This is my 2nd post on these forums, so I find it hard not to give a little bit of an introduction first.
Hi, guys. I started homebrewing when I was about 24, so it's been 20 years since then. I have since dropped out of the beermaking hobby since I found out I was diabetic and the meds I take preclude me from enjoying the quantity of good homebrew beer that I like to enjoy. One of the things that I have stuck to making is a homemade cyser that my wife constantly begs me to make. Well, about 10 years ago, we moved into a house that just isn't set up very well for my mead making hobby, but I have improvised. About 4 years ago, I stopped altogether because too much was going on with work, kids, and everything else that real life likes to throw in front of you just when you get your legs under you from the last ordeal.
I have lost my notebook that I kept all my recipes in: good and bad; triumphs and catastrophes. I found a brew logbook that I managed to keep from 1997, handwritten, and I still get a wistful smile when I read the entries about my batch of beer that exploded a carboy in the back bedroom while I was at work, and the realtor was at our house going over the process of putting our house on the market to sell. Needless to say, she was quite upset by the shotgun blast of a fully-loaded carboy going off at 12:30pm unexpectedly and rattling all the windows in the house. It was an epic mess and I had to come home from work to clean it up.
But, I'm trying to recreate that cyser recipe from memory, and I finally found the entry for a recipe in Homebrew Favorites that I marked as being the inspiration for my cyser recipe..
It reads:
From memory, I want to say it went more like this:
I was intentionally trying to "overload" the yeast so that there would be a noticeable residual sweetness, but from what I've read since then, I don't think that's the best way to go about doing this, as one never knows exactly where a particular strain of yeast will stop the fermentation process, exactly, and how much sugar will be leftover. PLUS, I don't remember the quantities I used for the acid blend or the yeast energizer.
So, what I was wondering, is there a better way for me to try and hit a high alcohol content (about 17%) and maybe leave out the corn sugar and just use honey instead. Or, should I leave the corn sugar in the batch because it does make a nice acidic burn taste for the final product to balance the sweetness.
I'm open to all suggestions. I'm particularly interested in knowing how to figure out what amount of honey I would need to get the final results I mentioned above. A high-alcohol product, with a mild acidic finish. It's been so long since I've made a batch, that I almost feel like I'm starting over from scratch. Thanks for any help in advance. A local brewery/meadery is months and months away from getting any actual mead, so I'm dieing to try some again. It's easier for me to limit my intake of cyser than it is beer, in case anyone is wondering about my comments above about being diabetic. And my doctor says one glass of wine is beneficial...no one has to tell him it's homemade and a lot more potent than commercially available wine.
Hi, guys. I started homebrewing when I was about 24, so it's been 20 years since then. I have since dropped out of the beermaking hobby since I found out I was diabetic and the meds I take preclude me from enjoying the quantity of good homebrew beer that I like to enjoy. One of the things that I have stuck to making is a homemade cyser that my wife constantly begs me to make. Well, about 10 years ago, we moved into a house that just isn't set up very well for my mead making hobby, but I have improvised. About 4 years ago, I stopped altogether because too much was going on with work, kids, and everything else that real life likes to throw in front of you just when you get your legs under you from the last ordeal.
I have lost my notebook that I kept all my recipes in: good and bad; triumphs and catastrophes. I found a brew logbook that I managed to keep from 1997, handwritten, and I still get a wistful smile when I read the entries about my batch of beer that exploded a carboy in the back bedroom while I was at work, and the realtor was at our house going over the process of putting our house on the market to sell. Needless to say, she was quite upset by the shotgun blast of a fully-loaded carboy going off at 12:30pm unexpectedly and rattling all the windows in the house. It was an epic mess and I had to come home from work to clean it up.
But, I'm trying to recreate that cyser recipe from memory, and I finally found the entry for a recipe in Homebrew Favorites that I marked as being the inspiration for my cyser recipe..
It reads:
5 gal preservative-free apple cider
11 pounds clover honey
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried orange peel
6 whole cloves
Red Star Champagne yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar, for priming
11 pounds clover honey
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried orange peel
6 whole cloves
Red Star Champagne yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar, for priming
From memory, I want to say it went more like this:
5 gal preservative free apple cider
8 pounds orange blossom honey
7 cups of corn sugar
5 cinnamon sticks, cracked into small pieces
4 cloves, ground up in mortar and pestle
2 lemons, sliced into quarters, juiced, then tossed into boil
yeast energizer
acid blend
2 packages Red Star Champagne yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
8 pounds orange blossom honey
7 cups of corn sugar
5 cinnamon sticks, cracked into small pieces
4 cloves, ground up in mortar and pestle
2 lemons, sliced into quarters, juiced, then tossed into boil
yeast energizer
acid blend
2 packages Red Star Champagne yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
I was intentionally trying to "overload" the yeast so that there would be a noticeable residual sweetness, but from what I've read since then, I don't think that's the best way to go about doing this, as one never knows exactly where a particular strain of yeast will stop the fermentation process, exactly, and how much sugar will be leftover. PLUS, I don't remember the quantities I used for the acid blend or the yeast energizer.
So, what I was wondering, is there a better way for me to try and hit a high alcohol content (about 17%) and maybe leave out the corn sugar and just use honey instead. Or, should I leave the corn sugar in the batch because it does make a nice acidic burn taste for the final product to balance the sweetness.
I'm open to all suggestions. I'm particularly interested in knowing how to figure out what amount of honey I would need to get the final results I mentioned above. A high-alcohol product, with a mild acidic finish. It's been so long since I've made a batch, that I almost feel like I'm starting over from scratch. Thanks for any help in advance. A local brewery/meadery is months and months away from getting any actual mead, so I'm dieing to try some again. It's easier for me to limit my intake of cyser than it is beer, in case anyone is wondering about my comments above about being diabetic. And my doctor says one glass of wine is beneficial...no one has to tell him it's homemade and a lot more potent than commercially available wine.