Oak leaf cyser???

[Oli Spiral]

Hey all, I'm a new brewer. I made my first batches 3 weeks ago (A Traditional, A Metheglin and a blood orange JOAM) and they're still bubblin' away and looking bootiful. I'm going to make some more after payday next week. I'm going to do a cyser and an Oak leaf and a couple of others but my question to more experienced brewers that understand the flavours a bit better is- do you think an oak leaf cyser will work flavour wise??? I've tried oak leaf wine before and it was incredible but i've never had cyser so I've not got anything to go by really.
Also, steep the oak leaves and strain liquid before primary or actually brew em in there? I know you can do both ways but which one would people reccomend? Ta.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Oli Spiral and welcome. I have never made an oak leaf wine myself, but I have an old recipe book that includes oak leaf wine and the author, Peggy Hutchinson suggests that you ferment on the leaves. She suggests you use 1 gallon (British) of withered leaves "picked in October", pour boiling water (a gallon ) over them and allow the solution to steep for 3 or 4 days after which she says you then add sugar (in her recipe 4 lbs!) and 1/2 oz of well bruised ginger. You then reboil the must for 20 minutes and when "lukewarm" you add a slice of toast on which you have spread the yeast (when Hutchinson was writing, sliced bread was often used to provide nutrients for the yeast).

 

[Oli Spiral]

Hey, thanks for the input. I love those weird old recipe quirks. I've got a few recipes i'm going to imalgamate but going to wait a while to see if i get more feedback/advice.
On the topic of weird old recipes though have you seen this?
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16441/16441-h/16441-h.htm

 

[Oli Spiral]

Check out the recipes on page 5

 

[mashpaddled]

I've made beer with oak leaves which produced a really nice oak wood-like vanilla flavor. In that case I boiled the leaves with the bittering addition. I would consider boiling the water you add to the honey to make must with the leaves and then strain out the leaves before adding the liquid to the honey to create your must.

 

[AntDoctor]

Hey, thanks for the input. I love those weird old recipe quirks. I've got a few recipes i'm going to imalgamate but going to wait a while to see if i get more feedback/advice.
On the topic of weird old recipes though have you seen this?
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16441/16441-h/16441-h.htm

Sorry this is so late and off-topic, but wow that book is crazy! Thanks for sharing!