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Help Oskaar - Gotmead Recipe Contest

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Oskaar

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Dec 26, 2004
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OK folks, time to shake it up a bit!

I have a gallon of pecan honey newly acquired and it's dark and sensuous stuff. I also have these honeys available:

buckwheat
macadamia nut
sage
orange blossom
light wildflower
dark wildfower
mesquite
acacia

The rules are simple. The pecan honey is the star of this recipe, other ingredients can be used in a supporting role, including other honeys, but remember that this is a PECAN honey recipe that needs to show off the character of the PECAN honey. Excessive spices, flavorings, other honeys and such will not be on track with featuring the pecan honey as the star of the recipe, but there is a fine line between support and prominence.

So with that I want a six gallon starting recipe that will be racked down to five gallons total. You need to consider what other honeys I have (see above) and what kinds of yeasts I can use that will help to enhance the natural characters of the honey. Ingredients should be something that I can get easily here in SoCal and at a reasonable cost. If you have special ingredients that you feel are necessary you can purchase and ship them to me for the mead if I pick your recipe.

Research your ingredients, especially the yeast. Research each of the honeys to see what kind of flavors and aromas they have.

I WILL NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS FOR THE CONTEST AND WHAT IF ANYTHING THEY WOULD ADD/DETRACT FROM THE RECIPE. Remember more is not necessarily better, and sometimes simple is the best, but, that's up to all of you mead makers out there.

That is something you need to do for yourself. Use the search tool here on the forums and in the main website to find answers. Use google and other resources. Use the honeylocator (http://www.honeylocator.com) Use the yeast manufacturer's websites as well. All the tools you need are there to craft a really kick ass recipe. If you want to team up with other GM'ers that's great too!

OK, nuff said! So what's the payoff?

I'll be making and documenting this mead in a brewblog with photos and frequent updates. No that's not the payoff, but what we'll do with the best recipe is this. I'll buy the winner a one year membership to the site, and produce this mead and babysit it in my own Meadworx. We will enter this mead jointly in the 2008 Mead Festival as joint meadmakers and see where it goes, if anywhere. The winner will be a major part of the many decision making waypoints in the life cycle of the mead, which means that we will be in close contact from beginning to bottling.

I'll be the final decisionmaker on the recipe and will reserve the right to make some adjustments with the approval of the GM'er who submits the winning recipe. I'll have Vicky and possibly another person help me decide the winning recipe, but this will be largely my call and will be as objective as I can be given the ingredients and how I make mead. I'll announce the winner via the forums under this thread. Entries will be accepted through the 31st of July, 2006. Recipes posted after that will not be eligible.

I'll establish a sticky thread for recipe submission. That thread is for recipes only and should not be used for debates, discussions, cheering etc. I'll clean out any posts that are not recipes. Use this thread for questions, ideas, debates and such.

With that I'll leave you to it.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Dan McFeeley

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Oct 10, 2003
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Hmmm -- Pecan honey, nice stuff but how to work that into an Oskaar style mead? The best search engine in the Internet world won't show whether pecan honey impacts middle palate, finish, etc.

So far, I'd suggest the light wildflower and mesquite honeys to supplement the honey must, while still going heavy on the pecan honey. Enough adjunct honeys to lighten and support the palate, while keeping the emphasis on the pecan. Dark and sensuous? That says it all. Any other honey should be light colored, meant to round out the flavor profile while enhancing the pecan honey profile.

Others may have better ideas.

Yeast strain and question of oaking are still up in the air.
 

Oskaar

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This isn't necessarily an Oskaar style mead as much as it is one that brings my style closer to the mead maker who comes up with the winning recipe. Their vision of the recipe along with my thoughts and ideas will guide this project.

Come on Dan, you of all people can figure me out! O0

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

lostnbronx

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 8, 2004
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Oskaar,

Can you describe the mesquite? I've seen them come in a wide range of shades and body characters. We have some very dark and rich mesquite here in AZ, but I've seen some rather light ones too.

-David
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Light and clear with good flavor, mineralic and aromatic. Smooth and clean with a good honey "burn" on the back of the throat.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

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Dec 26, 2004
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Dmntd and Wrathwilde draw first mead

Just an update on the contest recipe submission. Dmntd and Wrathwilde have both submitted very cool recipes for consideration. Nice ideas guys! Best of Luck!

cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Wow, there are some great recipes being sumitted, and I'm getting some back channel chatter on questions relating to honey. So feel free to ask about the honey. I'll taste them in the next couple of days and post up some information on what the flavor is like to assist you with any recipes you're working on.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Everyone please remember that the Recipe submission thread is for recipes only, we can bat them around in this thread which is a catchall for questions, rumminations and other stuff concerning the recipes and contest.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

yabodie

Senior Member
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Mar 17, 2006
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Re: Contest Recipe Submission Thread

Wrathwilde said:
yabodie said:
Both D254 and CY3079 were selected to provide a complex nutty aroma to compliment the Pecan honey as well as providing a creamy mouth feel.

