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Hopped mead and the TTB

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Mars Colonist

Mars Colonist

NewBee
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Aug 25, 2010
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Mars, obviously
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I was wondering how B.Nektar is able to get formula approval for the Evil Genius IPA mead when 27CFR24.203 states that you cant put more than a pound of hops in for every 1000 lbs of honey (1 oz/62 lbs ~= 1 oz/5 gal)?

I did find this (pg26 specifically) [pdf] that uses "up to 1000 pounds of hops can be used", but isnt the official statute language.

It is a low gravity mead with, I assume, IPA hop levels (~60-80 IBU??).. I dont really see them using less than an ounce total for three different types of hops in an IPA mead...

If they are doing the "other than standard wine" for formulation, how can they still call it mead? Is that the Evil Genius part?
 
It's a very tasty concoction, though I voted for the version that they didn't get released, and it was approved so they must know some loophole or obscure way around the regulation.

I still prefer the Alpha Series #1 Hopped mead that they produced a few years ago. I keep bugging Paul as to when Alpha #2 is coming out and he finally stated perhaps on Mead Day.
 
If anyone has gone through the process of getting a mead approved by TTB before production, they would have some great information. I too am wondering about this issue. The TTB limits meaderies/wineries too much on these issues.
 
I recently found this description: "The Alpha Series focuses on the use of hops in mead making. Only 16 gallons of this first batch were made. Over 7oz of hops, including Citra, Warrior, and Amarillo, were used to make a ’hop tea’. The ’hop tea’ was blended with orange blossom honey to make a strong, sweet mead. The finished product has a beautiful citrus-floral aroma and the mildly bitter hop flavor compliments the sweetness. OG: 1.130 FG: 1.126 Batch #80 Made on 5/26/10"

So, if this was one of the variants that went on to be Evil Genius, maybe you just cant dryhop the mead, but boiling water to isomerize the hops to make a "tea" is legit ??
 
Mars Colonist said:
I recently found this description: "The Alpha Series focuses on the use of hops in mead making. Only 16 gallons of this first batch were made. Over 7oz of hops, including Citra, Warrior, and Amarillo, were used to make a ’hop tea’. The ’hop tea’ was blended with orange blossom honey to make a strong, sweet mead. The finished product has a beautiful citrus-floral aroma and the mildly bitter hop flavor compliments the sweetness. OG: 1.130 FG: 1.126 Batch #80 Made on 5/26/10"

So, if this was one of the variants that went on to be Evil Genius, maybe you just cant dryhop the mead, but boiling water to isomerize the hops to make a "tea" is legit ??
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I've done the hop tea thing before and am going to submit a hopped mead recipe in the next few days. I'll let you know how it goes. My first few submissions have been approved in about two weeks so I'll get back to you.
 
Are you submitting this recipe to the TTB? Good luck!

tuumi said:
I've done the hop tea thing before and am going to submit a hopped mead recipe in the next few days. I'll let you know how it goes. My first few submissions have been approved in about two weeks so I'll get back to you.
Click to expand...

BBBF said:
I wonder what the rules are regarding hop extracts.
Click to expand...

I've wondered this same thing. I wasn't going to ask the question though and just submit a recipe with extract in it.
 
I dunno, tasting my meads and loving the almost-sweet, kinda sweet, easy to drink, get drunk as hell feeling from it... I'm not sure I would want to hop it. Somehow I think adding hops to it would kill what it is supposed to be. Of course I know people do add hops but it doesn't sound tasty to me. I'll just drink a beer if I want hop flavor.
That's just me... yes I know I am just contradictional sometimes.

*love*
 
Tried to send you a PM but your box was full. Was wondering how your mead turned out, and if it is available for purchase?



tuumi said:
Things must be slowing down at the TTB. Six weeks later the formula has been approved.

Submitted as:
AGRICULTURAL/HONEY WINE/MEAD

Approved as:
OTHER THAN STANDARD WINE
honey wine fermented with hops
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Cleaned out the box. Not ready yet. Still chugging away on the meadery. We need a well and septic and a few finishing touches on the building. We've got a Kickstarter campaign with more info coming in the next week or two. Stay tuned.

pariahvineyards said:
Tried to send you a PM but your box was full. Was wondering how your mead turned out, and if it is available for purchase?
Click to expand...
 
that code also states that it can't have an ABV of over 14%... so how does the viking blod line get around that?
 
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