Mint Honey Mead

Hello folks

I just came into a significant amount of Mint Honey and would like some ideas on how to proceed with making this into a great mead. The honey is a caramel colour and has caramel flavour. Mint is in there too but is fairly background.

The person that gave it to me said there was a possibility the honey had been heated too much but did a basic enzyme test and it looked to be ok.

My current plan is to make 2, 5 gallon batches and split both of those into 2. One batch is to be straight up Mint Honey Mead, the others I intend to add fruit, herbs or whatever.

Right now the only thoughts I have on this is to try various combinations of Lemon, Pepper, Star Anise and maybe Rosemary.

Do you folks have some ideas, done this before? I would be very appreciative of any and all help with this.

Gord

Chocolate?

Machalel said:

Chocolate?

Click to expand...

That occured to me but I wanted to try something a bit more mainstream first.

How would you add chocolate, cocoa powder?

Pick a delicate yeast, and be very careful with temperatures. I've had success with belgian ale yeasts, finished with 1118.

odinsgift said:

Pick a delicate yeast, and be very careful with temperatures. I've had success with belgian ale yeasts, finished with 1118.

Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought Odinsgift. Some spice from the yeast to blend with the mint and caramel might just be what I'm looking for. I was going to go with 1118 as I've had great success with that in past.

What Belgian yeasts have you used for mead?

Ive used reclaimed yeast from Unibroue La Fin Du Monde, Luicifer from HetAnkler, and Chouffe in mead. The last I used was the unibroue, and was extremely satisfied, it compliments the yellow star thistle honey I used very nicely, and is very light and delicate.

odinsgift said:

Ive used reclaimed yeast from Unibroue La Fin Du Monde, Luicifer from HetAnkler, and Chouffe in mead. The last I used was the unibroue, and was extremely satisfied, it compliments the yellow star thistle honey I used very nicely, and is very light and delicate.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. I'm going to go with Ardennes as I have that on hand and I like the piney, spicey flavours.

GordonT said:

Thanks for your help. I'm going to go with Ardennes as I have that on hand and I like the piney, spicey flavours.

Click to expand...

Ah, well, I don't know how much effect a mixed yeast batch will have on the honey, but if you have enough of it to do a seperate gallon batch as well, I would suggest something like a traditional, made using either D21 or K1V-1116.

I try to avoid champagne yeasts as they often dump a lot of the aromatics and some of the more subtle flavours straight out the airlock......

Plus "Mint" honey is non-existent here, so I don't know how much, if any of the actual mint flavour would still be present - if any.........

After all, it's a mead, not a beer.......

fatbloke said:

Ah, well, I don't know how much effect a mixed yeast batch will have on the honey, but if you have enough of it to do a seperate gallon batch as well, I would suggest something like a traditional, made using either D21 or K1V-1116.

I try to avoid champagne yeasts as they often dump a lot of the aromatics and some of the more subtle flavours straight out the airlock......

Plus "Mint" honey is non-existent here, so I don't know how much, if any of the actual mint flavour would still be present - if any.........

After all, it's a mead, not a beer.......

Click to expand...

Thanks fatbloke
I'm planning on making 6 batches to begin with

For the Belgian yeast my plan is to do a half batch - about 3 gallons - and use the Belgian for primary. I'm going to put a bru-belt on the carboy to bring the temp up to low 70s for the primary. When that is done I'll re-yeast with the 118 in 'secondary'. Hopefully the pleasant spiciness of the Belgian yeast will carry over. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

When you say a traditional with D21 or K1V-1116 what do you mean? Are you referring to not adding anything additional, to gravity? Please help a noob

The 6 batches are purely meant to try and define the best way to go with this honey so I'm pretty open to suggestions.

My only other current planned batch is straight up, no additions except 1118.

I hope I don't step on any toes FB but but GordonT... When FB said try a traditional with D21 or k1v-1116 he means to make a mead with just nutrients and those particular yeasts. There are several people against the lalvin 1118 strain because it ferments so fast you get little of the honey characteristics to carry over. So if you have a rare or unique honey then use a slower yeast like the k1v-1116.

Arpolis said:

I hope I don't step on any toes FB but but GordonT... When FB said try a traditional with D21 or k1v-1116 he means to make a mead with just nutrients and those particular yeasts. There are several people against the lalvin 1118 strain because it ferments so fast you get little of the honey characteristics to carry over. So if you have a rare or unique honey then use a slower yeast like the k1v-1116.

Click to expand...

Thank you Arpolis, exactly the type of information I'm looking for. I had been using 1118 because it was the first one I found that did keep the aromatics of honey in the finished product, unlike champagne yeast. Very glad to hear there is an even better yeast out there. I'll definitely add this to the list.

