Ingredients – Primary
- 12 lbs Orange Blossom Honey
- 1 large hunk of ginger, sliced thin
- 2 lemons worth of peel/zest, juice of one
- D47 Yeast
- Water to fill up to 5 gallons
- Yeast Nutrients
Starting Gravity: 1.080
This is a mead I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Ginger is a fairly simple flavor, but is a huge favorite among many brewers, and partakers, alike.
I just finished racking this after its primary fermentation. It appears to have restarted fermenting, afterwards, so I imagine the sweetness will decrease a touch, but the orange blossom flavor may preserve that initial impression.
But from my initial taste test, it is coming along very nicely. It has a nice, lightly sweet flavor. This comes from the remaining sugar content, as well as the implication of sweetness from the orange blossom honey (also see my orange blossom traditional brew log).
There is a subtle bite from the ginger. I think I hit a good middle point with the ginger flavor. It’s noticeably present, but not overbearing. If you like heavy ginger, you can add more than I did, however I would caution that too much more might start to overpower some of the other, more subtle flavors in this drink. If you want pure ginger flavor, maybe go with a generic wildflower honey over the orange blossom so that complexity isn’t put to waste.
The lemon peel adds some brightness to it, and helps to highlight the orange blossom floral/citrus notes. The small amount of lemon juice also gives a hint of acidity to bring out the other flavors.
Overall I’m excited for this one to completely finish. It is reminiscent of a ginger-ale, but has a touch more complexity to it from the honey and lemon. I quite like it so far. Even my wife liked this one, and she has not been overly enthusiastic about too many of my creations. This recipe is definitely worth trying.