Copy Cat :p

Wrathwilde

Wrathwilde,
Great minds must think alike!! :) Actually I looked on the Lavin website for a "nutty" yeast then found the description on morewine.com and found they suggested both yeasts. So I figured, why not. I must admit that seeing that you also selected the same yeast made me think I might be on the right track. After all you do have more experience under your belt in this area than I do, by FAR!!!

By the way do these yeasts actually perform like they say?
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Wow, some very interesting contest submissions just came in. Someone's been reading some of my other posts and getting an idea of what kinds of combinations I like.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Pecan Honey Taste Description

OK folks, I have sat down and tasted this stuff and let me just say WOW OH WOW, this is some amazing honey. It does not flow it breaks off into thick, streams and is very very thick.

The aroma is incredible, it is a mix of restrained molasses, carmelized sugar, chocolate, espresso, nutty, woody and mineralic with a wonderful full thick character that fills the mouth even from a very small amount. This is not for the faint of heart or weak spirited.

I wanted to post this because I think I may have done the posters a disservice by not getting this up sooner. In a six gallon batch size there will be no problem blending this with other honeys and losing the character aroma and nuance. Let me also just say that this is a big, bold, dark, opaque and brawny honey that stays in your mouth for a long time. I actually spoke to someone yesterday and told them that I could actually use the Western Buckwheat I have to thin this out a bit so that should give you an idea of the body and character of this stuff.

If you want to, please feel free to modify your recipes in any way you see fit, and if you don't want to that's fine as well. I think it will work very well with any of the honeys I have around here so I'm looking forward to seeing more of those recipes.

Keep em coming,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

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Dec 26, 2004
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Hey Tony,

Generally only around the holidays because I like to spice them and serve them hot. I'm open to anything though if it looks like it will work with the pecan honey.

Everyone, please feel free to enter more than one recipe if you wish to do so!

Oskaar
 

JamesP

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Dec 3, 2003
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Oskaar,

It's a pity you only have a gallon of the Pecan - if you could make all the recipies,
you'd have your own "nutty" section in a mead contest (and pity the judges trying to judge between them!!) ::)

(Note: I modified my recipe)
 

Oskaar

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Dec 26, 2004
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You all can also add Meadow Foam honey to the list of honeys available to be used in the contest recipe. ::)

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

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Dec 26, 2004
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Submissions for contest cutoff this Monday, 07/31/2006

OK folks we're coming down to the wire and this Monday (07/31/2006) is the cutoff date so let's get 'er done!

Quick taste tests:

Dark wildflower - Dark, rich and full with some very subtle astringency and mineralic notes. Thick, heavy honey flavor with subdued caramel, molasses and nutty flavors. Much like buckwheat but not quite as pronounced. This is mostly sumac according to the beekeeper.

Light wilflower - has crystalized but still tastes very nice. It is light like clover but with some background earthiness and acidity. Faint citrus notes with a faint hint of molasses like flavor on the end.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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OK, this is the last day, I'll cut off entries tonight so if you've been holding a recipe until now, post it up or we wont' get a chance to review it for consideration.

cheers,

Oskaar
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
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Dec 26, 2004
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Contest Winner Announcement

Well, after much agonizing, swearing, drinking, kibitzing and general badinage with Vicky the winning recipe has been chosen!

We went through each of the recipes one by one, line item by line item together over the phone (Can you hear me now? 8) ) and shortlisted the recipes to three and from there we chose the best one, which was actually a combination of two recipes.

Before I announce who won, I need to express just how creative you all are out there in gotmead land! There were some things in these recipes that I really REALLY liked and they have given me a lot to explore and consider as I move forward with my meadmaking.

OK, the two winners are DELTA OGRE, and WRATHWILDE. I'm in contact with both winners and I'll be working with them to refine and combine their recipes into a hybrid that we all think will make an excellent mead. Congratulations for putting together two very elegant recipes that will showcase the main ingredient, Pecan Honey.

One membership to gotmead.com for Delta Ogre, and one Membership to the IMA Hobbyist Club for WrathWilde coming down the pipe!

Again, lot's of creative entries (Ancient Pecan, Sweet Potato Pie Pecan, and some other great stuff like Braggot and sparkling dry pecan mead)

If any of you who entered would like my feedback on your recipes please feel free to PM or Email me and I'll be happy to boil my notes down to something legible for you on what my thoughts were, and how the recipe itself may have worked with some modifications.


Cheers,

Oskaar
 
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