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simple banana mead?

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Speaking of produce, if you happen to drive through the I-80 corridor between Sac and the Bay Area, check out Larry's Produce in Suisun Valley between June and December. They have incredible prices on fruits and vegetables.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/larrys-produce-fairfield
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Larry's produce, and sorry for the mini hi-jack. Yes, we have no bananas.
 
jonalexdeval said:
Ok, I think I'm actually going to go for Oskaar's recipe... it sounds a bit daunting but I'm going to try it. We're planning on brewing on December 12, and I'm going to get the ingredients together to do it then.
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Hope this helps ... in case you haven't sourced cocoa nibs yet, they have them aplenty at Berkeley Bowl. I didn't look for the other ingredients, but I bet they have them, as well.

As Akueck said, Berkeley Bowl produce rocks! Actually Berkeley rocks, especially that university up the hill with reserve parking spots for their Nobel laureats. (It sits on top of the Hayward fault ... I always pray it doesn't rock when I'm at the Memorial Stadium watching football.)
 
I saw a recpipe that sounded really good for Bananna Wine. It used the bananas sliced with peal on and put in a mesh bag. Then boil it in water, I think that it was like 4 gallons of water boiled. Boiled, not neccessiarily an angry boil but a good one. The boil time was 30 min. Then take the mesh bag out and drain. Use the resulting liquid in your primary, because it was wine they added sugar. Swap out for honey and a bit more water, maybe some nutmeg and Bam you have bananna mead. I believe the recipie was like 20 pounds of bannanas for a 6 gallon batch and like 10 pounds of sugar. I think that would translate to about 14 pounds of honey. Ofcourse I like it sweet so I would probably do 16 and back sweeten with 4 pounds.

In a 6 pound batch I would only do 3/4 a whole nutmeg. 2 Whole cloves, and 2 short sticks of cinnamon. That should be plenty.

Ferment normally, rack til clear and then just age for 18 months min.

with the wine recipie it sounded like it was fantastic but only after aging close to 2 years at one year good but nothing to rave about.
 
JimSar said:
Hope this helps ... in case you haven't sourced cocoa nibs yet, they have them aplenty at Berkeley Bowl. I didn't look for the other ingredients, but I bet they have them, as well.

As Akueck said, Berkeley Bowl produce rocks! Actually Berkeley rocks, especially that university up the hill with reserve parking spots for their Nobel laureats. (It sits on top of the Hayward fault ... I always pray it doesn't rock when I'm at the Memorial Stadium watching football.)
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When I was in college I got a photo of a parking spot that was labeled "Nobel Laureate." I'm glad I did. Nowadays it just says "NL" because people kept stealing the signs and it cost a fortune to replace them alla time. But still...it is cool to have gone to a university that has so many Laureates that they need specific parking places. I often wondered what the heck I was doing there!

Ah, good times.
 
wildoates said:
When I was in college I got a photo of a parking spot that was labeled "Nobel Laureate." I'm glad I did. Nowadays it just says "NL" because people kept stealing the signs and it cost a fortune to replace them alla time. But still...it is cool to have gone to a university that has so many Laureates that they need specific parking places. I often wondered what the heck I was doing there!

Ah, good times.
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I think I saw someone parked in one of those spots maybe 3-4 times in 5 years. Granted I was almost never on campus, but still, what a waste of parking space!

I do know someone who got a ticket for parking in one and not being a super genius though.
 
ok, thanks for the info. I'll have to check out Berkeley Bowl and that place in Suisun. I drive between Sac and Oakland semi-regularly.

Yeah, I actually had to look up cocoa nibs and vanilla beans to make sure I knew what they were exactly. The vanilla beans are going to be more difficult I think. When he says 5 beans, does that mean like one vanilla "stalk" or whatever those things that hold the beans are? (are there any preservative-free vanilla extracts?)

I've also heard there are different kinds of cinnamon. Some softer version rather than the regular hard one that you find most often?

This is going to be an expensive mead!

Should I do a starter? or not necessary?
 
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organicvanillabeans.com

Great prices for vanilla beans.

I got 3/4 pound, that was about 90 beans for about $30.00 including shipping. They are fast and the beans are great quality. Don't waste your time in a store on this one.
 
Berkeley Bowl has a "bulk food" section, you'll find nibs there. Weigh out as much as you like, pay by the pound. They sell vanilla beans too, usually 2 to a pack, by the spices. I think they usually go for like $3-5 per pack, at least the last time I bought some.

"1 bean" means the whole pod, a couple inches long. Generally you split them open, sometimes you can also scrape out the insides to get them into the mead faster.
 
http://www.organic-vanilla.com/servlet/StoreFront

Sorry I had missed the dash. Current Prices today:

½ lb Gr A Certified Organic Bourbon Vanilla Beans 8" & longer
Super Size Grade A Gourmet Planifolia Beans Metric: 227gm / over 20 cm long
Price
$25.00

½ lb Gr A Certified Organic Bourbon Vanilla Beans 7" to 8" long
Grade A Gourmet Planifolia Beans - Metric: 227gm / 17,5 - 20 cm long
Price
$20.00

½ lb Gr B Certified Organic Tahitian Vanilla Beans - Mixed Lengths
Extract Grade B - Metric: 227gm
Price
$10.00

¼ lb Gr B Certified Organic Tahitian Vanilla Beans - Mixed Lengths
Extract Grade B - Metric: 113gm
Price
$7.00

Guide to buying
http://www.organic-vanilla.com/servlet/Page?template=a-buy

I learned a lot on this site.
 
