Caramel Apple Mead

[jmfitzgerald]

excellent!!! thanks! i'm going to get this put together today i think. only difference is for the steeping grains i have some Belgium Special B laying around, so i may give that a shot vs the C-60L. it might be a little darker, but i think the flavors in the special B should work out great for this!

looking at the 2 recipes, it looks like you pretty much was able to take everything and divide it by 5. the only 2 questions that come up, after reading this long thread, from the first post i think the full 2lbs of buckwheat honey was used in primary, and an extra lb was used when racking to back sweeten it. so 3lbs total, but in your recipe, it looks like you split that amount between the primary and back sweetening, have you got to sample this yet? or is it still aging? also, i noticed you used pectic enzyme when adding vanilla and no mention of super kleer... is this doing essentially the same thing?

last thing, cinnamon. i love it. i'm thinking of adding a stick when adding the vanilla bean. would this be the right time to add it? and anyone tried it? i'm assuming cinnamon carmel apple should be amazing too or just stick with the base? got a couple weeks to decide i guess.

thanks everyone. great thread!

 

[pgenius]

That was a bit of a concern when I was comparing the profiles at the store, but figured I'd go with the expert behind the counter. I hope I didn't get steered in the wrong direction.
It's now day 4 and it's still bubbling away pretty good. I've added my first round of fermaid and give it a good shake everyday.
What happens when the yeast die too soon?

I work at my LHBS, and I wouldn't have recommended that yeast for this batch at all. You could be okay, and I don't mean to stress you out, but if they do die, then you will be stuck at a higher FG than anticipated.

 

[Meadrol]

excellent!!! thanks! i'm going to get this put together today i think. only difference is for the steeping grains i have some Belgium Special B laying around, so i may give that a shot vs the C-60L. it might be a little darker, but i think the flavors in the special B should work out great for this!

looking at the 2 recipes, it looks like you pretty much was able to take everything and divide it by 5. the only 2 questions that come up, after reading this long thread, from the first post i think the full 2lbs of buckwheat honey was used in primary, and an extra lb was used when racking to back sweeten it. so 3lbs total, but in your recipe, it looks like you split that amount between the primary and back sweetening, have you got to sample this yet? or is it still aging? also, i noticed you used pectic enzyme when adding vanilla and no mention of super kleer... is this doing essentially the same thing?

last thing, cinnamon. i love it. i'm thinking of adding a stick when adding the vanilla bean. would this be the right time to add it? and anyone tried it? i'm assuming cinnamon carmel apple should be amazing too or just stick with the base? got a couple weeks to decide i guess.

thanks everyone. great thread!

Hey Jim,

The amounts of buckwheat honey did get confusing as he gave conflicting answers to posters. The way I read it from the first few posts was that it was a total of 2 pounds of buckwheat honey with one going into primary and the other after racking off the vanilla bean so that's the way I went with it. I did not need to use any kind of finings with this mead; it cleared beautifully on its own with just the pectic enzyme. Hope this helps.

 

[jmfitzgerald]

ha! well i just got done making this 1G batch this morning and it smells amazing!!! being i just got back online, i missed your last reply, and i went with what i thought i read earlier and put the 6.4oz of buckwheat honey in there, and wow, i got an OG of 1.156... this is going to be some rocket fuel! should i dilute this with water to bring the OG down a bit and if so where to, 1.120??? i used go ferm, and aerated the crap out of it with a paint stirrer attached to a drill for a long time!!! trying to give those yeasties the best environment with such a high OG, but still a bit concerned it "too" high. thoughts on diluting it??

 

[Meadrol]

Yeah I'd go ahead and dilute it down before the yeasties really start kicking.

 

[jmfitzgerald]

Well I went ahead and split the difference and diluted it down to an OG of 1.135 yesterday before anything started. Still a very slow start with the fermentation front though. Still haven't seen a single bubble in the airlock, but finally tonight as I went to aerate it for the second time today, the gravity was down to about 1.120. So it's starting, but slow. Weird no bubbles in the airlock, but once opened the lid it sure looked like something was going on with some dark brown crud on top of LOTS of light brown bubbles... And just to confirm, I should keep aerating it twice daily until I get to the 1/3 sugar break? Just a bit different from beer world.

This was it after tonight's aeration!
Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[Meadrol]

Yep, that's correct on aeration; with mead you have to remember that there is a lag phase and it's really slow compared to beer.

 

[1776]

Just brewed this up tonight. Got an OG of 1.112. Added around 9.75lbs of clover honey cause that's all I could really afford. Hope the low OG won't hurt the desired taste. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[greyday]

I'm planning to start this in the next few days (found this forum from the repost of the recipe over at winemakers). This'll be my first mead, though I've done many wines. Any advice before I begin? Also, will blackberry honey be a suitable replacement for the buckwheat? Couldn't find any info on the flavor profile of blackberry honey, not sure if this will adversely effect the recipe. Planning to do a 3 gallon batch, so we'll see...

 

[Meadrol]

I wouldn't replace the buckwheat with blackberry...the buckwheat honey is part of what gives it that caramel apple flavor.

 

[greyday]

I decided to do my initial batch with blackberry; did 5# of clover and 5# of blackberry, but I plan to track down some buckwheat for the later racking. I think the blackberry worked ok, though, the must tastes very caramel appley...

