Starting to experiment even more. Purists would not approve...My club holds

[OpenSights]

I’ve brewed beer, made cider, but sitting on 3+ gallons of honey I have yet to make a mead or even a cyser.

So a couple of weeks back battling a root infested sewer line I got to thinking about doing something crazy. Making a beer/cider/mead.

My club holds a competition every month on different styles of home brew with one or two commercial/craft controls. We have a braget coming up which is what started my thoughts on this.

1 gallon of water
3# Pilsen light dme
30 minute boil
30 minute Kohatu (6.4%)
5 minute Kohatu
3 gallons cider
1 gallon mixed organic pure juice (cranberry, blueberry, pomegranate, red carrot.. bunch of other “power antioxidant” juices
Yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme
Us-05

Going to wait about four/five weeks and rack.

Haven’t decided on the honey yet, I don’t want to go the full 12#s for 5 gallons, thinking more like 2-3#s with a couple cups of warm water and nutrient. Then a package of champagne yeast. Should kill off remainder us-05 and ferment out.

Might turn out like turpentine, might be tasty. Time will tell. Kinda one of those hodgepodge, what do I have laying around ideas. Only ingredient I bought for this was the dme.

Thoughts?

 

[_HH_]

Are you in prison? Why is there miscellaneous juice in there?!

 

[dmtaylor]

This will likely take a couple of months to ferment out, not 4-5 weeks. If you ferment warm to speed up fermentation, expect burning fusels and headaches.

 

[OpenSights]

I don’t expect this to be ready quickly, in fact, I’m guessing it won’t be drinkable for about a year.

As far as juice goes, I keep a eye open for them on sale/clearance. The antioxidant juice I used in this one I picked up for a buck and change, normally $5 something each.

 

[Psywar]

I recently made a Lager like this and it turned out really well.

Yeast: Fermentis Saflager S-23 (Ideal Fermentation Range 53F)
1lb Rye Malt
.5 lbs. Honey Malt
.5 lbs. of Crystal 120L (Get rid of the tartness and add sweetness)
1 oz. of torrified wheat (head retention)
4 Gallons of apple juice
1 lbs. of DME
0.5 oz. of Cascade Hops
2-3 lbs. Honey

It sounds like yours will be pretty good as well.

 

[dmtaylor]

I don’t expect this to be ready quickly, in fact, I’m guessing it won’t be drinkable for about a year.

Oh, okay, good.

For whatever it's worth, I'm currently making mead, cider, and a Kolsch all separately, then after all the fermentations are complete, I will experiment with different blends to find out what I think works best. Something to consider.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

One thing I have been learning as I play with wine, cider, and braggot, is that dry fruit-based beverages tend to have strong tart flavors. Blueberry wine at 0.996 is tart and blue and doesn't trigger that "blueberry!" taste in the brain; the same for banana wine. The both have that je ne sais quoi of the base fruit, but only if you forget about just how sweet those fruits actually are.

The braggot I brewed last November, with 5 pounds of honey added in stages to primary in a 3g recipie, with a base 1.080 imperial brown plus gingerbread spice, is really nice now. Effective OG was 1.120 (including honey), with a FG 1.020. It won't carbonate, but it drinks nice.

 

[JimRausch]

I make a graf each year- usually 55% wort and 45% cider. One year I did kick up the OG by adding 1 lb honey, and I also add 1 lb. of cranberries, so I guess that's somewhat similar.
If you don't go crazy with the OG, this may be something that's drinkable much sooner than a year. Keep the OG in the 1.060-1.070 range and ferment it with an ale yeast (I've used US-05, S-04, Nottingham, and this year Denny's 1450).
And above all, let us know how the experiment turns out!

 

[OpenSights]

Tonight was my club meeting, usual turnout, about 25 or so, new members too.

I’m at a decision point... the kraeusen dropped probably two weeks ago with no activity in the airlock since. Probably five to six weeks in now... wasn’t sure if I really wanted to post this experiment here in the first place.

I talked with a friend who is more of a mead/wine guy who’s getting into beer and braggets about my addition.

Now since I started with a beer/cider, aeration would be bad. Poor planning on my part...?!

Between three of my friends and I, I think I’m going to ferment this abomination in a corny keg. Liquify the honey to no more than 116 degrees, put in a corny, shake it vigorously, then add champagne yeast, gas side blow off tube.

A year ago I didn’t know squat. I still don’t. At least I’m learning.