Wild idea

[Cliclaste]

I have a pine smoked tea from Lapland I have been meaning to use.
+another pine lover.

Interesting, I was thinking of toasting or burning the needles a bit before I brew the tea with them to see if that adds a deeper flavor, same with the wood chips.

 

[Cliclaste]

apple wood is safe. i use it for a lot. i hear that black walnut may not be good to use, but i would research that before making a decision. the thing is, a lot of people use woods like choke cherry, not realizing that they can be toxic. even the fruit can be if you dont get rid of the seeds. sure you probably wont die from smoking a pork shoulder or drinking a glass of mead made with it, but you're still putting those toxins in you. cyanide is not a joke and certainly something not to be taken lightly. i would use the fruits in a mead, but i'd have to get rid of the seeds first. that being said, i'd probably just rather use a different fruit.

The walnut wood I have isn't black walnut, just regular walnut. I have a gallon of choke cherry wine that is fermenting right now, but they were seeded and juiced first, haven't had a chance to taste it yet but it smells fantastic.

 

[MasterJeem]

The walnut wood I have isn't black walnut, just regular walnut. I have a gallon of choke cherry wine that is fermenting right now, but they were seeded and juiced first, haven't had a chance to taste it yet but it smells fantastic.

I have never heard anything bad about walnut. That mead sounds great! And bravo for seeding first. If I had a choke cherry tree in my yard I'd do the same, but I have no trees.

 

[Cliclaste]

If you want to add a little citrousy flavor then look into oxalis plants. Sheepshire, wood sorrel, purple shamrocks and iron cross are all good oxalis plants that have a slight lemony/tart taste to them.

Your private message box is full, it won't let me send you a reply

 

[Cliclaste]

Im angry that I didnt think of this first. I love pine tea, and I love mead... its kind of like my dreams of Bjork in a big bowl of Pho....

Sorry.

Anyway, I'd love to taste it. Personally I would start with just pine in a gallon batch and THEN play with adjuncts next time.

Here goes a 1 gal batch of pine mead, I couldn't just do only pine, I like being creative... So we are doing pine (new spring growth, no old needles) fresh mint leaves, dried blueberries, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, cloves. Wish me luck!

 

[Cliclaste]

Here goes a 1 gal batch of pine mead, I couldn't just do only pine, I like being creative... So we are doing pine (new spring growth, no old needles) fresh mint leaves, dried blueberries, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, cloves. Wish me luck!

Add to that, dried orange peel

 

[Cliclaste]

Add to that, dried orange peel

Well the blueberry really took control of this brew, didn't really take into account te fact that the blueberries were dried and so were essentially concentrated, should still be good, just now I believe that the pine may be an accent and not the primary flavor, but only time will tell, beautiful color though!

 

[NineMilBill]

just now I believe that the pine may be an accent and not the primary flavor

Consider adding fresh pine needles to secondary in a hop bag to bring out the flavor and aroma

 

[Cliclaste]

Consider adding fresh pine needles to secondary in a hop bag to bring out the flavor and aroma

I will definitely do that, my question is though, what is the best way to sterilize the needles before adding them to secondary?

 

[Arpolis]

Probably in the oven at 350*F for 15 min. Not enough to toast but enough to kill evil bacterium.

 

[NineMilBill]

I will definitely do that, my question is though, what is the best way to sterilize the needles before adding them to secondary?

That oven thing would probably work, but soaking them in vodka for the same amount of time would too. Bacteria can't survive in vodka. After the soak, drain the needles, and then add to secondary. The residual vodka can only help your mead, if you know what I mean.

 

[Cliclaste]

That oven thing would probably work, but soaking them in vodka for the same amount of time would too. Bacteria can't survive in vodka. After the soak, drain the needles, and then add to secondary. The residual vodka can only help your mead, if you know what I mean.

I'm not sure of the oven method or the time involved, but I definately think I'd prefer the vodka method, but how about using gin instead, it's about 40% and is made out of juniper berries, so it would help with the "wild" taste

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

I will definitely do that, my question is though, what is the best way to sterilize the needles before adding them to secondary?

Going in the secondary you probably don't need to worry about sterilization, there should be enough alcohol in your mead to take care of anything that may be on the pine needles.

However if for peace of mind you want to do something you could try the steam method some use for oak chips/cubes, place them in a microwave safe container with a small amount of water, not enough to cover, and give it a couple minutes in the nooker to bring the water to a boil, then cover and let them sit for about 10 minutes. You can add the water into your mead as well as it will have some steeped flavors and is clean and safe.

The oven idea sounds good too but my concern would be that even though you are not letting them toast the method itself will cause drying and loss of some of the essential oils that provide the volatile compounds for flavor and aroma, would probably still work but you may want to consider increasing the quantity of needles some.

 

[raymondim]

How did this turn out? Is it still in secondary? I am thinking about doing a similar mead would like to hear if it was any good .

 

[Cliclaste]

How did this turn out? Is it still in secondary? I am thinking about doing a similar mead would like to hear if it was any good .

It turned out to be fairly decent, I had a few hiccups along the way and it had just a mild musk to it, but it's still pleasant to drink, the pine flavor did actually come through but you wouldn't know it was pine if it wast labeled, it just has a really nice earthy flavor I plan on making some more once my blue spruce puts out new shoots, I would try the older needles but currently my tree is infested with scale insects and I'd rather not put those into my mead