[summersolstice]

This has proven to be a very popular mead on another forum I frequent.

Caramel Apple Mead


4 Gallons apple juice
2 lbs DME
3 lbs 60L Crystal malt
7 lbs Orange blossom honey
2 lbs clover honey
2 lbs buckwheat honey

Lalvin K1v1116

Original Gravity: 1.120
Final Gravity: 1.010

2 vanilla beans

Steep grains in 1.5 gallons of apple juice at 155F for 45 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the DME and honey. Rinse grain sack with 1/2 gallon apple juice. Add the remainder of the apple juice. Aerate by vigorous stirring for at least five minutes. Aerate some more. I now use oxygen with a diffuser stone to aerate (better). Pitch yeast starter (hydrated with Go Ferm per container instructions) directly into the primary (plastic pail fitted with an air lock).

At about 1.075 add 5g Fermaid K
At about 1.035 add 5g Fermaid K
(Dissolve your nutrients in water before adding them to your must. This helps to minimize foam.)

Within about two weeks this should ferment out to 1.012 or so. Rack to secondary and add vanilla beans. Allow to remain in the secondary for about a month.

Rack again onto 1 lb of buckwheat honey and 1/4t potassium metabisuphite or 5 campden tabs and 2 1/2t potassium sorbate to stabilize. Add Super Kleer to clarify. Bulk age for six months to a year before bottling.

I adapted this recipe from one I saw on gotmead.com and it tastes just like caramel apples. It's a medium sweet mead that's very drinkable. At about 13.75% alcohol and no alcohol bite one should exercise caution since it goes down so smoothly.

[Wade E]

It sure sounds good!

[TheTooth]

Interesting... I'm going to have to give that a go. Thanks for the post.

[summersolstice]

This is a straight up mead and it really does taste like liquid caramel apples. It's not the easiest mead to make but the effort's worth it.

[Wade E]

Love that post RDP! I just added this recipe to my computer just in case.

[Mud]

Originally Posted by RDavidP

hhmmm....Is this a cyser wrapped in a braggot, or a braggot wrapped in a cyser. Truely a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Or is it more like a TurDuken? A mead stuffed in a beer, stuffed in a cider?

TurDuckEn.

Apple juice makes it a cyser. Malt makes it a braggot...Whatever it is, it sounds interesting.

[duffymp]

This may be a dumb question but what is DME?

[winemaker_3352]

Originally Posted by duffymp

This may be a dumb question but what is DME?

Dry Malt Extract

[duffymp]

Thanks DM!

[mmadmikes1]

sometimes I can't help myself DMF+DuffyMP Extracted