Beer – Sixtydgree

Orange Creeper Tart Mead

First things first. I realize that if you actually follow this blog you are probably wondering why I never finished the original Orange Cream Mead post. Well, this is that same recipe. I just decided that after having let this particular brew sit for almost three months before finally bottling, and after finding that certain flavors didn’t come through the way I was hoping, I should probably just rewrite this whole thing and start off right. So, here goes nothing.

I started with the following ingredients:

5 gallons of Distilled water.
6 pounds of fireweed honey.
12 sweet oranges.
2 ounces of allspice.
4 vanilla bean pods.
1/4 ounce vanilla extract.
2 packets of wine yeast. This can be whatever yeast you feel appropriate.
Yeast nutrients. Your homebrew supply should have what you need.

I boiled 2 gallons of the distilled water, then crushed half of the oranges and added them along with all of the honey and allspice to the boil. I added the vanilla about half way through. (Both bean and extract) Then added the yeast nutrients for the last ten minutes. The boil only lasted about 45 minutes and I let it sit covered for several hours before putting it into my bucket style fermenter. After allowing it to ferment for about 3 weeks I sliced the other half of the oranges into very thin slices and just placed them into fermenter and allowed them to float on the mead for about 2 and a half months before bottling.

Here’s where I needed to really consider whether or not to keep going with the original post. I took a sample and none of the vanilla came through at all. It would have probably benefited from just adding sliced vanilla beans to each bottle and allowing the flavor to be imparted during the clarifying process. However, I didn’t do this and it is what it is. It’s also worth noting that the flavor is almost too mild. My wife said it was like it had been watered down. I would have to agree to a point. It took more of its flavor from the allspice and the orange peel than the honey and orange juices, and that’s ok. It turned out to be much different from my original aim but its very good the way it is.

When bottling I left almost 2 gallons without carbonation in an effort to see whether or not it really needed it. This mead has a very light color with a slightly brown hue. Without the carbonation it doesn’t quite have that bite you would look for in a standard beer, however it does have a tang that was pulled from the pith of the orange that is quite nice. This mead has almost no alcohol profile in the flavor at all and is why my wife and I chose to call this a creeper. It very much sneaks up on you. All in all, this particular mead can be throw into a dark bottle and just left in a wine cellar or bottle conditioned to carbonated bliss. I also noticed that after probably drinking more than I should have, I woke up the following morning without any headache or standard hangover ills.

Feel free to comment if you try making this mead and find a way to bring out those flavors, or even if you just know a better way.

Drink on!

Paul (Sixtydgree) Johnson

Orange Cream Mead

I know orange cream mead probably doesn’t sound all that fantastic, but that’s exactly what this post is going to find out. I will be updating this particular post throughout the process of making this particular fizzy concoction. Work along with me or just wait and see whether or not I end up chucking five gallons of nastiness, either way, this should be fun.

I’m starting with the following ingredients:

5 gallons of Distilled water.
5 pounds of fireweed honey.
12 sweet oranges.
2 ounces of allspice.
4 vanilla bean pods.
1/4 ounce vanilla extract.
2 packets of wine yeast. This can be whatever yeast you feel appropriate.
Yeast nutrients. Your homebrew supply should have what you need.

Before we get going, I recommend that you make note of all the specific gravity readings along the way. One when the wort is cool but before you pitch your yeast and then the several times during the fermentation. I will not be giving my readings in this blog. Mainly because I generally forget to take them. But feel free to share your numbers in the comments. Here we go.

Peel and macerate half of the oranges, leaving just the juice and the meat of the fruit in the pot. Next add all of the honey and set up the spice basket with the allspice and vanilla pods, making sure to empty the pods of as much of the seed as possible and adding the seed directly to the pot. Then add about 9/10 of a gallon of the water to the pot(you can use the rest for the nutrients and waking up your yeast) and bring to a boil with the spice basket hanging in the wort. While the boil is setting up, use this time to dissolve the needed yeast nutrition in a small cup of warm water. The total boil time is about 30 minutes. (make sure it’s a rolling boil) In the last 10 minutes of the boil, remove the spice basket and as much of the orange solids as possible, and add the yeast nutrition.

While the boil is cooling set up your yeast in a small cup of water. Pitch your yeast one you’ve added your cooled wort to the remaining four gallons of water in whatever fermenter you decide to use. I recommend a bucket style fermenter though, I plan on slicing the remaining oranges and putting them in the wort after the initial 3 days of fermenting. This is almost like dry hopping, except that this will add a much stronger orange flavor to the mead.

I will update you in a week or two when I get my first taste and start to bottle.

UPDATE #1:

I have added the final 6 oranges by slicing them thinly and floating them right on top of the mead. I have noticed that my yeast isn’t as active as I’m used to, so I have looked into the optimal temperature and found that I was in fact keeping the mead too warm. I have since moved it into a deep freezer and run it every few hours to keep the temp just about 35 to 45 degrees F. So keep this in mind.

I also took a small sample of the mead before adding the oranges and found that the orange flavor was definitely in need of a kick up. So adding those oranges will probably be a necessity.

UPDATE#2

Sorry for my absence. I have been in a bit of a morning state for this mead. I am currently in a tug-of-war with nature to keep it alive, but I have apparently reached a little beyond what I have the ability and knowhow to create. My flavors just aren’t there, and the alcohol content isn’t quite where I was aiming either. I have reached out to a couple of different sources for information on how to remedy this concoctive misstep, but in the meantime I would love to hear from any of you that may have tried their hand at this and found ways to make it work.