malenkylizards
Active Member
I'm a newbie [post #1] to homebrewtalk, and a newbie to mead, and here because I could really use some feedback for a strange mead, my second batch. I'll be starting this Friday.
Proposed ingredients:
10 pounds raw Pennsylvania wildflower honey, straight from the source
5 pounds mangoes
Uncertain number of habanero peppers [But I'm thinking 1-2 max]
Uncertain amount of raw ginger root [probably 1-2 tbsps]
Uncertain amount of black peppercorns [probably 1-2 tbsps]
Wet champagne yeast
5 tbsps yeast nutrient
acid blend
fill to 5 gal.
I think it'll be called Pepper Yer Mango.
Questions:
Should I add pectic enzyme, especially given the rather fibrous, starchy quality of mangoes?
How should I process the mangoes? I'm buying them tonight, plan to freeze them, and the day before brewing, chop 'em up and blend them to get them as liquid as humanly possible, and probably strain the resultant liquid through either a sieve or cloth. With my first batch, a very sweet blackberry mead, I really just mashed 'em up some, and I was really disappointed at how much I lost in the lees.
And then of course, there are the quantities of spices to be addressed. I started loving the combination of heat and sweet after I made a cayenne-cinnamon fudge a couple of winters ago. Thing is, I'd like it to be balanced, and more to the effect that I'd like a pleasant, gradual burn in your throat shortly after drinking, with the first onset of flavor being primarily sweetness. I've seen recipes of people using five POUNDS of habanero, and I do not understand how this could possibly be tolerable by anyone. My dad, a dude generally fond of capscicum peppers, found a 5-gallon pepper ale untolerable after he added only seven habaneros to it. My tolerance, and the tolerance of the folks I'd be sharing my mead with, is likely rather lower.
I'd also like to know how you'd suggest I process the peppers, peppercorn and ginger root. I tend to think I probably shouldn't cut the peppers at all, given I so far have a propensity to make strong meads [the champagne yeast I'm using has a alcohol tolerance of 17%, and my first batch was at *least* 13% two weeks into it, probably higher because I think the large quantities of fruit bulk skewed SG readings pessimistically], and I would think that the higher the alcohol content, the more efficiently flavors from the peppers and ginger will be extracted. I'll start out with adding them tied up in a sterilized, loose cotton mesh stocking, and I'm also unsure as to when to take them out.
That's about all I can think of to ask right now, but keep in mind I'm a newbie. If I don't mention something that seems important, I'd sure appreciate your pointing it out!
Thanks so much, fellow yeastpooplovers,
Phrank
Proposed ingredients:
10 pounds raw Pennsylvania wildflower honey, straight from the source
5 pounds mangoes
Uncertain number of habanero peppers [But I'm thinking 1-2 max]
Uncertain amount of raw ginger root [probably 1-2 tbsps]
Uncertain amount of black peppercorns [probably 1-2 tbsps]
Wet champagne yeast
5 tbsps yeast nutrient
acid blend
fill to 5 gal.
I think it'll be called Pepper Yer Mango.
Questions:
Should I add pectic enzyme, especially given the rather fibrous, starchy quality of mangoes?
How should I process the mangoes? I'm buying them tonight, plan to freeze them, and the day before brewing, chop 'em up and blend them to get them as liquid as humanly possible, and probably strain the resultant liquid through either a sieve or cloth. With my first batch, a very sweet blackberry mead, I really just mashed 'em up some, and I was really disappointed at how much I lost in the lees.
And then of course, there are the quantities of spices to be addressed. I started loving the combination of heat and sweet after I made a cayenne-cinnamon fudge a couple of winters ago. Thing is, I'd like it to be balanced, and more to the effect that I'd like a pleasant, gradual burn in your throat shortly after drinking, with the first onset of flavor being primarily sweetness. I've seen recipes of people using five POUNDS of habanero, and I do not understand how this could possibly be tolerable by anyone. My dad, a dude generally fond of capscicum peppers, found a 5-gallon pepper ale untolerable after he added only seven habaneros to it. My tolerance, and the tolerance of the folks I'd be sharing my mead with, is likely rather lower.
I'd also like to know how you'd suggest I process the peppers, peppercorn and ginger root. I tend to think I probably shouldn't cut the peppers at all, given I so far have a propensity to make strong meads [the champagne yeast I'm using has a alcohol tolerance of 17%, and my first batch was at *least* 13% two weeks into it, probably higher because I think the large quantities of fruit bulk skewed SG readings pessimistically], and I would think that the higher the alcohol content, the more efficiently flavors from the peppers and ginger will be extracted. I'll start out with adding them tied up in a sterilized, loose cotton mesh stocking, and I'm also unsure as to when to take them out.
That's about all I can think of to ask right now, but keep in mind I'm a newbie. If I don't mention something that seems important, I'd sure appreciate your pointing it out!
Thanks so much, fellow yeastpooplovers,
Phrank