Acerglyn

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

This is my first go at an acerglyn, and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts. I thought it would be fun to do kind of a sweet/savory thing. Instead of using water, I'm using Cold Brew Coffee. I want to get kind of a breakfast feel, so I'm doing the coffee, some black pepper corns, some sweet orange peel, and a bit of coriander. I want to then finish it off with some oaking with lightly toasted chips. Would this actually work, or is it maybe a bit too ambitious?

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

Also, maybe some toasted ancho chiles? And Cardamum? Am i overdoing it here? I can't really find a similar recipe.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Maple, honey, coffee, black pepper, ancho chili peppers, orange peel, coriander, cardamom, and oak?
You want all those flavors together?

You could make the coffee acerglyn and then start adding stuff in secondary until either you like it... or hate it and have to dump it, whichever happens first.

 

[dmtaylor]

One specialty ingredient at a time.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

Maple, honey, coffee, black pepper, ancho chili peppers, orange peel, coriander, cardamom, and oak?
You want all those flavors together?

You could make the coffee acerglyn and then start adding stuff in secondary until either you like it... or hate it and have to dump it, whichever happens first.

Those are the major spices that are used on my favorite bacon‍minus the orange, of course. I originally planned on making a tea bag up with the spice blend and maybe floating it in there for a month or so. But you think that would be too much?

Okay, so maybe just do the coffee, maple, orange peel and black pepper in the primary and see how that goes? I've done a coffee mead with the chilies before, so I know that's good. I've never worked with black pepper before though. Any ideas on how much for just a one gallon batch?

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

One specialty ingredient at a time.

I know, I get excited and have to reign myself in. But hey, the Egyptians used to pack their meads with all kinds of crazy spice blends. Why not?

 

[dmtaylor]

Whatever makes you happy. It will either be fantastic, or it will suck. Could be a love/hate thing, too, where some people would love, others hate. I wouldn't know until I tasted it.

One word of caution: Go easy on the spice additions. Use less than you think you should. Humans have a tendency to overdo spices by about 300%.

 

[bernardsmith]

I know, I get excited and have to reign myself in. But hey, the Egyptians used to pack their meads with all kinds of crazy spice blends. Why not?

And the Romans used to add lead to their wines to make them sweeter... but to be serious, indigenous and historical "recipes" have stood the test of time. You are attempting to make an extra-ordinarily complex (in terms of flavors) recipe but you yourself have no good sense of the quantities of ingredients that MIGHT make this work ... basically you are rolling a dice.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

Whatever makes you happy. It will either be fantastic, or it will suck. Could be a love/hate thing, too, where some people would love, others hate. I wouldn't know until I tasted it.

One word of caution: Go easy on the spice additions. Use less than you think you should. Humans have a tendency to overdo spices by about 300%.

I will DEFINITELY heed that advice lol

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

And the Romans used to add lead to their wines to make them sweeter...

Okay? Good thing none of my ingredients are poisonous? Lol

 

[bernardsmith]

Good thing, because the taste may be enough of a problem. Here's an example: You are using cold brewed coffee but are using enough of that coffee to substitute for all the water. OK. But have you made a coffee wine or coffee mead before? Using the same amount of coffee for a mead as you would to make a gallon of coffee for drinking tends to result in an incredibly bitter wine. Ask me how I know. My most successful coffee mead was adding 4 oz of lightly crushed beans to the secondary (a gallon). Four ounces - That's about 25% of the amount of beans used to make a gallon of coffee. In other words, dmtaylor's point about people routinely adding too much "spice" is absolutely true.
Okay - here's what I might do before I made such a complex mead. Get some cheap vodka and infuse the alcohol with the spices and beans and flavors you intend to use for this mead. Use the same proportions and the same equivalent amounts given the volume of vodka you intend to ue. You want about 4 times the volume of vodka to the volume of solids for an infusion. Allow this to stand for a couple of weeks agitating it for a few seconds a couple of times a day. Add some sugar (to balance the alcohol) and taste. If it blows your socks off then go for it. If it brings tears to your eyes then you might aim for something simpler...

 

[wildmazer]

i get that you're trying to mimic the spicing in your favorite bacon, but without the smoke and salt (and maybe the pork, too?) flavors that are standard in bacon, it probably won't be be recognizable as such.

also adding spices for just a bit in primary won't add a whole lot of flavor - i'd be thinking about adding most (at least 2/3 of your total amounts) or all spices to secondary. i'd try to avoid powdered spices, too.

 

[madscientist451]

Would this actually work, or is it maybe a bit too ambitious?

