Joe's Quick Grape Mead

[HopHeaven]

Just put a bottle in the fridge I bottled on 12/8/12. Here's to hoping it tastes great!

 

[dhammers91]

So I am planning on mixing this up in a couple days. I have been reading through the thread and no one seems to have the same question as me, so I must be an idiot, but I am really confused by this part of the recipe...

Balance water if you need it to make 1 gallon after adding honey mixed in water (don't use too much water in honey mix or you'll end up with more than you bargained for.

Am I supposed to mix the honey with a certain amount of water before mixing with the juice? Why can't I just add it to the juice and shake? If I'm supposed to use water, how much is too much? I DONT want more than I'm bargaining for!!!

TIA!

 

[bob1852]

Well, ~12 lbs of honey is ~1g in volume. So 2lbs honey and 1/2g juice will equal roughly 2/3rd of a gallon. So you'll need less than 1/3g of water.

Keep in mind you want a gift of head space in the primary. It won't form huge krausen like beer, but it will foam a bit as the grape juice is very nutritious.

Mixing the honey with the juice and then topping off with water is what I do.


I just made a 3g batch of this but used the white grape and cherry juice instead. After primary, racked to a 3/4 liter of black cherry juice. Looking forward to it.

Need to crack open a bottle of '11 vintage as well.

 

[dhammers91]

Well, ~12 lbs of honey is ~1g in volume. So 2lbs honey and 1/2g juice will equal roughly 2/3rd of a gallon. So you'll need less than 1/3g of water. Keep in mind you want a gift of head space in the primary. It won't form huge krausen like beer, but it will foam a bit as the grape juice is very nutritious. Mixing the honey with the juice and then topping off with water is what I do. I just made a 3g batch of this but used the white grape and cherry juice instead. After primary, racked to a 3/4 liter of black cherry juice. Looking forward to it. Need to crack open a bottle of '11 vintage as well.

So in other words, yes I'm an idiot! Lol for some reason I had in my mind that 64 oz was a gallon. Obviously it's half a gallon... Dunno where my mind goes some times... Thanks for clarifying the obvious for me! Haha

 

[HopHeaven]

Wow. After about a year in the bottle this stuff mellows out nicely. No more clawing sweetness and overly welches flavor. And man is it pretty strong. I thought I was going to dump this. Will be making another gallon once things quiet down from the holidays.

 

[bob1852]

Wow. After about a year in the bottle this stuff mellows out nicely. No more clawing sweetness and overly welches flavor. And man is it pretty strong. I thought I was going to dump this. Will be making another gallon once things quiet down from the holidays.

Use orange blossom honey and just a very tiny pinch of tannin (~1/16th tsp). It'll be even better!

 

[dhammers91]

I have a 1 gallon batch of this fermenting right now... Probably been going for close to a week and a half. I am just wondering about back sweetening... I'm assuming the 6 oz of juice is measured by volume, but what about the 6 oz of honey? Volume or weight?

 

[johngottshall]

When I made this I measured the honey by weight. And it turned out great

 

[dhammers91]

When I made this I measured the honey by weight. And it turned out great

Ok cool... I can't wait... I'm not a total wine person so hopefully this will taste good! Did you mix the sorbate and campdem with the honey and juice mixture before racking on top of it? It scares me adding more fermentables and the preventatives at the same time...

 

[RegarRenill]

The default weight of honey is 12 oz per cup, just as an FYI

 

[dhammers91]

Good to know, thanks for the info... Looks like I'll be adding half a cup then!

 

[mindiB]

I started a 3 gallon batch of this on 1/14\14 its been five days I wanted to take a gravity reading and ggive it a taste but im chicken anyway im new to this it had a viggerous first 3 day ferment and now it iis like head on a beer I used black cherry grape juice and was wondering if anybody else has too and if it came out good .... thanks

 

[mindiB]

Well I got brave and took a gravity rading after 7 days its almost to 1.000 took a taste and to my surprise it wasn't half bad smelt like crap but was sweet and boozy can't wait to check again in 7 days back sweeten

 

[bboykin87]

I just made a 1 gallon batch of this today and I can't wait for it to be done. This is my first mead so I hope it turns out good. From what I've read throughout the thread I think it will be great. My OG is 1.099 and I used the EC-1118 called for in the recipe, so I'll probably check on it in a couple weeks.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[davemo]

So i have a 5 gallon batch of this i have had in secondary for 11 days now with sparkolloid,sorbate and k meta added.However i was going to add the honey and extra grape juice when i got it in my bottling bucket(just before bottling).Can i still do this or not ???? I realized the original instructions said add honey and juice to secondary

 

[jak1010]

You'll be OK adding it now. The additional honey and juice are to back sweeten. If you already have the sorbate and k meta, you're ready to add the additional honey and juice.

 

[rideincircles]

Has anyone carbonated this recipe yet? That sounds like an interesting idea. My homebrew store regularly makes wine batches and carbonates them and they come out really good.

Aside from that, my bottles of this are getting close to 2 years old and I think they are awesome. I still have yet to bottle my batches of white cherry grape juice, but they are ready to bottle whenever I feel like doing it. No clue how that will be yet.

 

[Doed]

So I made this on Monday and was wondering if the separation between the honey and the grape juice will disappear as it ferments?

 

[jak1010]

So I made this on Monday and was wondering if the separation between the honey and the grape juice will disappear as it ferments?

Yup, the mixing/shaking is to get oxygen into it. Try as hard as you can, it will usually (90% of the time) separate. The yeast will chew through it with no trouble at all. Post a few before and after pics.