Those who aren't too keen on buying online, cacao nibs are also sold at bigger Mexican markets, under $5 a pack, maybe half a pound. Visiting ethnic markets is fun for the fruits, spices, etc that you don't usually find at the regular supermarkets.

BTW, I just bought a bunch of saba bananas, 50 cents a pound from Island Pacific Supermarket. Not for mead, I intend to boil some, skin on for eating, and the rest, peel, slice and fry. Yum! Typical afternoon snack when I growing up in the islands.
 
akueck & JimSar,

Is Berkeley Bowl a good place to buy honey? I might be able to get some vetch from a friend of mine who knows a beekeeper.
 
jonalexdeval said:
akueck & JimSar,

Is Berkeley Bowl a good place to buy honey? I might be able to get some vetch from a friend of mine who knows a beekeeper.
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No, to me, retail honey ends up too expensive because they're packed in small (as far as our needs are concerned) jars and priced accordingly. Last couple of batches of mine used honey bought from Oak Barrel Winecraft, San Pablo Ave, Berkeley. $3.25 a pound. You'll save some money if you bring your own container. They're stored in 5 gallon buckets, and I spied "Colton, CA" on the sticker, which might translate to Miller's Honey which is in Colton. You'll probably pay less if you bought directly from Miller's, even after adding shipping charges.

I've also bought Orange Blossom honey from MoreBeer in Concord. Very aromatic, and had lots of pollen and other stuff, so I guess it's "raw". The guy behind the counter said they bought the batch from a local beekeeper. Please let me know if you get hooked up with the beekeeper.
 
Berkeley Bowl sometimes has interesting honey, but it is usually expensive. You can get it cheaper elsewhere. Miller's is good and will deliver to your door. ;D
 
hmm... Miller's is even a little cheaper than the beekeeper I had in mind!

One of my college roommates was actually a part-time apiarist, but now he's only got a few hives left and some wildflower. A friend of his has vetch for about $2 per pound (5 gallons) whereas Miller's works out to $1.73 a pound for a 5 gal of orange blossom.

I think I might go for a clover this time... my last two batches were orange and sage...

with shipping, 5 gallons from Miller's works out at $2.25 a pound...
 
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Ok, I'm really trusting Oskaar here! :)

Just bought all ingredients except honey and wood chips. About $50 before maple syrup, about $100 including maple syrup (stuff is outrageous). The spices were actually pretty cheap since I bought the alternative brand at Berkeley Bowl.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nYuVuBq8nyhXXuf-YGUqQA?feat=directlink

If anyone has advice, now's the time, especially Oskaar. ;) This is only my fourth batch of mead! I'm going to do this Saturday at the earliest.

The only change I've made so far is going with vanilla extract (preservative free organic) rather than vanilla beans (price). If this is dramatically inferior then I can change, but I figured I would add the extract in very small amounts with each racking and tasting. Any suggestion on amount of extract to add?
 
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Vanilla extract is fine, since you'd be making one by putting beans in alcohol. I'm not sure how much to use, but one good way of figuring that out is to add measured amounts to a cup (or some volume) of mead, then scaling the addition to the whole batch. General advice is to use only about 75% of the amount you calculate for the whole batch since the flavors will change as they integrate--you can add more later if you need it.

The oak cubes are also a better option, they will react more slowly and give you a more complex oak character.
 
Ok, thanks. I really appreciate everyone's advice. I got the oak cubes today.

So far, I'm planning on 4 changes to Oskaar's original recipe:

1) vanilla extract (preservative free) instead of beans

2) clover honey instead of macadamia nut, locust, etc.

3) I'm planning on making a starter

4) Yeast: D47 instead of BA11


I went to two homebrew stores today, and one of them told me BA11 is only sold in bulk. It's possible I might be able to get it at another store in Concord, but probably not. So what about D47? I would like it to finish no dryer than semi-sweet.

Still planning on the 1.130 SG as per recommendations...
 
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jonalexdeval said:
... I might be able to get it at another store in Concord, but probably not. ...
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If you're planning on checking out Concord, you might as well do it this Saturday the 12th. MoreFlavor aka MoreBeer / MoreWine has a one day "event", 15% off everything in stock at the store, $1 and $5 bargain tables, brewing demonstrations, wine tastings with 5 local wineries, etc. Sounds like fun, I'll probably go here myself after I hit the farmers market.
Jim
 
I've picked up BA-11 at MoreBeer in Concord.

Don't bother making a starter, it's a waste of time and resources when using dry yeast. If you need more yeast than comes in a single pack, use two.
 
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