Merry Meadery
Homebrewcon 2022 - 6/23-6/25
We're super excited to attend our first Homebrewcon. This convention is being hosted at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
We are looking forward to meeting and learning from experienced brewers. Hopefully, we will get some inspiration before announcing our Fall lineup - although I do have one new flavor almost ready to debut.
To share with my peers, I'm bringing my 3rd attempt at a Braggot. This time it's modeled after a Blue Moon Clone recipe with accommodations for honey as the predominant sugar. Due to the addition of malt, this Mead-Beer isn't a qualifying product within my license but it's always fun to brew something! Here's the recipe:
Braggot (V3) - 5 Gal
6.5lb Orange Blossom Honey
3.16lb Pale Ale LME
2.5 lb Bavarian Wheat LME
1 ounce Hallertau Mittlefruh Pellets
1/2 Tbl Coriander
1 Orange Peel
Fermentis SafAle - US-05 Beer Yeast
Process: Hop pellets were low-boiled (approx.104-110 degrees F) for half an hour and then filtered into a brewing vessel. Coriander, orange peel, and all sugars are added. Boiling, or warmed water should be added up to 3/4th of the desired volume. Mix and aerate well while adding the remaining water.
SG: 1.075
This batch was then bottle-conditioned for 6 weeks using 8oz of honey as priming sugar.
FG: 1.015
Approx 8.2% ABV
Verdict? - Palatable. A little sweet but it stopped when it wanted. Good thing too because the ethanol has a kick. Can't wait to get more feedback at Homebrewcon!
JAOM - Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead walkthrough - Posted 3/01/2022
Hi, I’m Mike owner of Merry Meadery. Welcome to my very first blog!
Today I’m going to guide you through making a popular homebrew mead recipe called Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead - recipe credit: Joe Mattioli. This recipe calls for some practices not typically observed in meadmaking, like using bread yeast or orange pith, but is done here to produce a particular flavor profile.
Of course, I can’t make mead without something to drink, so tonight I’ll be imbibing a bottle of my creation: a fig and apricot mead I call Fn’A.
Step 1: Ingredient and Equipment Prep
First, we want to make sure we have everything we need for our mead and prepare our produce.
Equipment you’ll need:
1 Gallon Jug w/cap
1 Bubble Air-lock w/stopper
Funnel
Clean Cloth/Towel
*Optional* - Hydrometer
This recipe requires:
1 Orange - Sliced. Both pith and flesh.
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Clove
25 Raisins
Bread Yeast
.. And 3.5 lbs of Honey
At least 24 hours before brewing, scrub and slice your orange, dice your raisins, and freeze them. Freezing fruit helps the yeast find the fructose more efficiently.
Step 2: Sanitation
The most important step in any homebrew adventure is sanitizing your equipment; an infected batch can grow mold and make you sick.
I prefer using this OneStep powdered cleaner. I use 1 tablespoon per gallon of water and let the equipment soak for at least 30 seconds before letting them dry completely on a clean cloth.
Step 3: Mixing your Must
A Must is a honey-water mixture, that we’re making next, before the addition of yeast for fermentation. As you can see, I already have my honey measured, so I will add my formally frozen fruit from yesterday.
Cinnamon and clove are potent in brewing, so spice sparingly. One of each will work.
Add warm water up to 2/3rds of the way. Hotter water allows the honey to incorporate easier. Place the cap on the bottle, shake vigorously until combined and aerated.
*Optional Step*
If you’re curious about the sugar concentration in your must, you’ll need a Hydrometer. This tool tells us two things:
Specific Gravity and Potential Alcohol Content.
Specific Gravity describes the density of sugar in the solution.
Taking Specific Gravity readings regularly will tell you when fermentation is complete. As the yeast replaces the sugar with ethanol, the density decreases, and the alcohol content rises.
Step 4: Pitch and Put Away
Add 1 teaspoon of bread yeast and apply the stopper with a bubble air-lock.
Place the jug in a dark, temperature-controlled area for at least two months. This stage of the mead-making process is called primary fermentation; this is when most of the honey and fruit sugars are eaten by the yeast to produce alcohol.
Come join us again soon to discuss racking your mead into secondary fermentation, aka clarifying or bottle-conditioning.