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Redhawke

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This is a recipe passed on to us by our friend and tutor here on the brew board Nurse Nan. This was her generous gift to us and is shared here with her permission.

15 Lbs. Fireweed Honey
6 Vanilla beans, split
6 bags Earl Grey Tea
Lavlin EC-1118 yeast
Nutrient & Energizer
8OZ bottle Pure Vanilla Extract

Make a starter with 1qt. warm water, 1/4 cup honey, nutrient, energizer and yeast. Let this work until time to pitch.

Bring 1 gallon water to a bare boil, add vanilla beans and take off the heat. Add tea bags, let steep for 15 minutes, remove tea bags. Add honey, stir to dissolve. Add 1 gallon cool water, stir well then add to primary. Add water to bring to 5 gallon mark. Add vanilla extract, stir well, add starter.

Rack to secondary after 7-10 days straining out vanilla beans.
Rack after another 3 weeks, should be still in another 2-3 weeks.

Thanks again Nurse Nan we couldnt of made it without you.
Redhawke & Red:tank:

Footnote: The gravities stated here are a bit skewed because I messed up a simple recipe, explanation in forum.
 
This may sound like a stupid question but I am new to brewing and I do not understand some of the terminology. What exactly does racking mean?
 
Wow this sounds great...Will not having 15 Lbs. Fireweed Honey (whatever that is) affect the balance of everything else?

The Earl grey sounds like an interesting addition!
 
I set out to brew this in late 08', and at the time had never heard of fireweed honey. So for those like me who don't know what it is, here is a C/P from a site that sells it. By the way, they are currently sold out.

The champagne of honeys.

"I first heard about fireweed honey when an old-time beekeeper told me that, of all the honeys he'd had in his nearly fifty years of apiary activity, fireweed was his favorite. "It's the champagne of honeys," he said.

A fascinating plant, fireweed is one of the first signs of life to appear after a forest has burned off. Thin stalks shoot up out of the blackened soil. By the end of that summer or next they've carpeted the charred land with a bouquet of red-purple flowers. Beekeepers set their hives among them to help them pollinate.We get to enjoy the product—delicate, delicious honey.

The flavor of this honey, harvested in the shadows of Washington's Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood, lives up to its romantic associations. It has a light, delicate nose and a fine, spreadable crystalline texture that reminds me of champagne bubbles. The flavor is like a sweet summer pear: light, luscious, mouthwatering."

At the time I brewed this, I had access to a batch of bulk purchased wildflower honey so thats what I went with. The beans I bought from Madagascar, the extract from Mexico.
This was planned to be ready in time for my sisters wedding, and was a huge hit. It finished completely clear, with the vanilla and honey flavors coming through without one or the other being overpowering.
Having been bottled for two years now, it has mellowed into something absolutely amazing. The few bottles I have left will be jealously guarded and replaced with a new crop as soon as time will allow.
 
It is very interesting receipt. I will tray, but I will do 9 kg honey + 20 vanilla beans + 10 bags Earl Gray Tea = and make full tank 30 liters.
 
This. Sounds. Amazing for a wedding (or other large celebration).

How easy is it to get a hold of fireweed honey?
 
Hey All,

I came across this site a couple nights ago while putting together/finalizing a VBM recipe for me and a good friend to try. Well I just got done officially signing up and thought that I should get my first post out there. Additionally, I also started my first 1 gallon batch of VBM last evening. It was based on the VB Leap Year threads here at homebrewtalk. Minimal modifications were made. The Sam Adams was not added to the batch, just consumed while making it.

HomeBrew


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So I was looking online at the prices for fireweed... and I'm getting, on average, $14/lb. That's about 235 dollars for the honey needed. :eek:

Is there good honey substitute for fireweed that is a little less money? If not, then did you pony up the dough, or did you find a way to make it a little cheaper?
 
