Juniper berry mead

[vahallasbrew2]

I'm seeking a recipe for a fläder Berry mead if Anyone has one or of you could throw me some tips on making a good mead that would be awesome

 

[Arpolis]

Just a quick question from the un-educated Oklahoman. Does fläder mean Elder? So are we talking Elder Berry or Juniper Berry?

If talking Juniper berry I know a little about it and have some info from a friend. Juniper berry is a common flavor for Gin so why not try out a gin recipe altered a bit for mead? My friend has a recipe for Gin and from that I used a little conjecture to figure up a possible recipe.

Lemon Basil (Gin/Mead) Metheglin

5 Gallon Batch

Primary:
15lb Honey
Yeast Lalvin 71B-1122
3.5lb of Juniper Berries
.5lb of coriander
4 ½ tsp. Bitter orange peel
4 ½ tsp. dried licorice root
4 ½ tsp. star anise
2 ¼ tsp. of Cardamom
4 ½ tsp. of ground Cinnamon
2 ¼ tsp. Zest of sweet orange
4 ½ tsp. Zest of lemon
2 ¼ tsp. Zest of lime
5 whole Cloves
1 “pinch” of Rosemary leaves

Secondary once fermentation slows to a crawl:
10 juiced Lemons
1 cup sweet Basil

Once clear and all fermentation stops
Stabilize with Campden and Potassium Sorbate and back sweeten to a gravity of 1.02.

It seems that Gin is a complex drink with a lot of preparation and such so this may be a flop for mead but the above is a start to look at.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Flader is Swedish for juniper I like how it sounds, hmm alter a gin for mead it's totally do able thanks alot

 

[biochemedic]

It's a little unclear from your post...have you actually made this? If so, perhaps you can answer the other questions I have, but even if it's just a theoretical recipe, it seems very interesting...I've thought of doing something like this previously; ie, a metheglin using the same spices you would find in gin...

3.5lb of Juniper Berries
.5lb of coriander
4 ½ tsp. Bitter orange peel
4 ½ tsp. dried licorice root
4 ½ tsp. star anise
2 ¼ tsp. of Cardamom
4 ½ tsp. of ground Cinnamon
2 ¼ tsp. Zest of sweet orange
4 ½ tsp. Zest of lemon
2 ¼ tsp. Zest of lime
5 whole Cloves
1 “pinch” of Rosemary leaves

So all this stuff goes right in primary?

Secondary once fermentation slows to a crawl:
10 juiced Lemons
1 cup sweet Basil

Does it really need this much acidity? Seems like a lot of lemon juice...
Any reason why the sweet basil goes in later than the other spices?

Once clear and all fermentation stops
Stabilize with Campden and Potassium Sorbate and back sweeten to a gravity of 1.02.

Obviously the amount of backsweetening can be to taste, but did you find (assuming you made this) that you really needed that much residual sweetness to balance things out?

 

[Arpolis]

No I have not made this befor. Here is my reasoning on the plan I made. The primary ingreadiants are the common variety found in Gin. Those are usually infused at a second distilling proccess (which is not advised for home brewing to it being illegal tendencies.). So to translate to mead making I would consider that the primary fermentation. Once Gin is made there are several ways to prepare and drink the Gin. One of my favorite ways is lemon basil Gin. That drink also includes simple syrup to make it sweet. So the secondary fermentation & back sweetening represents the ingredients for preparing the Gin rather than making the Gin itself. I may be over thinking this but it sounded good when I typed it up.

 

[Morn82]

You are wrong. Juniper is enbär in Swedish

elder is fläder

 

[Michel]

Thats right. Elder-fläder and juniper-en. The elderberries give the same kind of flavour as elderflowers and i would guess they would do great in a summery fresh mead.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Dang it I put the wrong berry up I meant to put elder berry that's why I was thinking fläder ,juniper berry didn't seem right my bad I meant a recipe for elder berries mead

 

[Arpolis]

Dang it I put the wrong berry up I meant to put elder berry that's why I was thinking fläder ,juniper berry didn't seem right my bad I meant a recipe for elder berries mead

Thanks vahalla now all that typing is worthless! :cross: lol.

