Ty's Root Beer Metheglin

[Ty520]

Finally bottled my experimental root beer mead. Very pleased with the final result and expect to make it again. Pleasantly surprised at how rich and bold the color turned out as well

 

[Dan O]

Looks interesting . How did you infuse the flavor, please?

 

[Dan O]

Finally bottled my experimental root beer mead. Very pleased with the final result and expect to make it again. Pleasantly surprised at how rich and bold the color turned out as well


View attachment 722360

Never mind. I found your original post. I can't help but wonder how good that would be as a mead

 

[Ty520]

Never mind. I found your original post. I can't help but wonder how good that would be as a mead

It is directly adapted from my grandfather's old fashioned traditional root beer soda recipe, essentially only altering the sugar content to accommodate fermentation, and use of honey instead of sugar (however, I kept 10% of my sugars as brown sugars for flavor and color)

It tastes pretty much like a hard root beer soda - fairy sweet (but not as sweet as a soda itself) at 1030 FG, but the alcohol and strength of the spices subdues and balances it out.

If you don't enjoy root beer soda, you won't like it - but personally, it is my favorite soda, so this was a bit of a pet project for me.

 

[Dan O]

It is directly adapted from my grandfather's old fashioned traditional root beer soda recipe, essentially only altering the sugar content to accommodate fermentation, and use of honey instead of sugar (however, I kept 10% of my sugars as brown sugars for flavor and color)

It tastes pretty much like a hard root beer soda - fairy sweet (but not as sweet as a soda itself) at 1030 FG, but the alcohol and strength of the spices subdues and balances it out.

If you don't enjoy root beer soda, you won't like it - but personally, it is my favorite soda, so this was a bit of a pet project for me.

Thanks for taking time to respond.
Actually, I love root beer. I've had those "Not your grandfather's root beer" hard sodas, but, they seem a little on the syrupy side & cloyingly sweet for me. I think 1.030 sounds like a good place that would be enjoyable for me. Something I would like to try for sure. Did you stick to the recipe?
Alter anything?

 

[Ty520]

Thanks for taking time to respond.
Actually, I love root beer. I've had those "Not your grandfather's root beer" hard sodas, but, they seem a little on the syrupy side & cloyingly sweet for me. I think 1.030 sounds like a good place that would be enjoyable for me. Something I would like to try for sure. Did you stick to the recipe?
Alter anything?

I agree - I've tried a couple commercial root beer meads - they both just used commercial root beer extracts and tasted really fake, so i think i did this one justice, and am pretty proud of the final product

Here is my final recipe - please attribute properly if you share the recipe

The only thing I plan to change in the future is to force carbonate

Ty's Root Beer Metheglin

Ingredients:

• 36 oz Orange Blossom honey
• 12 oz Avocado honey
• 16 oz brown sugar
• 1 gallon water
• D47 yeast
• 12 tbs sarsparilla root
• 3 tbs black birch bark
• 0.75 tbs wintergreen
• 3 tsp ginger root
• 3 tsp licorice root
• 1 clove
• 1 oz cinnamon stick
• ½ star anise
• 2 vanilla beans
• 0.5 ounces medium toast american oak cubes
• Go-ferm
• Fermaid O
• 0.25 tsp potassium sorbate
• 0.25 tsp potassium metabisulfite

Method:

• Bring water (minus 4 oz for yeast rehydration) to a simmer. Add spices (sans vanilla) in a brew sock and simmer for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and steep for 1 hour.
• Rehydrate yeast w/ go ferm per instructions.
• Add hot tea, honey and brown sugar to primary vessel. Stir vigorously to dissolve honey and sugar, and oxygenate.
• Pitch yeast once must has reached acceptable temperatures.
• Degas twice daily for 5 days
• Add fermaid o per tosna protocol
• Rack after fermentation has completed and trub has settled to bottom of primary vessel - at about 2 months
• Add K sorbate and K meta to stabilize
• Add vanilla beans, split lengthwise
• Rack at 4 months - pull vanilla, add oak
• Pull oak at 5 months
• Rack again if needed
• Bottle at ~10 months
• Bottle-age to 1 year

 

[Dan O]

Awesome! Thank you for posting the final version. Can't wait to try making this.

 

[cmac62]

This sounds like an awesome root beer mead. What was the ending ABV, I know I could do the calcs, but I figured you have the #s. Also, what was the batch size? It looks like 1.5 gals with a 2/1 water to honey ratio. I was thinking this would make a great Melomel.

 

[circitmage]

Following

 

[Dan O]

This sounds like an awesome root beer mead. What was the ending ABV, I know I could do the calcs, but I figured you have the #s. Also, what was the batch size? It looks like 1.5 gals with a 2/1 water to honey ratio. I was thinking this would make a great Melomel.

Looks like 3lbs of honey + the spice/root tea & water to 1 gallon, but, I could be wrong.

Looking @ the quantities again, 1.5 gallons seems to make sense. My bad.

 

[Ty520]

This sounds like an awesome root beer mead. What was the ending ABV, I know I could do the calcs, but I figured you have the #s. Also, what was the batch size? It looks like 1.5 gals with a 2/1 water to honey ratio. I was thinking this would make a great Melomel.

OG was 1150 (shoot for OG, not quantity - but you'll probably use most, if not all the water to get there); FG was 1030, and 16.5% abv

 

[cmac62]

OG was 1150 (shoot for OG, not quantity - but you'll probably use most, if not all the water to get there); FG was 1030, and 16.5% abv

Dang, that is some potent RB. LOL I'm thinking something in the 8% range, then I'll stabilize and back sweeten to 1025-1030 range. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Ty520]

Dang, that is some potent RB. LOL I'm thinking something in the 8% range, then I'll stabilize and back sweeten to 1025-1030 range. Thanks for the reply.

yeah - it definitely doesn't taste it though

 

[cmac62]

Danger Will Robinson, Danger.