 

[Doed]

Here is what it looks like now.

 

[jak1010]

As the yeast eat through the honey and sugars in the grape juice, the dividing line in the separation will go away. It's actually a fascinating thing for me to watch. I'd say, so lonng as your tenps are good, sit back and watch the amazing things happen.

 

[Doed]

This is my first mead. What is the optimal fermenting temp? Right now this is at 68

 

[jak1010]

If you're following the recipe and using ec-1118, anything between 50 and 86. I tend to stay in the mid 70s.

 

[Doed]

Here is the mead 1 week later. Honey line is gone.

 

[2drunk2]

I made 2 gallons, and bottled one gallon dry. It's darn tasty.

 

[Doed]

I racked mine to secondary on November 5th and added a small amount of distilled water to bring the level up closer to the neck and shrink the headspace. The mead is super clear. I can see my hand through the mead. I am waiting until Christmas to open this up and try it.

 

[2drunk2]

I made 2 gallons, and bottled one gallon dry. It's darn tasty.

I back sweetened the other gallon, and it is also delicious. This is a great simple recipe. It is like a wine. It's simple. Is it mind blowing? No. Could I serve it with my Christmas dinner with pride? Yes.

 

[rideincircles]

I made this recipe with cherry white grape juice and it seemed to be pretty bitter from something. I think the cherry white grape version may need more honey for backsweetening. I had a 2 year old bottle of the regular grape pyment and it is still good, but i think it may paek around a year or so. Would need to compare and need to make some soon again. Still need to make another batch of this, but have so many bottles of mead and beer lying around that I will be good for a while.

 

[Rowdy50]

Just started two single-gallon batches of this on Sunday. Both used wildflower honey, one is being eaten by Montrachet, and the other EC-1118. Both are fermenting vigorously, but while the EC-1118 foamed up a lot, the Montrachet did not foam at all. Eager to see if there is any difference in the finished product.

 

[MountainRyan]

So I tried browsing this entire post for the answer to this. The recipe calls for back sweetening with 6 oz of honey and 6oz juice. Stupid question but I'm used to brewing where oz is weight. Is this fluid oz or oz by weight? Thanks!

 

[BrewerBear]

When I made it I did it by fluid oz.

 

[Doed]

@MountainRyan - I used 6 fluid oz of juice and 6 weighed oz of honey and it came out perfectly fine for my palette.

 

[rideincircles]

Has anyone carbonated this? I was about to start on a 5 gallon batch to bring to Burning Man in 6 months and was thinking of that route.

My LHBS regularly makes wine kits and carbonates them and it comes out good. It will be brought there in a keg either way.

 

[Rowdy50]

Just started two single-gallon batches of this on Sunday. Both used wildflower honey, one is being eaten by Montrachet, and the other EC-1118. Both are fermenting vigorously, but while the EC-1118 foamed up a lot, the Montrachet did not foam at all. Eager to see if there is any difference in the finished product.

Just bottled this yesterday. Both gallons were stabilized and sweetened with 4oz honey and 6oz juice. They turned out really good, although the montrachet never really cleared like the EC1118. Both were 1.000 before sweetening. I'd say the EC1118 is better, but only marginally so. It will be interesting to see if these are any better after a few months. Assuming any is left by then.

 

[hiveman]

I am planning to try this recipe this week. This will he my first time brewing anything. I am going to make 2 one gallon batches in glass carboys. Can I use my 7.8 gallon primary bucket then after the 14-21 days transfer it to the 2 one gallon carboys. Thanks

 

[rideincircles]

The batch I made for Burning Man came out great. I used welch's Unfiltered Grape Juice which took a couple months to clear, then backsweetened it with more honey and grape juice which finished around 1.030 with a lot of Welch's flavor still. From there I carbonated and turned it into Grape Soda for grown-ups.

It was really popular at burning Man, and I would just roll out on my beer cart and post up on a street somewhere and make people stop and try some. I still have about 2 gallons left at the house, and it will be my go to for people who are not beer drinkers. Will probably keep it on tap permanently, but may change it up a tad. I think I liked the regular grape juice over the unfiltered, but I may have just backsweetened this batch too much. It works though, its like grape soda that is 12-15% alcohol or somewhere around there. Never took an OG since the honey just fell to the bottom.

In regards to the question above, you can do that, but its a huge amount of headspace, just make sure to get it out of there once primary fermentation is done. This recipe can sit and age for a while if you want it to, but not with that much head space.

 

[MountainRyan]

I have made this recipe a bunch of different ways. All with D47 which is my go to. I like semi sweet but the wife loves the recipe as is. One of the biggest hits was using tart cherry juice instead of grape. I have also done a cyser this way. It's doesn't call for it but i always add energizer and nutrient per package. I find this recipe can get too sweet as it sweetens up a ton just sitting. Try a batch without back sweetening and I don't think you will be sorry.
Primary: local nh honey sweet show mead, peach mead with 10lbs hand picked peaches
Kegged: joes quick "cyser"
Ipa
ESB
Weissen
Bottled: dry show mead
Razmeaden
Joes quick pyment

 

[hezagenius]

I've made a few 1 gallon batches of this stuff and I love it. I'm planning to increase the batch size and maybe keg it as well to add a little carb. If I step up the recipe to 3 gallons, should I step up the amount of yeast as well? Or just keep it at 1 packet?

 

[BrewerBear]

One packet should do fine.

 

[hezagenius]

What about the Campden and sorbate. Leave those as is or scale up the amount?