Mead I have Known: Golden Delicious

One of my favorite meads to drink is batch 3-004: Golden Delicious. This cyser embodies Autumn for me and is smooth, sweet without being cloying, and oh so tasty with a lovely touch of cinnamon.

In addition, this cyser won silver at the 2010 Cactus Challenge and took less than four months from brew (6.16.07) to bottle (10.6.07)! The only downside to this cyser is that I am almost out and I need to hoard the few remaining bottles in my cellar. Perhaps I need to start a new batch--soon. Here is the recipe; please let me know if you start a batch of your own.

3-004

• 1 gal clover honey
• Apple juice to 5 gal
• 1 lb dark brown sugar
• 1.12 oz apple pie spice
• 1 vanilla bean (secondary)
• 3 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 pk K1V-1116
• OG: 1.138
• FG: 1.014
• ABV: 17.1%

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

2011 Cactus Challenge Results

The results are in! I did not do as well as I hoped, but at least I won a ribbon:

MEADS
2nd ROBERT SCHAFER
ALE-IAN SOCIETY
LITTLE JOE'S CREAM SODA MEAD

Here is the recipe!
Wassail!

Peach Cinnamon Melomel

My arm is feeling better so I decided to make some mead! I went to Wal-Fart and discovered that peaches were on sale for $.75/lb so I grabbed some and got busy. I love the peach/cinnamon flavor combination and I am hoping for a dry, peach mead with a touch of cinnamon. When I sampled the must it was fantastic and distinctly reminded me of peach pie (mmm... peach pie). Hopefully, it will translate into some tasty mead that should be ready for next summer.

Here are the specs:

7-006

• 10 lbs fresh, ripe peaches (pureed)


• 12 lbs clover honey


• 1 cinnamon stick (pureed with peaches)


• 3 tsp yeast nutrient


• 4 gal water


• KIV-1116


• OG: 1.094

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

Batch 6-004: Kokopelli

Today was another busy day in the cider! I racked 6-005 the pumpkin cider (OG: 1.050; SG: 1.004; ABV: 6.1%) and I added 5 cinnamon sticks (crushed) and 2 vanilla beans to the secondary. I really hope that it tastes like pumpkin pie! Mmm... pumpkin pie...

I also bottled Kokopelli, 6-004 the habañero cider (OG: 1.050; FG: 1.002; ABV: 6.4%). I can not believe how quickly these ciders clear! The color is a clear gold and the apple flavor coupled with the habañero burn... oh, so tasty! This should be a crowd pleaser on a cold, autumn evening around the bon fire.

Finally, I am preparing my entries for The Hoppy Halloween Challenge 2010. I am sending The Prickly Pecker and the Kokopelli--even though it is so young. I can't wait to see how the are rated!

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

Cactus Challenge 2010 Results

Tonight the award winners from the 2010 Cactus Challenge were announced during the award ceremony. Earlier in the day I went to help judge a couple of beer styles and met in person a few of the people from Ale-ian Society (the host of the Cactus Challenge) that I only know from the forum. It is sad, really, as I do live in the same town as these folks. I helped judge the Brown Ales and Fruit Beers entries.

Although I had to leave the judging around 1pm, Nancy and I did make it back for the dinner and awards ceremony and we had a great time. The folks at theAle-ian Society are all good people. We sat with a couple from Plainview, TX and laughed so hard we were crying. They shared with us a wonderful, tasty Jalapeno Ale that they entered (it won 2nd in the Spice/Herb & Vegetable Beers category). Also, we bought 6 raffle tickets for $5 and Nancy won a t-shirt and a $10 gift certificate to a brew shop. Good times.

You may recall that I entered meads into three categories: cyser, traditional, and other. Unfortunately, they did not have enough mead entries to judge in separate categories so they combined all the mead entries into one category. Here are the results:

• First Place: Safari Bob, Mockingbird Alley aka Prickly Pecker (Southwestern Cyser--prickly pear)


• Second Place: Safari Bob, Golden Delicious (Cyser)


• Third Place: Safari Bob, Desert Goat (Traditional)

I was shocked! Of course I thought that maybe I was the only one to enter meads but there were three others submitted (LOL!). So out of 6, I had the best three. Not exactly a big deal but I'll take it!

