MCMC Traditional Mead

Classification: mead, traditional mead

Source: Ron Raike (ron@mail.creol.ucf.edu), MLD #500, 9/26/96

Mazer Cup Mead Competition First place recipe for Traditional Mead - still - sweet.

Ingredients:

18 lbs. Blended Wildflower Honeys - raw - from a baker
2.0 cups New York Maple Syrup - Grade A - Med. Amber
32 oz. fresh lemon and lime juice some pulp - 12 lemons and 8 limes
4 pieces (1/8 fruit) dried orange peel
5 pieces dried tangerine peel
3 pieces dried lemon peel
2 oz. coriander
Wyeast sweet mead yeast

Procedure:

Started by generating ~4 gal RO water. Then treating it with 1/2 tsp. gypsum, 1/2 tsp. CaCO3, 1/4 tsp Sea Salt. Brought to a full boil in 8 gal. brew pot for 30 min. Heat off, added some orange and some lime peels and 1/2 oz coriander (all ground together), let sit and cool to 90C. Added Honey and maple syrup. Temp dropped to 80C. Back on heat. Added strained juice of 6 fresh off the tree Florida lemons and 4 fresh Florida limes - 16 oz.

Stirred a few times for 30 min. Temp back up to 90 - kept there. Added juice with pulp - 6 more lemons and 4 limes. Some hot break forming and moving. Chopped remainder peels and coriander in chopper and added. Let sit 10 min. Heat off. Final Temp at 90C. Stirred well (whirl pooled). Covered with saran wrap, put lid back on and ice bathed (lots of ice) for 2.5 hrs. Removed saran wrap to find a nice conical forming upward from the center of the brew pot - from whirl pooling. Clear with spices and fruit mostly in the center. Some haze in suspension. Racked to carboys. 2.5 gal. got the a champagne yeast starter and 3.5 gals. got the Wyeast Mead Sweet yeast starter. Both were started with a honey based starter solution at ~1.050 - 1.5 liters for 1 week repitched twice.

OG of the must was ~1.14 - only way to measure was to cut in half with water and measured 1.070. Nice citric smell and taste. Tried to keep temp at 68-75F for fermenting. Champagne carboy was racked at 40 days and bottled 35 days later, very clear and went straight into bottles. FG is 1.020. Kinda hot for my liking.

Racked the Wyeast Sweet carboy in 2 weeks down to 1.065 and bottled 2 months later, very clear and still, no prime - straight into bottles. FG is 1.045. This may be considered by some to be a metheglin but the honey and alc's really come through and balance well with the fruit and spice flavor. No nutrients were used. This is the 1st place traditional mead for the '96 MCMC. Judge comments include:"Excellent cacophony of flavors - - this is so big yet well balanced to the Nth degree - clean, not burning or rough" - "Well balanced and very mellow - clean finish and big strength - great job!" ... Thanks.

Specifics:

OG: 1.140
FG: 1.020