Christmas Mead

I want to make a Xmas mead on Xmas eve or Xmas day. I have 17# Orange blossom honey, nutrient, and cotes de black and Lalvin 0116.

I'd like some light xmas spices, maybe vanilla ...

help, i need some ideas!?!? this would be my second mead (first one is just 9# honey, nutrient, 3g water and US-05 beer yeast which is sitll in secondary).

Anyone got something good that fits a little xmas theme but isn't overpowering? (and is easy for this n00b)

Hmm, cranberry always come to mind. Does anyone know if mistletoe is poisonous? That might be very festive, mistletoe and cranberry. I have become fond of nutmeg but don't think a nutmeg cranberry would be good. Many festive brews are more cyser than mead. So perhapse a Cranberry Cyser with cinimon and nutmeg? Those are some of my ideas. I personally have a pear nutmeg going and it is starting to taste divine.

Matrix4b said:

Does anyone know if mistletoe is poisonous?

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YES! Mistletoe is poisonous and can be fatal so please don't use it.

Id try Nutmeg.. a little cinnamon, or maybe some ginger. If you wanted to go with fruit I would try Plums, or cranberries. hell maybe you could try a very very small ammount of spruce essence

If you want christmas tree, think gin. Juniper berries have been used in meads and I think Redstone even sells one commercially. I come from a gin family and have often considered making a juniper berry mead.

Tusch said:

I come from a gin family and have often considered making a juniper berry mead.

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Please, you must expand on this thought path.

I think I need to brew a cool X-mas mead for 1,2,3,+ years. Something to remember this year by.

Maybe something like "Credit crunch crash", but sorry BigK, no captain crunch in my meads. (Saw a funny re-mix of captain crunch changed to credit crunch with uncle B. on the cover).

Kauai_Kahuna said:

Please, you must expand on this thought path.

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I have a spiced pyment that's been in an oak barrel for 5-6 months. I used sliced ginger, blade mace, lemon zest, cinnamon, peppercorns, juniper berries, and a few whole hops (not too many). The foundation is Chenin Blanc concentrate and alfalfa honey. It's ready to take out of the barrel and age some more in a carboy but I can't seem to get motivated to do it.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

Please, you must expand on this thought path.

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Gin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not that it is the best soucre for information, but it is convenient.

"Gin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. Distilled gin is made by redistilling white grain spirit and raw cane sugar which has been flavoured with juniper berries. Compound gin is made by flavouring neutral grain spirit with juniper berries without redistilling and can be considered a flavoured vodka.

The most common style of gin, typically used for mixed drinks, is London dry gin. London dry gin is made by taking a neutral grain spirit (usually produced in a column still) and redistilling after the botanicals are added. In addition to juniper, it is usually made with a small amount of citrus botanicals like lemon and bitter orange peel. Other botanicals that may be used include anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, coriander, and cassia bark."

I have thought about combining some similar spices, citris zest, probably a combination of lemon and orange, and then a hefty amount of juniper berries.

Nurmey said:

YES! Mistletoe is poisonous and can be fatal so please don't use it.

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I figured. Ooo, Cranberry Plum. That sounds good.

Ginger Nutmeg it is.

Any idea for amounts per 5g batch?

jezter6 said:

Ginger Nutmeg it is.

Any idea for amounts per 5g batch?

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Not sure about the Ginger but for Nutmeg, I have found 1 whole nutmeg, crushed at time of putting in the secondary to be very flavorful. I know that with Meglethins you don't want to put too much spice in it. Like if you were using whole cloves, for a very cloverly batch only 3-4 whole cloves is neccessary. I have a pear nutmeg going with the juice of 24 pairs and 1 whole nutmeg and the two flavors balanced out wonderfully so far. So ginger? Hmm, probably can find some peach ginger batches and just use the same quantity in those recipies just no peaches.

Yeah, I've seen 5-6oz of Ginger in a GP melomel. I would figure the same.
Nutmeg I've seen in various forms in different amounts. Maybe 1 for primary/secondary and if it's too weak, I'll steep a tea for bottling time.

I've been making this one for a couple of years and I love it. I realize it's a 3 gallon recipe but it finishes with such a great flavor. I've normally added wine conditioner to kill the yeast and resweeten at the end and it's normally drinkable within two months and gets even better after some time.

Winter Mead

Tusch said:

If you want christmas tree, think gin. Juniper berries have been used in meads and I think Redstone even sells one commercially. I come from a gin family and have often considered making a juniper berry mead.

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this ssounds fab! where do you get juniper berries?

claphamsa said:

...where do you get juniper berries?

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Penzey's is where I get all my spices.

10$ a pound.. not terrible... any ideas how much per gallon?

Gonna start a Mead tomorrow Xmas day. For now will just be a plain Mead perhaps with cinnamon and cloves. Will decide what else to add when it's time to go into the secondary. Actually will be the first mead I've done since I got married 12 years ago and will be the first thing I've done since I decided to get back into brewing.

I used 2 tsp of Ginger and 1 tsp of Nutmeg, turned out to be 5.5 gallon batch because I added a little too much cooling water (didn't realize how much was in the pot because I was reading quarts wrong).

Most of the spice was stuck to the side of the pot, but it smelled good and a sample tasted of ginger and nutmeg, so hopefully it doesn't fade out. If so, I may add a ginger/nutmeg tea at bottling.

cooling water?

I heated up about 2 gallons to help dissolve the honey (about 130F), then used some cold water to cool that down. The problem is I used too much cool water and was reading the quarts wrong on my pot thinking 28 quarts was 5 gallons, so I put some water in the carboy and poured the must in and mixed - only to find out I was over 5 gallons in total.

that just means you have move meade! yay!