Milk-Mead (a spin on koumiss) instruction, recipe & info

[Jnco_hippie]

Great to hear someone else is gonna give this "odd one" a shot. I assure you when it turns out right, it's a lovely mead, with some very new flavors. As i have said several times in this thread, i love that this one can be enjoyed so soon after it has been finished.

I do hope that the montrachet yeast does not cause any issues. I had a friend use it in a cherry mead he made about 16 months ago. it fermented with a profuse ammount of sulfur smell. even at bottling it was an overpowering rotten egg smell.

I use champagne yeast in mine.

Keep us posted!

thanks!

 

[HopHeaven]

Yeah the mon. Yeast can do that when its stressed or doesn't have all the right nutrients so I added some yeast energizer as well as nutrient and will probably do a 2nd nutrient addition on the 3rd day.



This is what it's looking like after 24 hours after some agitation. I put the foil on for the first 24 hours but the curds didnt come up. Smells like honey right now with a hint of alcohol and milk. Airlock is bubbling away. My roommates are a bit grossed out but I told them to be patient. In order to stop any roommate squabbles, I have since moved this into a closet haha

 

[LBussy]

I have my lactase and need to get the rennet (plan to drop the curd out before fermenting). I'll get to it Real Soon Now™.

 

[HopHeaven]

I have my lactase and need to get the rennet (plan to drop the curd out before fermenting). I'll get to it Real Soon Now™.

I think I may try that next time, I have like 20 tablets sitting around for cheese making

 

[HopHeaven]

I really wish I could post a video of this fermentation into this thread. It's like volcanic eruptions of curds!

 

[HopHeaven]

After a couple days, fermentation has slowed down quite a bit. However, my curds seem to be acting different than OP. all my curds are sitting at the bottom. Not sure what could have caused this difference. Will be racking into secondary by the end of the weekend to let clear.

 

[HopHeaven]

After 5 days this is what we have. Unlike OP, all of my curds minus a few are at the bottom. The color is highlighter yellow, smells very strong and green but slightly sweet. I'll be racking it tonight off the curds

Edit: forgot the picture

 

[LBussy]

That looks great.

I'm hoping that pre-curdling the ... must? ... will be benefficial in some way. At least it will definitely allow me to more accurately judge the sugars.

You say you make cheese ... any feel for how that curd went, how it's firmed up ... yadda yadda?

 

[saramc]

The dropping/not dropping of the curds will not have an impact on the milk mead.
Ok, so will using rennet to drop the curd out before hand impact this? Clueless. But I love explanations.

This gave me an idea, someone in cider section posted about an apple custard cider, or something like that. I am imagining adding fresh pressed cider/juice when the wine is clear, perhaps some vanilla bean and cinnamon.

 

[nitack]

We're going to need a new forum for mead-curd cheese making recipes...

 

[HopHeaven]

You say you make cheese ... any feel for how that curd went, how it's firmed up ... yadda yadda?

I think it went well. It was pretty easy to get out of the jug, the yeast cake was pretty compact so the curds pretty much poured out. As for firmness, I would say it has the firmness and texture of a ricotta that you havent let drain long enough. It tasted like the mead so it was a bit young tasting but it had a nice creamy cheese taste at the very end. I have the curds sitting in my fridge right now, hoping to think of something good to do with them soon


On a racking note, with the curds and the yeast cake, obviously I have lost some volume as you can tell by the picture. Im a little nervous with all this head space as I wont be able to bottle this for two weeks. Hoping any off gassing replaces some of that O2 with C02. Next time, I think I'd rack into one half gallon growler and fill it all the way up.

Cant wait for this to be done! It looks crazy :fro::rockin:

 

[HopHeaven]

Wow. After 3 days in the secondary it's clearing up really nicely.



Don't mind the two pieces of curd that snuck in

 

[Leadgolem]

I'm not sure if this was brilliant or insane. I'll have to do a little more research into the chemistry involved, but I'll probably give something like this a try with the leftover whey the next time I make cheese.

 

[Jnco_hippie]

I still cant get over how this stuff clears. It starts out looking like rotten milk, then ends up like any other mead in 30 days.

Im saving my last bottle for the wedding august 31st.

We now have a red currant mead 2 weeks in primary. Hoping it will be ready for the wedding also.

Let us know about your taste test on the koumiss mead. I know you stole a sample during transfer

 

[bigbeergeek]

Standing by for tasting notes and some photos of the final product.

