Hopped mead — version 2

IMG_0155Background

Shelley’s been on the hunt for the perfect hopped mead recipe. The first version didn’t do the trick, but this version… well this one’s a treat!

When racking from primary to secondary, the hops-ness of the mead was a bit overpowering. However, the taste-test on bottling was a dry mead with a nice hops kick to it. If you’re not a hop-head, the hops may be a little too forward.

We’ll check back on this variation in 6 months, once the mead’s had time to age.

If you want to try a hopped mead, you’ll need to adjust the instructions in “Stage 1: Making the ‘Must'” — read on!

Ingredients

  • Contents of one Mead Magic kit (Using fall wildflower honey)
  • From your local homebrew store, pick up:
    • .08 ounces German Magnum hops pellets
    • .04 ounces Citra hops pellets
  • Note: different hops have many different flavor profiles. Substitute your own as desired!

Directions

  1. To extract the hops essences:
    1. Bring one gallon of water to a boil.
    2. Add the German Magnum (or your bittering) hops
    3. Keep at a gentle boil for 45 minutes. Note: if you’re not a “hop-head”, cut back on the first boil, which is what extracts much of the hops bitters. Shelley would start with a 25-minute boil for this stage.
    4. Add Citra (or your aroma) hops
    5. Boil for an additional 15 minutes
  2. Let the hopped water cool to room temperature.
  3. In your primary fermentation pail, pour in the quart of Mead Magic honey.
  4. You will need an additional three quarts of water for your must. Use the now-empty honey jar to measure out water from your hops boil, and add it to the primary fermentation pail.
    • After boiling for an hour, you’ll probably be down to about 7 cups of water.
    • Make up the difference from the hops water with tap — or spring — water.
  5. Now continue with Stage 2 (and beyond) of the Mead Magic instructions.

Brewer

Shelley Stuart (Mead Magic)

Notes from the brewer

I left the mead on the hops lees as it settled out. Some brewers like to re-rack off of the hops lees, to control the flavor — I did not find this to be an issue with this recipe.

I also found that the hops settled out and the mead was pretty clear upon bottling. (I was worried that using hops pellets would result in a cloudy mead, but that wasn’t the case.)

Timetable:

March 12, 2016: pitched yeast
March 17, 2016: racked to secondary
May 6, 2016: bottled into eight 10-ounce bottles, and one 16-ounce Mead Magic bottle.