goes on.

D
 
After 4 months in the tertiaries we bottles these Chocolate meads last night
We know it was a little early but inquiring minds want to know

SG 1.120 FG 1.008 ABV 15.3%

Without further ado the results of our highly unscientific taste test:

:eek:031 – 24oz Hershey Chocolate syrup:
Light Chocolate smell and taste, high alcohol burn, Good dark Color, Overall : Not bad

:eek:032 – 1, 6.8 oz Plain Hershey Chocolate Bar
Buttery aroma, Bitter on the front end with a "Black Forest cake" aftertone Good color, almost Clear like white wine. Low Alcohol taste. Overall 1/2 like , 1/2 dislike (to bitter)

:(033 – 2, 6.8 oz Special Dark Hershey Chocolate Bars
Hint of chocolate smell, Higher Alcohol burn, and bitter
Color good Overall : thumbs down

:(034 – 6oz by weight, Hershey dark coco powder
Smells really good, Dark chocolate aromas, bitter at first with dark chocolate after taste, bitter was overpowering up front Overall : Not as bad as #33 but won't make again

:mug:035 – 6oz by weight Nesquick coco milk mix
Light chocolate aroma. Very good chocolate flavor. ice coco color. We have a winner. High alcohol taste but covered nicely by the chocolate. Very smooth. Plans are already underway for a 10 gallon batch of This
:mug:

:(036 – 6oz by weight Hershey unsweetened coco powder
Smells great, Definite bitter cocoa flavor , Good dark chocolate color


Consensus vote #35 was the run away winner, as stated we are already talking about the next batch. We will probably cut back the ABV to 10-12% next time. We hope this will give us a more drinkable product.

#31 and #32 while not taking our top place both produced what good be a good mead.

Hope our little experiment has helped someone
We'll update when we open our next bottle at Christmas 2009

D
 
Sounds great. You may see how it is after another year of aging. On another site I heard of a guys recipie and he claimed it took 2 years to age properly. I was thinking on trying this but I noticed that most chocolate has a bit of vanillin in it, read as vanilla. SO I was thinking on doning my batch with coco powder, adding vanilla and back sweetneing it a bit. I thing that the bitter ones you mentioned would be great as a blended flavor. Take say 1/2 of your chocolate and mix 1/2 of a regular sweet mead and that should balance it all out, have a great flavor and it shouldn't water down the chocolate too much. Oh and aging it for a full year or even 2 years. Patients is very hard sometimes.
 
First order of business is to make 5 gallons of this recipe

Our next plans inlude nut flavored honey, Your recommendation of cherries and vanilla, possibly strawberrys

We found a honey with caramels overtones, thought a batch of that might work nice

The possible combinations are almost endless

I wonder if I could work out a banana combo

We'll keep trying

D
 
This sounds pretty amazing. I'm going to have to try a batch. Thanks for doing the experiment. Looking forward to hearing others experiences!
 
It looks like all the ones with emulsifiers (lechitin) did well. The buttery notes are probably from the cocoa butter (white chocolate) in the chocolate bars. Nesquick contains maltodextrin and plain table salt which are probably the secret ingredients that pushed it ahead.

How about combining raw cocoa powder for the strong chocolate flavor, white chocolate for the buttery roundness, maltodextrin and lechitin for the mouthfeel and a pinch of salt to bring out the chocolate flavors to get the best of all possible worlds?
 
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