It hard to tell if it will work for YOU.....
Everyone has different tastes, a spice combination you like, might be unpalatable to someone else.
If you want to "wing it", just throw everything in and see what happens.
Most recipes have one or two ingredients. When you go beyond that, the variability of the ingredients makes it difficult to predict the end result.
A better approach would be to make a base mead, then go get a case of quart jars.
Place your finished mead and individual spices/flavors in the jars and let them sit a while, then start doing some taste tests and blending trials.
Keep good tasting/blending notes and don't try to do all your taste/blending trials at one sitting.
I've read that 2 tablespoons of cracked black pepper/gallon in secondary is a good starting amount to try, but I've also heard that half that amount can overpower a mead. The freshness and type of black pepper you are using will make a big difference.
Using cold brew coffee in primary may work, but the usual method is to use whole beans in secondary. I've read that low-acid varieties are a good choice, but I haven't tried adding coffee to a mead yet.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

Good thing, because the taste may be enough of a problem. Here's an example: You are using cold brewed coffee but are using enough of that coffee to substitute for all the water. OK. But have you made a coffee wine or coffee mead before? Using the same amount of coffee for a mead as you would to make a gallon of coffee for drinking tends to result in an incredibly bitter wine. Ask me how I know. My most successful coffee mead was adding 4 oz of lightly crushed beans to the secondary (a gallon). Four ounces - That's about 25% of the amount of beans used to make a gallon of coffee. In other words, dmtaylor's point about people routinely adding too much "spice" is absolutely true.
Okay - here's what I might do before I made such a complex mead. Get some cheap vodka and infuse the alcohol with the spices and beans and flavors you intend to use for this mead. Use the same proportions and the same equivalent amounts given the volume of vodka you intend to ue. You want about 4 times the volume of vodka to the volume of solids for an infusion. Allow this to stand for a couple of weeks agitating it for a few seconds a couple of times a day. Add some sugar (to balance the alcohol) and taste. If it blows your socks off then go for it. If it brings tears to your eyes then you might aim for something simpler...

Yeah, I made a maple wine with just coffee and toasted ancho chiles last year. I did two batches to see how it would turn out, one with ground beans added and the other with straight up cold brew coffee. Both turned out well, but I preferred the one that I made with the cold brew, hence my decision to go that route. That being said, I only used enough for two quarts and cut the rest with water. My thought process here was just to expand on that and make something more complex with more coffee flavor than the last batch, but i'll definitely take your advice and keep it to a ratio that i know pleases me.
I already put on a one gallon batch with a sachet of a small amount of toasted cardamom, coriander, dried orange peel, and a quarter of a cinnamon stick. I figure once the first ferment is done i can adjust and think about whether I want to go with the toasted Anchos or a couple of black peppercorns.
I honestly had never thought of doing a tincture to add the flavor. I have plenty of extra ingredients though. Tomorrow I think I'll pick up a bottle of Everclear and try your method, then sip them side-by-side once they're ready to drink.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

i get that you're trying to mimic the spicing in your favorite bacon, but without the smoke and salt (and maybe the pork, too?) flavors that are standard in bacon, it probably won't be be recognizable as such.

also adding spices for just a bit in primary won't add a whole lot of flavor - i'd be thinking about adding most (at least 2/3 of your total amounts) or all spices to secondary. i'd try to avoid powdered spices, too.

I've been doing this long enough to know that powdered spices are a no-no. I'm counting on the ancho chiles, black cardamom, and bourbon chips in the second ferment to add some smokey elements. Either way, it should be an interesting product once it's finished.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

It hard to tell if it will work for YOU.....
Everyone has different tastes, a spice combination you like, might be unpalatable to someone else.
If you want to "wing it", just throw everything in and see what happens.
Most recipes have one or two ingredients. When you go beyond that, the variability of the ingredients makes it difficult to predict the end result.
A better approach would be to make a base mead, then go get a case of quart jars.
Place your finished mead and individual spices/flavors in the jars and let them sit a while, then start doing some taste tests and blending trials.
Keep good tasting/blending notes and don't try to do all your taste/blending trials at one sitting.
I've read that 2 tablespoons of cracked black pepper/gallon in secondary is a good starting amount to try, but I've also heard that half that amount can overpower a mead. The freshness and type of black pepper you are using will make a big difference.
Using cold brew coffee in primary may work, but the usual method is to use whole beans in secondary. I've read that low-acid varieties are a good choice, but I haven't tried adding coffee to a mead yet.

Hmmm I think I'll definitely take this quart jar advice for the second ferment. I've read the same thing about black pepper, that's what makes me SO nervous about it. I've read some saying don't use more than like three cracked peppercorns, and other sources saying to just dump in the two tablespoons. I'm definitely leaning more towards adding a couple corns at a time to see what happens.

 

[TheRealJeanParmasanPI]

Update: bottled today! It actually came out really great, even a bit sweeter than expected! Calling it Red Eye the gf already ran off with a bottle, so we'll see if I can manage to keep one hidden for a few months and see how it ages.

 

[nitack]

Acerglyn ages extremely well. Congrats