Hi everyone!
I'm a experimented beer homebrewer, and I'm in fact a pro brewer. I'm also a homebrewing teacher. Well, all that to say that I'm not a neewbie that is just really excited to brew the biggest thing of all.
I have a very special event (my nephew/godson's birth) that I want to mark with a very special Cuvée of something that will age for the next 18 years (at least). My speciality is beer, but beers doesn't age (in an interesting way) that long, and my sister is anyway not a big fan of beer. So I thought about a really high alcool content and very liquorous mead. Probably straight up honey, or maybe just a bit of maple syrup in addition.
I've played around with meads, acergylns and stuff in the past, but always around 10% dry stuff. Now that's another game, and I need some tips, especially for the fermentation and yeast.
I'm looking for 16 to 19%abv and a really sweet body. So I guess I have to look for a 1.150-1.160?
should I add all the honey at the beginning or go by multiple addition on the course of the fermentation? Backsweet or go straight big at first?
I really like the wlp715 champagne yeast for my dry stuff. Would it be great for a traditionnal mead like this? If not, what would be great in replacement?
What would be a good starting pH? Should I adjust it or leave it the ''natural'' way?
Any tips or advices are welcome. I know it's a lot of questions but I want to make it perfect and I still have a few months to prepare every possible aspects of this brew.
Thanks a lot!!!
I'm a experimented beer homebrewer, and I'm in fact a pro brewer. I'm also a homebrewing teacher. Well, all that to say that I'm not a neewbie that is just really excited to brew the biggest thing of all.
I have a very special event (my nephew/godson's birth) that I want to mark with a very special Cuvée of something that will age for the next 18 years (at least). My speciality is beer, but beers doesn't age (in an interesting way) that long, and my sister is anyway not a big fan of beer. So I thought about a really high alcool content and very liquorous mead. Probably straight up honey, or maybe just a bit of maple syrup in addition.
I've played around with meads, acergylns and stuff in the past, but always around 10% dry stuff. Now that's another game, and I need some tips, especially for the fermentation and yeast.
I'm looking for 16 to 19%abv and a really sweet body. So I guess I have to look for a 1.150-1.160?
should I add all the honey at the beginning or go by multiple addition on the course of the fermentation? Backsweet or go straight big at first?
I really like the wlp715 champagne yeast for my dry stuff. Would it be great for a traditionnal mead like this? If not, what would be great in replacement?
What would be a good starting pH? Should I adjust it or leave it the ''natural'' way?
Any tips or advices are welcome. I know it's a lot of questions but I want to make it perfect and I still have a few months to prepare every possible aspects of this brew.
Thanks a lot!!!