I might get beat up for saying this, but I plan on making this batch shortly just using plain ol' regular honey. I have actually never even heard of fireweed honey, but will go google it now! :)
 
I make all my meads with whatever honey I have on hand (unless it's a small amount of buckwheat or something unusual or strongly flavored). I get my honey in 60 lb buckets for <$2/lb from a local beekeeper, usually blackberry, clover, or wildflower. Since I can't really afford to keep multiple buckets, I use whatever I bought last. And all my meads have turned out great :)
 
That is a great price indeed. I might have to go that route with a clover or wildflower honey.

Also, Winejunkie, you wouldn't happen to be from Southbury, CT?
 
Yes, I would be from Southbury. Dare I ask? As far as I know I don't owe anybody money :D

The world is such a small place!

Haha..., no no, But I'm originally from Stamford, so it's fun to find people from my neck of the woods. :-D


It really is such a small place, lol. I once went to see a USA vs Spain soccer game in Santander, Spain, only to find a kid I knew from Weston Barlow High standing behind me in line.
 
Recently racked out of the primary onto 2 split, scraped and chopped Madagascar Vanilla Beans.
It's coming along nicely and smells pretty vanilla(ly).... Picture taken at about the Day 10 mark. It has lightened up in color as well.

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Ok, I resized due to the pressure :) the picture instead of letting the forum automatically do it. There is a bit of a difference. Kind of now like orange juice without the pulp.
In addition to resizing it beforehand, I also realized that I posted the wrong pic. Wow, and I didn't even start drinking yet.
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Glad I came across this.

I just made a 1g batch of blueberry vanilla.
Really didnt think anything of it and added 2 vanilla beans, scraped and chopped in half.

For some reason I just thought about it and needed some reasurance that I didnt add to much vanilla lol.

Will be making this recipe for sure sometime soon!
 
I've just racked this up in the primary. I can't wait to see how it tastes. I had a question about specifics of the directions.

"Rack to secondary after 7-10 days straining out vanilla beans.
Rack after another 3 weeks, should be still in another 2-3 weeks."

Does that mean; 7-10 days in primary, 3 weeks in secondary, bottle?
It reads as though there's a third racking period in there.

Thanks!!
 
I've just racked this up in the primary. I can't wait to see how it tastes. I had a question about specifics of the directions.

"Rack to secondary after 7-10 days straining out vanilla beans.
Rack after another 3 weeks, should be still in another 2-3 weeks."

Does that mean; 7-10 days in primary, 3 weeks in secondary, bottle?
It reads as though there's a third racking period in there.

Thanks!!

Ralphinator
Yes, 7-10 days in primary and then rack again in 3 weeks. You can bottle once clear and you are sure fermentation is complete. Or, you can bulk age for 6-12 months.
 
Finally got around to post an updated picture of my VBM. This picture was taken about a week after racking which would be around day 65+/-.

The color cleared up loosing what some of you compared to as Mountain Dew/Antifreeze :drunk:. It's now along the lines of cider.

006.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Finally got around to post an updated picture of my VBM. This picture was taken about a week after racking which would be around day 65+/-.

The color cleared up loosing what some of you compared to as Mountain Dew/Antifreeze :drunk:. It's now along the lines of cider.

006.jpg
[/IMG]
 
That is super clear!
Mine is still very cloudy, but it does seem to be clearing VERY slowly if I try real hard to imagine it.

I like how you busted yourself on the double-posting!
I thought I was just seeing things. :mug:
 
Sorry to question this, but, just want to make sure I'm not misinterpreting this. That's 8 oz of vanilla extract (1 cup), added to the primary fermentation process for ~5 gallons, PLUS 6 split vanilla beans?

First time ever planning to use vanilla extract in something that isn't cooked here, it sounds kind of rich at first glance.
 
Thats how I interpreted the recipe. Extract plus the beans all in the primary.

I have everything I need to make a full batch of this. How is the drinkibility early on? Say around the 4 month mark? I am hoping that some of this mead will be decent around the middle of May.
 

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