I'm thinking of making a batch of Mead with my fiancé to serve at the toast at our upcoming wedding (it's about a year away). I would like to make the Mead Sparkling to make it Champagne-like. Could I use any of the posted recipes and replace the listed yeast strain with a Champagne yeast or is there more to it? ???
Sparkling Mead
- Thread starter nemo
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I think Champagne yeast just means it'll be more dry, so you can't match just any recipe. For instance, if you are going to carbonate by priming (putting fermentable sugar in the bottle), you need to have a dry to semi-dry mead to have good results. It would be best if you'd pick a recipe and ask the experienced mazers on here how it'd turn out.
DISCLAIMER: Don't listen to anything I say until someone else verifies. I have a bad habit of trying to help people when I don't know what the heck I'm talking about. :
DISCLAIMER: Don't listen to anything I say until someone else verifies. I have a bad habit of trying to help people when I don't know what the heck I'm talking about. :
Oh...let me add, I've brewed about 2 dozen batches of beer, so I have a little experience with homebrewing, but I have never tried a Mead before. I did pick up a bottle of mead at the store last weekend to make sure that it would be something we would enjoy. It was on the sweet side for my taste, but good and we enjoyed it. So I'm planning on making a mead that is on the dry side - but haven't made up my mind on a recipe. I'm leaning toward a melomel, but if anyone has a suggestion - I'm open to any ideas and advise. Now this is going to be something that we also serve to all our guests, so I'm staying away from the braggot (although I might make a batch of that for myself ;D) and trying to make it enjoyable for the masses.
Thanks
Thanks
You know, I got the feeling that I didn't have to tell you what priming was, but I'm not quite sure why.
However, I'd still recommend picking a recipe then posting it to get feedback.
However, I'd still recommend picking a recipe then posting it to get feedback.
I'll just toss in my $.02 on this.
Make any recipe you like to your tastes and force carbonate.
It eliminates the need to disgorge, or decant off the lees.
Doing a Champagne right seems to be a lot of extra work. You've got a wedding to put together in the next year. Keep it simple.
David Baldwin.
Make any recipe you like to your tastes and force carbonate.
It eliminates the need to disgorge, or decant off the lees.
Doing a Champagne right seems to be a lot of extra work. You've got a wedding to put together in the next year. Keep it simple.
David Baldwin.
I’ve made many sparkling meads in my day as it happens to be one of my favorites. Basically any recipe can be made into a sparkling version if you keep a few things in mind. If you are going to force carbonate then you don’t have to worry about things like alcohol tolerances and starting gravities. But if you are like me and don’t have the equipment to force carbonate, you simply have to pick a yeast and an amount of honey that will ferment to dryness below the yeasts alcohol tolerance. You then prime at bottling in a similar manner as you would beer. And while David Baldwin is correct in that you will have some sediment in the bottle if you do not disgorge, if care is taken in racking and bottling the amount is really minimal and not troublesome. I personally have never disgorged a bottle and the sediment in my bottles amounts to nothing more than a light dusting that is rarely disturbed if the mead is pored with care.
That was the long answer, the short answer is yes…if you are force carbonating than you could use basically any recipe on this board (even without champagne yeast), while if you are bottle carbonating you can still use any recipe, but you may need to lower the starting gravity so that it will ferment to dryness with room to spare.
That was the long answer, the short answer is yes…if you are force carbonating than you could use basically any recipe on this board (even without champagne yeast), while if you are bottle carbonating you can still use any recipe, but you may need to lower the starting gravity so that it will ferment to dryness with room to spare.
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions.
I'm taking a lot of what all of you have send into mind and talking with the Fiancé about it. I think the one bit of advice that I'm really taking to heart is to start by picking a recipe that we both think we will enjoy. Then finding good ingredients (including the proper yeast) will be our next item. I have a great home brew shop that is always ready to help me with coming up with beer recipes, so once I know what we are going to make, I'll make sure to have them assist with ordering or locating everything.
I do have a kegging system that I force carbonate my beer with from time to time, but the idea of taking that to a reception is not appealing to me right now. I want to bottle the mead, let it bottle condition for a few months so that all I need to do is pack them up and hand them off to the serving staff for filling the glasses. True - I might have to make sure to educate them on the idea of pouring with out churning up the sediment. But then again - by the time the official toast comes around on the wedding day, I'm sure I'm not going to care much about that. I'll be more concerned about making sure the DJ does NOT play the Chicken Dance song.
I know I'll be back to this forum once we are ready for brew day to get some more words of encouragement and advise from seasoned mead makers. If anyone else has some input - please - I'm open to all ideas, suggestions or warnings.
Thanks again!
I'm taking a lot of what all of you have send into mind and talking with the Fiancé about it. I think the one bit of advice that I'm really taking to heart is to start by picking a recipe that we both think we will enjoy. Then finding good ingredients (including the proper yeast) will be our next item. I have a great home brew shop that is always ready to help me with coming up with beer recipes, so once I know what we are going to make, I'll make sure to have them assist with ordering or locating everything.
I do have a kegging system that I force carbonate my beer with from time to time, but the idea of taking that to a reception is not appealing to me right now. I want to bottle the mead, let it bottle condition for a few months so that all I need to do is pack them up and hand them off to the serving staff for filling the glasses. True - I might have to make sure to educate them on the idea of pouring with out churning up the sediment. But then again - by the time the official toast comes around on the wedding day, I'm sure I'm not going to care much about that. I'll be more concerned about making sure the DJ does NOT play the Chicken Dance song.
I know I'll be back to this forum once we are ready for brew day to get some more words of encouragement and advise from seasoned mead makers. If anyone else has some input - please - I'm open to all ideas, suggestions or warnings.
Thanks again!
The only piece of advice I have is to decide what type of mead you and the future misses want.
After that, post the recipe in the forum and the experienced ones will guide you!
Any recipe can be tailored to your taste. Decide the yeast you want to use....all that stuff will fall into place.
Cheers,
Brewbear
After that, post the recipe in the forum and the experienced ones will guide you!
Any recipe can be tailored to your taste. Decide the yeast you want to use....all that stuff will fall into place.
Cheers,
Brewbear
I've been thinking of turning my Acerglyn into a dry sparkling mead, using a very light honey and grade A light maple syrup... letting it go to dry then priming with more maple syrup. Can't wait to try it.
Wrathwilde
Wrathwilde
