AA: crab apples would add a much more tannic note rather than acidic note as a replacement for the orange and lemon juices. With all the oak leaves, would this be a good thing? I like the way you are thinking though!
How about a Robin Hood mead recipe?
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@dr9 - Cocaine is from the tropics. Opium or hashish would be more historically accurate, since trade routes to the East became active during/after the Crusades. ;D
@Akueck - Ah hahahaha! That would be a wine for people I don't like! 10%? Probably 2lbs of honey would be enough, or 2.5 if we want to go sweet. I was looking online and found both English wildflower AND English forest honey. The English forest honey sounds really good. Here's the link:
http://www.englishhoneyonline.co.uk/continental-honey/forest-honey-1-x-340g/prod_34.html
@Wildaho - Good point. I've never actually had a crab apple. I guess we need to find something else to balance the flavors of the must commonly found in 12th century England.
@Akueck - Ah hahahaha! That would be a wine for people I don't like! 10%? Probably 2lbs of honey would be enough, or 2.5 if we want to go sweet. I was looking online and found both English wildflower AND English forest honey. The English forest honey sounds really good. Here's the link:
http://www.englishhoneyonline.co.uk/continental-honey/forest-honey-1-x-340g/prod_34.html
@Wildaho - Good point. I've never actually had a crab apple. I guess we need to find something else to balance the flavors of the must commonly found in 12th century England.
That forest honey is from the continent, so it technically isn't English, though it does sound good.
I'm thinking of using some heather perhaps blended with some wildflower.
For acidity, I suppose you could use rose hips. The English certainly had roses - they fought wars over them right? ;D
I'm thinking of using some heather perhaps blended with some wildflower.
For acidity, I suppose you could use rose hips. The English certainly had roses - they fought wars over them right? ;D
Not English? I'm confused. Here's the other link I saw (same site, different page). It includes heather, wildflower, forest and a few others.
http://www.activeenglishhoney.co.uk/english-honey
Rose hips could work well with the oak leaves. I also found a site saying, "Wild fruits were gathered, including cherries, apples, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, rowan berries and hazelnuts." These are notes from 12th century Scotland, which I think shares common ecosystems with England. Correct me if my geography is off. Here's the site:
http://www.janetmcnaughton.ca/ekfood.html
Those are the English Honeys. The other ones in the prior link come from other parts of Europe. I've been looking for some Poison Oak honey but haven't had any luck finding any so far.
I'd love to try some Rowan berries.
Ah! Now I see what you mean. Thanks for clarifying. I found a link that might have poison oak honey (says it will be available after November 2009) but I didn't send an email to confirm yet.
http://www.mainbrew.com/pages/honeytypes.html
A quick glance tells me Rowan berries need to be cooked before they are used in foodstuffs. Again, this is new territory for me so I'm not sure this is correct. Anyone know what they taste like? I was leaning towards cherry to make up for acidity, and elderberry just because I love that line from the movie, "Legend" - yeah, yeah. I'm a dork.
I called them earlier today and they don't have any. Great minds think alike? ;D
Rowan berries, are very, very bitter. I've tasted rowanberry mead that was quite good, but the rowanberry dose was small in that, and it should probably be kept such, because they're pretty powerful.
Side note: That "Thanks for clarifying" satement looks so punny due to the auto-linking on this board.
Side note: That "Thanks for clarifying" satement looks so punny due to the auto-linking on this board.
Oh, you MUST behave or you'll be the PRIMARY target for another pun-off!
Here's my revised ingredient list:
7 pints oak leaves
1 gallon water
2-2.5lbs honey (English Wildflower and English Heather)
Juice of crab apple, cherry and elderberry to taste
pectic enzyme, if needed
nutrient
Nottingham Ale Yeast
Rosehips and Lavender to taste for the secondary
Suggestions? Mr. Fey, what do you have in mind?
angelic alchemist you're probably going to want to up the amount honey on this.
robin hood would do things big... right? i mean, you've got the whole merry band of men to consider as well.
