Looking for ideas

[BrewinNColorado]

First off, after volunteering at the MCI, I became very inspired to take my mead making to the next level, so I would first like to thank those mead makers whose mead I sampled there. Prior to the MCI, I had very limited exposure to mead, so that experience really broadened my horizon.

With the brewing season being over for me , I am now looking to start planning next year's batches, and was wanting to ideas and advice.

Next year, I am looking at making the following batches:

Apple pie:
Primary
12 lbs OB
3 gallons fresh, unpasteurized apple juice
1116 yeast

secondary
1 teaspoon apple pie seasoning boiled to make a tea
1/2 gallon fresh, unpasteurized apple juice
my goal for this is to have a fairly strong apple pie taste


Caramel apple:
primary
1116 yeast
15 pounds ob
possible 1 gallon of granny smith apple juice

secondary
3 cups granny smith apple juice
small amount (size unknown right now) caramel, dissolved in the mead.
My goal for this one is to have a crisp mead with a faint caramel apple taste.

Pyment:
primary
15 pounds ob honey
1118
1 gallon grape juice (either reliant, concord or combination)

secondary
1/2 gallon grape juice (either reliant, concord or combination)
my goal is to have a fairly unique pyment. not sure which of the varieties to use or to use a combination of the 2 varieties. These are homegrown and I get a 2-3 grocery bags full of each variety.


Anyway, what advice can you share from your experience or do you have any recipes that you would like to share?

Thanks for reading this post and I look forward to hearing from everone!
Michael
BrewinNColorado

 

[capoeirista13]

there are actually one or two recipes on here that aimed for the apple pie flavor, maybe you'll want to check those out and see what worked and what didn't. I think they had some cinnamon in there, and the apple juice in the secondary is a damn good idea imo.

 

[afdoty]

Micahel, i started a cyser last Sept. I wanted the extra apple flavor and waited untill March before sweetning with apple juice. Haveing let the cyser finish fermenting and then adding teh juice, the flavor was maintained. And it tastes liek an apple pie!

 

[Medsen Fey]

With the brewing season being over for me ,

Brewing season?? ???

 

[Leonora]

Hey,

Thanks for your help at the MCI!!

Now what you need to do is become a Patron at GotMead? so you can get access to the Patron Recipe section.

I've got a well tested recipe called "Day at the Fair Cyser" that makes a really yummy cyser. Try it out!

All the best,
Leonora

 

[BrewinNColorado]

Brewing season?? ???

Yes. Unfortunately I don't have a basement, and living in Colorado means that my house gets a little too hot to brew, but not hot enough to need A/C.

Of well. It gives me time to enjoy what I made and time to plan recipes.

Thanks for your help at the MCI!!

You are more then welcome. I had a lot of fun and am really looking forward to helping out next year.

Now what you need to do is become a Patron at GotMead? so you can get access to the Patron Recipe section.

That is on my list of things to do, just need to pay off some bills first. I hope to be able to join in a few months.


Does anyone have any experience with the pyment I suggested? I am not sure if I should make a reliant grape, or concord or combination. And if combination, what proportions.

Thanks to all who have posted to far!

 

[akueck]

I know there have been discussions about using Concord grapes, check out the wine section or try a forum search. I believe the biggest concern was keeping the skin contact time short to avoid a "foxiness" that is common when using Labrusca grapes like Concord (vs Vinifera grapes which are your typical wine grapes). A quick google search says Reliance are also Labrusca grapes so you might want to follow the same procedures with those as well.

If you're into tinkering, you can build a pretty cheap cooling box that runs on bags of ice. Interior closets are also good. If all else fails, make some Belgian beer or a Saison!

 

[Medsen Fey]

Yes. Unfortunately I don't have a basement, and living in Colorado means that my house gets a little too hot to brew, but not hot enough to need A/C.

I feel your pain! I live in South Florida.
HOWEVER....Brewing Season is whenever we want it to be. You live in a climate where evaporative cooling can easily drop your temps by 10-15+ degrees, so a carboy in a tub of water with a t-shirt draped over it and a fan blowing will give you temps that you can brew in.

In the tropics the steamy humidity doesn't allow that approach to work very well so we have to use a spare fridge for some, and some creative recipe development with others. Two of the medal winners in the recent Mazer Cup were fermented in a steamy garage at 84 F. The bottom line is that it can be done if one has the desire.

The warm weather brewers might try putting together a dark berry melomel group brew to see if we can optimize some recipes for the heat. If you are interested, stay tuned.

Medsen

 

[huntfishtrap]

Yes. Unfortunately I don't have a basement, and living in Colorado means that my house gets a little too hot to brew, but not hot enough to need A/C.

I think your in the perfect scenario for using what a lot of beer brewers use for lagering. They modify an "Ice Cube" cooler, the blue square ones, to accomidate a carboy. They add frozen 2 ltr bottles of water and rotate as needed. I think with a little experamentation, you could figure out a rotation schedule that would keep your must at what ever temp you would like. Might even work for cold crashing. Search some beer forums for lagering methods and you should find some pictures. Don't let lack of A/C slow you down!

Paul

 

[wayneb]

Medsen is 100% correct with his observation that evaporative cooling works in our climate. If you primary in a bucket, then once the top is on the bucket cover it with a large, wet towel (one of those large beach towels is perfect). This is best done with your bucket in a larger container that prevents too much water from dripping out of the towel and spilling onto the floor. Guest room bathtubs are great for this! When I've done this in the past (no longer necessary now that I live in Evergreen in a house with a basement) I added a little starsan or other sanitizer to the water that I used on the towel, just to minimize the chances that some nasty bugs will start to grow in that damp medium.

You can easily reduce the temperature of the must in the bucket by 10 F this way. For additional cooling you can force air over the towel by directing a small fan to blow over the top of it.

One thing to keep in mind - the towel dries FAST. You'll have to re-wet it at least 6 times a day in order to maximize the cooling effect, especially if you use the fan.