I come to you with great success :) Apfelmead

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sAvAgE

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Special thanks to Edwort on the original Apfelwein recipe. I decided to try something a little different and it worked! I wanted something with a little body and lots of punch It is not a beer its not a wine and not a mead. it is a little of everything actually.


Storyline:

Feb 23 2008

I got a line on some farm honey (dont know what kind really) but it was unpasterized the honey was 1 gallons worth

I also found clear applejuice from a dollar store (Great stuff) ingredeients: Apple Juice:


I bought Mead yeast Number It was a Sweet Mead yeast and an Active one I will get the name later

I also had some Honey Malt laying around so decided to throw it in


Recipe:

Start with 4 quarts of water:

350 Grams of Honey Malt

Let steep for 45 minutes

Add the one gallon of honey Mix well

Pour into primary , add one pitcher of Ice to cool Stir well
Add 16 liters of Apple juice

Pitch yeast at 72 F Let sit and ferment for about 3 months OG was at 1080

Rack to Carboy let sit for 2 months
Second Rack add 5 cinnamon sticks let sit for 3 months

August 31 08 Bottle add Priming sugar and let sit till christmas

I have had one and the taste is very good

Just thought I would share
 
so its like a carbonated mead that is also technically a malt beverage.
what ever it is it sounds really good!
 
pics a comin

still very young... but tastes pretty good


mead1.jpg


mead2.jpg


there it is


I will post pics month by month for ageing qualities in the beverage. this is expermental! but I am liking the results.
 
WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast:
A wine yeast strain that is less attenuative than WLP715, leaving some residual sweetness. Slightly fruity and will tolerate alcohol concentrations up to 15%. A good choice for sweet mead and cider, as well as Blush wines, Gewürztraminer, Sauternes, Riesling.
Alcohol Tolerance: 15%
Attenuation: <75%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 70-75°F
 
This sounds a bit like the Caramel Apple mead recipe I posted in the Mead Recipes section. The crystal malt goes very well with apple juice. Mine is over a year old and is very tasty. This is definitely a mead!



Yeast: Lalvin K1v1116
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.120
Final Gravity: 1.010
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 15 days at 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 35 days at 68F

4 Gallons apple juice
2 lbs DME
3 lbs 60L Crystal malt
7 lbs Orange blossom honey
2 lbs clover honey
2 lbs buckwheat honey

2 vanilla beans

Steep grains in 1.5 gallons of apple juice at 155F for 45 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the DME and honey. Rinse grain sack with 1/2 gallon apple juice. Add the remainder of the apple juice. Aerate by vigorous stirring for at least five minutes. Aerate some more. I now use oxygen with a diffuser stone to aerate (better). Pitch yeast starter (hydrated with Go Ferm per container instructions) directly into the primary (plastic pail fitted with an air lock).

At about 1.075 add 5g Fermaid K
At about 1.035 add 5g Fermaid K
(Dissolve your nutrients in water before adding them to your must. This helps to minimize foam.)

Within about two weeks this should ferment out to 1.012 or so. Rack to secondary and add vanilla beans. Allow to remain in the secondary for about a month.

Rack again onto 1 lb of buckwheat honey and 1/4t potassium metabisuphite or 5 campden tabs and 2 1/2t potassium sorbate to stabilize. Add Super Kleer to clarify. Bulk age for six months to a year before bottling.

I adapted this recipe from one I saw on gotmead.com. Mine is about 14 months old and tastes just like caramel apples. It's a medium sweet mead that's very drinkable. At about 13.75% alcohol and no alcohol bite one should exercise caution since it goes down so smoothly.
 
ooh ooh i gotta try this experiment too :D

i am getting ready to bottle a 1 gallon spiced cider that had about 3oz of honey added into it as well. dunno how it will turn out yet... but i will tell you around thanksgiving.
 
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