End-of-the-World Mead recipes - Mayan inspired

[OneCerebralSamurai]

OK - after 1 day, there was still honey in the bottom of the carboy so I decided to give it a stir and take a small taste to see how the habaneros were doing. It still tastes great, but the pepper hottness is coming on very strong. So strong that I decided to pull the peppers out after only 1 day. I still think the peppers were a great idea, but if I were to do it again, I might add only 2 peppers and leave them in a month.

Now to age another 2 months...

 

[oldmate]

Hopefully the chilli mellows with age, and becomes well rounded with the cocao!

 

[OneCerebralSamurai]

OK, I had a great deal of sediment in the carboy, so I decided to rack (plus I wanted to see how the habaneros are aging in). SG = 1.022, and still has pronounced habanero heat up front. It tasted kind of “interesting” (funky), and it seems quite bitter. After racking, I topped up with 0.5 cups of Reallemon juice (acid to balance the bitterness) and ~1 lb of honey. The most common chocolate mead recipe I've seen floating around the net (liquid sex) indicates an FG target of 1.030. My experience so far indicates that this is reasonable.

If I were to do this again, I'd add much more lemon juice up front (I have a second batch going where I added 1 cup of Reallemon in the primary), and I'd probably start with an OG ~ 1.160.

 

[biochemedic]

OK, I had a great deal of sediment in the carboy, so I decided to rack (plus I wanted to see how the habaneros are aging in). SG = 1.022, and still has pronounced habanero heat up front. It tasted kind of “interesting” (funky), and it seems quite bitter. After racking, I topped up with 0.5 cups of Reallemon juice (acid to balance the bitterness) and ~1 lb of honey. The most common chocolate mead recipe I've seen floating around the net (liquid sex) indicates an FG target of 1.030. My experience so far indicates that this is reasonable.

If I were to do this again, I'd add much more lemon juice up front (I have a second batch going where I added 1 cup of Reallemon in the primary), and I'd probably start with an OG ~ 1.160.

I think you're always still better off adding acid later on to taste rather than up front. The lower pH can sometimes negatively affect your fermentation.

Regarding the Liquid Sex chocolate mead recipe, I personally have made it and I kind think 1.030 would be way to sweet (at least for my tastes). I let mine go dry, then backsweetened...I went back up to lightly semi-sweet (~1.012), which was just enough sweetness to temper the cocoa bitterness.

 

[huesmann]

Any of you tried to make Xtabentun?

 

[OneCerebralSamurai]

Any of you tried to make Xtabentun?

Not I.

 

[Karmawar]

I always thought that the Mayans saved space in there use of memory by only using 12 instead of 2012, 12/21/12 might be like the 9/9/99 bug in our ye olde software programming. Thats why the world will end, just ike it did with Y2K!

 

[oldmate]

Getting ready to rack mine. Have had some vanilla in vodka for a few weeks which I'll be adding to it as well. From the looks of it there is a whole heap of lees, but it hasn't cleared at all.

 

[DeusInnomen]

Wanted to say thank you for this recipe, I included a batch of this in my brewing weekend this past Saturday. The tempered yeast starter worked brilliantly and the yeast has been very happy from the start. I'm tempted to split it into two 3-gallon carboys during the secondary stage and add peppers to one of them while leaving the other unheated.

Ended up with an OG of right about 1.150. I was only able to take an updated reading 13.5 hours later (1.144) because the krausen (I don't know the mead's equivalent name, I'm normally just a beer brewer ) is so thick and foamy that I can't actually dig my way to the surface of the mead now. I also learned just how much CO2 ends up in this thing when I went to degas it the next evening and it erupted like a delicious chocolate volcano. Hooboy!

Can't wait for this to finish late next year!

 

[OneCerebralSamurai]

Fyi – I hit my batch with some bentonite a couple months ago, and then just hit it with some SuperKleer-KC this morning (I need the carboy). It's looking pretty clear.

This ended up being a habanero mead with a tiny bit of chocolate. The 6 habaneroes that I put in for only one day completely overwhelmed the other flavors. It's not too spicy to drink – and is actually pretty interesting and good... but definitely has very little detectible chocolate.

I will continue to tweak this recipe – next time I'm going to up the chocolate (powder and nibs) and vanilla (powder and/or beans), and use only one habanero.

 

[Machalel]

Wow, this sounds awesome!

I've gotta get me an End-Of-Times Mead!

hmmm... i'm thinking of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, royal jelly and "burnt honey" (Bochet?)

 

[WineIsRed]

I guess this idea died...


but FYI - I am drinking a batch of this that is 1.5 years old and it's great!

Brew what you want. If you want to drink it in 6 months, then brew something that will be ready in 6 months. If you want an EPIC brew that will take years to mature and taste awsome - then grow up and brew an epic brew!

Cheers - and if I'm alive on 12/22/2012, I'll start another batch of this!

 

[Golddiggie]

Going to be making the flavor additions to my second mocha madness mead this month. Should be about 21% ABV. Got to get the coffee and cacao nibs added in steps. Should have 3-3.5 gallons going to bottles next year. If the world hasn't ended at least. Might start the base mead for a 25% batch soon too.

For the record, the 21% batch was started last December. I'm not planning to bottle for another 10-12 months. Will see how it is at that time, but I suspect it will need some more aging time. Got some 14% batches started the same time (first week of December 2011) that I'm going to start bottling. The maple gets bottled first.

 

[Curtis2010]

The Mayan's made no such prediction, but it's a great excuse for a mead anyway.

I live right in the middle of El Mundo de Maya and something that figured heavily in Mayan culture, and still does, was Cocoa. In the highlands of Guatemala pure handmade chocolate is readily available and inexpensive. One of my favorite things, which I like more than chocolate, is roasted cocoa "nibs". These parts of the cocoa pod are roasted as part of the chocolate making process and they are way yummy. I've used cocoa in Stouts and it was delicious, but maybe more sparingly in a mead...possibly in combination with some vanilla sounds good!

A cartoon attached which you really should work into the label.

They also made a hallucinogenic substance from the excretions of a particular type of toad here...another idea for ingredient just in case the world does end...at least you won't care!

And, I even hate to mention this, but corn (maize) is central to everything Mayan. They still make a fermented drink from it. A bit of corn would certainly be appropriate, but I hate to think of it in a mead, maybe just work it into the label.

 

[Curtis2010]

... and I'd like to put a vial or two of my blood into it. Come on... if you're going to do an apocalypse brew... gotta go all the way!

I will have it medically drawn...

Come on! "Medically drawn". That's not "going all the way" nor is it historically accurate! If you really want to do it right then you should research Mayan bloodletting rituals. These involved piercing the tongue or penis with a stingray spine while under the influence of psychoactive drugs.

Don't be a wimp -- go all the way!