Apple Pie Cyser Mead

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I also haven't had a lot to post about. I've tried a few new beers here and there, but not to the extent I used to. In fact, I don't even recall the last time I did a pick-6 at all, let alone with something new...

But that's not what this post is about. Early last year, I started to collect the ingredients to make an Apple Pie Cyser from the recipe I found on Russ Whalley's website. Finally, on October 28, 2015, I brewed up a 3 gallon batch.

And they're off (October 28, 2015)

Making this mead taught me a few things:

1. Yeast expires - The yeast I have "expired" in 2014 and I didn't realize that until after it was pitched into the mead. After a few days with little to no activity, I looked at the remaining packets closer and saw the date. Needless to say, each gallon jug received at least another yeast packet each to use up all the remaining yeast. After that, it took off.
2. Spices = foam - This was the first real Metheglin (a mead with spices) I've made, so I didn't know just how much the extra spices would cause it to foam. You can see in the photo above that my airlocks are filled with the foam. I had to clean them out several times in the first few weeks as they kept foaming over. My counter and cabinets were also covered in a nice sticky film (my wife loved that part...).

I let it sit in primary for about a month. By then, I had acquired a 5 gallon bottle (garage sale for 25 cents = WIN!) and I siphoned the cyser into it (along with adding the juice concentrate and extra honey) and it's been sitting there ever since.

I took a quick taste around Christmas last year after it had been sitting in secondary for about a month and was worried about it. Something just didn't taste right, but I know from experience that meads get better with time so I waited. Fast forward another month and I decided to take a pull to a friends house for the first "real" tasting. It turned out amazing.

It's not too sweet and not too tart. The spices are fairly mellow, but you can get the good flavor from it. It's a bit dryer than I expected it to be, but it's still very nice. And the clarity is beautiful. For future batches I really need to get a hydrometer so I can measure the ABV. I don't know where it landed, but a full wine glass worth leaves you feeling good. :) And I definitely prefer it chilled.

Even after the rough start and some lessons learned, I believe I will be trying this mead again in the future. I'm not one to pat myself on the back, but I'll make an exception for this. :)

Mead Batch #2

This post is quite a bit past due, but I have my second batch of mead working away, aiming for it to be ready for Christmas. This batch was actually started on July 31, 2013...

I followed the same steps I did in my first batch, so I'll skip that dialog of the process. With the first batch, I added spices to create flavor. This time, I opted for something better. I used fresh blackberries and cherries!

All the ingredients ready to go.

I used Clover Honey this time (first batch was "wildflower") and the finest fruit Walmart had to offer.

Happy must (and a curious "helper" who wanted to taste the fruit)

Fruit is loaded and ready to go. Those cherries took a while to prepare...

And they're off to a good start.

Even though I poured out about half a gallon of water off the containers, I still had a lot of must left over. Fortunately, I still had the honey container, so I now have the 2 berry batches and one more that's plain. That plain one bubbled madly with all the extra honey for the yeast to feast on!

It's been almost 2 months and all the fermenting has stopped for the most part. I pulled the balloons off the two berry containers and tasted a sample of each before putting their lids back on (I was smart and saved them this time!). These two are turning out much better than the first batch already. They didn't taste like nail polish!

Next step will be to rack them into glass jars. I have two gallon sized jugs ready, they just need to be sanitized. I also need to get a hose to siphon the mead into the jugs. I'm not sure what to do with the plain mead. I might see if there is extra space in the jugs and add the plain into them.

I'm excited to see how these turn out with a few more months of maturing!

Mead - Lessons Learned and Batch #2

I learned my lesson the hard way with my first batch of mead. It was tasting so good too, but I wound up dumping over half of it out because it became so tainted it was sickening. What's the lesson? Never leave your mead in plastic bottles!

My hunch is that the alcohol was eating away at the plastic and it finally reached a point where it leeched so much that it turned the mead. It was nasty. I'll do the initial ferment in plastic bottles as others have proven it works well, but for batch #2, I'll actually rack it into glass bottles (as soon as I can find some cheaply).

Luckily it wasn't all lost and some of the mead is still good. It's my "plain" mead that still good. It was still in a plastic bottle, but a different type of bottle than the others. I'll be transferring it out into something glass soon to ensure it doesn't go bad. It's been 9 months so far and I love it.

Coming up next will be 2 more gallon sized batches and I'm going to be getting a little more creative this time. One bottle will contain a Cherry Mead (Black Cherry if I can find them) and the other will be Blackberry. I've got all the ingredients I need except for the fruit. As soon as I pick it up, I'll mix up the next batch and post again.

Mead Update, Wine and More - A Long Overdue Update

I just realized I haven't posted anything here since last year and it's almost April! Sheesh! No, I haven't given up my beer journey, but I have slowed down quite a bit with a lack of funding being the main reason.

