5 gallon
6.3g Go-Ferm
126ml water
5g D80 Lallemand yeast
10.1g Fermaid-O
1.045 SG / 11.2 Brix
1/3 sugar break = 1.030
1.000 Estimated FG
Back sweetened to 1.018
Sugar:
6 lbs Dark Wildflower, Gallberry or Bee Seasonal Pink Peppercorn
Add your honey into a bucket and top off with enough water if needed to reach the starting gravity listed above.
Follow the Yeast Handling and Nutrient Addition process on MMR.
Once fermentation is done, rack into secondary and stabilize with sulfite and sorbate.
Add the following to a medium pot and cover with about 1-inch of water:
- 6 tablespoons sarsaparilla root bark
- 2 tablespoons ginger root
- 2 tablespoons licorice root
- 3 tablespoons sassafras root bark
- 4 teaspoons birch bark
- 3 star anise pods
Bring water to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer for 10 minutes.
Let the tea cool to room temperature.
Strain the tea and add to your finished mead.
*Optionally, you can also add 5 vanilla beans (cut lengthwise) to the finished mead.
Let sit for 10-14 days.
Back sweeten with:
- 2 lbs Light Molasses
- 0.5 lbs Dark Brown Sugar
I've tried a similar rootbeer mead twice before coming across this recipe: first, using this method (adding a small tea infusion after), and another by steeping the tea ingredients in the must water in the beginning, and would suggest that steeping up front works much better; the fermentation didn't seem to negatively affect flavor - i would even argue that the heat helps mellow out some of the sharp, astringent flavors you can get from raw spices. I also included wintergreen, cinnamon and clove in my tea mix.
adding the tea infusion to the finished mead wasn't nearly strong enough IMHO - just gave it a vegetal, almost unrecognizable taste.