1st Mead, Cyser?

[JRapp]

Title Says it!

I live down the road from Ken Schramms mead and having recently tasted his incredible Apple Cyser ive decided to try one of my own. An upcoming brewing event has the chance to get 5 gallons of some good cider from a local mill and decided on trying a simple fool proof Cyser, one without bells whistles, spices etc (was initially going to make a cider)

I see in the recipe area their really arent many tried and tested simple recipes, the few simple cysers have very few responses or comments.

Is this because its truly simple to make a cyser or because you have to add spices and stuff to make it good?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

You can make a fine cyser without adding spices. In fact sometimes adding the cinnamon and other spices can overpower the apples. So it may be good to start off as simple as you can and work your way up. There's no wrong mead to make. So have fun, and make what you'll want to drink.

 

[Thomas007]

I just bottled my first batch of cyser (about 6 months old). I did not use any spices or flavorings, just apple juice and enough honey to get the ABV to something slightly under 13% (my yeast's tolerance).

I'm not entirely satisfied with it, though. It did end up very clear (without the use of any kind of clarifying agents, which surprised me since my cider is always slightly cloudy). There was no hot alcohol flavor (or any of the other off flavors I sometimes see mentioned). Unfortunately, there wasn't much of any other flavor either. Just a slight tartness from the apples (not much apple flavor, maybe because I used this which is probably not intended for fermentation) and not much else.

I think if I were to do this again (which I probably won't, since it's a lot of time and effort for a fairly mediocre result), I'd add spices (or just do a metheglin), unless I had actual cider apples or some kind of specialty honey.