FrayAdjacent
Active Member
I finally got around to a goal in life (maybe not a huge one, but something I've always wanted to do) - trying some mead. I found a bottle of Chaucer's locally on Saturday, but didn't like it much. Sunday, I visited a meadery - the Rohan Meadery in La Grange, Texas, and tried some of their product.
I'm not a wine connoisseur, and in fact, I don't like wine very much at all, so I don't have a lot of experience to compare. I know that I dislike dry wines more than sweeter wines, so that's a start.
Rohan had several varieties to try - a traditional that was semi sweet, an apple cyser, a raspberry melomel and a wassail they made with their orange spice mead. All were good, with the wassail being awesome and the raspberry being my next favorite. I left with a bottle of the raspberry melomel and a bottle of the orange spice.
Well, I have decided that I'm going to jump into brewing. Being in Austin, TX has an advantage - Austin Homebrew supply is right here in town! I'm going to go in a week or so and get a few 1gal bottles, and all the bits and stuff. My plan is to make a few gallons individually of different types, so I can experiment a bit, and find recipes I like. Then I'll get the 5 gal buckets and carboys for larger batches.
I have in mind to brew a semi-sweet to sweet traditional, a raspberry melomel, and something with vanilla, brown sugar and probably cinnamon.
I've read a bit about the brewing process, and think I have a pretty good grasp on it, but I have one question about it.
Considering I like the semi-sweet to sweet range, and I think I'd like a medium fruit character, when and what proportion of the raspberry would I add? All into the starting must, or part of it in the starting must, and the rest after the primary ferment is done?
As I understand it, anything and everything in the original must will ferment, and I've read different procedures as to when to add fruits to melomels.
I'm not a wine connoisseur, and in fact, I don't like wine very much at all, so I don't have a lot of experience to compare. I know that I dislike dry wines more than sweeter wines, so that's a start.
Rohan had several varieties to try - a traditional that was semi sweet, an apple cyser, a raspberry melomel and a wassail they made with their orange spice mead. All were good, with the wassail being awesome and the raspberry being my next favorite. I left with a bottle of the raspberry melomel and a bottle of the orange spice.
Well, I have decided that I'm going to jump into brewing. Being in Austin, TX has an advantage - Austin Homebrew supply is right here in town! I'm going to go in a week or so and get a few 1gal bottles, and all the bits and stuff. My plan is to make a few gallons individually of different types, so I can experiment a bit, and find recipes I like. Then I'll get the 5 gal buckets and carboys for larger batches.
I have in mind to brew a semi-sweet to sweet traditional, a raspberry melomel, and something with vanilla, brown sugar and probably cinnamon.
I've read a bit about the brewing process, and think I have a pretty good grasp on it, but I have one question about it.
Considering I like the semi-sweet to sweet range, and I think I'd like a medium fruit character, when and what proportion of the raspberry would I add? All into the starting must, or part of it in the starting must, and the rest after the primary ferment is done?
As I understand it, anything and everything in the original must will ferment, and I've read different procedures as to when to add fruits to melomels.