Rhodomel using rose water?

[altodiva]

Hello --

This is my first post! I seem to have been bitten by the mead-making bug. I'm planning on starting a rhodomel in the near future. I've found a few recipes for this using rose petals. Has anyone tried it using rose water instead? Rose water is a lot more readily available. And if anyone has a trusted recipe they can share using rose water, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[WIMARIPA]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has tried this. It would certainly be an easier rhodomel method.

 

[NiteBeest]

Haven't tried it, but theoretically you could always just substitute the rose water for the regular water. Might be a pain to get a hold of a large quantity of rose water (I know I've only seen small jars in the store), but could work...

 

[Brann_mac_Finnchad]

Haven't tried it, but theoretically you could always just substitute the rose water for the regular water. Might be a pain to get a hold of a large quantity of rose water (I know I've only seen small jars in the store), but could work...

Except rose water--at least the stuff I have--is STRONG. It's an alcohol based extract usually.
I say give it a try and add the rose water to taste. Maybe a couple of other flavours as well to round it out, like orange or vanilla. Almond goes with rose as well.

 

[altodiva]

Thanks for the replies. I decided to search a little more dilligently for petals, and subsequently put a batch together by making a "tea" with just water and dried rose petals (which turned out surprisingly tannic), and added a couple of cups of that tea to the mead as I racked it into secondary. I used Lalvin D-47, which I read somewhere is "ideal" for rhodomel. We'll see. I can always supplement with rose water if it needs more rose-y flavor. (And yes, rose water *is* very strong -- the kind I use for cakes and custards and tea has no alcohol, but I ony need about 1/4 teaspoon in a whole recipe)

Thanks for the vanilla suggestion, BmF... that's a yummy combo. I was also thinking rose and cardamom for a sort of Persian flair.

 

[NiteBeest]

Guess it's been a while since I've used rose water. I guess that you could always mix a very small amount with a small amount of water until it tasted right to you. Then you could scale it up to full volume. Just a thought. Perhaps one of the small bottles would be enough for an entire 5 gal batch.

 

[Brann_mac_Finnchad]

Where did you find your rose petals?
I have one source (never purchased from them, but know people that have). Didn't think about sharing it until now, lol.

mmmh, cardamom. STASH also sells a black tea with rose petals that's really good--I've been eyeing it for a liqueur for a while.

 

[altodiva]

Where did you find your rose petals?
I have one source (never purchased from them, but know people that have). Didn't think about sharing it until now, lol.

Amazon has seveal different vendors of rose petals, of wildly varying price-per-ounce. I got a whole pound so I can make sachets to tuck into drawers and closets and such (oh Lord, my house will smell like a grandmother's house...)

 

[altodiva]

Well, my rhodomel is chugging along beautifully! I used Lalvin D-47, so the mouthfeel is fantastic. Started at 1.090, down to 1.014, ABV = 10%, so it has a little way to go yet. It tasts moderately rose-y, so I might indeed add a bit of rose water at the end.

 

[BBBF]

I used rosewater and rosehip/hibiscus tea in a 1 gallon batch. I added too much rosewater and it was too perfumey for over a year. It did mellow out.

 

[BeerRunner]

There's an award-winning recipe in a backissue of Zymurgy. I'll see if I can hunt it down over the next couple of days. Yeah, I know, kind of late to the party.

 

[JKaranka]

How did these turn out?