 

[greyday]

Also my starting sg is high (1.38, down from 1.5 but I wasn't willing to water down any further). If I end fermentation around 14% (around 1.035 sg), how should I adjust the amount of buckwheat at racking? 2/3 of a pound maybe?

 

[Meadrol]

I made this as my very first mead back in April....just tasted it and Oh My God this is the best alcoholic beverage I have ever tasted!! I'm mad at myself now for only making a gallon of it; getting ready to do a 5 gallon batch.

 

[caseyweed]

I've never used super kleer before. Is it normal to have a bunch of trub on the bottom after adding it? Do I need to rack off of it? I'm at the aging stage now and don't want it to sit for a year and find out I should have racked it off.

 

[saramc]

Need to confirm: the grains are steeped for 45min then rinsed with juice and ___? Do you remove and discard the grains?

Plan to get this started soon, sounds fabulous.

 

[saramc]

I've never used super kleer before. Is it normal to have a bunch of trub on the bottom after adding it? Do I need to rack off of it? I'm at the aging stage now and don't want it to sit for a year and find out I should have racked it off.

Anytime I use SuperKleer I leave it for at least two weeks before racking off the new sediment that has formed. Then I allow my ferment to bulk age.

 

[opus345]

Need to confirm: the grains are steeped for 45min then rinsed with juice and ___? Do you remove and discard the grains?

Plan to get this started soon, sounds fabulous.

Saramc,

When you use grains to steep when making beer, you put the grains into a nylon grain bag and then put that into your steeping pot. Every 5 minutes you dunk & drain, like you would with a tea bag.

Squeezing the grain bag to remove all the liquid used to be frowned upon because there was a concern you would release tannins from the grains that would end up making your beer very astringent. "Astringency is perceived as a dry grainy, mouth-puckering, tannic sensation."

I believe the current thinking is that it is OK to squeeze as long you have kept the steeping temp below 170* which is where the tannins would start to be released. Here is a post by Revvy that indicates that squeezing is OK: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/biab-vs-steeping-grains-300657/#post3736845

After rinsing/sparging the grain bag, you will remove it and dump the grains. If you using a cheap nylon stocking, you can dump the whole mess in the trash or if you have a reusable nylon grain bag, you dump just the grains and clean out the grain bag during cleanup.

 

[saramc]

Thanks Opus! Glad to know I was thinking about this the right way. I also know the temperature has to do with alpha/beta amylase enzymes and how they work on the grains. Appreciate it.

 

[opus345]

Made this today for my new year mead. OG = 1.125 (6gal and an additional lb of clover honey).

Here is my SNA schedule:

0 hours = 1 tsp nutrient/.5 tsp energizer
24 hours = 1 tsp nutrient/.5 tsp energizer
48 hours = 1 tsp nutrient/.5 tsp energizer
96 hours = 2 tsp nutrient/1 tsp energizer

It already tastes good after drinking the hydro sample.

 

[opus345]

K1 is moving right along. Today SG = 1.060.

 

[TripelThreat]

Just brewed this today. I didn't notice my DME supply was running low and I only had about 1lb of it left. I compensated with some light rock candy sugar and a bit more of the buckwheat honey. My guestimations must not have been too horrible - my OG was 1.124.

Think this will have any noticeable impact on the end product? Maybe a bit richer and darker from the extra buckwheat? I guess I'll know in... several months

edit: took 19 days to get to 1.075 for the first fermaid K addition. Is this normal? OP makes it sound like it might get down to 1.012 in a couple weeks... or does he mean from 1.035 to 1.012? I've never brewed mead or anything with wine yeast, so I'm not sure how active it's supposed to be.

 

[saramc]

TripelThreat...it is not uncommon for a mead to ferment slowly, especially when you have a high gravity start.

 

[kd8ccy]

This caramel apple mead sounds great!

I do have a newbe question (please excuse my ignorance). When steeping grain do you always crush the grain before using it?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[kd8ccy]

Well, I put together a batch of caramel apple mead and it tastes great! I can't wait for it to finish!

And I did use crushed grain, as suggested by the brew shop.

Good recipe.

 

[opus345]

Well, I put together a batch of caramel apple mead and it tastes great! I can't wait for it to finish!

And I did use crushed grain, as suggested by the brew shop.

Good recipe.

kd,

Welcome to HBT and to the Mead Forum/Recipes.

I'm getting ready to start another batch of the caramel apple meed today. I end up buying most of the beer/mead grains online and have them crush it. When I need a better crush, I do it myself. Check out Revvy's Ugly Junk thread at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

 

[kd8ccy]

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

I made this with a few vanilla beans early 2012. It gets phenomenal with a bit of age.

 

[doublert]

Just whipped up a 4L batch of these tonight. I'm hoping I don't end up with a krausen fountain.

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

You are in for a treat friend. This makes for one tasty beverage.

 

[cheyneyr]

I made this tonight, only I have no idea what kind of honey I put in it. When I acquired some used homebrew equipment the seller threw in five 5# containers of honey. It's somewhat dark in color and says pure honey on the label. The guy I bought it from hadn't brewed in over 10 years, so it had some age on it and was pretty well crystalized. I did a lot of rinsing and soaking in hot water to get it pourable.

I have the buckwheat honey on order, so I missed adding the first pound of it in primary. I figure I will add it when I rack to secondary and add the vanilla beans.

This is my first attempt at a mead, so I'm pretty geeked. Hopefully it will be ready by the time my birthday rolls around in May.

Cheer!