Anyone here made/making it?
A buddy and I bought the gear to make some small batches back in June/July. I made a cherry melomel using
3 pounds frozen, pitted sweet cherries
4 pounds clover honey
a cup of OJ
half packet of Lalvin 1116 champagne yeast
1 gallon of spring water
pectic enzyme (breaks down fruit and clear the mead)
After about 7 days, the fermentation was complete, so I transferred it to a 1 gallon growler, and then, after another week, "racked" it into another growler. Alcohol is around 18%. After adding some yeast killer (cambden tablet), I backsweetened it with a 1/2 pound of orange blossom honey.
Of course, I tasted it every time we handled it. It was pretty dry, like a white wine. After the backsweetening, it is pretty delicious.
I made another batch a couple of week ago, very similar, but with a mix of sweet and tart cherries, I used 4 pounds of Orange Blossom honey and 12 oz. of OJ. I racked it last week and did the cambden tablet last Friday. I backsweetened it yesterday with 3/4 pound of OJ honey. This one is bada$$. The first one I let sit on the yeast a little too long, so it's got a kind of beer like aftertaste. It should fade. But this next one is BAM! Alky is similar at around 16-18% (estimated).
Now, what I found interesting is if you're drinking 1oo proof liquor in a mixed drink, adding a 1.5 oz shot to a cup and then say 8 oz of coke/whatever, you're diluting the 50% alcohol to around 6%, the typical beer is 4.5-7%.
The mead is 12% on the low end, and up to (depending on the yeast and honey) near 20%, but it doesn't taste strong. It's more like a sweet wine-like liqueur than wine or beer. And the buzz you end up with is slowing coming on, like you drink a 8-10 oz glass and thirty minutes later you find yourself giggling.
For anyone interested in the how to-, it's pretty simple, and then again, a not-exact science, but goes like this (with a million variations)
Get a clean 2-5 gallon bucket (you're gonna fill it proportionately, so don't use a 5 gallon bucket to make 1 gallon because air space matters) with a tight sealing lid and a hole for an airlock (or balloon).
Sanitize all of the gear you'll use (bottles, spoons, buckets growlers, wine thief, hydrometer- the kit fomr online places is around $50, and then you'll need bottles to rack it into for aging).
get the ingredients some variation of what I listed above (other fruits or honeys, but the quantity is about typical)
heat the water to 160-1700 and add the honey and mix well, then add the fruit. The heat kills wild yeast. Cool it to around 80. (some folks add fruit later, after fermentation is complete)
add the yeast into some warm (follow yeast directions) spring water to let it wake up.
After it produces a little bit of bubbles (so you know it's alive) pitch it into the bucket with the fruit/honey/water. Seal the lid with the airlock or balloon and give the bucket a good shake to aerate the must (the mix). Then watch it bubble for the next few days. Some folks add more yeast nutrient. That's what the OJ is supposed to do. I didn't add more on the first batch, but did on the second because it got smell, which is a sign that the yeast is stressed (starving?). There is a point at which fermentation stops. Either there is too much alcohol for yeast to survive (YAY!!) or there is no more sugar.
After it's done fermenting, you transfer it off of the dead yeast to prevent the dead yeast from yielding unwanted flavors (beer, bread, etc.) Then you can either let it sit and age (for the yeast to die) or kill/stop the yeast, then bottle it.
Both of my batches came out about the color of a cherry jolly rancher and very clear.
I'll be taking my hooch to Thanksgiving/Christmas for a little forced holiday cheer!!
A buddy and I bought the gear to make some small batches back in June/July. I made a cherry melomel using
3 pounds frozen, pitted sweet cherries
4 pounds clover honey
a cup of OJ
half packet of Lalvin 1116 champagne yeast
1 gallon of spring water
pectic enzyme (breaks down fruit and clear the mead)
After about 7 days, the fermentation was complete, so I transferred it to a 1 gallon growler, and then, after another week, "racked" it into another growler. Alcohol is around 18%. After adding some yeast killer (cambden tablet), I backsweetened it with a 1/2 pound of orange blossom honey.
Of course, I tasted it every time we handled it. It was pretty dry, like a white wine. After the backsweetening, it is pretty delicious.
I made another batch a couple of week ago, very similar, but with a mix of sweet and tart cherries, I used 4 pounds of Orange Blossom honey and 12 oz. of OJ. I racked it last week and did the cambden tablet last Friday. I backsweetened it yesterday with 3/4 pound of OJ honey. This one is bada$$. The first one I let sit on the yeast a little too long, so it's got a kind of beer like aftertaste. It should fade. But this next one is BAM! Alky is similar at around 16-18% (estimated).
Now, what I found interesting is if you're drinking 1oo proof liquor in a mixed drink, adding a 1.5 oz shot to a cup and then say 8 oz of coke/whatever, you're diluting the 50% alcohol to around 6%, the typical beer is 4.5-7%.
The mead is 12% on the low end, and up to (depending on the yeast and honey) near 20%, but it doesn't taste strong. It's more like a sweet wine-like liqueur than wine or beer. And the buzz you end up with is slowing coming on, like you drink a 8-10 oz glass and thirty minutes later you find yourself giggling.
For anyone interested in the how to-, it's pretty simple, and then again, a not-exact science, but goes like this (with a million variations)
Get a clean 2-5 gallon bucket (you're gonna fill it proportionately, so don't use a 5 gallon bucket to make 1 gallon because air space matters) with a tight sealing lid and a hole for an airlock (or balloon).
Sanitize all of the gear you'll use (bottles, spoons, buckets growlers, wine thief, hydrometer- the kit fomr online places is around $50, and then you'll need bottles to rack it into for aging).
get the ingredients some variation of what I listed above (other fruits or honeys, but the quantity is about typical)
heat the water to 160-1700 and add the honey and mix well, then add the fruit. The heat kills wild yeast. Cool it to around 80. (some folks add fruit later, after fermentation is complete)
add the yeast into some warm (follow yeast directions) spring water to let it wake up.
After it produces a little bit of bubbles (so you know it's alive) pitch it into the bucket with the fruit/honey/water. Seal the lid with the airlock or balloon and give the bucket a good shake to aerate the must (the mix). Then watch it bubble for the next few days. Some folks add more yeast nutrient. That's what the OJ is supposed to do. I didn't add more on the first batch, but did on the second because it got smell, which is a sign that the yeast is stressed (starving?). There is a point at which fermentation stops. Either there is too much alcohol for yeast to survive (YAY!!) or there is no more sugar.
After it's done fermenting, you transfer it off of the dead yeast to prevent the dead yeast from yielding unwanted flavors (beer, bread, etc.) Then you can either let it sit and age (for the yeast to die) or kill/stop the yeast, then bottle it.
Both of my batches came out about the color of a cherry jolly rancher and very clear.
I'll be taking my hooch to Thanksgiving/Christmas for a little forced holiday cheer!!
