Chai Spiced Cyser

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

summersolstice

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
1,414
Reaction score
60
Location
Central Texas, USA
This is a tasty mead but it takes at least a year (two is better) for the flavors to blend and the alcohol to moderate.

5 gallons Apple juice
14 lbs Orange Blossom honey
1t pectic enzyme
1t tannin

In a straining bag:

5 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
10 green cardamom beans
5 thumbnails of fresh ginger
2 lbs chopped dates
a dozen or so tart apples, sliced and crushed

Hydrate Lalvin D-47 yeast with 2 1/2 cups of 104F water in 1t of Go-Ferm

Add 1/2t DAP to the must prior to pitching yeast. Add 1t Fermaid-K at the end of the lag phase (10 hours of so). Add 1t Fermaid-K at the 1/3 sugar break (a couple days). Add 1t Fermaid-K at 2/3 sugar break.

Oxygenate thoroughly twice a day until the 1/3 sugar break. Stir gently once a day until fermentation is complete.

Add 1 lb dried cherries to the secondary and top with apple juice as necessary.

Ferment at 68F.

OG 1.110

This should have a little residual sweetness but if more is desired, add 4-6 oz honey and 4-6 oz apple juice concentrate.

IMG_0713.jpg
 
summersolstice,

I love chai tea and I'm considering this mead. A question comes to mind though:

Could you please describe a "thumbnail" of ginger to a newb like me?

I think I'll use your recipe combined with Hightest's staggerd nutrient additions.

Thanks
 
summersolstice,

Could you please describe a "thumbnail" of ginger to a newb like me?

Thanks

A thumbnail is sliced from fresh ginger and is about 1/4 inch thick and the size of your thumbnail. It isn't a formal or exact measurement so use a little more if you like ginger, or a little less if you don't.

Good luck!
 
Summersolstice, what type of dried cherries would you suggest? I looked online and this site sells several varieties (Bing, Columbia river tart, rainier, totally tart, cherry melody)

I'd appreciate your advice.

Chukar Cherries: Dried Cherries & Berries

I put this together yesterday. The SG was the same as yours. The only thing I did differently was juice 12 Granny Smith apples (they seemed pretty "tart") poured in the juice and added the pulp to the straining bag.
 
After 1 month in primary bucket, I racked onto 1 pound of dried bing cherries. No sulfites, however the ingredient list mentions sunflow seed oil. I rinsed the cherries off with tap-hot water to remove as much oil as possible. I also cut the cherries in half.

Racked into a 6.5 gal carboy. I had to top off with 1.75 gal of apple juice.

Begining gravity 1.110, gravity at transfer 1.002. Tasted dry and very strong alcohol taste.

Question is, how long should I leave on the cherries in secondary?
 
Thank you for recipe. Started a batch last night. Im relatively newbie, have done a few quick meads and ciders with success. I had a question about oxygenating, what do you do? Thanks for insights.

image-1081993713.jpg
 
This was sitting in the back of my closet for 3 years. Best mead I've ever made. Excellent. It was pretty awful after 1 year in tertiary. Glad I decided to keep it. Great recipe!!
 
I think this was the first mead I tried a few years ago at my friends place in Austin. Had some over the weekend at 4 years old and now know what recipe it was. This stuff is fantastic. I will get started on this one as soon as I clear out some space.

Also, my friend in Austin opened Meridian Hive meadery and their meads are located around the area. Try some if you can.

http://meridianhive.com/
 
Finally started my batch yesterday. Didn't nail the exact recipe, here is what I got.

18 liters of Apple cider
15 lbs of orange blossom honey
1 lb of dates
5 grams of sliced ginger
4.5 lbs of granny smith apples that were frozen, but not crushed

The rest of the stuff should be mostly the same, I had an old packet of d-47 I threw in with the starter last night (1 new and 1 old D-47 packets). I didn't have enough time to open it up and use my mix-stir this morning to check the lag time, but I will probably be using straight oxygen more often since it is filled to the brim. I may have went over on the apples, and had to reduce the apple juice. Also added an extra pound of honey on accident. Will see where this winds up, but it may be heading into 17% territory.

Will check back every now and then, this will be a long term project.

OG was 1.132.
 
Made this 8 years ago. After racking to tertiary it sit for a year then came with me to my new place. Just sitting with silicone stopper. Sit in the garage in my unused fermentation chamber. It sit through hot summers and cold winters. Finally got around to getting into the large stand up freezer in the back of the garage and assumed I'd need to dump it. Nope, it is the best stuff I ever made. Can't tast the alcohol at all. Will kick your but if you drink to much (which I did while bottling).
 
I just want to give an update since I waited 5 years to bottle this. It always sat around in my closet gathering dust and waiting for me to backsweeten and bottle it. I finally got around to bottling it after a friend gave me a deadline since he wanted someone to try it. I did add a bourbon oak stave to it for a while before I bottled it.

My friends who have tried it think it's one of the best things they have ever had. That was my thoughts on it also when I first tried it that my friend made, but I can now confirm it myself.

I ended up with 6 gallons and no issues from oxidation. It finished semi sweet after I backsweetened it. I have a bunch of bottles to share and may enter a couple in competition to see how it does. I will share with some friends this weekend and get their thoughts, but I know what it is already.

I can't stress how good of a recipe this is. It's a hidden gem on this website and anyone who makes mead should try it.
 
I want to try either a one or three gallon version of this. To scale can I divide spice/fruit amounts by five to get one gallon rate?
 
I want to try either a one or three gallon version of this. To scale can I divide spice/fruit amounts by five to get one gallon rate?
Yeah. I will recommend doing the 3 gallon if you can. This truly is an awesome recipe and does take some time. If you pull it off well, it will blow people's minds.
 
Back
Top