Horseradish mead?

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BernardSmith

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Just curious if anyone on this forum has tried to make a horseradish mead or wine. I see that about 9 years ago someone referred to horseradish wine but no one seemed to take the idea seriously. The thing is that in Eastern Europe there is a long tradition of making horseradish infused vodka and by all accounts those who make it tend to let the horseradish sit in the vodka for only a few days, so I am wondering whether that might be the way to go for a horseradish mead (a traditional that is then used to extract flavors and character from the horseradish). I am thinking about making this as a drinking wine and not as a marinade or cooking wine: a "European" variation on a habanero mead Thoughts? Thanks
 
My plan is to start with a vodka infusion, not 750 ml! but perhaps 200. and if that meets my expectations I will create a sacrificial quart of mead and if that seems to work then I will go for a gallon.
 
So, I added about 3 inches of horseradish - cleaned but not peeled and cut into 1/4 inch roundels to about 500 ml of vodka. I allowed the horseradish to steep for 4 days and then strained the vodka. The flavor is really good - if you like horseradish. I think that the flavor will mellow over the next few weeks but it is certainly already very drinkable, though I think I might remove the horseradish after 3 days next time I try to make a horseradish vodka. I am certainly going ahead with the idea of making a horseradish mead (if people can make mead with all kinds of hot peppers , horseradish is not chopped liver) but my plan is to add some of this schnapps to a sample of a traditional wildflower or clover mead, in the first instance, to see if I can balance the honey flavors with the sharpness of the radish and if that seems to be OK then to use the mead to extract the flavors from the horseradish to see what if any differences there might be in using a lower alcohol solution to extract and blend flavors.
 
In the end the four days steeping was a little excessive. I made a second batch using the same amount of horseradish and vodka (about 500 ml) and steeping for 24 hours and this was right on the money for me. Still to make a horseradish mead... but too many other projects in the pipeline at the moment - including what I hope is a good mulberry harvest from a tree that we share with my neighbor.
 
go for a sassafrassa mead,,, heck i picture your wine room as a laboratory, which i guess they all are, latter on i'm going for a sassafras wine, i already make sassafras tea every couple years, ,,well till i got unhealthy , so been a few years now,,,
dawg
 
I am originally from Scotland and I have no idea what sassafrass looks or tastes like or even where it grows.

It is a root that has a slight, I don't know, fennel or anise taste. One form that it may be purchased in looks like curls of wood. It is what puts the "root" in "root beer." I am assuming you probably have tasted root beer by now? But now try imagining that without sugar.
 
It is a root that has a slight, I don't know, fennel or anise taste. One form that it may be purchased in looks like curls of wood. It is what puts the "root" in "root beer." I am assuming you probably have tasted root beer by now? But now try imagining that without sugar.
Common' Paul, use proper Penns-a-vania vernacular, it's "rut beer" around these parts.
 
I am originally from Scotland and I have no idea what sassafrass looks or tastes like or even where it grows.
wow, i never gave it any thought, beings i grew up with it, when the chiggers and seed ticks back off, if you want some i'd send you some, now for spoiled_grapes,, lol,, i have you know i put sugar in my sassafras tea same as my sweet tea, lol
dawg
 
Truth is I don't think I have ever tasted a root beer but then I don't remember the last time I drank a soda either. Those drinks are so sweet that I feel them eating into my teeth when I look at a bottle :pee
 
Truth is I don't think I have ever tasted a root beer but then I don't remember the last time I drank a soda either. Those drinks are so sweet that I feel them eating into my teeth when I look at a bottle :pee
i've got so much cheyenne, comanche and cherokee in me that sugar really destroys my body and just a touch of english and irish, but being southern, everything is fried and everything else is sweet,
dawg
 
Common' Paul, use proper Penns-a-vania vernacular, it's "rut beer" around these parts.
you ought to be southern and try to order syrup (SRUP) there from the drive up at mcdonalds , i worked in washington, scranton philly, shucks i forget the other city iit had a strange name it was over near where yawls baseball team, getting old just can't remember,,,, i was sup doing stores in shopping malls
dawg allentown was the name, dang i remembered
 
wow, i never gave it any thought, beings i grew up with it, when the chiggers and seed ticks back off, if you want some i'd send you some, now for spoiled_grapes,, lol,, i have you know i put sugar in my sassafras tea same as my sweet tea, lol
dawg
You add sugar to your tea? I drink coffee black and unsweetened and I drink my tea without milk or sugar too.
 
You add sugar to your tea? I drink coffee black and unsweetened and I drink my tea without milk or sugar too.
ok i'm sorry, in the south sweet tea is ice cold tea on ice, and yes 80% of us drink it sweet, i use black tea and orange ponoka tea, i boil it till very strong, stir in a cup of sugar per gallon of tea, put in fridge till very cold, my coffee is tim hortons dark roast, straight up black, no milk, no sugar, hehe, no hot tea here, at no cafe around here that i've ever seen, now up in the new england states and upper north east they drink hot tea, and their iced tea is unsweetened,
dawg
 
dawg , So there is another wine you might consider making - a tea wine. (I've made wines from chai tea and from lapsang souchong (the last was quite deliciously smokey).
 

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