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Brew Log: Mango Serrano Pepper Mead

April 23, 2017 by The Mad AlcheMeadist

I wanted to make use of the one gallon glass jugs I had purchased some apple juice in from whole foods. I figured these would be perfect for some small experimental batches.

Ingredients – Primary

  • 3 lbs of honey
  • 2 Mangoes
  • 2 large Serrano Peppers (quartered)
  • US-05 Ale Yeast

Ingredients – Secondary

  • 1/2 lb honey to back sweeten

I did not measure the gravity for this batch, unfortunately.

I had originally envisioned doing a mango habenero pepper mead, but the store I went to did not have any habenero peppers in, so I substituted Serrano peppers. For this one, I wanted to try a few different techniques. Instead of placing the whole fruit into the primary fermenting container, I decided to boil the mango flesh in some water. This extracted a lot of the juices and flavoring from the fruit. I then filtered out the larger pieces as I poured this slurry into the glass jug.

Next I cleaned and quartered the peppers. Removed the seeds, which would have imparted a bitter taste, and placed these into the jug with the rest of the ingredients.

Brew Notes

mango serrano pepper mead in a flip top bottle

This one fermented quite vigorously, but managed to stay within the jug for the most part. This was the first time I had done a primary batch in anything other than the bucket, so watching it happen through the glass was interesting. The yeast were making enough CO2 that it looked like a soft drink. You could hear it through the container, gurgling away. And the smell it made! I was a delicious peppery, almost barbecue scent that filled my apartment.

Tasting Notes

I really enjoyed the flavor of this one. Of all the batches I’ve made, this is my favorite thus far. It’s got a slight sweetness to it, with a mouth filling heat aftertaste. But not in a burn your mouth way. It’s a pleasant mixture.

The mango flavor is not the most apparent, so when I recreate this one, I will likely add some more of that to try to bring it out more. Adding it to the primary likely ate up a lot of it, and the verdict is still out on the boiling method. It lead to less sediment, which was nice in such a small container, but likely lead to less of the flavor coming through.

Carbonating

mango serrano pepper mead finished bottlingAs I write this, I am using this mead as my first test force carbonation using my new mini keg. I think some carbonation in this one will help liven it up even more. It is already a bit closer in flavor and texture to a beer than my other flavors, so it felt like a good candidate.

 

Read more about how to keg and carbonate your mead here.

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