Light Lemonade Mead

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homebrewer_99

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I do a lot of reading and wondering if I could make a light and refreshing LEMONADE MEAD...OK, intro crap over...let's get to the recipe...:D

These were just the ingredients I used, if you want to try something different feel free...

Heat 1 gal water to 170.

Add:

5 lbs Sue Bee Honey
2 lbs Corn Sugar
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient

Dissolve all.

Add 4 cans of All Natural MINUTE MAID Premium Lemonade Frozen Concentrate, 12 oz cans (15% Real Lemon Juice)...so says the label...

Bring water back up to 170F.

As with my beer water I always place 4 gals of PUR filtered tap water in the freezer for top off water. I don't always use all of it, but I want if available if I need more colder water.

Add some cold water to pot to bring down temp and pour into a sanitized carboy. If you use a funnel it'll be OK since this is where it's OK to aerate your wort/must.

Top off with 4 gals of water.

OG was 1.087

Sample tasted honey sweet with a good lemonade flavor

Once cooled, add 1 packet Lalvin D-47 yeast. I did not rehydrate, but just sprinkled it on.

I hoped to make a nice and light lemonade mead. I thought about using some potassium sorbate at about 1.020 to keep it sweet, but now I think it's not the right thing to do. You could split your batch up if you want.

I started this mead on 28 Jun. It's now 14 July and it's done.

Here are my notes (with dates):

28 Jun 09: Temp: 96F (plus 5 for temperature compensation)
OG: 1.082 + 5 = 1.087

2 July 09: Temp: 75F / Gravity: 1.040 + 2 = 1.040. Looks a lot like lemonade...pale yellow and cloudy. It's tasting very nice though. Some yeast flavor, but both sweet and tart. Surprisingly smooth.

10 Jul 09: Temp: 78F / Gravity: 0.998 +2 = 1.000. Only lightly clouded now. Still has a honey odor. Lemon (flavor), tartness and honey flavor all coming through nicely. Racked to secondary.

14 Jul 09: Temp: 76F / Gravity: 0.998 + 2 = 1.000. This mead seems to be done fermenting. Almost completely clear. Nice honey smell. Sample has a good light lemon and honey flavor. Neither flavor is overwhelming. It has a slight dry finish. Smooth and easy to drink.

OG: 1.087
FG: 1.000

Potential alcohol: 9.135% ABW / 11.419% ABV This is really smooth. No alcohol bite (fusel oils) or esters.

I'll let it sit a little while longer (a week or so) before bottling and finish up on the notes here.
 
I tried to make this a few days ago and after a few hours it looked like all the honey seperated out and settled on the bottom. This was my first mead and I figured I'd give it a try. Was the honey and sugar supposed to be boiled? I held the temp around 170F for 15 min or so before I added the lemonade. After I cooled it the OG was only 1.050. The next day I shook it up just for the heck of it and it mixed up well but didn't take long to seperate again. What did I do wrong??
 
I'm not sure if you did anything wrong...170F should have dissolved and pasteurized all of the honey.

I wouldn't worry about the gravity being 1.050. It'll still ferment out to a decent percentage.

Re-reading my recipe...I screwed up. I only used a TOTAL of 4 gals of water.
The water reduction (from the normal 5g to 4g) is what made the OG so high.

I apologize. :eek:
 
So I took a sample of my batch today and I got 1.008. It tasted tart and very strong, as in alcohol content. I think my OG reading was off just a bit. As this is my first mead, I had a hard time tasting or smelling the honey. It still looks like lemonade in the carboy and hasn't cleared at all. Is it normal for meads not to form a very strong krausen? I never got to much of anything on top but it is bubbling away. It's been a slower fermentation than I thought but I suppose you only learn when things go unexpectedly.
 
Honey and wine yeasts don't seem to make much if any kreusen at all.

Honey also takes longer to ferment out than malt. That's one reason for adding some corn sugar and yeast nutrient to give the yeast a boost.

Let the lemonade sit a while longer if you want it clear. Mine's very clear right now.

After it's done you can always add some potassium sorbate to retard further fermentation then backsweeten it to taste to remove some of the tartness.
 
How much does the lemonade come through on this recipe? I think it sounds great but I want something with a good lemonade flavor and was thinking about adding extra concentrate. Hoping for something that'll keep me in mind of summer during the long, freezing Maine winter..
 
Having had 3 bottles of this - I say it comes through fairly moderately. You can certainly get a distinct lemony/citrus flavor. Since the honey is somewhat low compared to a bigger mead, you don't have quite the "honey" flavor one might expect, as I suspect that the honey itself ferments completely dry.
 
