Mixing different honey to make a mead?

[Ibrew2]

I am going to attempt another mead soon and was wondering if anyone has experience mixing different varieties of honey and how that might work out.

My first attempt at mead did not turn out all that well. Life got busy and I neglected the airlocks on the secondaries for close to a year. I primed and bottled all 13 gallons of it, and it is not much of a pleasure to drink. I am assuming its oxidized. Not sure what to do with it, but thats a topic for another post!

Now my plans are to make a 6 gallon batch doing primary in a bucket and transferring 1 gallon to a glass jug for a saffron test batch and the balance into a 17.4 liter demijohn. I could put it into a 5 gallon carboy, but I think the demijohn will look really good with meade sitting in it! just looks too cool.

So, my quandary is this, I have 12 lbs of Sage, 3 lbs of orange blossom and 5 lbs of clover honey. The clover honey is fairly fresh, but the Sage/Orange blossom honey is about 2 years old. I am looking to make a semi dry to semi sweet mead. I plan on mixing the 3 to get my 20 lbs.

Any thoughts on best yeast in this situation. My temps this time of year are in the mid 60's. if it warms up, I can always run the A/C to keep temps reasonable.

Thanks for any ideas or comments.

 

[CKuhns]

I have had pretty good luck with Cote Des Blanc Yeast 18 pounds of honey with 5-6 gallon batches at 65 Deg F. Ends up just above dry and takes fruit in secondary well for a melomel that brings out some additional flavor and ads some residual sweetness. The extra 2 pounds of honey may do the same. Just have not gone to 20 pounds myself.

Good luck let us know how it comes along.

 

[Ibrew2]

CDB looks like something that will work for 20lbs of honey. Specs for CDB give a wide temp range and alcohol tolerance is 12-14 percent. 20 lbs honey in 6 gals must should net a SG of about 1.115-1.120, give or take a few points. And it should finish at about 1.010-1.026, depending on when the yeast poops out. All these numbers assume my math is close! For anyone with experience with sweet mead, would 1.025 FG be overly sweet?
I actually have some CDB in the frigde from when i was playing with some wine recipes several years ago, but it is at least 2 years out of date. I also have some D47 and 71B that is fresh. 10 min trip to the LHBS, so no big deal to grab the right stuff.

 

[loveofrose]

Mixing honey and yeast choice really depends on what you want in the end product. How much body do you want? Florals? Sweetness? Estery or neutral?

I've mixed honey a lot, but it was always with a result in mind. What do you want and what are the characteristics of your honey? Need to know these things before I can advise.

 

[Ibrew2]

What I am really loloking for in the mead I make is something the wife will enjoy. She tends to drink white zin and she like the lemongrass ginger beer I have made several times. Something semisweet and/or something with citrus notes/flavors would be right up her alley. You see, if she really likes it, it will be much easier to convince the executive budget committee that more expenditures in the beer, wine, cider and mead making category are justified!

So, I guess the question is: Do I run what I have or would I be better off buying more honey and sticking with a single variety? As an occasional single malt scotch drinking, I can appreciate the difference between something blended or mixed, and something from a single source. As my knowledge in this realm is limited, any thoughts about the direction I might go, would be helpful.

Concerning yeast, I can get just about any common variety quickly, as I am 10 mins from LHBS. Honey is a bit further at 45 mins away, but its a nice drive so would be worth the trip!

 

[loveofrose]

Based on what you've said, I would go with a 50:50 mix of orange blossom(for fruitiness) and clover (for body).

For yeast, you have options so pick one:
1. Wyeast 1388 for neutral profile and very fast turn around (a month). See BOMM.
2. DV10 for a nice flowery Ester profile to enhance the orange blossom honey.
3. W15 to enhance body and perceived sweetness.
4. D21 for a focused floral effect.

You can get all these at www.morewinemaking.com

Feel free to post a recipe for review if you like.

 

[Ibrew2]

1. Wyeast 1388 for neutral profile and very fast turn around (a month). See BOMM.

This one looks good, temp range looks good for my situation and the alcohol tolerance should leave my mead in the semi sweet range.

I am kinda liking the looks of a BOOM mead using Wyeast 3463. Can you recommend a recipe for a semi sweet mead using 50/50 orange blossom/clover honey? I will be making an initial batch of 6 gallons with 1 gallon to be split for a methleglin test batch. Will that mix of honey produce a tasty mead, in your opinion? Thanks for any insight you can share.



2. DV10 for a nice flowery Ester profile to enhance the orange blossom honey.

I like the idea of of accentuating the orange blossom honey, but with an alcohol tolerance of 18%, I would need to add quite a bit more honey to arrive at a semi sweet final product.

3. W15 to enhance body and perceived sweetness.

Another interesting yeast, but at 16% alcohol tolerance I would be concerned that the mead would end up too dry.


4. D21 for a focused floral effect.

Another 16% alcohol tolerant yeast.

If I were to use a yeasy with 18% tolerence, what would be the best way to controll final dryness? I do want to shoot for a semi sweet final product

 

[Ibrew2]

It time to get going on this mead making adventure, so heres what I have in mind: For a 6 gallon primary fermentation, 12 lbs orange blossom and 8 lbs of clover honey, 2 packs of CDB(Cote Des Blancs) (if I can get it locally today) rehydrated with per directions. If I cant get the CDB, I have 71B-1122, D47, EC1118, US05, S04 and Nottingham. Im thinking the 71B will give me what Im looking for. (semi sweet mead) I will be degassing/aerating at least 2 times daily and using an SNA feeding. I do not have temperature controlled fermentation, but this time of year I should be able to maintain mid to upper 60's in my fermentation area. I could always swamp cooling, but would like to keep things simple. I plan on splitting the batch for secondary. 1 gallon will be a saffron experimental batch, with the balance going into my 17.4 liter demijohn.
I am hoping for a reasonable aging time.

I am considering a 5 gallon BOMM using the 12 lbs of sage honey I have on hand using the Wyeast 3463. Will 12 lbs honey be enough to leave enough residual sweetness or perceived sweetness? Or do I need to start with a higher SG?

Also, I see a recommendation of using a stir plate to create a 1.5 liter starter. I don't have a stir plate. I do have a 1 liter flask. Any thoughts on an alternate method that will still produce what Im looking for?

Thanks for any input you have.