Dry Rhodomel Critique?

[mwc9711]

I'm looking to make a dry rose petal mead that will finish in relatively short order for a mead. Here's the recipe I'm thinking of using;

2lbs Wildflower honey
1 pint rose petals
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 packet champagne yeast

My plan is to boil 1/2 gallon of water, pour it over the rose petals and nutrient. Then let cool slightly and add honey and shake until dissolved. Then top off with boiled and cooled water, shake to airate, let cool and then pitch the yeast. It should get to around 10% abv. Should I use some citric acid or some tannin, or leave it the way it is?.

 

[mwc9711]

Well, the two places in town I was looking at didn't carry organic fragrant roses, so I'm redoing the recipe.

2lbs wildflower honey
8 fl oz rose petal preserve
1tsp yeast nutrient
1 packet of champagne yeast

Instead of pouring water over the rose petals, I'm going to let it all cool, and then add the rose preserves, and then top off. If it doesn't have enough rose aroma for me after fermentation, I'm going to add some more preserve. Has anyone ever tried something like this?

 

[user 54565]

Did you end up doing this? How does it seem to be doing? I'd like to do something similar with a rose syrup. I know it's early, but any heads up would be appreciated.

 

[mwc9711]

I did end up doing it. It is still fermenting/clearing, but it smells very nice. I used a type of rose preserve, as well as a small amount of rose water. At first the smell was overpowering, but a lot of the aroma has been carried away with the CO2. I am probably going to bottle pretty soon, and since it is a low gravity mead it should not need too much aging. I would be careful with the amount of rose syrup you use, I ended up using much less than 8fl oz of the preserve, and a quarter cup of the rose water. I'll update this when I have tasted it.

 

[MedsenFey]

Did you not need to use Pectic enzyme with the preserves?