:icon_geek:
you would have to get a 5 gallon bucket of honey...
actually both you mentioned are great, get 5 gallons of each
go with 1:4 honey to water (so that's 40 gallons of water)
i would consider substituting some apple cider.
oak is a great choice. duir as druids of that time and location may have called it. it's considered symbolic of fortitude, and stoic nobility, yeah?
if you're gonna add the leaves to the mead,
actually, why would you add the leaves at all?
did i miss that? why not just age it on oak? that's the best way to get that roasted rounded smooth strong flavor!
if you want to do the leaves though... 55 handfuls all ripped and shredded. :thumbsup:
and since cocaine definitely did NOT grow in nottingham...
you should chuck some wormwood in for good measure. prepared properly... but you're an alchemist you understand. :hippy2:
you're fruits are great choices.
i'm sure they'd add as much as they could gather and chuck in.
so you should add as much as you can gather and chuck in.
all that is great. :iamwithstupid:
brew it up in a big ol' 50, 100 gallon vessel (no idea what they would have used back then but i'm sure there was something)
age in oak barrels!
robin hood would do things big... right? i mean, you've got the whole merry band of men to consider as well.
:icon_geek:
you would have to get a 5 gallon bucket of honey...
actually both you mentioned are great, get 5 gallons of each
go with 1:4 honey to water (so that's 40 gallons of water)
i would consider substituting some apple cider.
oak is a great choice. duir as druids of that time and location may have called it. it's considered symbolic of fortitude, and stoic nobility, yeah?
if you're gonna add the leaves to the mead,
actually, why would you add the leaves at all?
did i miss that? why not just age it on oak? that's the best way to get that roasted rounded smooth strong flavor!
if you want to do the leaves though... 55 handfuls all ripped and shredded. :thumbsup:
and since cocaine definitely did NOT grow in nottingham...
you should chuck some wormwood in for good measure. prepared properly... but you're an alchemist you understand. :hippy2:
you're fruits are great choices.
i'm sure they'd add as much as they could gather and chuck in.
so you should add as much as you can gather and chuck in.
all that is great. :iamwithstupid:
brew it up in a big ol' 50, 100 gallon vessel (no idea what they would have used back then but i'm sure there was something)
age in oak barrels!
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I used Nottingham in my "malted apple mead" experiment, and it had no problem taking an SG of 1.100 to 1.010 (~12% ABV). It also had enough "oomph" to fully carb my bottles within 2 weeks, so be careful you don't underestimate the Notty 
I usually start small when I'm experimenting with a new recipe. I hate making large batches that don't turn out perfect - I prefer to make my mistakes on the small ones so I don't waste my ingredients/money. If this goes well, I'll make up a big batch for Sherwood Forest Faire next year - more like 5 gallons rather than 50. I'm not set up for that kind of capacity yet.
As for the oak leaves, I was following the suggestions on the thread. I've never used oak leaves in mead before and I'm always looking for something new, exciting, different, creative, mysterious, or just plain fun. I like seeing the looks on peoples faces when their eyebrows go into their hairlines as I tell them about some of the exotic things I've put in my meads. Oak leaves seemed neat. If the batch asks for oak aging, then I will do that too. Wormwood? Meh, I've been playing around with it quite a bit and I'm a little bored with the stuff. Been reading a book on healing beers and learning that even some of the more mundane herbs (sage, juniper, etc) can greatly enhance the intoxicating qualities of brewed beverages when applied correctly.
Speaking of mundane, does anyone know where to get crab apples or crab apple juice? All I can find is jelly! Do I need to just go into the woods and pick my own? When are they in season? Or can I just use the jelly and account for sugar content, then add some pectic enzyme?
If you can wait until September, I have several live sources. March is not the time to harvest...
But I still have to say the crab apples will add a distinct tannic/tart note that may be overpowering. My very first cyser eight years ago was made with crab apples (one gallon of juice with 4 gallons of apple juice and 10# honey). It never got the chance to age (first batch!) but I'd still temper this ingredient or give it LOTS of age!
A strong tart can be amazing balanced against a strong sweet. For something extremely sour I'd consider letting it land between 1.03 and 1.05. However all those big ingredients can equate to really big flavors as well.
