Recently I’ve gone to a few breweries (Leinenkugel’s, New Glarus, and Summit Brewing) and started to take a shine to the possibility of home brew.
I don’t want to jump all in, though, so I’m starting with a simple mead that needs almost no skill – “Joe’s Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead”
Right now my first batch is firmenting, and won’t be ready for tasting/aging until late September.
Here’s a pic of it doing it’s thing:
I’m calling it “0x0000”. I think for each of my brews, I give them a 32-bit hex designation. Why? Because I can.
My Recipe And Process for 0x0000
Even though I’m using “Joe’s Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead” recipe, I still have done a few things differently, for good or bad. Mostly the differences were unintentional.
Ingredients
- 3.5lb Clover Honey
- 147g of Navel Orange Fruit and Zest (approx 1 medium/large navel orange with rind removed)
- 14g of Roundy’s Natural Sweet Raisins (chopped)
- 1 Galon of Tap Water (approx)
- 1/4oz Red Star Instant Dry Yeast (for bread making)
- 1 stick Cinamon
- 2 Cloves
- Pinch of Nutmeg
- Pinch of All Spice
Process
- Santize equipment
- Bring water to 168°F
- Warm Honey separately
- Combine Honey & Water in Jug & shake for 3-4 minutes
- Add cinamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, orange fruit, orange zest, and raisins
- Add a little cool water to raise level of contents
- Shake for 2 minutes
- Cool to 73°F (or whatever room temperature is)
- Add yeast, shake gently
- Fill airlock with vodka and stopper jug with drilled bung and airlock
- Ferment at (approx) 66.6°F
Notes:
- I do need to update this recipe more after it’s done firmenting
- 66.6°F might be to cold for the yeast, but it seems to be bubbling away, I suspect it might just be a longer firmentation than originally expected.
- When pasturizing water, it should be kept at 180°F for around a half-hour, not 168°F.
- I’d like to use a wine/beer yeast next time
- It would have been easier to combine the water and honey while it was in the pot on the stove getting pasturized.