 

[Insomniac]

I just bottled an eldar berry mead, think it's going to be tasty with some aging

I took one great load of berrys as provided by a friend, no idea how much. Frozen them.
Then thawed them in the sink and pressed them using a fruit press to extract juice (the stalks are poisonous, and removing them too much effort for me to handle). I then boiled the juice to break down any toxins and added along with normal mead ingredients, it was probably a 1/4 of the liquid added.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Where did your buddy get those elder berries? I'm sire you can get them in the US but I highly doubt at walmart, aren't elder berries come in the Europe area mostly around Sweden and Finland and places

 

[biochemedic]

No I have not made this befor. Here is my reasoning on the plan I made. The primary ingreadiants are the common variety found in Gin. Those are usually infused at a second distilling proccess (which is not advised for home brewing to it being illegal tendencies.). So to translate to mead making I would consider that the primary fermentation. Once Gin is made there are several ways to prepare and drink the Gin. One of my favorite ways is lemon basil Gin. That drink also includes simple syrup to make it sweet. So the secondary fermentation & back sweetening represents the ingredients for preparing the Gin rather than making the Gin itself. I may be over thinking this but it sounded good when I typed it up.

Thanks, that makes more sense now...I think I'm going to keep a metheglin something like this on my short list...

 

[Morn82]

A friend of mine is going to join me on my next mead project. She has elder flowers we will use.

Here in Sweden the flowers of elder is used for lemonade and mead.

Ps I'm Swedish

 

[Insomniac]

He picked them from a tree near his work, the advantage of being in england I guess! The berries do taste very different from the flowers, though an eldarflower mead would also be nice I would have thought.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Lucky I wonder if I could grow a elder berry tree

 

[odinsgift]

Where do you live? Hyldebær seem to tolerate most climate as long as they keep wet feet. I am currently living in California, and mine grow just as well as in Danmark.

 

[Atek]

I live in Idaho and we have a ton of elderberries in the forests.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

I live in Arkansas its got it's dry season but it rains a lot to if I were to water the he'll out of it durning a dry time would it be ok?

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I dont know why but your PS made me laugh out loud. Elderberry lemonade sounds lovely.

A friend of mine is going to join me on my next mead project. She has elder flowers we will use.

Here in Sweden the flowers of elder is used for lemonade and mead.

Ps I'm Swedish

 

[odinsgift]

Chill hours determine the flavor. Once you get them established I would look into ice catchers.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

I've heard of lemonade made from elder berry flowers is good? What's it taste like?

 

[odinsgift]

Just like they smell. Hyldeblomster Mjød is great. It depends on the sugar used.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Jag förstår dig ganska! Did I day that right? Il trying to learn swedish , Anyways I'm interested in getting a elder berry tree now

 

[odinsgift]

You would probably have to say it with a mouthful of porridge for me to understand you clearly.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Awh Iam I really that bad? :?

 

[odinsgift]

No, it was a joke. I am Danish, and it's a common insult to Danes from Swedes.

 

[vahallasbrew2]

Oohh ok I am unaware of that for I am American haha

 

[odinsgift]

Just tasted my hyldeblomster weissen, and it tastes like lemonade I had in Sweden.

 

[inordeck]

Thanks vahalla now all that typing is worthless! :cross: lol.

Not worthless at all. This gin mead is going on the top of my list for next brews!

 

[Arpolis]

Not worthless at all. This gin mead is going on the top of my list for next brews!

Thanks man. When I typed it up I thought it sounded great but I have about 3 other recipes in front of this one to try.

 

[Lijowa]

I live in Idaho and we have a ton of elderberries in the forests.

You may want to remember american elderberry and european elderberry are not the same amount of edible.