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Mead with just Hops?
- Thread starter jpog
- Start date
Don't know if it has an actual name (though I'm sure someone came up with one since the last decade has produced a growing list of Mead styles) but I know it tastes great. I have a Sweet Hopped Mead and a Dry Hopped Mead aging right now. It's still young but the taste testing has me favoring the dry right now
mfalenski is correct, it is just a metheglin
just curious, how do you plan on hopping the mead? I ask because boiling will cause the bitterness, so you'll have to back-sweeten it to counter. If you dry-hop it, then you get the flavor and the aroma without the bitterness.
A good example of a dry-hopped mead is Redstone's Nectar of the Hops...
Medium Sweet
8% Alcohol
5 parts Clover honey, 1 part Wildflower honey
Carbonated
Dry hopped! Food Pairings: Mild cheeses, barbeque, seafood and more!
A metheglin, but we just call it "Hopped Mead"
Yep, this. Just to expand, hops fall under the "herbs and spices" category of things you can add to mead, and a metheglin is an "herb and spice" mead.
This list says it's a miodomel. Don't think it's a well known term though.
http://www.solorb.com/mead/
Like I said earlier I think some of the names are more modern inventions because people just have to have a name for what they are making. My guess is everything other than Mead, Sack Mead, Hippocras, Methlegin, Melomel, Pyment, Cyser and Braggot or more modern invention but I have no info to back up my assumption.
Well, if we all get to make up words for our various types of meads, I'm calling all of mine Laurelomels, meaning "mead made by Laurel".
You can use pellets, whenever I use them I just put them in a hop bag with plenty of room for expansion. Even if you don't use the bag they'll eventually settle to the bottom. How much depends on how much flavor you want to get out of it. 1/4 oz should be enough for a bit of hop in a 1 gallon batch (I boiled 1/4 oz in a little bit of water for an hour to get some bitterness and than I split another 1/4 oz between the last 15 minutes [flavor hops] and when I turned off the heat [aroma hops]. I used another 1/2 oz dry hopping and it's pretty hoppy at the moment). 1 oz for a 5 gallon batch seems like the amount you see a lot in beer recipes that call for dry hopping, but that also takes into account that hops were added earlier.
I very interested in trying to dry hop experimental 1 gal batch of traditional I have. I heard 0.5 oz per gallon is a good number. I also read somewhere that Cascades work great. But, pellets or cones? I have a pound of Citra hops on the way, I wonder if they also a good choice for dry hopping mead?
This is worth reiterating.
Don't go over two weeks (7-10 days is a typical recommendation) as the hops can begin to give off vegetal and grassy flavors that are in most cases not desirable.
I very interested in trying to dry hop experimental 1 gal batch of traditional I have. I heard 0.5 oz per gallon is a good number. I also read somewhere that Cascades work great. But, pellets or cones? I have a pound of Citra hops on the way, I wonder if they also a good choice for dry hopping mead?
Any Hop can be used for Dry Hopping you just need to find one that has a flavor and aroma profile that you find pleasing. Many people love the citrusy flavor and aroma given off by Cascades which is one of the reasons they are one of the most popular hop varieties out there. You'll usually (but not always) see lower Alpha Acid hops used for dry hopping as Higher Alpha Hops can provide the nice Bitterness that comes out when hops are boiled. Citra with an Alpha Acid of on Average 12% are usually considered a Bittering Hop, but will work fine for Dry Hopping and are described as having a Gooseberry or Passion Fruit flavor.
Whole hops are a little easier to use when dry hopping since they are large and easy to not transfer when racking (although the seeds sometimes float around independently). Pellet hops are nice for boiling because they don't hold as much liquid when you're emptying the boil kettle. But either can be used, the differences are marginal IMO.
Alpha acid content doesn't matter for dry hopping, you won't get any of those to dissolve without boiling. All you want is a hop variety that smells nice. If you like fruity citrus aroma, you can use one of the Cs (e.g. cascade). Piney/herbal, earthy, floral, etc are other aromas you might find in other varieties.
Alpha acid content doesn't matter for dry hopping, you won't get any of those to dissolve without boiling. All you want is a hop variety that smells nice. If you like fruity citrus aroma, you can use one of the Cs (e.g. cascade). Piney/herbal, earthy, floral, etc are other aromas you might find in other varieties.
I like that! Rolls right off the tongue. 'Course, you'll have to send some to all of us so we can start using the name right away.
We boil water for about 45-60 minutes with a measure of hops to get bitterness, then we dry hop to get more aroma. Usually dry hop for a few weeks.
