Syrups in mead

Communistjon · Jul 21, 2014

My wife works at Cracker Barrel and one day while I was up there I noticed a bottle of pumpkin syrup. It had all the ingredients I would need to make a pumpkin mead ie; nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, lemon juice, plus some cane sugar and corn syrup. I was wondering if this would be okay to use and what sort of things should I be avoiding that would be in other syrups because she wants me to make a mead with another syrup at the store.

Arpolis · Jul 22, 2014

Just make sure your syrups don't have sorbate in them. That stuff if diluted enough the yeast will still ferment but it is rough on the yeast. If it has sulfites then mix up your must and wait 24 hours before pitching yeast is all. Other than that I am sure it will work. Just depends on what flavor profile you want.

Communistjon · Jul 22, 2014

Neither have sorbates or sulfates in them. Once she gets her discount it looks like it will be brew time. :mug:

fatbloke · Jul 23, 2014

Communistjon said:
Neither have sorbates or sulfates in them. Once she gets her discount it looks like it will be brew time.

If standard syrups, you might need quite a bit as they don't generally have the depth of flavour that the fruit has.....

I'd be thinking to use them in secondary and if it gets too sweet trying to get depth of flavour, adding complimentary acid can take the edge off and mask the sweetness some.....

Communistjon · Jul 24, 2014

fatbloke said:
If standard syrups, you might need quite a bit as they don't generally have the depth of flavour that the fruit has.....

I'd be thinking to use them in secondary and if it gets too sweet trying to get depth of flavour, adding complimentary acid can take the edge off and mask the sweetness some.....

I was thinking of adding a can of pumpkin to the must and mainly just using the syrup for extra seasoning/sweetness. If I only make a gallon batch do you think one bottle of syrup would be enough?