Snowberry mead suggestions

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JTehFreakS

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I just ordered 2 gallons of snowberry honey for some mead making, and I'm planning on making a traditional mead from some of it; about 15lbs of it will go into a 5 gallon batch and I'm thinking of using some EC-1118 to get it nice and dry, but since this is only my second batch, I'd love to hear other yeast suggestions from you guys.

The rest of the honey I want to experiment with; I've read that snowberry honey has a bit of a butterscotch flavor to it, and I'd love to bring that out more or compliment it; the problem is, I'm not exactly sure what pairs well with butterscotch, since I usually just toss the stuff on ice cream and call it a day. Anyone here have some experience with this honey or have any pointers I should follow?
 
Well I'm not familiar with the honey, if it's a nice varietal, it'd be a waste to use EC1118.

It blows to much of the volatiles straight out the airlock.

That's not to say it isn't a good yeast, it is, but only if you want a bland white style brew, IMO.... it has other qualities that are useful too, just not preserving the subtleties of aroma and finer flavour......

K1-V1116 will dry it out just as well while preserving those aromas and flavours in a traditional......
 
I think it's more nutty than butterscotchy, but I used it in my vanilla hydromel (bochet), and that came out pretty good.

I've still got 7.5 pounds of it and I'll likely have a traditional in there, probably another Lambic, and a hydromel.
 
/\ (just to be a smarty pants) Actually snowberries are poisonous so it's hard to say if the honey is close to the berry like orange blossom honey.
 
I talked to a few people at work, and it sounds like vanilla and cinnamon would go pretty good with this honey. How many cinnamon sticks/vanilla pods would you recommend for a 5 gallon batch? I don't want those flavors to be center stage, more like compliments to the supposed butterscotchy flavor of the honey.

I also assume that it'd be best to have these spices sit in the secondary; also, should I open up the vanilla/crack the cinnamon before chucking it into the carboy, or will having it sit in the carboy unbroken work just as well? On another note, should I just make some extract from the spices and then add those instead?

Heh, so many questions, but this is going to be my second batch and I don't want to waste the honey! Thanks for the information about EC-1118 vs K1-V1116, I've never even heard of that information regarding yeast strains. If I were to go with a more semi-dry, would I want to try D-47 instead?
 
D-47 would work nice, just need to keep it under 70 degrees during the ferment or it will create fusels. Slice the vanilla beans lengthwise and add in secondary. Good luck.
 
Just got the honey in a few days ago and it's some awesome tasting stuff; it definitely is more nutty than butterscotchy. The wife and I decided to go with some orange peel/zest along with the vanilla and cinnamon. I'll keep you guys up to date as progress is made!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I finally had time to get to brewing today and here's the recipe so far:

15L Ozarka Spring Water
15lbs Snowberry Honey
5g Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast

5tsp Yeast Nutrient (DAP)
2.5tsp Yeast Energizer

OG = 1.106 @ 86F

I went with the no heat method for this batch, and have decided to stagger the addition of nutrient and energizer. Before pitching the yeast, I added 2tsp of nutrient and 1tsp of energizer; the remaining amounts (1tsp/.5tsp) will be added every day for the next three days, after I degas the must.

When primary is complete, I'll add the following spices to secondary:

2 Madagascar Vanilla Beans
1oz Ceylon Cinnamon
1oz Cracked Galangal Root

I'm not too sure how to add the galangal, I might just dump it in with the other spices and let it all sit for about two weeks before I try tasting it. Any suggestions before I transfer to secondary?
 
Alright, I just racked this to secondary, here's an album with a few pics I took:
https://imgur.com/a/Qf1BH

It looks like the Galangal Root is the only thing floating on top of the must; we'll see if it eventually sinks or not, I might be swirling the carboy once or twice a day to get the slight ginger flavor distributed throughout the mead. It finished at 1.006, putting this at 13.39% ABV. The first sample tastes pretty good, definitely easier to drink than my first mead right out of primary, can't wait to taste it after the everything has soaked in. I think I'll be calling this one Snowberry Spice.
 
An old thread, but I'm going to pick up a couple of gallons of snowberry honey to evaluate.
 

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