Bray's One Month Mead

So what's the metheglin idea. I would be pretty shocked if I haven't heard of it. Always happy to be surprised though!

loveofrose said:

So what's the metheglin idea. I would be pretty shocked if I haven't heard of it. Always happy to be surprised though!

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Ice wine tea metheglin. Taking the notes I got from the Texas Mead Fest judging and hoping to improve upon it. The base mead already is an improvement!

Are you freeze concentrating to make it like a sweet tea or just using tea for tannins? What kind of tea?

Nope, even simpler than that. A few years ago we visited Vancouver on vacation, and found amidst the ubiquitous, pre-bagged maple teas, ice wine tea. It's black tea infused with the frozen juice of reisling grapes, as I understand it. Pre-fermented ice wine, as it were. It's a curious, light, spicy flavor.

I had a gallon of mead I'd steeped some vanilla beans in for a month or so, but when I tasted it, well, the whole thing was lacking. Not bad, but terribly bland and insipid. I needed to do something with it, so I remembered that tea and tossed in a bag, again, for a month. I was pretty much amazed by the results. Sort of earthy, but a crisp, bright earthy, if that makes any sense. It didn't really taste like ice wine. Didn't really taste like anything I'd ever had before, really. Unfortunately, I used gelatin to clear it, and that stripped out what modest tannins were present and, well, if it didn't render it one dimensional, it reduced it to two dimensions. I plan on oaking it with some Hungarian oak and am seriously toying with adding some grains of paradise as well to round out the flavor profile. Sounds odd but I think that'd work if not overdone. Ultimately, it's going to be either dry or off-dry. I think it can carry the mead without much sweetness at all, but that's a call I'll make as I taste its progress. I plan on bottle conditioning some to see how it works as a sparkling mead as well.

EDIT: Turns out I'm a liar. The ice wine tea I'm using isn't the standard infused black tea, but rather infused herbal tea from Canada True. Herbal teas included are rooibos, rosehip, hibiscus. I find this amusing, because I'm not normally a rooibos fan.

One month today. Damn this is good. It's ONE YEAR good. Thank you, Brey. VERY much appreciate your diligence, and sharing. Peace to you in the New Year!

Hey, I was wondering if the BOMM method would also work for making a burnt honey bochet?

Yep. Bochets are a go! For easy and safety, I suggest cooking the honey a few hours in a crockpot. Too burned gives an acrid flavor. You are shooting for a light colored honey to turn amber.

I shared a bottle of my first BOMM (orange blossom, sweet) yesterday. It has changed a lot since I started it back in May last year (bottled in June). It is pretty damn tasty and so far everybody that likes sweet wines has enjoyed it.

We also tried a bottle of my blueberry which was really gross when I bottled it in September. It too was surprisingly good. I think I need to go visit the local honey shop and start some more batches!

Thank you for all the time you put into answering questions Bray! I haven't the time right now to read the entire thread, so I'm sorry if this is redundant, but a gluten allergy makes me unable to use WYeast starters directly. Is there any good solution for this we've found, or is it best to just ramp up and wash the 1388 a few times to remove the malt residue?

Also, one of the main concerns I had which drove me to attempt to read the whole thread was that the recipe may have been refined and updated later on. A link to your website, bringing me to the up-to-date recipes, alleviated this concern. Is it possible to edit the original post with a link there so other new readers can benefit the same way?

Skyforger said:

Thank you for all the time you put into answering questions Bray! I haven't the time right now to read the entire thread, so I'm sorry if this is redundant, but a gluten allergy makes me unable to use WYeast starters directly. Is there any good solution for this we've found, or is it best to just ramp up and wash the 1388 a few times to remove the malt residue?

Also, one of the main concerns I had which drove me to attempt to read the whole thread was that the recipe may have been refined and updated later on. A link to your website, bringing me to the up-to-date recipes, alleviated this concern. Is it possible to edit the original post with a link there so other new readers can benefit the same way?

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To remove starter gluten, you have 2 options:
1. Wash the yeast as you suggest.
2. Streak on LB agar plates or store on slants.

Unfortunately, this forum does not allow me to edit any post. I would have done so long ago if it did.

loveofrose said:

Yep. Bochets are a go! For easy and safety, I suggest cooking the honey a few hours in a crockpot. Too burned gives an acrid flavor. You are shooting for a light colored honey to turn amber.

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I have a fairly unused crock pot. How long should I suspect to cook the honey, and would low temp be better suited as not to overly burn the honey?

Thank you! It's a bit of a nuisance but once I have a yeast culture going it'll be good. Wasn't able to find Fermaid K or bulk orange blossom honey locally today, I'm trying to figure out if I should go for broke and get a 60lb bucket of honey at lower per-pound cost or if that would be a tad ambitious haha. Does anyone know any particular sources to check out?

