Mead vs Cyser

[GreatNorthernLlama]

First-time brewer here. Finally harvesting the apples from our tree in the back yard. Let's get the first question out of the way right off the bat: My tree was hit HARD this year by both cedar rust and apple scab. I had an arborist come look at my tree to confirm this. According to him the apple scab apples are completely fine to eat, so I would assume brewing them is the same. I plan on cutting up the apples and any large areas of fungus would be cut out prior to juicing. A healthy dose of k-meta I assume would be enough to offset any concerns here.

Variety of apples, I'm not sure. Best guess is something like a silken. An amature taste test says these are the closest apples from orchards in my area (souther Ontario, Canada) though at the same time not quite the same. Possibly thanks to the above-mentioned ailments to my tree this year but who knows.

Lastly, no masher or juice press here. I'm hoping to extract juice with your standard Breville countertop juicer (finally get a use for the thing) and maybe press the remaining pulp by hand with cheese cloth.

If at this point you don't see any glaring red flags to why I shouldn't brew with these at all, my questions are:

1. Mead vs Cyser for beginners: For my first year, I just wanted something that would turn out and not waste time. If successful, I can experiment more and get fancy in future years. Cyser sounds a little bit more interesting, but reading about adding honey it sounds like organic unpasteurized is a must? Thinking just something like this from Costco?

2. Recipes: Looking at both options, I've been looking at Doin' the most on youtube. He has some solid looking recipes but clearly skips a number of the basics of fermentation as his videos seem to be targeted towards more experienced brewers. He has a solid looking cyser recipe, and just recently dropped a full apple to cider recipe video.

I plan on harvesting the rest of my apples today / tomorrow. Unknown how much of a yield I will get. I'm hoping to at least brew one gallon. Will update with more accurate weights once harvest is complete.

 

[winemaker81]

Cyser sounds a little bit more interesting, but reading about adding honey it sounds like organic unpasteurized is a must? Thinking just something like this from Costco?

Unpasteurized should be better, but any honey will do for a test batch.

A local meadery uses some specialty honey (at a specialty price!) and the honey can make a difference. But for what you're doing this time around, don't worry about it.

2. Recipes: Looking at both options

Look in the Country Wines forum for recipes.

I haven't made apple wine in over a decade, but my notes may help you:

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2013-apple/

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2013-apple-second-run/

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

I was actually already creeping both of these (your site is super helpful). I made the assumption though that an apple "wine" was different than a mead. Maybe not? Going for diversity this year as my first season brewing lol. Maybe its literally just bottling that's different?

 

[QuiQuog]

I made the assumption though that an apple "wine" was different than a mead. Maybe not?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I mean, they're both a fermented beverage, but that's about it. A cake and a lasagna are both baked in the oven. Everything else is different. Ingredients, equipment, techniques, timing

 

[winemaker81]

I was actually already creeping both of these (your site is super helpful). I made the assumption though that an apple "wine" was different than a mead. Maybe not? Going for diversity this year as my first season brewing lol. Maybe its literally just bottling that's different?

I'm happy my site is useful. Try looking at this one, which is not quite what you want to do, but it's another POV:

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2023-metheglin-mead/

I've been making wine long enough that much of it looks alike to me. From my POV, you want to make an apple wine and use honey instead of sugar to chaptalize it.

Juice your apples, press the pulp, and look at the quantity, e.g., you want to start with 1-1/2 gallons to ensure a 1 US gallon jug is full for bulk aging. You'll probably have too much, but better too much than too little.

Measure the SG, then stir in honey until you hit a good SG. IMO 1.085 to 1.095 is a good target. Add pectic enzyme, nutrient, maybe some acid, and yeast.

 

[Raptor99]

Here are some definitions/options:

Cider = fermented apples without added sugar, ABV is usually around 5-6%
Apple wine = fermented apples with sugar, ABV is often around 11-12% but can be higher if you wish
Mead = any wine made with honey rather than sugar. Technically, more then 50% of the sugars present are from honey
Cyser = mead made with apples (and honey of course, otherwise it is not a mead)

In my opinion, basic Cider is the easiest way to start. I like my ciders back sweetened and carbonated. Ask if you want to know how to do that. If you want a higher ABV, you could do an apple wine.