Mert's Milk

Before I get started, I must say this post is over a beer that you will not find in stores anywhere. It's a 100% pure, Ozark made Homebrew brewed by a rookie brew-master. He calls his beer "Mert's Milk", and it is very good.

Silver Batch

His story began when he stumbled upon an unused homebrew kit relatively inexpensive. It came with a Pale Ale kit of unknown age or origin, but he was going to brew it anyways as it was a good place to start. While cooking everything up, he accidentally overcooked the malt extract which created a much darker Pale Ale than intended and gave it a more caramelized flavor. This first batch, which I'll call his "Silver Batch" because of the silver bottle caps, had a great malt flavor that was heavy yet smooth.

Orange Batch

His second batch was supposed to be a Maple Beer, but the maple flavor was so mild, it was hard to distinguish it. This second batch, the "Orange Batch", was slightly hoppier than the first and more of a lighter gold color. This brew was bottle conditioned with a little extra yeast. By the time I finished my last bottle, you could tell the yeast were still working away as it kept getting a little more stout. As for the maple, it was there. Once the beer began to warm up a little, the hint of maple came out. This second brew also produced a massive head and I had a hard time keeping it from overflowing.

His third and fourth batches are going to be a special holiday blend in time for Christmas followed by a California Pale Ale that he will be triple hopping around New Years. I can't wait.

My hat is off to Mert's Milk. I've loved the first two batches and look forward to future ones (and I'm not just saying that because I know you'll read this...) I only hope some day I'll be able to brew my own beers right along with you.

Before I sign off, I'd like to give a quick Mead update. I took a taste of my plain mead a while ago. It was only about a month or so since I started it, so it was still quite a bit cloudy. After the first swig, well, let's just hope another month of fermenting does the trick...

Mead!

I did it at last!

No more talk, I have finally created my first batch of Mead, and it was so simple! I went with a "economical" recipe (aka cheap) that was literally honey, yeast and bottled water.

I started by visiting The Home Brewery in Ozark, Missouri for my main ingredients. They consisted of a 5 pound container of pure wildflower honey, a package of Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast, and a small package of Yeast Nutrient. Total cost, with tax, $22.51. Next, I visited a local Dollar Tree and picked up two 1 gallon jugs of spring water. Total cost, with tax, $2.15.

And that was all my shopping. Nothing else. Total cost for my first batch of Mead was $24.66. Now, onto the production using things I already had around the house.

All of my supplies. (The Mother's cup is the yeast reactivating in water.)

One of the big things everything I read about said was sanitation. Everything that touched the Must (honey water) had to be sanitized, and I took this very seriously. I grabbed the largest stock pot I had out of the cabinet and filled it with warm water until there was approximately a gallon in the bottom. I next added 1 teaspoon of plain bleach to the water and mixed it in. Next, every utensil shown here, including the balloons, took a bath in the bleach water. After a very thorough rinse I was off running.

Happy yeast bubbling
away.

First thing I did was put the yeast into a cup of water to get it reactivating. That sat for about 20 minutes or so until it was nice and bubbly. While the yeast was doing it's thing, I put the container of honey into warm water to make it a little easier to pour.

With those two things set up, I next poured the water into the big stock pot and added the 2 teaspoons of nutrient. To that went the 5 pounds of honey and  my cup of now ready yeast. I stirred vigorously to mix everything up well and aerate the water some.

Finally, it came time to pour it into the bottles. This was a little nerve wrecking, but I went slow and steady and it went okay. Last thing I wanted to do was spill my first batch of Mead!

Mixing the honey into the water meant it wasn't going to fit back into the original gallon jugs. Luckily I had an empty bottle from my girls' juice that hadn't been recycled yet. It was maybe 1/2 gallon in size and turned out to be perfect. Plus it gave me another opportunity to try flavoring it.

So now I have 3 beautiful bottles of Mead ready to ferment. I left one of the gallon bottles 100% plain. To the other gallon bottle, I added 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. I would have added a raw vanilla bean, but remember, I'm doing this cheaply. To the last small bottle, I added about 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg as I read that made a good flavoring.

To top it all off, I put a balloon on top of each container and poked a hole in each balloon. This will allow the CO2 to escape without letting anything back in. A very cheap airlock!

Voila! Now we just have to wait...

And with that, the Mead is essentially done. Now all I have to do is wait for it to ferment. I'm planning on siphoning off a few bottles worth around Christmas to try it out and I'll let the rest sit much longer. I can't wait!

Now for the numbers. Like I said before, total cost of the supplies, for about 2-1/2 gallons of Mead, was $24.66. We'll call it $25 for easier math. I was looking around a bit online and from what I saw, the average price for a 750ml bottle of Mead was about $15. 2.5 gallons = 9463 milliliters. 9463 milliliters / 750 milliliters = 12.6. So, what I just made would equal about 12 750ml bottles of store bought Mead. At $15 each, that is $180.00. I just made $180.00 worth of Mead for only $25.00. Now that is what I call economical!