Flower Mead?

[Oberon67]

Hi, all.

I'm looking for an approach to make a light mead that is very floral. If I could make it smell like lilac or lavender or something along those lines, that would be just the thing. This would be a gift for my wife, who has been very patient with my brewing efforts thus far.

I had thought about using whole rose blossoms, but I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm looking for an herby flavor, lightly sweet, with a definite flowery nose.

Perhaps adding tea is the way to go? Jasmine tea has exactly the aroma I'm looking for.

Thanks,

-Oberon

 

[madscientist451]

I'd use an extract. Both rose and lavender extracts are available on Amazon. I haven't tried using them so I can't say what your flavor profile will be. I would suggest making a base mead with wildflower or orange blossom honey. You'll have to decide if you want dry or semi sweet mead. When its done, make 6 or 8 measured samples, say 2 oz., and add drops of your choice of extract. Start with 2 drops and work your way up through the samples with more drops for each one. Perhaps your wife would enjoy the sampling process since its for her. Once you decide how much extract gives you the flavor/aroma profile you want, you can do the math and decide how much to add for the whole batch. You might decide the flavor isn't all that great, but I'm skeptical that you can add aroma without adding flavor. But like I said, I've never used floral extracts so you'll have to see what happens.
Its a great idea and a worthwhile experiment, good luck!

 

[Oberon67]

Hmmm... yes. This sounds reasonable. I think also that there will be some whole-bean vanilla in the mix somewhere.

I will have to start with a good basic mead recipe and go from there.

 

[bernardsmith]

Just thinking aloud here, but what if you made say, a gallon of jasmine tea and used that tea to dilute say 2.5 - 3lbs of a light flavored honey (clover or wild flower, perhaps) and then use a yeast such as K1 or 71B or D47 and ferment at lower rather than high temperatures (to preserve the aromatics and flavors in the tea). You may still have to rack the mead after a couple of weeks onto an ounce or so of jasmine tea leaves and you may need to be prepared to back sweeten this to help bring forward the floral flavors. Your ABV will be about 12-13 % so that is a typical wine and you may need to add more honey after the fermentation has gone to dry (about .998) and you have stabilized the mead to raise the gravity to about 1.005 or 1.010 (2-4 oz of honey in each gallon of mead

 

[Oberon67]

I can see the logic in that. I'm still ruminating on how to proceed, but you have given me the outline of a workable plan. I just got some mail-order D47 today.

I wonder how long I should bottle-condition...

 

[bernardsmith]

Mead ain't beer. You need to age the mead in a carboy with no headroom for 6 months - a year. Racking perhaps every 60 - 90 days a) to remove sediment and b) to help the mead degas. There may be no need to condition.... do you drink wine sparkling or still? But if you are looking for a sparkling mead then you may need to have it fermented brut dry and that may not work with the flavor you are looking for...

 

[gratus fermentatio]

You could certainly infuse your mead with lavender, lilac, even violets if you like. I'm not a fan of those, they taste like soap to me; but there are many people who do like those flavors. I like the idea of using the jasmine tea, but I like the idea of using a floral honey better. As mentioned, orange blossom is quite floral, tastes just like orange blossoms smell. Another very floral honey is acacia. This is my favorite honey. Very floral, delicate flavor. It's expensive, but IMHO, worth it. I use St. Dalfour.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XKLEQI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Regards, GF.

 

[madscientist451]

The floral flavors/aromas in something like Jasmine tea are very delicate and I'm guessing they would be lost through the fermentation process. Adding the jasmine tea after fermentation may be a better way to get those flavors/aromas. I've heard raspberry blossom honey makes a very nice mead by itself, but I've never tried it.
Next spring/summer, check with your local beekeepers and let them know what you are interested in, they can probably recommend something.

 

[bernardsmith]

The floral flavors/aromas in something like Jasmine tea are very delicate and I'm guessing they would be lost through the fermentation process. Adding the jasmine tea after fermentation may be a better way to get those flavors/aromas. I've heard raspberry blossom honey makes a very nice mead by itself, but I've never tried it.
Next spring/summer, check with your local beekeepers and let them know what you are interested in, they can probably recommend something.

The loss of flavors through an active fermentation is also my concern - hence my suggestion to use a yeast and a temperature that would result in a more gentle fermentation. But how would you be able to add a tea to the secondary without diluting the honey profiles? If you could make or find some kind of essence of the flavor and add that to the secondary that might work

 

[Jericurl]

http://www.olivenation.com/Extracts-Culinary-C55.aspx

I've used their lavender and rose extracts in wine and in jam. They are very, very strong and hold up well.
Whatever you decide to use, I would only add it in secondary and in very, very small increments until you get the flavor you like.

You could also do a search for tea/herb suppliers and see if you can find dried jasmine blossoms to add to secondary as well.

