Jivetyrant
Member
Hey all!
I'm thinking of taking my first stab at a hydromel. I'd like something that I can turn around fairly quickly (by mead standards, anyway) and I happen to have an abundance of honey at the moment.
I happened across a bucket (60lbs) of heather honey and I have some heather tips kicking around from last year sometime. I figure that with a hydromel you probably need a pretty assertively flavored honey, so heather really speaks to me. If you haven't tried it (its hard to find) imagine a honey that is a lot more viscous than you're used to. It's got a strong smokey, toffee like flavor. I also have about 60lbs of blueberry honey as an alternative.
At any rate, I was thinking of a beer strength mead from maybe 4-6%. I'd like to include some heather tips as well, and I'm thinking the best way to do so would be to make a strong tea with them and add the liquid to the must. I was planning to ferment with a fairly neutral ale yeast like US-05 or Nottingham. I would probably add 2 lbs or so of raisins to add some body, and would probably oak it for a short period of time before kegging.
I'd use a normal staggered nutrient schedule and aerate thoroughly. I'd also degas it daily for the first 2 days of primary like I do for my normal strength meads.
Am I way off base with this recipe idea? I'd love some input from anyone who has tried a low ABV mead like this. I've also never brewed anything with heather tips before, so if anyone has tips on their usage I'd appreciate it.
I'm thinking of taking my first stab at a hydromel. I'd like something that I can turn around fairly quickly (by mead standards, anyway) and I happen to have an abundance of honey at the moment.
I happened across a bucket (60lbs) of heather honey and I have some heather tips kicking around from last year sometime. I figure that with a hydromel you probably need a pretty assertively flavored honey, so heather really speaks to me. If you haven't tried it (its hard to find) imagine a honey that is a lot more viscous than you're used to. It's got a strong smokey, toffee like flavor. I also have about 60lbs of blueberry honey as an alternative.
At any rate, I was thinking of a beer strength mead from maybe 4-6%. I'd like to include some heather tips as well, and I'm thinking the best way to do so would be to make a strong tea with them and add the liquid to the must. I was planning to ferment with a fairly neutral ale yeast like US-05 or Nottingham. I would probably add 2 lbs or so of raisins to add some body, and would probably oak it for a short period of time before kegging.
I'd use a normal staggered nutrient schedule and aerate thoroughly. I'd also degas it daily for the first 2 days of primary like I do for my normal strength meads.
Am I way off base with this recipe idea? I'd love some input from anyone who has tried a low ABV mead like this. I've also never brewed anything with heather tips before, so if anyone has tips on their usage I'd appreciate it.