I'm looking to get my feet wet with this mead. I've never made any before and this one sounds pretty good to me. Does anyone else have any feedback on this one?
 
Well, I made it. To my surprise Jezter6 and his brewing buddy traveled over 100 miles round trip just to drink some of it with me when I was out that way on a business trip.

I figured the least I could do was to give him a few bottles to go...;)
 
Word!

I had a few bottles direct from Bill and they were fantastic. I have a 5g batch sitting now since ~October and I plan to keg and carb some of this.
 
Thanks. I'm only beginning to look into mead. Want to try something new. I've had some good results with different juices, yeasts, DME "ciders." I was wondering though, I know this mead has much less honey than a typical one but I'm just wondering about the taste. I don't know if I've ever even had any mead. Does it taste like "honey wine?" Every time I've tried one of those it seems to have a strong honey flavor. Pretty cloying really. I know the lemonade will counter balance any sweetness but I really never liked any honey wine I've ever had. Are they one in the same? And the only honey wine I've ever had is made by a local winery around here called Olivers. They are known for making really sweet wines.
 
With the use of less honey it does not have that real mead flavor. More like fermented lemonade...a very light summer-type drink that sneaks up on you.

The OG was 1.087 and FG 1.000. It was bottled in less than 2 months. Bottling date was 20 Aug 09, 9.1% ABW/11.4% ABV.

As I mentioned earlier I said I would sample a bottle...and I am right now...;)

I used Lalvin D-47 yeast so it's pretty dry, but not puckering, not sweet and definitely not cloying.

It has a very light honey flavor to it up front and finishes nice and tart from the lemonade concentrate.

It looks like a light colored ginger ale, very slightly carbonated, but mostly flat.

Nice flavor. I think I'll "sample" another bottle. Acting as your own Quality Control has its benefits. :rockin:

I've only had one 1/2 liter bottle and am feeling really nice...I would not recommend driving. ;)
 
Yeah, it's definately a lemonade, with a little honey in the background. Because it's light on the honey in comparison to other meads, you won't get that cloying honey flavor.

Your experience with sweeter meads is normal, as there are (at least until recently) more sweeter meads commercially available than dry. Mead, like wine, is really made to your tastes on how dry or sweet you like it. I happen to like cloyingly sweet mead and make it that way on purpose. Others like them very dry and use the right honey amounts and yeasts to ensure a dry product.

This mead is very well balanced. It's not too dry, but not cloyingly sweet. Some of the sweetness is balanced well by the tartness of the lemonade, but it's not puckering.
 
Well, you guys have sold me. I'm going to give this a try. Just to clarify though, is something labeled "honey wine" really a mead? I'll post my results in a couple months.
 
As far as I am concerned...NO.

Even some of the commercial meads (Bunratty, for instance) say they are mixed with white wine.

There are about 8-12 subsets of meads with some very interesting names. Not to sound short, but GOOGLE "types of mead" for a list and description of them.
 
I made up a batch of this a while ago and it was starting to taste delicious, but I opened it up too much and let it get some oxidation, possibly some infection. I dumped the batch and have tonight made another one, which I am very much looking forward to. The taste on the first batch was very promising, so I can't wait until this thing's ready and the weather's getting warmer. Seems like a good spring drink or summer night type of beverage. Very excited!
 
Maybe I missed it but what "yeast nutrient" did you use for this? It looks really interesting and after the succes of my batches of apflewein I think I'll give this one a go.
 
So, only use a total of 4 GAL of water throughout the whole recipe? Just to make sure I am clear. Thanks
 
You can get 3lbs of Sue Bee at a bunch of grocery stores up here for around $12-$14, depending on the day. Also, at Sams Club I got a 5 lb jug of honey for around $13 a couple months ago. If you have access to one of those bargain stores, that might be a good bet.
 
Man, I let this thing sit since last June or July and it's still not clear.

Superkleer didn't do anything either.

Don't know how you got yours so clear bill. Hopefully I'll be kegging this very soon...
 
ive gotten the impression that one thing to clear these out is multiple racking, also if you use yeast proper yeast nutrient and what not it will clear much faster....Im thinking of doing something similar this saturday.... ill do 10 lbs honey and some lemonade... Im morally opposed to corn sugar :p
 
:mug:
I started myn up 2 days ago. Extremely excited. And this is my first mead. Set up nicely so far. And smells asum!!
 
O it was goood!!!! :mug:
Cant wate too see how it is after it has been bottled up for a month or 2.

But I just started one close to the one you posted. But with a bit of a tweek. "Guava Strawberry Lemonade Mead" It smelled amazing while brewing!! I can not wate!! It is going to be amazing!!! Check back in one month time!! :rockin:
:tank:
 
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