bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Here's an experimental recipe that uses the whey from a batch of squeaky curd cheese in place of water. What I am looking for is a mead version of a lactic sour beer. Whey has some lactose (milk sugars) to which some folk have an intolerance but some of the lactose will have been converted into lactic acid because of the ripening of the milk through the use of cultures added to acidify the liquid before adding any coagulant (vegetable rennet). pH of the whey is about 5.9 (fresh milk has a pH of about 6.6). But your whey may be different (I culture with home made kefir)
About 7 pints of whey (residual from 1 gallon of whole milk)
1 T each of mugwort, sweet gale, yarrow, heather tips, crushed coriander
2 lbs Eucalyptus honey
Belle Saison yeast
1/2 t nutrients
1 t tannin
4 oz roasted cracked/crushed cocoa beans
(possibly 1 oz of chocolate malt)
Method:
Allow whey to stand overnight to further acidify
Boil whey (likely to foam so a large kettle is needed)
Tie gruit herbs in a muslin bag and toss in kettle for 15 minutes.
Allow whey to cool to room temperature.
Remove bag of herbs
Rehydrate yeast according to instructions
Mix honey with whey (I use a blender to aerate the mix) and add to fermenter
Add a small measure of must to yeast to align temperature of must and yeast to within 10F of each other
Pitch yeast solution
Add nutrients
Add tannin
I like Belle Saison fermenting at higher temperatures so I add a heating belt to my carboy and cover the whole shebang with a heavy towel.
Allow to ferment "dry" (dryness will depend on the amount of lactose remaining) - probably two weeks (+/-)
Fill sanitized secondary with 4 oz cocoa beans
Rack mead onto beans
Check taste after two weeks ; repeat until flavor is as desired.
Rack off beans
Allow to clear bright
Taste: if sweet enough prime with 20 g sugar and bottle; if too dry bench test with added lactose; prime with 20 g sugar and bottle
About 7 pints of whey (residual from 1 gallon of whole milk)
1 T each of mugwort, sweet gale, yarrow, heather tips, crushed coriander
2 lbs Eucalyptus honey
Belle Saison yeast
1/2 t nutrients
1 t tannin
4 oz roasted cracked/crushed cocoa beans
(possibly 1 oz of chocolate malt)
Method:
Allow whey to stand overnight to further acidify
Boil whey (likely to foam so a large kettle is needed)
Tie gruit herbs in a muslin bag and toss in kettle for 15 minutes.
Allow whey to cool to room temperature.
Remove bag of herbs
Rehydrate yeast according to instructions
Mix honey with whey (I use a blender to aerate the mix) and add to fermenter
Add a small measure of must to yeast to align temperature of must and yeast to within 10F of each other
Pitch yeast solution
Add nutrients
Add tannin
I like Belle Saison fermenting at higher temperatures so I add a heating belt to my carboy and cover the whole shebang with a heavy towel.
Allow to ferment "dry" (dryness will depend on the amount of lactose remaining) - probably two weeks (+/-)
Fill sanitized secondary with 4 oz cocoa beans
Rack mead onto beans
Check taste after two weeks ; repeat until flavor is as desired.
Rack off beans
Allow to clear bright
Taste: if sweet enough prime with 20 g sugar and bottle; if too dry bench test with added lactose; prime with 20 g sugar and bottle