Tasted my rootbeer mead last night. It seemed good to me -- strong rootbeer flavor. (So strong, in fact, that it was difficult to discern a distinct honey flavor.) Carbonation was sufficient. I probably could have used irish moss, though -- it wasn't necessarily "clear", although i'm not certain that it detracted from the mead too much.
As I started trying it, though, i realized that i was going to have a hard time evaluating it... you see, i don't drink "normal" sugared soda! so, it was difficult figuring it out, given that i normally drink diet pop...
it had a nice root beer flavor in the attack and mid; in the finish, though, there was an extra little kick of flavor. At ~3.3% ABV, I didn't catch (nor had I expected to catch!) an alcoholic flavor... this might be an interesting "stealth" drink for folks who normally like sweet alcoholic drinks without a noticeable "kick". Of course, since I don't remember what "real" root beer tastes like, I may be confusing the extra burst of flavor with what a normal root beer finish should be...
If I remember, I'll post a pic of the label (when I finish it, hopefully tonight).
I might do this again this weekend, in about a 3 gallon batch, for a halloween party.
For future experiments, I'm thinking about varying the amount of root beer extract (to allow a honey flavor to stand out a little), changing to a wine yeast (to allow better attenuation), adding irish moss, and/or monitoring the SG a bit more carefully as it ferments. This one was a bit too sweet for me in the end... i think that, if I'd have gotten it down to the semi-sweet range, I'd have enjoyed it more.
Merry
p.s., btw... the 1/2 L PET bottles can be re-used (one time only), can't they?
As I started trying it, though, i realized that i was going to have a hard time evaluating it... you see, i don't drink "normal" sugared soda! so, it was difficult figuring it out, given that i normally drink diet pop...
it had a nice root beer flavor in the attack and mid; in the finish, though, there was an extra little kick of flavor. At ~3.3% ABV, I didn't catch (nor had I expected to catch!) an alcoholic flavor... this might be an interesting "stealth" drink for folks who normally like sweet alcoholic drinks without a noticeable "kick". Of course, since I don't remember what "real" root beer tastes like, I may be confusing the extra burst of flavor with what a normal root beer finish should be...
If I remember, I'll post a pic of the label (when I finish it, hopefully tonight).
I might do this again this weekend, in about a 3 gallon batch, for a halloween party.
For future experiments, I'm thinking about varying the amount of root beer extract (to allow a honey flavor to stand out a little), changing to a wine yeast (to allow better attenuation), adding irish moss, and/or monitoring the SG a bit more carefully as it ferments. This one was a bit too sweet for me in the end... i think that, if I'd have gotten it down to the semi-sweet range, I'd have enjoyed it more.
Merry
p.s., btw... the 1/2 L PET bottles can be re-used (one time only), can't they?
