I’ve had this idea to make a low ABV sparkling mead fermented with ale yeast for awhile now. A few weeks back, I think I mentioned something about this idea in the Reddit homebrewing community, which resulted in a cool conversation with a user named NocSimian, aka Reed, who ultimately offered to send me some mead he had made. I received a bomber from Atlanta the following week and refrained from reading any of the details of what went into making the mead until I had tasted it “blind.” Here’s how it went:

This experience has absolutely inspired me to try my hand at mead making! I’m thinking I’ll throw together a small batch using only honey, water, and ale yeast, probably stick with my cider go-to, SafAle S-04, and force carbonate it to about 2.8 volumes. We’ve actually got quite a few farms around my area that sell honey, I’ll try to source mine from them… or Costco if I’m lazy. Reed was kind enough to share his recipe, should anyone desire to (attempt to) replicate this deliciousness.

RECIPE

~12 lbs Goldenrod Honey (from hobby apiary in Western Pennsylvania)

Water (enough to bring blend to 5 gallons)

10 lbs Organic Blueberries blended and added directly to carboy without Campden or pasteurization

Lalvin 71-B Yeast rehydrated in 180˚F water and pitched around that same temp

Danstar Belle Saison yeast rehydrated in 90˚F water, pitched a couple days after 71-B shows no signs of active fermentation

Thanks again to Reed for graciously sharing this mead with me, it was a lot of fun! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment.

***If you’re into soft, somewhat thoughtful, and oftentimes cheesy acoustic music, check out my music page and have a listen. I know a lot of us homebrewers have other hobbies as well, writing/recording songs is really the only thing I’ve been doing longer than making beer.***

Cheers!

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