Three down, three to go

Here is a great chart on yeast strains, a lot of good info on a lot of good yeasts.

http://winemakermag.com/guide/yeast

What's the high/low floculation on that chart? Is that where the yeast ferments from, the density of the lees or the actual amount of lees you get ( which could be density I guess) . I'm thinking of trying that wyeast with the crazy high alcohol tolorence, or maybe find another with a real high tolorence (heard rumors of ones as high as low 30's) I want to do a step fed traditional next to step fed pomogranite, see which one I can get higher.

Floculation is the art of falling for yeast..... Basically how well yeast clumps together and falls to the bottom. Bread yeast for instance has a really low flocculation and it has taken me about 2-3 months to really clear on a couple batches. Oh and you can't make alcohol with an ABV over 25% without a licens.

Could you reference this25% law, I live on a military post and as such don't have to abide by state laws on post, federal laws to my understanding are much more lenient in regards to homebrew so states can regulate according to their standards

Ok my overal understanding of homebrew law is much less than I thought. I was going by word from a rep in my local home brew shop. With a little research after your post I now see that states do most of the controlling of home-brews. So I apologize for throwing out some info I don't think a actually fully understand. If there is a national law limiting ABV production I didn't find it in the little time I looked.

I believe the yeast is your ABV limiting factor. Sam Adams Utopia is the strongest fermented beer in the world at around 27% ABV. They have spent years developing a yeast strain that will ferment that high and I doubt Jim is going to give it to any of us. I don't know about Wyeast Eau de Vie, but I have not heard good things about some other super high ABV yeasts. Breaking 20% isn't worth too much if your mead tastes like crap.

Accidentally post too soon...

The wlp099 strain is what I've been looking at, lots of people said it made things taste horrible, but just as many if not more used it with beers ( I don't believe it was made with a mead or wine in mind) to get little flavor from the yeast. Its supposed to leave clean flavors, but right on the site it said that its a very temperamental yeast that needs lot attention, up to four times O2 as an average yeast, and at least twice the high quality nutrition. I'm hoping that if I do it right I won't stress the yeast and it will leave me with a clean tasting ( albeit high alcohol tasting) pom mead. It is only an experiment and I've decided that it ; a) won't be my next mead because I need to buy the proper nutrients and get an air stone and O2 tank and b) I'm probably only going to do a one gallon batch because spending so much money for equipment honey pom juice nutrients and yeast I really don't want three gallons of undrinkable almost flammable red piss just chillin at my house, 2 or 3 wine bottles will do just fine until I decide if its worth it or not

I made a mint mead last year. It tasted great, but the mint was barely detectable. I used about 2 handfuls of fresh mint and added it when I was pasteurizing they honey (about 160-170 degrees).

Next time I will probably leave it in the fermentor and use more.

Nvm my post, it was for a totally different thread, sorry

drkaeppel said:

I made a mint mead last year. It tasted great, but the mint was barely detectable. I used about 2 handfuls of fresh mint and added it when I was pasteurizing they honey (about 160-170 degrees).

Next time I will probably leave it in the fermentor and use more.

Click to expand...

The Mint Honey I'm using came from honey gathered from a field of mint. The mint flavour is not strong, just background. But very nice.
The person I am doing this for has 6,000 lbs of it and wants to make easy mead kits and possibly some commercial mead. He is set up for it but doesn't know anything at all about fermentation. My education is mostly in producing beer but I have made mead in the past.

Currently I have two meads fermenting; one on 1122, one on Ardennes yeast.
I found a source for D47, 1116 and 1118 so shortly will have all of those on the go also. I took the advice offered here to stay traditional (Except for the Ardennes) and will make all of these will only honey, nutrient and yeast, except for the Ardennes and the last one which will have some very nice Chinese cinnamon bark in it. I've had great luck with that in the past and am curious to see what it will add to this honey.

We're going to have a side by side tasting when these are ready so if you're in the area, come by to try them.

Still open to advice as only two are in the carboy. Any other thoughts on how to make the best of this darkish, slighly caramel mint honey?

Package the honey in 3# containers and sell it to us ... other than that everything you're doing sounds great

TheBrewingMedic said:

Package the honey in 3# containers and sell it to us ... other than that everything you're doing sounds great

Click to expand...

My sponsor would be interested in doing that I'm sure. If there is some interest in purchasing this honey let me know and I'll pass it on.

I'm hoping this honey will produce great mead but only time will tell. Thanks for all the help everybody. I'll keep this thread updated as the honey slowly becomes that magic elixir, mead.

most definitely would be interested in some if he were to consider selling it, a couple potential recipes immediately come to mind for a mint honey

TheBrewingMedic said:

most definitely would be interested in some if he were to consider selling it, a couple potential recipes immediately come to mind for a mint honey

Click to expand...

