Rhodomel

[user 54565]

So I was sitting here, thinking "how I am going to get this rose syrup out of my fridge?" So, logically, I go to a mead. This rose syrup is literally 90% sugar (54 grams of sugar per 60 gram serving) - so it is just enough water to dissolve the sugar in to. It has no preservatives in it, so that isn't a concern, either.

All of the recipe's I've found for a rhodomel are actually just involving rose water - not a rose syrup like I have. Rather difficult to make a valid comparison, honestly.

Does anybody have any experience with this, or something similar? Lavender, maybe? How did it turn out? I know it can start to taste ... soapy ... if it gets too strong, so therein lies the next question - how much is too much? I guess there are two ways to do it in a one gallon test batch:

1. Add it before the ferment and guess
2. Add it after the ferment to taste/as a back-sweet agent. Wait for a month to see if ferment restarts, then bottle.

I think #2 is by far the better answer. But has anybody tried something similar? What were the results?

 

[user 54565]

Well, if nothing else I have a severe lack of patience. I decided to go ahead and treat the rose syrup like maple syrup - and instead of an acerglyn, I will have a rhomodel. Hopefully a tasty rhomodel.

Chased down some of the recommendations on acerglyn around the board and made some assumptions. Primarily that the rose syrup I had is actually sweeter with more fermentables than a maple syrup. So I stuck with:

A little less than 2.5 pounds of local orange blossom honey
2 cups (16 ounces) of rose syrup
Water to 1 gallon
Will do SNA
K1-V1116 (it's what I had laying around)

The OG comes out to ~1.145, decidedly in the sweet range. By the honey calculator from the sticky, it shows that the % alcohol of this mead should go to 19% if fermented dry. The K1 (18% estimated tolerance), however, should be right in the range of *almost* dry on this one, so hopefully it won't be too cloying. I will have to play it by ear, though, and modify it a bit if it ends up overly sweet.

This is what 1 gallon experiments are all about, right?

 

[user 54565]

I'm going to continue the pattern of talking to myself in this thread.

I babied this gallon test batch - degassing it 2-3 times a day the first 3-4 days, following SNA exactly, the whole shebang. I did add, as a last minute addition, a handful of raisins and some lemon/orange rind. I had them laying around, so I figured why not.

Now then, this bad boy cleared super fast. I'm amazed at how rapidly everything has dropped out. 5/6 from start to 5/18 when I wanted to rack it off the raisins to 5/23 and it is already clear, just ready to age. It ended up being a very pretty pinkish-red color. Not a deep ruby red like a prickly pear mead would end up, and also not the pepto bismol pink I saw recently in a lilac based wine thread. If I can manage to get a picture, I will try to do so. OG shows as dry, as well. I am going to let it age, and see if the rose flavor comes through strong enough, or if I need to add some of the rose syrup back in for back sweetening. For now, though, I think this is done.

 

[MeThirsty]

Hey man, interested to see how this turns out!! I wish I had some reference, advice, or even a " this one time" story to share. I have yet to venture into the mead!

Good luck man, looking forward to any pictures you post.

 

[user 54565]

Thanks, MeThirsty. I'm not really upset about talking to myself - this is a rather strange brew.

I racked it off the lees and was surprised not only at how fast it cleared, but also at how good it tastes. It has a noticeable floral flavor to it, bordering on knock you over the head floral, but not medicinal. It is a bit hot, and the honey is not present, but some good aging will bring the honey notes to the fore front. I think, honestly, that this is a phenomenal brew - and likely to be one that I will repeat on a 5 gallon batch level. It could, very possibly be, one of the best meads I've made. I think this beats out my prickly pear mead by a fair stretch.

The only difference is that I might cut it back to 1.5 cups per gallon of rose syrup, and maybe (just maybe) up the honey a bit more. Maybe another test batch is in order ... :cross:

I will post about this again in a few months when this bad boy ages out.

 

[GTG]

Where did you get the rose syrup if I may ask?

GTG

 

[user 54565]

Seeing as how you are local, it will make more sense when I say: Lee Lee. Lee Lee's is a local Asian megamart, which has aisles dedicated to different countries. It's a culture shock for me, and it's been 2 years since I got it, so I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know which section I got it from. It may have been the "Indian" section, but the company is actually Lebanese. It is al wadi (al akhdar) brand. Google brings up a few places to buy it online, too.

 

[remilard]

If you want to add more rose without more sugar, get rose water. It is probably in the Indian section of Lee Lee's or in any Indian grocery.

 

[user 54565]

Yeah, it was more to clear the rose syrup out of my fridge than anything else.

 

[GTG]

I'll check it out, thanks. My girlfriend and I picked about a pound ow wild rose hips last fall up in Flagstaff. I combined them with Colorado Alpine honey and citrus honey from Phoenix to make a batch. It's still aging out currently. I'm hoping it tastes something like it smelled during primary.

GTG

 

[jcobbs]

This sounds very promising! Don't know how I missed this thread till now. I have a gallon of rose petal wine going at the present. Not very fancy, just a take on a Jack Keller recipe. My wife was doing some things with rose petals and suggested I try a wine. Basically I steeped the petals in boiling water, then added sugar and some chopped raisins per the recipe, pitched the yeast, Montrachet I think, and topped up to a gallon. It's been fermenting quite nicely and is a very lovely pale pink as well. Good luck with the mead and can't wait to see how they both turn out!