Winter Mead

[ben93p]

I am planning on scaling up the Fall Harvest Mind Crusher recipe I found on here with a couple differences. I wanted to ask what every thought about it since this is going to be my first spiced mead.
3/ 3/4 inch of cinnamon stick
5 whole clove
Apple cider to 5 1/2 gallon mark
energizer as per label
nutrient as per label
Dash ground mace
9 lbs clover honey
6 lbs Orange blossom Honey
red star Montrachet yeast and I plan on using a yeast starter
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
10 sm blood oranges I might reduce this depending on how much orange flavor the honey gives me
5/8 cup raisins
75 ounce pumpkin purée (secondary)
2 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (secondary)


spices and fruit I'm going to have in a bag in order make it easier to remove and I plan on reserving enough honey and apple cider so that I can pasteurize the pumpkin when I add it to secondary. I was wondering if anyone on here had any suggestions or tips. thank you and have a great day.

 

[viking1984]

This seems good compared to the original. I had planned on trying the same recipe soon, but a 1 gallon batch. I had made a cyser at the beginning of the year and added a 2 inch cinnamon stick in primary, as well as two more 2 inch sticks in secondary and left those in for a month or more and still did not get the cinnamon flavor I was hoping for. I eventually just bottled and aged it and it came out very good, just not quite what I hoped for. Maybe I got a batch of old or cheap cinnamon or something. I guess its personal preference with spices, but I will be trying much more cinnamon than the original recipe called for.

 

[ben93p]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind. I think I'll buy extra spices and adjust with each racking until I get it to the point I want just in case the amount in recipe isn't enough. Although the hard part is going to be letting this age until next Christmas.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi ben93p - and welcome. Cloves punch way above their weight. And this may be me but I don't think of orange blossom honey tasting anything like oranges. It's like the difference between elderberries and elderflowers.

 

[ben93p]

okay good to know, definitely going add the clove slowly then since I don't to end up with a clove version of fireball.

 

[ben93p]

Although that would be an interesting project a mead or hard cider fireball....