 

[LBussy]

Milk, chocolate milk, STRAWBERRY milk ... the possibilities are endless.

Trying this one probably this coming weekend.

As a *** I'd like to try my hand at making mozzarella too - which should be complimentary, but I think one new thing at a time is probably enough.

 

[LBussy]

HopHeaven, what yeast did you end up using? I thought from your comments the Montrachet but not sure.

 

[HopHeaven]

HopHeaven, what yeast did you end up using? I thought from your comments the Montrachet but not sure.

Yup that's correct. I followed the recipe exactly except for using Montrachet yeast, energizer at pitching and a second helping of nutrient at day 2.

Can't believe that I pitched this 9 days ago and it's so clear. I'll be away for 9 days so I will be waiting to bottle but will post finished pictures and taste notes then. I'm so interested in how this tastes and I love the idea of adding chocolate or strawberry.

 

[HopHeaven]

As a *** I'd like to try my hand at making mozzarella too - which should be complimentary, but I think one new thing at a time is probably enough.

Go for it! It's not that difficult and it's so rewarding. Just make sure you have good milk as fresh as possible

 

[Spinrathen]

Think I'll try this one this weekend. Would love to hear any curd recipe success stories!

 

[nitack]

Think I'll try this one this weekend. Would love to hear any curd recipe success stories!

Yeah, I'm considering trying this one for the curd alone. The milk-mead is an added bonus. Definitely nice that it has such a quick turn around time too, although I suspect that has more to do with the lower ABV than anything with the ingredients.

 

[saramc]

Think I'll try this one this weekend. Would love to hear any curd recipe success stories!

Put curd in a yogurt strainer to thicken it up. Have turned the curd into a creamy fruity dip...added drained crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, some marshmallow cream, vanilla, thinned with reserved pineapple juice. Served with graham crackers, fruit, gingersnaps. A chocolate curd was incorporated into a chocolate orange tiramisu I threw together, used half the amount marscapone. I had the chocolate curd from combining whole/2% milk, high quality chocolate(melted, stirred into milk) with vodka and oranges--makes a similar curd when compared the plain version to milk liqueur. You could easily add chocolate to the curd from milk mead.

 

[HopHeaven]

Yeah, I'm considering trying this one for the curd alone. The milk-mead is an added bonus. Definitely nice that it has such a quick turn around time too, although I suspect that has more to do with the lower ABV than anything with the ingredients.

I dunno how low the abv is really...1.5 lbs of honey alone has a decent amount of sugar to convert to alcohol. Then there's the milk...

 

[gayleygoo]

could the curds be used to make cheesecake? I'm thinking with strawberries or raspberries...

 

[nitack]

I dunno how low the abv is really...1.5 lbs of honey alone has a decent amount of sugar to convert to alcohol. Then there's the milk...

Gotmead calculator has the potential ABV of 8.5% if it is bone dry. The OP described this as a semi-sweet. So we're looking at maybe 7-8% ABV. I call that low, but I been pushing all mine into the high teens.

 

[HopHeaven]

Gotmead calculator has the potential ABV of 8.5% if it is bone dry. The OP described this as a semi-sweet. So we're looking at maybe 7-8% ABV. I call that low, but I been pushing all mine into the high teens.

Ahh gotcha. Well thanks for the info!

 

[saramc]

could the curds be used to make cheesecake? I'm thinking with strawberries or raspberries...

I see no reason why not, just strain them so they are even more dense. A few layers of damp cheesecloth, suspended over a bowl overnight in refrig will do the trick. I use fermented milk curd pretty frequently (strained milk kefir) to make cheesecake.

 

[nitack]

could the curds be used to make cheesecake? I'm thinking with strawberries or raspberries...

I'm sure they could, but would you bake it and let all that alcohol just evaporate out? I'm thinking of whipping it and making a parfait. Strawberries, blueberries and some nilla waifers.

 

[Leadgolem]

Would anyone care to post some tasting notes on the curd?

 

[gayleygoo]

I'm sure they could, but would you bake it and let all that alcohol just evaporate out? I'm thinking of whipping it and making a parfait. Strawberries, blueberries and some nilla waifers.

I've never made a baked cheesecake before, only the kind that you add whipped cream or gelatin to to make it firm.

Not sure mine is working... it's bubbly at the top but the curd isn't distinguishable yet (day 3). I wonder if it's to do with one of the cartons being a UHT milk? I'm just thinking now that it may not separate at all.