Oh what Have I gotten myself into? 1st Cyser please judge me!

[beerninja]

Ok, so I have been wanting to make a mead (well get one right anyway) for a long long time. My 1st attempt was a black berry mead that ended...poorly. But I think i figured out where i went wrong. Now I'm going to try my hand at a Cyser for Thanksgiving 2015 Here is what I've come up with.


5 Gallon Batch

8 Lbs Honey (not sure which kind to use yet)
1 lbs Dark Brown Sugar
4 Gallons Apple Cider (no preservatives)
3 Sticks of Cinnamon
2 tsp Yeast Energizer
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg Lalvlin D-47 yeast
water to bring the Volume up to 5 Gallons

So the plan is to bring the Apple Cider up to around 170ish add the honey, Brown Sugar, Energizer and Nutrient and the Cinnamon keep it there for around 10 min.

bring the temp down to 80ish add the rest of the water. Pitch the yeast.

Let it Ferment in the Primary for 3 weeks (give or take) rack it to the secondary until I'm ready to bottle (assuming I brew this in April when I get home on vacation, then in September. Currently in Afghanistan no home brew for me....that my boss knows about...)

and just let it age until Thanksgiving 2015...well you know I'll have to test it out before that...to make sure it's good... anyway am I missing anything? does my time table seem like it makes sense? what would you add to this mead and why?

 

[WVMJ]

Drop the brown sugar and add more honey, dont add any water but just use cider, dont heat it just stir in the honey and everything else, add some pectinase for insurance to clear, add some sulfites instead of heating cider, you may need to rack more than once, keep it cool with D47. Many of your steps such as heating it all up and adding water are going to dilute or evaporate your flavors, this isnt beer We typically start with 5 gallons of cider, add everything else to it, stir it with a drill mounted stirrer in the primary, ferment in a 7 gal carboy in a cool basement, when primary is done rack to a 5 gallon carboy. A few cloves might boost your spice taste a bit, and to really make it special a little big of oak. Good luck, WVMJ

 

[Arpolis]

I agree with WVMJ.

Your step one of heating everything is not needed and only drives off aroma and flavor.

Just take 5 Camden tablets crushed up and pitch that into your finished must before pitching yeast. Wait 24 hours, give it another good stir and then pitch yeast.

Kick the honey up to at least 12lb and drop the brown sugar.

D47 can be a tricky yeast to use because it needs to be kept happy and cool. If you want to stick with Lalvin brand then K1V-1116 or RC-212 would be better no fuss choices. Lalvin 71b-1112 may not be good because it ferments out many of the apply like notes by metabolizing malic acid.

Also up the nutrients and step it in 3 steps. Many people have different opinions on the nutrient additions but I would make it 4tsp nutrient and 2tsp energizer, mix it together. Pitch 4 tsp of it at must creation and then after yeast pitch every 24 hours for two days add 1 tsp of your blend.

 

[Arpolis]

Sorry double post.

 

[beerninja]

So something more like

5 Gallon Batch
12 Lbs Honey (not sure which kind to use yet)
5 Gallons Apple Cider (no preservatives)
3 Sticks of Cinnamon
2 tsp Yeast Energizer
4 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg Lalvlin D-47 yeast
1-3 Cloves


No heating use 5 Camden Tablets. the next day stir and pitch yeast. then follow my plan as before. right?

 

[Arpolis]

Sounds good to me.

 

[bodhiboi]

I prefer to heat my cysers, just not the honey that much, I bring the cider to a boil, drop in the spices, turn off heat and wait till I can put my hand on outside of pot for moment and not burn myself( probly low 100's) then add my honey in and stir like hell. I don't use any chemicals in my ferments so no Camden for me, but that is purely a personal choice not a professional one. As a nutrient I put raisins in a blender with lemon juices until it looks like a liquid, boil that and add.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Home Brew mobile app

 

[WVMJ]

And if you want to spice it up a little take a piece of ginger root, freeze it, thaw it and use a lemon juicer to squeeze out the juice into your must, much better than using powdered ginger.

WVMJ

 

[beerninja]

Cool thanks alot for the info! I'll be brewing this April 27th (when i get home) I'll post some pics and tell ya'll how it goes!