 

[WVMJ]

Elderflower mead. You can buy the flowers at winemaking stores, add in primary and secondary if that wasnt enough, very fragrant, you can add vanilla to it and it would mate with it well. WVMJ

 

[ThatChefGuy]

I currently have a gallon each of lavender and heather mead brewing away, smells quite floral and seems to be working well so far. About a week old mind, almost 1cm of sediment at the bottom of each

 

[Oberon67]

I currently have a gallon each of lavender and heather mead brewing away, smells quite floral and seems to be working well so far. About a week old mind, almost 1cm of sediment at the bottom of each

I would love to hear how those turn out.

 

[nickwoo]

what would be better to add to a sweet mead, rose petals or rose hips?

 

[bernardsmith]

I currently have a gallon each of lavender and heather mead brewing away, smells quite floral and seems to be working well so far. About a week old mind, almost 1cm of sediment at the bottom of each

How many oz or g of heather did you use for your heather mead?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

what would be better to add to a sweet mead, rose petals or rose hips?

Rose petals will add the flavor & aroma of the flowers, rose hips will add a bit of tart/fruitiness.
Regards, GF.

 

[ThatChefGuy]

How many oz or g of heather did you use for your heather mead?

About half a cup (125 ml) should do the trick. My first time brewing anything so I will probably have a few twists to suggest in a few months

 

[bernardsmith]

Deleted - don't want to hijack this thread

 

[Oberon67]

I tell you what... if you want to discuss brewing any kind of flower mead in this thread, have at it. I'm all ears. Or, er, eyes.

 

[ThatChefGuy]

You could of course mix a few bits, say a third each of lavender, heather and rose petal perhaps? Or violets? A delicate blend sounds interesting

 

[bernardsmith]

You could of course mix a few bits, say a third each of lavender, heather and rose petal perhaps? Or violets? A delicate blend sounds interesting

There is blending and there is dumping... The flavors produced by these three flowers may not result in a wonderful flavor. Rather than waste three meads you might make a tea from each and bench test how well they blend together.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Had experience suing whole raw flowers/ingreditents that have been dried, no infections etc. Lavender/chamomile and rose are some of my favorites, but you have to taste it often to see where it's at and if the "level" is what you want it to be. I find teas destroy the delicate aromas of said flowers.

 

[WyldWillie]

I added herbal tea immediately after killing the boil to a batch of IPA before with great success.

We picked a very aromatic flowery herbal tea, it had lots of dried orange peal and other dried flowers. It didn't add so much flavor per se, but it really came through on the nose...which in turn impressed itself on the taste buds.

It was subtle but present nonetheless.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Have you had a look at dandelion mead? Its on my to-brew list.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/dandelion-wine-21095/
Just substitute the sugar in the above links recipe with honey.

 

[nickwoo]

I got some dried rosehips in the mail today, I want to add them to a 1 gallon mead. I was thinking 1 OZ would be a good starting point but I would like your opinions. It is being added to what is supposed to be a sweet mead with lalvin d-47 and at a gravity of 1.010.

 

[Oberon67]

I got some dried rosehips in the mail today, I want to add them to a 1 gallon mead. I was thinking 1 OZ would be a good starting point but I would like your opinions. It is being added to what is supposed to be a sweet mead with lalvin d-47 and at a gravity of 1.010.

Watch your pH... rosehips are very acidic.

 

[macachoin]

It has been a while since I made any cause last I did not harvest enough flowers but Nasturtium flowers make a fantastic mead. Try to get an ounce per gallon and you will get a floral peppery flavor that goes great with a wildflower or cotton honey.

 

[WVMJ]

We grow Nasturtium every year and eat the flowers, even more blow your sinuses out is to wait and eat the seed pod after the flower falls off but before the seeds get hard, BOOM. Very brave of you to make meads from these. I might suggest you drop a little bit of ginger root in with it also to round out the flavors. WVMJ

It has been a while since I made any cause last I did not harvest enough flowers but Nasturtium flowers make a fantastic mead. Try to get an ounce per gallon and you will get a floral peppery flavor that goes great with a wildflower or cotton honey.

 

[ThatChefGuy]

The flavours of the heather and the lavender are very powerful, I hope to sweeten them and age them both out. They are my first ever meads and need a few more months in secondary, they have potential. Worst case scenario I will make a quick mead to dilute the pair down, perhaps maybe even implement my batch of JAOM once completed. Hmmm, an orange floral mead.....

 

[Aweston]

Just bottled a gallon of meadowsweet (wild spirea grows in VT) mead. Made a floral infusion, steeped several days, strained and added local honey and crushed coriander for carboy ferment with wine yeast. Two and half months later bottled it up. Delicious. Strong alcohol.