Tell me the recipes and I'll give you a link to the source

Seriously the owner was just here to see how the mead production was going and I ran this by him. He is willing to package and ship this Mint Honey to you.

odinsgift said:

Ive used reclaimed yeast from Unibroue La Fin Du Monde, Luicifer from HetAnkler, and Chouffe in mead. The last I used was the unibroue, and was extremely satisfied, it compliments the yellow star thistle honey I used very nicely, and is very light and delicate.

Click to expand...

odinsgift can you tell me how long you left the honey on the beer yeast?
When you re-yeasted with the 1118 did you rack off the beer yeast first or just add it?
Mine has been on the La Chouffe yeast for several days and the head has dropped. Lots of airlock activity still but its definitely approaching secondary time.

I went four weeks on the belgian yeast, with two weeks with a heater on to 75 F-79 F, then racked off the belgian yeast, and nine crushed enebær, then added the 1118 in a clean fermenter.

odinsgift said:

I went four weeks on the belgian yeast, with two weeks with a heater on to 75 F-79 F, then racked off the belgian yeast, and nine crushed enebær, then added the 1118 in a clean fermenter.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll just be patient and let it go for another week or so then. I've got a bru-belt on it keeping it in the low 70s.

What are crushed enebaer? Spice?

odinsgift said:

I went four weeks on the belgian yeast, with two weeks with a heater on to 75 F-79 F, then racked off the belgian yeast, and nine crushed enebær, then added the 1118 in a clean fermenter.

Click to expand...

I got it, juniper berries... you must be Danish

One of the first that came to mind was using a decent black tea infusion, some citrus and fresh mint to reinforce the flavor, make a medium sweet tea/lemonade effect with a mint finish, another was also a citrus mint idea, similar to mojito flavors. It might work well for the cucumber experiments that have been going on, im sure all will need some additional fresh mint as you've said it was a subtle flavor but I'd imagine it would make a decent base for any of the above, even subtle in the back ground it would help giving depth to the mint flavor instead of just a mint addition, imo this would need to be fermented cool and slow and definitely with a no heat method to maintain any of the natural mint flavor and aroma

A chocolate version could be good as well, brochet came to mind as well but the boiling would almost definitely cook out the mint

*bochet (autocorrect on my phone bit me again)

+1 for black tea. Im still anxious to see how smoked tea will play into mjød.

TheBrewingMedic said:

One of the first that came to mind was using a decent black tea infusion, some citrus and fresh mint to reinforce the flavor, make a medium sweet tea/lemonade effect with a mint finish, another was also a citrus mint idea, similar to mojito flavors. It might work well for the cucumber experiments that have been going on, im sure all will need some additional fresh mint as you've said it was a subtle flavor but I'd imagine it would make a decent base for any of the above, even subtle in the back ground it would help giving depth to the mint flavor instead of just a mint addition, imo this would need to be fermented cool and slow and definitely with a no heat method to maintain any of the natural mint flavor and aroma

Click to expand...

With 6,000 lbs to play with this sounds worth trying. Very intriguing.

odinsgift said:

+1 for black tea. Im still anxious to see how smoked tea will play into mjød.

Click to expand...

I just bought some terrific smoked tea... hmm... thoughts on how much and when to add? Secondary I would imagine and could add either an infusion or even the leaves themselves. By secondary there should be enough alcohol to inhibit any bugs.

The recipes I've seen call for tea, suggest one spoon full of tea brewed, and condensed. I've read about people adding them dry to primary, also. Did you buy russian caravan? I have some of that, and a pine smoked tea from Finland that I plan to use.

When I get to a tea infused mead on the long list I was thinking I'd brew it real strong then use it to top up in the secondary and then again maybe even tertiary if it needs more for the flavor profile

odinsgift said:

The recipes I've seen call for tea, suggest one spoon full of tea brewed, and condensed. I've read about people adding them dry to primary, also. Did you buy russian caravan? I have some of that, and a pine smoked tea from Finland that I plan to use.

Click to expand...

Would that be 1 tsp. for 5 gallons or 1? Seems a bit light for 5. I do have some Caravan and love the flavour. I think it would be very nice in this honey. Pine smoked must be an expensive specialty. Love to try it.

If anyone here is interested in buying some of this unique honey send your contact information to me - [email protected] - and I'll forward it to the owner at Babe's Honey. I live in Victoria, BC, Canada so there will be some shipping costs if you're very far from here.

Cheers all and thanks for the great ideas that came out of this conversation.