Intro...

[Malachai]

Well I'm a slighly less than a year old memer of gotMead? and I've only been brewing for 15 months although have had a desire for years. My fiance got my my first brewing kit for Xmas of 05 and she hasn't been able to get me to stop!

I focus mainly on Melomels and cyser, although I've been toying with the idea of beers for a bit. I credit Ken Schramm's wise book as the main source for most of my knowledge, and kick starting me down the road..

I'm in the SCA, and tend to gear my brewing more towards mediveal period style and ingredients if possible..

My first batch was a cranerry-orange wedding mead that decided it wanted to go into Malo-lactic fermentation in half the bottles, and my second attempt was a rasperry Cyser that people fight over..

Right now I just bottled my Wha's Ailin' Yule Cyser, Have blueberry vanilla and a mega-berry meads I'm trying to salvage from the ravaged flavors of wild yeast, and am geting ready to do a third rack on an orange clove that seems to die for...

 

[ucflumberjack]

Well hello!

 

[SpamDog]

Welcome to what is the best and most informitive Mead site on the net by far!

Glad to hear you have had some success with your meads.
Any chance you would post the recipe for your "Tyler Durden's Raspberry 'Fight Club' Cyser"

Again Welcome!

SpamDog

 

[Malachai]

Here you go...

5 Gallons of UV PAsteurized Apple Cider (Trader Joe's)
20 lbs generic clover honey (bought from Sams Club)
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
6 10oz Package of frozen raspberries..
5 tsp yeast energizer
5 tsp pectic enzyme

If you wish to have a less alcoholic and smoother Cyser, use a cider yeast. Cap the carboy with a stopper and bubbler and off you go. This one usually tops off etween 14 and 15% ABV

The yeast takes about 4 weeks to finish fermenting, then starts to clear on its own. Rack the cyser into a secondary carboy onto the thawed raspberries. If it hasn’t clarified yet, it will as shortly after it meets the raspberries. Let it sit for about 2-3 weeks until the cyser turns red and the raspberries are beginning to turn white. Rack the cyser off the yeast and raspberries and bottle. At this point is ready to drink but usually needs to mellow out a bit, Let it age as long as you wish in bottles. 2-3 months seems to do the trick.. or hide one for a year and see what happens..

 

[Oskaar]

Hey Malachai,

A couple of questions for you.

What do you use as a primary fermenter? Your recipe calls for over 6.5 gallons of liquid so I'm guessing a bucket as a primary?

Your potential ABV in this recipe as written is about 20% and EC-1118 will give up the ghost at around 18%, but with apple juice in the mix it will generally go even higher. Cider yeast will generally go 12-14% ABV so using a cider yeast will leave a cloyingly sweet cyser in my experience. My question is what is your target starting and ending gravity?

If you didn't heat the juice, you generally won't need pectin in this recipe. I've used Trader Joe's Apple Cider for many years and haven't ever used pectinase and it clears very quickly. Were you thinking of the Fresh refrigerated juice in the plastic containers, or the bottled juice in glass one gallon jugs (which make fine one gallon fermenters)

Thanks for posting this,

Oskaar