The Crawford Brothers Honey Apple Meade is the thing that got me into brewing originally. Technically, this is a cyser, made from apple juice, honey, and yeast.
The apple juice comes from an orchard up near Oak Creek, Arizona. They have several varieties of apples and a mechanical cider press. They produce a delicious blend of unpasteurized apple cider every fall.
Here are some photos of the cider pressing process from the 2002 batch.
Here is a panorama of the apple orchard.
The honey comes from The Honeyman's outlet shop in Prescott, Arizona.
Brian and I have been brewing this since the mid 1990s. The details of some of the batches may require some archaeological work to recover. I will add the information as I come across artifacts that provide the necessary clues.
Using fresh-pressed cider from Oak Creek. Frozen for a few days before thawing and fermenting.
7 16oz bottles 38 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using fresh-pressed cider from Oak Creek. Frozen for a few days before thawing and fermenting.
7 16oz bottles 37 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using fresh-pressed cider from Oak Creek. Frozen for a few days before thawing and fermenting.
12 16oz bottles 33 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using fresh-pressed cider from Oak Creek. Frozen for a few days before thawing and fermenting.
1 22oz bottle 9 16oz bottles 35 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Back after a long hiatus resulting from being too busy in 2019 and from a global pandemic in 2020. This batch was done with glass gallon jugs of unfiltered organic pasteurized grocery store juice (a birthday gift from my mom). Started on 9 January. Racked to secondary on 27 March. Bottled 13 October.
5 16oz bottles 50 12oz bottles 4 7oz nips
Missed adding this batch here somehow. This was a double batch with juice from Oak Creek, purchased in late 2018. I started it 1 December 2018. Racked to secondary on 29 June 2019 and added oak. Removed oak on 14 July. Bottled in mid-to-late October (labeled on the 31st).
Used frozen Oak Creek juice from several different years to do a 3 gallon experimental oaked batch. Started on January 12th 2018. Used Wylabs liquid yeast. Racked to secondary on February 4th 2018. Bottled 7 August 2018.
28 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in October 2017. Ferment started October 29 at 4:20PM, bubbling away by 9AM the next morning. Used 4 packets of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (re-hydrated). Racked to secondary on December 12. Bottled 29 August 2018.
2 22oz bottles 5 16oz bottles 35 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in October 2017. Ferment started October 29 at 4:20PM, bubbling away by 9AM the next morning. Used 4 packets of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (re-hydrated). Racked to secondary on December 12. Bottled 24 August 2018.
2 22oz bottles 15 16oz bottles 22 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in November 2016. Ferment started November 12th. Bottled 8 September 2017.
1 750ml ceramic flip-top 2 22oz bottles 11 16oz bottles 27 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in November 2016. Ferment started November 12th. Bottled 8 September 2017.
12 16oz bottles 32 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in November 2015. Spent ~11 months in secondary. Bottled 29 October.
1 750ml ceramic flip-top 1 32oz (whale) bottle 3 16oz bottles 39 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
Using frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek purchased in November 2015. Spent ~11 months in secondary. Bottled 29 October.
1 22oz (whale) bottle 13 16oz bottles 28 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
Recently pressed (10/22/2015) and frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek. More of Kenny's honey.
Recently pressed (10/22/2015) and frozen unpasteurized juice from Oak Creek. The last of Kenny's honey.
This is from 5 gallons of unfiltered pasteurized organic apple juice I bought about a year ago (same time as the juice for the 19 April 2014 batch (B)). Used some more of Kenny's honey and a "smack pack" of liquid champagne yeast. Placed in half-full tub of water and, covered with a wet towel. Primary fermentation was underway in less than 9 hours and, proceeded slowly and evenly for about 9 days.
Racked to secondary on 17 July. Smells and tastes great already. I suspect some of the (slightly) "spicy" quality of the last couple batches at this stage has been due to the honey.
Bottled on 11/21/2015
3 22oz bottle 6 16oz bottles 34 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
Made with unpasteurized cider from Oak Creek, frozen, then thawed. Kenny's honey. Liquid champagne yeast (two vials, several months past their "best by" date).
Started on 21 April 2014.
Racked to 5 gal. secondary on 18 May 2014.
Bottled 11 October, 2014. Used older oxygen-barrier caps on-hand. Applying labels took ~an hour.
1 750ml (stoneware, fliptop) bottle 1 "whale" bottle 7 16oz bottles 34 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
Made with store-bought unfiltered organic juice in glass gallon bottles. Kenny's honey. Dry champagne yeast.
Started on 19 April 2014.
Racked to 6 gal. secondary on 18 May 2014.
Bottled 12 October 2014. Used older oxygen-barrier caps on-hand.
2 750ml (stoneware, fliptop) bottle 6 16oz bottles 36 12oz bottles 2 7oz nips
This batch was brewed in September of 2011, transferred to secondary after ~weeks and, bottled on June 24th 2012. Added additional yeast at bottling to ensure proper carbonation. It tasted great at the time of bottling.
8 16oz bottles 38 12oz bottles 3 7oz nips
This was ready-to-drink within a few weeks of bottling and, just kept getting better. Most of it was gone within a few months. Delicious!
This batch spent a couple months in secondary before bottling. It came out fantastic.
This batch was brewed at the end of 2005. It sat in the carboy for a record-setting year and a half before being bottled (on 18 June, 2007). It was already delicious (though uncarbonated) at bottling time.
21 16oz. bottles 23 12oz. bottles 2 7oz. nips
Opened several bottles in early 2014. All were uncarbonated and, just this side of vinegar.
This batch was fermented using a Chardonnay yeast instead of the traditional champagne yeast. The final product has much less carbonation than other batches.
The apple juice was frozen and thawed for this batch but, not boiled. I only heated a little bit of the juice up to get the honey to dissolve. I've done this several times, now. It seems to produce a more complex final product.
I got generous and entered this one in the (2005) 3rd Annual Arizona Meade Cup competition. This one took second, beating out entries by local professional brewers.
Chuck at What Ales Ya! talked me into entering some of this batch into the (2004) 2nd Annual Arizona Mead Cup competition. The HAM didn't do too badly, coming in 3rd (bronze) out of over 60 entries. It seems to have lost points mainly for not being exactly "to style." The judges did not feel that there was enough honey aroma or flavor for that. Here is a photo of the bronze ribbon.
Tried a bottle of this in May of 2014 and, it was fantastic. Still delicious and complex.
Evermorian