# Hot Pepper Meads



## vcasey (May 1, 2009)

Last year as a joke my husband said I should make a lost lizard mead in reference to the lizards that took up residence inside the house after Tropical Storm Fay side swiped us. So I decided to use some of the peppers his was growing and make a Lost Lizard Pepper Mead. I started with a traditional mead using left over pumpkin blossom honey and Lavlin 71B. Once this fermented down enough to rack to glass I blended some of the must with 6 whole jalapenos for one jug, 3 whole cayennes for another jug, and 3 more whole cayennes and 1/2 cup chocolate powder for the other. Once they finished the alcohol ended up at 16%, exactly what I was shooting for. So I sabilized the meads and later back sweetened them with clover honey. I just bottled the last of the pepper meads and wow are they good. I was not expecting much but these ended up being fantastic. The jalepeno is the boldest from the first breath (actually you just need to walk in the room) to the burn at the finish it screams JALAPENO! My husband loves this one! The cayenne is smooth just a hint at first sniff and a bit of heat at the end. The chocolate cayenne has a nice chocolate aroma and I can even taste chocolate in the mead with that cayenne bite at the end. We have some serrano and habanero peppers growing this year, can't wait to see what they taste like!
VPC


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## grapeman (May 1, 2009)

Great story vcasey. I love to hear about these kinds of off the wall creations. It's even better when they turn out great. Can't wait to hear what they taste like in a year.


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## vcasey (May 1, 2009)

Thanks. I was not sure what to expect so I only made a small batch. My husband is over joyed with the jalapeno &amp; cayenne, he has yet to taste the chocolate cayenne so we'll see. I've been bottling and have 5 different meads for him to try tonight, wonder how long his taste buds will last.
VPC


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## gaudet (May 1, 2009)

If his taste buds give out, cork me up a sample pack please.


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## vcasey (May 1, 2009)

Taste buds survived! I'll post the recipes if you are interested. He liked the chocolate cayenne and loved the maple cranberry cyser. The blueberry &amp; blackberry meads are all right, they are dry and need more time. Getting ready to start the lime mead, finally. Have everything but the yeast, looks like I'll have to put restocking for hurricane season on hold and pick some up this weekend. Of course that could count as getting ready for hurricane season ........... right?
VPC


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## gaudet (May 1, 2009)

I'd count it as restocking. I live in New Orleans, so I feel your pain. I am not on the activation team this time for our first hurricane so I get to evacuate. 

I started a mulberry yesterday & pitched yeast this evening. I will go berry picking again tomorrow morning and juice strawberry tomorrow afternoon so that I can pitch on Sunday for 6 gallons. But back to the meads, I'd definitely like to see that chocolate cayenne recipe sounds very nice. The jalapeno might be a one gallon wonder to try as well.


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## vcasey (May 2, 2009)

Yeah, I count it as restocking as well. We only need to visit the health food store now so maybe I'll be able to sneak a trip to the LHB Shop. They are brewing beer in the parking lot today with a local club so talking Hubby into going should not be too difficult.






When I started I knew these meads would be a bit spicy, so I planned on making them a sipping wine or as a last resort a marinade. As a result the starting SG is high. Also I only made 1/2 gallon of each.

4 1/2 lb Pumpkin Blossom Honey (Clover would work fine, I just had extra)
water to 6 qts.
Yeast nutrient, DAP
Lavlin 71B rehydrated with Go Ferm 

Starting SG was 1120. When it hit 1010 I racked to 3 - 1/2 car-babies and took 1 cup must from each and blended (seeds too) with:
Jalapeno - 6 small
Cayenne - 3 medium
Chocolate Cayenne - 3 medium and 1/2 cup Hersey's Chocolate Powder

Once they were blended I added them back to the individual jugs and topped off each with a mixture of 50% water and clover honey (I did this with each racking). Once it finished fermenting I filtered it through a sanitized coffee filter (blackberry seeds have nothing on pepper seeds), degassed, stabilized and topped up. It cleared pretty well on its own, but I back sweetened it to 1030 with clover honey. The chocolate cayenne is the only one I can tell was sweetened - yes the peppers are that strong! In my notes for next time I will only use 3 jalapenos instead of 6 just to see the difference. 

On a side note I'll often start a larger batch of a traditional mead and break it down to smaller individual batches and add the fruit or juice to the secondaries. For me it helps enhance the fruit flavor of the meads. In the future I plan on juicing the fruit and freezing the juice so I can concentrate it by thawing out 1/2. I believe I can add more fruit flavor this way, especially for the dry meads.
VPC


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## vcasey (May 11, 2010)

Last years Serrano and Habanero Meads are in the bottle. Yes I know - FINALLY!! The serrano will be great for marinade or for someone who really wants the sinuses opened up - it is a lot like the jalapeno. The habanero is actually very nice, its warm but not overwhelming. 
I think this years will be a blend of peppers. Half will be made with fresh peppers and the other half with with the same amount but dried peppers - just to see if there is a difference. Perhaps I'll use apple juice instead of water ............


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