The Thrilla from Vanilla
Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee
Source: Microburst Brewery (Forrest Cook and Jon Corbet)
Mead Lover's Digest #123, 1 May, 1993
Ingredients (for 7 gallons):
- 9 lbs of mesquite honey from Tempe, AZ
- 2 tbsp gypsum to harden up the water a bit
- 4-ounce bottle of Madagascar vanilla extract
Directions:
- Vanilla extract added after the must cooled.
- The unfermented beverage tasted great, it's been bubbling away for over a month. I don't know how many vanilla beans are in one bottle, but I've heard that they are rather potent.
Notes:
The inspiration for this recipe came from a mead that was poured at the Beer and Steer, a large outdoor homebrewers party held in Colorado occasionally.
As this mead has aged, the vanilla flavor has become more pronounced. For the next batch, we will probably increase the vanilla extract to 6 oz. At nine months the flavor is still improving, I project that it will be incredible at eighteen months—if there is any left.
Dave's Notes:
I made a mead based on this recipe, except I went nuts with the vanilla. I had a 16 oz bottle of Mexican vanilla extract, and I put in the whole thing. I don't think it was too much vanilla, and most people agreed. The other major change was that I used a real dark “wildflower blend” of honey, which balanced the strong vanilla flavor nicely.