Brew #5: Cherry Mead
This mead, which I am subtitling ("Cherry-picked, not at all like your data!") is taken from Vargas and Gulling's "Making Wild Wines and Meads". Technically this is a melomel because it is flavored with fruit. The description they give this mead in the book was mouth-watering: "...(this mead) has everything: attractive; clear red color; flavor that is a complex blend of cherries and honey; a pleasant bouquet; and a lovely, lingering aftertaste that seduces with every sip." Let's give it a try!
INGREDIENTS
For 1 gallon of mead:
3 lb. clover honey
1 lb. dark or sour cherries, halved, with pits (got mine frozen at Safeway)
1 Tbsp. acid blend
1 Tsp. pectic enzyme
1 Campden tablet (optional)
1 package of champagne yeast
1 Tsp. yeast nutrient
1 1/2 cups of orange juice (!)
PROCEDURE
1. Boil the honey and the water (1 parts honey to 2 parts water) for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. Warning here - the delicate flavors in the honey can become altered if you boil for too long, so best keep it to a minimum.
2. Pour the hot honey mix over the cherries in a bucket and let cool. Strain into your sterilized carboy.
3. Add the acid, pectic enzyme, and enough water to make 1 gallon. Add the Campden tablet if desired and let this mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.
4. In a jar make the yeast starter culture by combining the yeast, yeast nutrient, and OJ. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1-3 hours. Then add to the must (i.e., the honey/cherry mix).
5. Apply the airlock and allow fermentation to occur for a few weeks. About an inch of yeast accumulated on the bottom during this time! Once things died down I racked to a new carboy to get it off the old yeast, and let it sit another 4 months. The book says to incubate for nearly a year with two rackings, but I'm impatient and the mead did not look very active after the first racking.
INGREDIENTS
For 1 gallon of mead:
3 lb. clover honey
1 lb. dark or sour cherries, halved, with pits (got mine frozen at Safeway)
1 Tbsp. acid blend
1 Tsp. pectic enzyme
1 Campden tablet (optional)
1 package of champagne yeast
1 Tsp. yeast nutrient
1 1/2 cups of orange juice (!)
PROCEDURE
1. Boil the honey and the water (1 parts honey to 2 parts water) for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. Warning here - the delicate flavors in the honey can become altered if you boil for too long, so best keep it to a minimum.
2. Pour the hot honey mix over the cherries in a bucket and let cool. Strain into your sterilized carboy.
3. Add the acid, pectic enzyme, and enough water to make 1 gallon. Add the Campden tablet if desired and let this mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.
4. In a jar make the yeast starter culture by combining the yeast, yeast nutrient, and OJ. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1-3 hours. Then add to the must (i.e., the honey/cherry mix).
5. Apply the airlock and allow fermentation to occur for a few weeks. About an inch of yeast accumulated on the bottom during this time! Once things died down I racked to a new carboy to get it off the old yeast, and let it sit another 4 months. The book says to incubate for nearly a year with two rackings, but I'm impatient and the mead did not look very active after the first racking.
MUSINGS & MISHAPS
I had a taste when I racked this mead and was surprised at how dry it tasted relative to the Black Russian Science Mead I made long ago. Not cloying at all - much like a champagne with a hint of cherry flavor. Actually, I was disappointed that a much of the "cherri-ness" had disappeared. This turns out to be an effect of using champagne yeast rather than mead yeast. Mead yeast will leave you with much more sweetness.
For bottling I added a bit of corn sugar to make this a sparkling beverage. We'll see how well it carbonates over the next few weeks.
posted by Kate @ 7:23 AM
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