Also, what's up with Fermaid O? I see it referenced everywhere wrt this topic but it's not part of the prescribed method here.

This recipe was worked out before Fermaid O existed. My test with Fermaid O have not yielded consistent result with liquid yeast, therefore, I don't recommend it.

For dry yeast, the TOSNA protocol works great.

How long to cook honey? Until it is a rich amber color. I dip a drop on a paper plate over time until in looks right.

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I have read this entire thread over the last week -- a lot of good info here, thanks. Now I have my questions.....

cozmogeek - you stated the following:

cozmogeek said:

I shared a bottle of my first BOMM (orange blossom, sweet) yesterday. It has changed a lot since I started it back in May last year (bottled in June). It is pretty damn tasty and so far everybody that likes sweet wines has enjoyed it.

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Do you have details of this batch (OG,FG, did you backsweeten, carbonate...)?

I like my wines sweet and do not like the taste of beer at all - I am wanting to try this recipe, but have some questions in my mind on how exactly I want to proceed. Your batch sounds like what I am looking for so any brew- notes you have will help me.

LoR - Thanks for your efforts and knowledge.
In the thread a couple times you referenced higher OGs than ~1.1 -- To do the sweeter mead can I start at these higher OGs, or will the yeast just adapt and make a higher ABV% and still end up dry? Am I better to plan on fermenting dry, then back sweetening to be sure? (Note: I really don't want to step feed at this point as I am not looking to increase ABV, just residual sugars)

I would like to experiment with the carbonation tablets - but don't know a lot about them. For anyone that has used them - Am I able to use K-Meta/Sorbate to halt fermentation and still use the tablets, or will the Sorbate counteract the tablet? Am I better to just klear/cold crash then rack and bottle with tablet not using the chemicals?

At some point in the future, I would like to do experiments with fruits.... I have only done wines where I have placed the fruit into the primary and I am looking to get a more direct/controlled fruit flavor. I am thinking I could make a BOMM and then rack onto the fruit for a week or two -- am I thinking on the correct lines, or is there a better way?

Thank Everyone for their time and knowledge.

Drank the last bottle from my first batch (by-the-book recipe), at 1.5 years old now. It had definitely changed, in a good way. I'll have to make 5gal batches now instead of 1 or 2, so there is more to age out that long.

buckhorn said:

I have read this entire thread over the last week -- a lot of good info here, thanks. Now I have my questions.....

cozmogeek - you stated the following:

Do you have details of this batch (OG,FG, did you backsweeten, carbonate...)?

I like my wines sweet and do not like the taste of beer at all - I am wanting to try this recipe, but have some questions in my mind on how exactly I want to proceed. Your batch sounds like what I am looking for so any brew- notes you have will help me.

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I back sweetened with more of the orange blossom honey after it was done. I put 2 or 3 tablespoons or so of honey into each bottle during bottling rather than trying to sweeten the entire batch at once and having to dissolve all the honey before knowing if it was sweet enough.

My starting gravity was 1.080 and it ended up right about 11% ABV. If you saw my previous comment I thought it had kind of a beer taste to it but that seems to have aged out after waiting 6 months after bottling.

I'm going to start another 3 or 5 gallon batch sometime in the next few days. I think if you're not going to add fruit or anything you want to make sure to start with a tasty honey. The orange blossom is a lot tastier than clover or wildflower honey.

buckhorn said:

I have read this entire thread over the last week -- a lot of good info here, thanks. Now I have my questions.....



cozmogeek - you stated the following:



Do you have details of this batch (OG,FG, did you backsweeten, carbonate...)?



I like my wines sweet and do not like the taste of beer at all - I am wanting to try this recipe, but have some questions in my mind on how exactly I want to proceed. Your batch sounds like what I am looking for so any brew- notes you have will help me.



LoR - Thanks for your efforts and knowledge.

In the thread a couple times you referenced higher OGs than ~1.1 -- To do the sweeter mead can I start at these higher OGs, or will the yeast just adapt and make a higher ABV% and still end up dry? Am I better to plan on fermenting dry, then back sweetening to be sure? (Note: I really don't want to step feed at this point as I am not looking to increase ABV, just residual sugars)



I would like to experiment with the carbonation tablets - but don't know a lot about them. For anyone that has used them - Am I able to use K-Meta/Sorbate to halt fermentation and still use the tablets, or will the Sorbate counteract the tablet? Am I better to just klear/cold crash then rack and bottle with tablet not using the chemicals?



