Fermenting Aussie Honey?

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Temple of Seth

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Hey All,

I want to do a mead batch. However, the guy at the brew shop says that I should be wary of some type of Australian honey, the name of whiich he forgets. Is there a type of honey here that doesn't ferment well that I should beware and not try?

ToS
 
PM GMK on this , unless he replies before
He has done a lot of meads

Batz
 
I have no idea re the fermentation but the really strong leatherwood honey can apparently be overpowering in terms of taste and aroma.
 
I'd concur with sosman on leatherwood. Other than that I 'd think most aussie honeys should be just fine.
 
Theres a commonly held belief that any eucalytus honey can potentially add a nasty menthol taste after its fermented out, referred to as Marthas woolwash type taste. I imagine thats what teh HBS guy was referring to. I thought it was a myth and maybe it is but I still thought I could taste a medicinal aftertaste in a honey beer using a gum honey, so I use clover honey now.
 
I have used cheap honey in a beer, and could still taste eucalyptus in it after more than 12 months, and so could others. Therefore, it wasn't my imagination.
I have used orange blossom honey in several beers including a Wit, and found the flavour to be pleasantly orangey.

Seth
 
I brewed a mixed berry melomel in 2002 with Leatherwood honey and brought a bottle to the shop Chrissie party. It all went!

It does have a pretty full-on honey nose, though the fruit is there as well, but I don't mind a mead smelling of honey.

I guess, it is your taste that matters, why not make some quicky meads, just 4-5L per batch, using a different honey in each. I have used blue gum in several meads but do not detect a menthol smell/taste. Buy your honey bulk and not from the supermarket. I don't heat my honey at all, maybe that makes a difference.

Jovial Monk
 
Mr Monk (mmm, sounds like a dodgy detective series...),

Pretty sure I didn't cook my honey either. Maybe I have a sensitive palate, and maybe it turned me off Yank IPA's.
But I'm over it now.
I tell U what, tho!...I have an extract recipe for a American-style Honey Ale that uses Orange blossom honey and ferments with WLP410 to bring out the orange flavour. A nice Summer sipper at 7% alc. with 4 oz Caskade hop. Very simple.
Would anyone appreciate me converting to a simple ag version of this recipe for the forum?
Seth out (to the kitchen actually, for the Coke Porter - see Poormans Porter thread)
 
If u post the recipe - i will be prepared to give it a go....
 
GMK,
this is from the web, originally adapted from a Papazian recipe, they say. Modified from US measurement units and altered to suit my tatses and ingredients. B)

Ingredients:

1.8 kg light dry malt extract (Edit: Oops, I was gonna make this ag, wasn't I?
OK, for ag, divide this weight by your efficiency % and use JW Trad ale malt, I reckon. Thanks.)
1.3 kg orange blossom honey (I used Archibald's)
50 g Cascade hops (5.8% alpha) - 60 min
30 g Cascade hops (5.8% alpha) - 10 min
30 g Cascade hops (5.8% alpha) - 0 min
Liquid ale yeast (I used WhiteLabs Wit II - 1.25 l starter)
3/4 cup dextrose (priming)
2 tsp. gypsum

Process:
Add gypsum to 4 litres of water and add bittering hops. Boil 50 min. Add honey and DME. Return to boil and add 30 g Cascade hops and boil 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and add 30g Cascade hops. Cool wort, top up to 20 litres, and pitch yeast. Ferment at appropriate temp for your yeast. Bulk prime at bottling.

Relevant details:
OG 1.051
FG 1.005 (bottled after 4 weeks - slow ferment. Av temp - 16 C)
Could definitely taste the honey and orange flavours as well as the Cascade.
Deceptively easy to drink, despite high alc.
Adding the DME and honey late in the boil helps the colour and retains the flavour of the honey. You may prefer to add them later or earlier.

Seth out :chug:
 
Thanks

I will formulate a recipe around that - might use pilsner malt...
Also a bit of amarillo as well....

will use 1338 or 1084....
 
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