White Chocolate Macadamia

[cadeus]

I don't know if this has ever been tried before but when I looked for it I found no references for it, so I designed my own...
I calculated the ABV for 14% and adjusted my sugars accordingly.
This recipe is my base, as I am currently onto round two to try to make it even better, but this mead is a wonderful treat. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Primary-
2lbs. 10oz. Macadamia Blossom Honey ( I know a guy in Hawaii if you want to use the same honey... it is AWESOME stuff. )
1 cup black tea
2oz. raisins
D47 yeast
-combine and add spring water to one gallon and use yeast nutrients if desired (SG was 1.11, and I allowed it to ferment dry, 1.00)-
final gravity of 1.00 put it at 14.3%, so my math wasn't horrible

Secondary-
*before back-sweetening I racked it off the lees and stabilized it.
then add 1/2 cup cacao nibs, 8oz. macadamia blossom honey and 1 TBS vanilla extract and let it sit until you like the flavor, (took me two weeks).
Once I was happy with it, I bottled it and sat on it for a few months. tasting at bottling it was young but very nice, already. When we popped a bottle open a few months later it was devine! the added honey puts it at a semi-sweet to a dessert.

I got some macadamia extract, which is flippin ridiculous expensive I found out, and I am gonna use it in my next batch to get some more nuttiness into it, but the cacao nibs and vanilla extract imitated white chocolate perfectly. You are gonna love it!

 

[Young Brewing]

This recipe looks amazing! Do you have any pictures of past brews?

 

[cadeus]

I looked through my pics on Facebook and can't find any, but I have a new batch brewing in secondary right now, and I will be sure to post some pics in a few weeks when it is ready to bottle. Thank-you for your comment.

 

[cadeus]

This recipe looks amazing! Do you have any pictures of past brews?

I found a shot, but it is hrd to see it well. I will post some good pics of the new batch in a few weeks when I bottle it. I'm sorry.

 

[Young Brewing]

I found a shot, but it is hrd to see it well. I will post some good pics of the new batch in a few weeks when I bottle it. I'm sorry.

Looks awesome! The color is super appealing, good luck on the next batch!

 

[bernardsmith]

I love your recipe but I am a little confused. Before you back sweetened this you say that the FG was 1.000 and after adding 8 oz of the honey the gravity is still 1.000 but is now sweeter. Is your second reference to the SG ignoring the added honey or did that stabilization not in fact work and the gravity dropped what would likely be about 17 points from the added honey back to 1.000? Thanks.

 

[cadeus]

I love your recipe but I am a little confused. Before you back sweetened this you say that the FG was 1.000 and after adding 8 oz of the honey the gravity is still 1.000 but is now sweeter. Is your second reference to the SG ignoring the added honey or did that stabilization not in fact work and the gravity dropped what would likely be about 17 points from the added honey back to 1.000? Thanks.

That's a good question. So I stabilized it at 1.000. I mentioned it in reference to the ABV. I apologize for any confusion. You would be right to assume that the actual SG after back-sweetening would not be 1.000.
I edited my original post so it isn't misleading. thank-you for pointing it out.

 

[Ty520]

Just an FYI from experience

flavor from the nibs significantly dissipates over time. I just opened a bottle of my 1-year chocolate mead, and the aroma and flavor has become drastically more subtle than it was just 4 months ago.

I hear 2 years is the sweet spot for aging a chocolate mead, so exaggerating the cacao profile is probably a good idea.

Macadamia was a good call for back-sweetening. Care to share your source?

 

[cadeus]

Just an FYI from experience

flavor from the nibs significantly dissipates over time. I just opened a bottle of my 1-year chocolate mead, and the aroma and flavor has become drastically more subtle than it was just 4 months ago.

I hear 2 years is the sweet spot for aging a chocolate mead, so exaggerating the cacao profile is probably a good idea.

Macadamia was a good call for back-sweetening. Care to share your source?

I get my macadamia blossom from Shawn. Here is the link to his Facebook. He would be happy to sell you some honey if you message him.
https://www.facebook.com/waokele.honey