At some point in the future, I would like to do experiments with fruits.... I have only done wines where I have placed the fruit into the primary and I am looking to get a more direct/controlled fruit flavor. I am thinking I could make a BOMM and then rack onto the fruit for a week or two -- am I thinking on the correct lines, or is there a better way?



Thank Everyone for their time and knowledge.

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For your sweet mead question, you can either max out ABV tolerance or stabilize as you suggest. Here is a post of rules I use for Wyeast 1388:

BOMM Gravity and Nutrient Update

After much research (tasty research), I've established some guidelines for Wyeast 1388 to make mead making easier/faster (read "I got sick of step feeding).

It seems Wyeast 1388 alcohol tolerance in mead is 15.7-16% ABV. Using this knowledge, I've been adding more and more honey upfront to see if the yeast would remain clean. I'm very happy to say that it does. Below is a chart of starting gravities and where Wyeast 1388 will stop. Keep in mind it's alway plus or minus a few points.

Original Gravity -> Finish Gravity
1.120 or less -> 1.000
1.130 -> 1.010
1.140 -> 1.020
1.150. -> 1.030

If you add more honey upfront, you need to adjust your nutrient timing. Since 1388 eats through 120 points, it's always subtraction of 40 points per addition. See chart below:

Nutrient Addition Timing Adjustments
1.120 - Add upfront, 1.080 & 1.040.
1.130 - Add upfront, 1.090 & 1.050.
1.140 - Add upfront, 1.100 & 1.060.
1.150 - Add upfront, 1.110 & 1.070.

Same amount of nutrients per standard recipe, just different gravity addition times.

Hope that helps others. I know I've enjoyed this!


For your fruit question,you can add either upfront or rack in fruit after fermentation. Or both if you want a fruit blast. It yields different flavors depending when you add fruit. Experiment!

Addendum: If you stabilize with chemicals, be sure to cold crash first.

Love the great deal of work here! Looking to make a smore mead BOMM. Meadowfoam with some of the honey carmelized so it would have a toasted marshmallow flavor. Any thoughts?

Jammin246 said:

Love the great deal of work here! Looking to make a smore mead BOMM. Meadowfoam with some of the honey carmelized so it would have a toasted marshmallow flavor. Any thoughts?

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I had considered doing a Meadowfoam bochet some time in the future myself. I'm curious to know if anyone else has tried it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Meadowfoam is pricier than most honeys. I wonder if it's some kind of cardinal sin to caramelize it. lol

Jammin246 said:

Love the great deal of work here! Looking to make a smore mead BOMM. Meadowfoam with some of the honey carmelized so it would have a toasted marshmallow flavor. Any thoughts?

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So you're thinking to caramelize only SOME of the honey. That might be a good idea. I'm anxious to hear if that works for you.

Well the going price for it which I have found is $6.33/lbs. It's pretty on par with the price for OBH. And only part would be caramelized.

No reason to waste good honey, just use Costco stuff.

Also, I would consider getting a few bochets under your belt before mixing some with meadowfoam honey. It sounds like what you are interested in doing is blending, and you will have much more control doing a bochet separate from a traditional meadowfoam. Ie, you could use burnt honey to backsweeten.

I've only done four bochets, but they all came out much different than I expected, and none are that drinkable at < ~1.5 years.

Jammin246 said:

Well the going price for it which I have found is $6.33/lbs. It's pretty on par with the price for OBH. And only part would be caramelized.

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Well I did a half Caramelized and half traditional that is turning out great with a little age the oak is aging in well so if you are interested take a look at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=595426

Now I used local honey not meadowfoam but I would do it again.

Well I did a half Caramelized and half traditional that is turning out great with a little age the oak is aging in well so if you are interested take a look at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=595426

Now I used local honey not meadowfoam but I would do it again.

My first two gallons of BOMM are nearly ready to bottle now, a orangeblossom rhodomel and a palm metheglin.

The rhodomel tastes fantastic, really really smooth for its age and tasty as hell. The metheglin, however, has a slight 'beery' flavor and kind of tastes like blue moon.

I was wondering if this is typical, and if this flavor falls off with time? Also wondering if it might have that flavor because I step fed it more and the yeast was already starting to fall to the bottom when I cold crashed.

WarBeard1980 said:

I had considered doing a Meadowfoam bochet some time in the future myself. I'm curious to know if anyone else has tried it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Meadowfoam is pricier than most honeys. I wonder if it's some kind of cardinal sin to caramelize it. lol

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Meadowfoam is so damn good (and expensive) that I would only do a traditional for fear of screwing it up. Hats off to your bravery!

xxBrierRosexx said:

My first two gallons of BOMM are nearly ready to bottle now, a orangeblossom rhodomel and a palm metheglin.

