Sparkling Cherry Cyser

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So, as a rule, I hate cloning things. But, I am going to make an exception here in the next couple of weeks (whenever my honey gets here) and do a Zombie Killer Clone. Here’s what I’m looking at:

4gal apple juice
3lbs starthistle honey
.5gal Montmorency or other tart cherry juice
top with water to 1.075 gravity.

Will ferment that, likely with wyeast sweet mead. will shoot to arrest fermentation about 1.018/1.020 by cold crashing and sulfite addition. Then will keg and carb. If necessary, will backsweeten with some honey or sweet tupelo mead that I have sitting around (not ideal).

Anyone else every try doing something like this?

No, but it sounds good. You could back-sweeten with aspartame or similar and potentially skip the sulfite. Lindeman’s does this.

Originally posted by bitbucket
No, but it sounds good. You could back-sweeten with aspartame or similar and potentially skip the sulfite. Lindeman’s does this.

I refuse to use artificial sweeteners, mostly because I think they taste awful. I don’t know anyone with a sulfite allergy so I’d rather use them. To me, sweetening a mead with with anything artificial seems fundamentally wrong. I feel the same way about beer as well.

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel

Originally posted by bitbucket
No, but it sounds good. You could back-sweeten with aspartame or similar and potentially skip the sulfite. Lindeman’s does this.

I refuse to use artificial sweeteners, mostly because I think they taste awful. I don’t know anyone with a sulfite allergy so I’d rather use them. To me, sweetening a mead with with anything artificial seems fundamentally wrong. I feel the same way about beer as well.

That’s fine, I’m just throwing it out there.
I think most of the artificialness gets hidden in a lambic, maybe not so much here.

Well, I wound up making this. Used 4 gallons of Trader Joe’s unfiltered apple juice, 3qts of tart cherry juice and 5lbs of Starthistle honey. Came in at 1.080. Added Pectic Enzyme to help with clarification and also used Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast. Built a starter with a half gallon of mead must using 1# of orange blossom honey and water. It’s definitely fermenting at this point so I’m excited to see how it goes.

ISO

Sounds like a pretty solid recipe. In my experience stopping the fermentation early with sulfur has worked well and lets the wine have a nice sweetness too it.

Oh and using cherry juice is also a solid idea. I used cherries a few times and without pitting them first the tannins were through the roof.

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel
So, as a rule, I hate cloning things. But, I am going to make an exception here in the next couple of weeks (whenever my honey gets here) and do a Zombie Killer Clone. Here’s what I’m looking at:

4gal apple juice
3lbs starthistle honey
.5gal Montmorency or other tart cherry juice
top with water to 1.075 gravity.

Will ferment that, likely with wyeast sweet mead. will shoot to arrest fermentation about 1.018/1.020 by cold crashing and sulfite addition. Then will keg and carb. If necessary, will backsweeten with some honey or sweet tupelo mead that I have sitting around (not ideal).

Anyone else every try doing something like this?

Originally posted by Jamesthebrit
Sounds like a pretty solid recipe. In my experience stopping the fermentation early with sulfur has worked well and lets the wine have a nice sweetness too it.

Oh and using cherry juice is also a solid idea. I used cherries a few times and without pitting them first the tannins were through the roof.

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel
So, as a rule, I hate cloning things. But, I am going to make an exception here in the next couple of weeks (whenever my honey gets here) and do a Zombie Killer Clone. Here’s what I’m looking at:

4gal apple juice
3lbs starthistle honey
.5gal Montmorency or other tart cherry juice
top with water to 1.075 gravity.

Will ferment that, likely with wyeast sweet mead. will shoot to arrest fermentation about 1.018/1.020 by cold crashing and sulfite addition. Then will keg and carb. If necessary, will backsweeten with some honey or sweet tupelo mead that I have sitting around (not ideal).

Anyone else every try doing something like this?

The bigger issue with the pits is the almond/marzipan taste with too long of exposure. I’m going to cold crash and add sorbate and sulfite. That should slow it down. Talked with Curt Stock about it and it shouldn’t be too huge an issue once I carb it up.

When I made my last batch of cherry cyser, I went with it being still. Here was my recipe...

15 pounds Orange Blossom Honey
5 gallons apple juice
1 pound buckwheat honey
1 quart tart cherry juice concentrate
1 quart wild flower honey to backsweeten

The buckwheat comes out as if it is a barrel character, without having to wood age it. And 1 pound was more than enough for 6 gallons of mead.