1st Mead Recipe Ideas

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I've been brewing beer for a few years and recently decided to try making mead, mostly because of what I have read here and online. Being an AZ native, I purchased 11.75 lbs of orange blossom honey and a packet of D47 yeast.

I'd like to make a 3-4 gallon batch and then split it at secondary into 1 gallon fermenters. For one I'd like to keep as is to see how unspiced/flavored orange blossom honey turns out. The rest I am still trying to decide on.

My wife likes the peach flavored beer from 4 Peaks so I thought I might try one with peaches. See any reason why peaches and orange blossom honey might not work? How many peaches/lbs of peaches would work for a 1 gallon batch?

Any ideas for the other 1 or 2 batches? I'd like them all to be still meads with a siginicant % of alchohol.

One final question (for now), what is an ideal primary fement temp for this type of mead? My house (in AZ) is about 77-78 right now, I have a fridge with a temp controller where I ferment by beer that is usually around 67-68F that I can use. Which would be best, or does it matter?

Thanks, Sun Devil
 
Hi sundevil: I think a peach melomel would be tasty, though peaches take a long time to clear; Ken Schramm ("The Compleat Meadmaker") has a recipe for a tasty ginger/peach melomel that you might like. I made a variation of it with apricots & it was very good.
12lbs honey
3 gal water (water to make 5 gallons)
2 teaspoons yeast energizer
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
2.5 teaspoons pectic enzyme
10-12lbs fresh peaches blanched, peeled, halved & pitted
1.5-2 oz. fresh ginger root peeled & mashed
Lalvin D-47 yeast
You could always just rack your mead onto your peaches in secondary, you'll get more fresh peach flavour that way. As for the others, maybe a braggot, or a cyser? You can find out more about the D-47 yeast (and a lot of others too) here: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp Hope you find this info useful. Regards, GF.
 
Thanks for the info. I picked up a copy of his book and it appears to be fairly helpful.

Is it best to prepare a starter of D47 prior to pitching instead of just rehyrdating? When I make beer I always prepare starters (I usually use WL liquid yeast) so am familiar with the process. I've never used D47 (or any other dry mead/wine yeast for that matter) so not sure of the best way to deal with it.

Thoughts?
 
With nearly 12lb of honey, go for 4 gallons. In my experience 3lbs/gallon is a lot easier to convince to work in a reasonable time than 4lbs per gallon - not that it can't be done, but for your first time out, no point in raising the bar too high unless you have a strong reason to do so.
 
Orange Blossom Honey is what some of the best mead in the world is made of. It doesn't taste like oranges though, so adding peach will be a great addition. I'd back off of that recipe on Ginger though. Ginger is a palate clenser, and it'll over power pretty easily.

I agree with the 4 gallon batch size, it's going to give you nice strength, and a great flavor....especially with the D-47.
 
Thanks for the replies on this one.

I followed the recommendation and ended up with about a 4.1 gallon batch size and an OG of 1.106. How does mead (with D47 yeast) ferment relative to beer with a top fermenting ale yeast like WLP001 or 005? I'm used to a rolling ferment that threatens to blow out within the first 12 hours. I pitched the rehydrated D47 about 30 hours ago and have steady bubbling but don't see much of a kreausan. Just curious as to how this stuff typically behaves during primary, temp is currently around 68F.

I'm still planning on splitting this 3-4 ways for secondary.

Thanks for all the info thus far.
 
I have not used D-47, but mead is, on the whole, slow - I have typically used ale yeast (I'm very low fuss, not too concerned with styles, and I like what it does for beer, and have so far also liked what it's done for mead), and it's still slow. Nice steady bubbling may be as exciting as it gets, though it can pick up some in the early phases.
 
yeah, no chance of blowoff! which is good :) its slow. bubble bubble bubble

I usually ferment at about 68. and have no real problems with that. is your honey all dissolved? thats always my problem!
 
Thanks for the replies on this one.

How does mead (with D47 yeast) ferment relative to beer with a top fermenting ale yeast like WLP001 or 005? I'm used to a rolling ferment that threatens to blow out within the first 12 hours. I pitched the rehydrated D47 about 30 hours ago and have steady bubbling but don't see much of a kreausan. Just curious as to how this stuff typically behaves during primary, temp is currently around 68F.

While this isn't a very good photo, this is typical of a healthy pyment fermentation using D-47, proper nutrients, and sufficient oxygenation.

100_0787.jpg
 
yeah, no chance of blowoff! which is good :) its slow. bubble bubble bubble

I usually ferment at about 68. and have no real problems with that. is your honey all dissolved? thats always my problem!

Yep, honey is all dissolved. It's been about 48 hours now and I've got constant bubbling, definitely a bit different than what I'm used to with beer (no rolling fermentation action). Thanks again for the feedback.
 
Ended up splitting this one 3 ways back in November, 1 gallon on top of raspberries and blackberries, 1 gallon with star anise, and the rest without any additives.

At time of racking in November the taste was interesting, similar to Listerine, which from what I have read is not abnormal. I bottled the straight mead in April and the taste had improved substantially. The star anise methlegin was bottled in early May and had a pleasant licorice aroma, taste was good but still needs to sit. Bottled the mixed berry melomel tonight and holy cow!, what a surprise, the SWMBO even like this one right out of the fermenter.

I'm glad I split the original three ways for my first batch. I'll definitely be making the mixed berry mead again shortly and in a larger quantity, will see how the others age over time.
 
I dunno about his orange blossom, but you can easily pick up wildflower or mesquite honey for ~$50-60/5gal at some of the farms surrounding phx
 
I can't seem to find anything bigger than 2lb jars of ob up here, brew store had it at 9.99 for 2lb (which I got 2). Was at the grocery store saw same jar for 7.99.

I really need to put a little more effort in looking around town :drunk:
 
I like to use a blender to dissolve honey into water. It takes a little time to do it a couple pounds at a time, but it works well with zero heat & areates the heck out of the must. Just make sure you don't overload the blender with too much honey at once, it can burn out your motor pretty quick if you do. Regards, GF.
 
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