The rhodomel tastes fantastic, really really smooth for its age and tasty as hell. The metheglin, however, has a slight 'beery' flavor and kind of tastes like blue moon.

I was wondering if this is typical, and if this flavor falls off with time? Also wondering if it might have that flavor because I step fed it more and the yeast was already starting to fall to the bottom when I cold crashed.

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Ah, rhodomels are really fantastic. One of my favorite recipes is a rhodomel with acacia honey.

Metheglins have a way of tasting weird upfront and evolving over time. Especially if there are a lot of different herbs. What is in it?

So I finally got around to making my first BOMM. However, I voided the warranty right away.
Instead of 1/2 tsp fermaid k, I used 1 tsp fermax yeast nutrient.
Instead of 1/4 tsp dap I used 1 tsp bee pollen.
1 gallon kentwood springs water instead of ozarka. Mainly. Because I didn't have a free vessel and was planning on using the jug.
Other than that, I used wyeast 1388, and 2.5 lbs of Winn-Dixie brand unfiltered unpasteurized OB honey.

Started this on 12/29/16.
Cold crashed one day shy of 1/29/17, for 12 hours. Transferred to glass and let clear for 2 weeksish. And bottled today. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1487370462.755297.jpg

Primed two bottles and left the rest clear.

So far I'm pretty impressed and have already started another batch using the same yeast from the first batch.
After tasting the finished product here, it seems that I need to try the fermaid k and dap approach to see the difference in flavor.
While the fermax worked and there are no real off flavors. I think it may have imparted some yeasty bread like flavors. Possibly overdid it trying to compensate for not having the right nutrient. Hoping that will age out. Other than that it's good. Can't wait to try the real thing. Thanks Dr. for keeping up with this thread and replying to everyone's posts, even the repeat offenders.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1487370849.616593.jpg
Cheers!

Palm honey, potassium carbonate, DAP, Fermaid K, 5 peppercorns, 1 star anise, 5 cardemom pods, 1 mace, 5 cloves and 1/2 a cinnamon stick. I made a tea with half of the spices and added it to the must, and have just added the rest of it to secondary. The sample was taken prior to back sweetening and adding additional spice.

I believe I made it with 3 lbs of honey and step fed it an additional .5 lbs over time.

loveofrose said:

I am willing to answer any questions to help you make this wonderful mead!

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Unfortunately in my flat the temperature is so varied (from 20*c to 30/34*c) that I'm wondering if this type of yeast will work better? Unfortunately I don't have access to a better (stable) temperature controlled room at moment. ( it's on the list of requirements for when I buy)
Any recommendations as to yeast to use? I've heard wyeast 4632 is good but finding it in the UK is hard

Unfortunately in my flat the temperature is so varied (from 20*c to 30/34*c) that I'm wondering if this type of yeast will work better? Unfortunately I don't have access to a better (stable) temperature controlled room at moment. ( it's on the list of requirements for when I buy)
Any recommendations as to yeast to use? I've heard wyeast 4632 is good but finding it in the UK is hard

Wyeast 1388 is a beast. Get it. It's good.

bottling.. do i add priming sugar? I'd like a nice fizz like an ale at 2.5 volumes CO2. just started a 1gal batch

I know this was probably asked but i cant read through 105 pages... sorry

thanks for anything!

Yep. You can prime it.

loveofrose said:

I've developed a recipe for mead that is clear and delicious with no off flavours in less than one month. It was found during the Belgian Yeast Ale Experiment I posted over at gotmead.com. I'll post the 1 & 5 gallon recipes.

Bray's One Month Mead aka "the BOMM" - 1 gallon
No heat method.
Added Orange Blossom honey to SG of 1.096 in 1 gallon jugs.
Added 3/4 tsp of 1:2 DAP:Fermaid K; also, add this at 2/3 and 1/3 sugar break.
Add 3/4 tsp potassium carbonate.
Shake like hell to aerate.
Pitched Wyeast 1388 - Belgian Strong Ale activated overnight.
Aerate daily by shaking.
Pitching temperature 68 F, but the temperature in my house fluctuates from 70-80 F with no off flavors.

.....

Degas daily for at least a week.

This mead is great at 24 days! Enjoy!

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Made this yesterday but instead of Wyeast 1388 I used White Labs 570 as it was all I could get my hands on locally. Wow it took off overnight.

Not sure if its been discussed... How about adding fruit? How long would you want the fruit to sit in the mead and Should you ferment with the fruit or after 4 weeks, rack again and steep in the fruit?

FlashRedGLS18T said:

Made this yesterday but instead of Wyeast 1388 I used White Labs 570 as it was all I could get my hands on locally. Wow it took off overnight.

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The yeast is the key to this recipe. No other yeast performs as well!