I was told that the prickly pear made it to the last 7 (of 35) in the Best of Show, however. I suppose they could be pulling my leg; those guys are ornery and the kegs were getting low!

View Cactus Challenge 2010 results here.

Wassail!

-Safari Bob

Batch 6-002: Cream Soda Mead

Today I finally got around to brewing a new batch of mead. I was inspired after Nancy and I were at the local grocery store and she confided that she loves Frostie Blue Cream Soda which happened to be on the shelf. I thought, "Hey! I could make a mead like that!"

The real question is whether or not to add blue food coloring. I have never used anything like this in any of my meads. Does anyone out there have experience using food color in mead? I have heard of green dye used for St. Patrick's Day but I have never sampled any. In any event, here is the recipe:

6-002

Primary:

• 15 lbs Clover Honey
  
• Juice of 1 Lemon
  
• 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
  
• 1 pkt K1V-1116
  
• Water to 5 gal
  
• OG: 1.120
  

Secondary:

• Cream Soda Extract
  
• 1 Vanilla Bean
  
• Blue Food Coloring?
  

-Safari Bob

Batch 5-001: Southwestern Cyser

Tonight Nancy and I brewed our first batch together: a southwestern cyser. Here's the recipe:

5-001
1 gallon clover honey
3 pints prickly pear nectar
3+ gallon apple juice (to 5 gallon)
2 lbs dark brown sugar
5 tbsp yeast nutrient
2.5 tsp pectin enzyme
1 50gm EC-1118 (hydrated)

Secondary (planned)
4-6 cinnamon sticks
2-4 habenero peppers
2 vanilla beans?

OG: 1.170 (potential ABV: 22.31%)

-Safari Bob

Autumn Hearth Takes Bronze

I just received word that Autumn Hearth, the pumpkin cyser, took 3rd place at the Valhalla - The Meading of Life! Woo Hoo! This mead was entered in the "Other Mead" category described as:

Other Mead (26C) - a honey-based beverage that either combines ingredients from two or more of the other mead sub-categories, or is a mead that does not fit into any other category.

-Safari Bob

Pumpkin Cyser Update

I racked the Pumpkin Cyser yesterday and discovered about 2" of lees in the bottom of the carboy. I also added 4 cinnamon sticks and a whole vanilla bean to the secondary. SG: 1.022.

Also, I am contemplating a new mead project: a chocolate mead. From what I read, the chocolate takes a longer time to age because of "oils" contained in the coca. I can find nothing more specific about this but most agree that the finished product is worth the wait. I hope to have a viable recipe by next weekend.

In addition, I bottled a traditional mead made from blackberry honey. I will post the finished stats soon.

-Safari Bob

Pumpkin Cyser

Today, I finally pulled the trigger and took a shot at a pumpkin cyser. Here is the recipe:

Primary
3 gal Apple Cider (pasteurized)
1 gal distilled water
12 lbs Clover Honey
15 oz Libby's Pumpkin (no additives)
2 lbs brown sugar
2.5 tsp pectin enzyme
5 tsp yeast nutrient
1 packet EC-1118 (hydrated)

Secondary (Planned)
4 Cinnamon Sticks
4-8 cloves
1 vanilla bean (whole)

Steps
First I boiled 1/2 gal of water, reduced to 170 F, and slowly dissolved the pumpkin while stirring.

Next, I sterilized the carboy, added the nutrient, enzyme and 2 gal cider.

Next, I removed must from heat, added honey and brown sugar slowly until dissolved.

Finally, added must and hydrated yeast to carboy. Topped off with cider to 5 gal.

OG: 1.51 (20.1% ABV).

-Safari Bob