I'm starting to puzzle out a recipe for this one too....I'll have to limit it mostly to what I can find here in Minneapolis though, shipping too many pricey specialty items can stop a batch in its tracks for me.
I'm tempted to go with it...
I'm starting to puzzle out a recipe for this one too....I'll have to limit it mostly to what I can find here in Minneapolis though, shipping too many pricey specialty items can stop a batch in its tracks for me.
MEDSEN! THAT WAS AWFUL!
I'm tempted to go with it...
Noted. Thanks for the friendly warning. Do you have a sugestion on how much crab apple juice would be right per gallon of must? 8oz? 4oz? What would good for a batch that is intended to be aged 6 months? 1.5 years? I'd like to have the batch ready for Sherwood 2011, but if I have to wait until the 2012 season that's okay too.
I may go with something really wacky for the time being (like putting crab apple jelly and pectic enzyme into an experimental batch) just to see what happens. Then, when I have a refined recipe hammered out (September-ish) I would certainly like to get hooked up with those sources of yours. Thanks for the help!
I finally decided to make a metheglyn using oak leaves and rose hips, and I'll use Heather honey. I've started a brewlog in the Patron's area called Wood you do the Oakie-Pokie with Naughty Rosie? Aye Sherwood! 
I ran across this Welsh Oak Leaf Mead Recipe called Gwîn Dail Derw
on celtnet.org.uk. This recipe used dried leaves so it is a bit different but could be used in the fall.
on celtnet.org.uk. This recipe used dried leaves so it is a bit different but could be used in the fall.
I think you are all off. Given Tucks predisposition to beer it should be a Braggot not some sissy Meth or Sack. :icon_flower: I say buckwheat honey (I believe buckwheat was common at the time), heavy on the hops and rosehip for balance. That should just about make your eyes water! :'(
Just a few points
It's all well and good that you lot want to "kick the arse out of it", but it would seem (certainly reads like it) that you're all suffering from over exposure to PR, advertisements and Hollywood
(oooooh, listen to 'im, the heresy of the man......)
All you'd need now, would be to get the recipe made and then served up by either Alan Rickman or Keith Allen
Oh no, of course, they're nothing to do with Robin Hood either are they. They're "just" actors!
Ho hum!
regards
Sir Cumference......
It's all well and good that you lot want to "kick the arse out of it", but it would seem (certainly reads like it) that you're all suffering from over exposure to PR, advertisements and Hollywood
(oooooh, listen to 'im, the heresy of the man......)All you'd need now, would be to get the recipe made and then served up by either Alan Rickman or Keith Allen
Oh no, of course, they're nothing to do with Robin Hood either are they. They're "just" actors!
Ho hum!
regards
Sir Cumference......
hmm I really like the ideas of heather, crab apple and braggot. I've seen some odd old (olde) recipes for beer that called for heather instead of hops and a cyser/braggot is not unheard of -- the ABC uses both cider and malt extract in addition to honey (btw-in the long haul mine came out great) the buckwheat could work in too. The oak leaves are the real oddball in the bunch, but might add some much needed bitter tannin. Suppose they could go in secondary? I cant see how fermentation would actually be crucial to making them.
sounds like a good fall recipe for me, thats when a lot of this becomes available for free 'round here.
for the kitche I suppose I'd use Nottingham ale yeast, though for the record I am really happy with the results I've gotten in beers so far and ale yeasts in old school mead(olde school meade) styles seems common enough (not that this is going to be a real period piece anyway, but lets just work from the stories right?).
But does anyone know the actual top abv of Nottingham?
**edit: on a side note: Dragons Lair, that sounds amazing, I'd love to see you really draw that recipe up pound for pound and ounce for ounce.
sounds like a good fall recipe for me, thats when a lot of this becomes available for free 'round here.
for the kitche I suppose I'd use Nottingham ale yeast, though for the record I am really happy with the results I've gotten in beers so far and ale yeasts in old school mead(olde school meade) styles seems common enough (not that this is going to be a real period piece anyway, but lets just work from the stories right?).
But does anyone know the actual top abv of Nottingham?
**edit: on a side note: Dragons Lair, that sounds amazing, I'd love to see you really draw that recipe up pound for pound and ounce for ounce.
