Hello all.
I made a melomel based on one of my favorite whiskey drinks, the Rock and Rye. JAOM seemed like an easy mead to modify, simply changing the spices, subbing the raisins for cherries, and using a more potent yeast.
Now that I've had a chance to taste it, I have to say it was a huge success. It took on exactly the flavor profile I had hoped for, and is surprisingly drinkable for a young mead. It's sweet, with an orange spice flavor on the front and the taste of cherries following shortly after. There is no pithiness from the orange rind, which I know some people have complained about.
This is fermentation after ~36 hours, looks like it's taking on some color from the blood oranges and cherries:
Similar to JAOM, let sit for 6-8 weeks until it's mostly clear. Mine was still slightly opaque after 7 weeks but we racked it off and it cleared in less than 4 hours in secondary. Ours came out to ~17% alcohol and is still pretty sweet. The honey alone is about enough to max out the yeast, so the extra sweet is basically whatever was in your fruit.
You can drink by itself, add rye whiskey (or whiskey soaked wood) to secondary, or make a rye cocktail with it. If you try it, let me know how it goes! This is my first original recipe.
I made a melomel based on one of my favorite whiskey drinks, the Rock and Rye. JAOM seemed like an easy mead to modify, simply changing the spices, subbing the raisins for cherries, and using a more potent yeast.
Now that I've had a chance to taste it, I have to say it was a huge success. It took on exactly the flavor profile I had hoped for, and is surprisingly drinkable for a young mead. It's sweet, with an orange spice flavor on the front and the taste of cherries following shortly after. There is no pithiness from the orange rind, which I know some people have complained about.
- 5 Gallon Batch
- 18 lbs. fresh local wildflower honey
- 8 smallish Blood Oranges cut into eighths (about 3-4 lbs worth, only used blood oranges for color so feel free to sub them out for another variety)
- Zest from 1 Lemon
- 0.5 lbs of sweet/tart dried cherries They should be moist and sticky, not crusty.
- 4 sticks of cinnamon
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 Star Anise
- 1/2 oz of Horehound
- EC1118 Yeast
This is fermentation after ~36 hours, looks like it's taking on some color from the blood oranges and cherries:
Similar to JAOM, let sit for 6-8 weeks until it's mostly clear. Mine was still slightly opaque after 7 weeks but we racked it off and it cleared in less than 4 hours in secondary. Ours came out to ~17% alcohol and is still pretty sweet. The honey alone is about enough to max out the yeast, so the extra sweet is basically whatever was in your fruit.
You can drink by itself, add rye whiskey (or whiskey soaked wood) to secondary, or make a rye cocktail with it. If you try it, let me know how it goes! This is my first original recipe.
