Lord Rhys Chocolate Mead Recipe
Mar 25th, 2008 by Erroll
I mentioned this one yesterday, when I was commenting on existing wine and mead recipes that used chocolate. Here it is in its entirety:
Chocolate Mead aka Liquid Sex Mead
Lord Rhys, Capten gen y Arian Lloer, Barony of Andelcrag, Midrealm
This recipe may be quoted, borrowed, copied, or stolen by anyone under three conditions.
1. As the originator of this recipe please offer me credit as such.
2. No money may change hands specifically for this recipe. Give it freely to any who ask in the spirit in which I give it to you.
3. It may be put into any SCA newsletter, SCA publication, or website, paid subscription or public domain only after due notification to the originator.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The originator of the recipe is not responsible for hordes of chocolate-crazed women attacking your encampment in search of chocolate mead, or Foreign Royalty sending knights to drag you into their court at Pennsic to demand bottles and recipes. All local women must now see my lady, Angelline la Petita, for a sample if you can talk her out of it. I am not allowed to carry around an open bottle anymore.
Basic Procedure
The basics of mead brewing should be mastered before performing any advanced projects. This recipe assumes a standard 5 gallon batch of mead using a 4 parts water to 1 part honey mixture (Must). - editor’s note: take a look at my Simple Mead Recipe for an introduction to mead making basics.
If you prefer your mead boiled, do so before adding any cocoa from this recipe as the foaming will remove the chocolate from the mix. Boiling is optional in mead and if you would like the pro’s and con’s, please ask. I personally boil nothing in mead making.
To your standard must, before adding the yeast, add 16 oz of Cocoa Powder (Nestles works great). Mix well before adding yeast. You will notice a lag in the start of the yeast; however this is common and due to the oils in cocoa. It will start bubbling madly in a few days, but never as much as normal mead.
Finishing and Aging
THIS STEP IS VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT!
Cocoa contains a number of different very bitter oils that must be given time to break down. After the bubbling slows down put your fermenter/carboy away for one full year. Keeping the airlock on and checking the water level in it on occasion. Any other method of removing the oils will result in the loss of that little enzyme that the ladies are so fond of.
At the end of that year, rack the mead once to remove sediment and sweeten to approx. 1.030 on a hydrometer (semi-sweet) or to taste. I use Camden to kill the yeast at this point. Put the mead away for a second year. After the second year bottle normally. It will be clear, but very dark.
Some production notes: This mead leaves a very light aftertaste of chocolate that many people will not be able to identify readily. However the other effects of chocolate, i.e. orgasmic like pleasure is there. In the original test one of the samplers didn’t care for it, only one identified the flavor and tried to steal the bottle, and the other 28 thought it good with comments ranging from “very good” to “OH MY GOD!”. I make five gallons each year to share with friends, and that is all due to space from brewing. I used an apple flower honey, but any light honey should work. Just avoid heavy flavored honeys that might overpower the chocolate. In addition brew down only once, a heroic (high alcohol) mead would likewise overpower the delicate flavor.
Additional Note: The current batch now aged over two years has increased in chocolate flavor and smoothed very very very well. I no longer serve chocolate mead at less then two years of age. The Ladies of the Barony deserve nothing less then the best.
Final Note: If you let the mead age a third year some lovely Lady will force you to marry her in order to hoard the supply. My Lady Angelline has even received copies of this recipe in email, telling her she just has to try this out.
This mead is best served to the one you love ice cold, in candlelight, with a bowl of fresh strawberries for dipping. And privacy would be recommended.
Comments back to me are most welcome and maybe sent to LordRhys@gmail.com
Wonderful blog you have. I have just recently begun my journey in to the fun of mead making. My first Cyser is happily bubbling away in my storage closet even now, this recipe intrigues me, and I am thinking that I might just have to attempt it.
Thank you for this recipe. This looks great. I do have a couple of questions, though.
Question 1: It says “This recipe assumes a standard 5 gallon batch of mead using a 4 parts water to 1 part honey mixture” I might have missed that part when putting this together and used your “Simple Mead Recipe” as the base. I think that is a 5:1 ratio, right? If so, how badly did I bollix up this recipe? I added the starter (using mead yeast) and the thing took off like a rocket, bubbling within 2 hrs. or so.
Question 2: What do you sweeten with? Honey, corn sugar, organic cane sugar, Agave Nectar? I would assume with the chocolate flavor, you may want a neutral sweetener. What do yo suggest? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Patrick,
You’re right, my Simple Mead Recipe is 5 parts water to 1 part honey. So if you made up your must that way and you’d rather have a 4:1 ratio, you can add honey to your fermenting must right now. How much? Multiply the quantity of honey you added by 0.25. So, if you added 1 gallon of honey (and 5 gallons of water), then add a quart of honey to your fermenting must right now.
It’s probably not that big a deal, but it’s easy to do so why not do it?
The sweetener isn’t specified in the recipe, but I would probably use honey. You can make a good case for a neutral sweetener, like table sugar or corn sugar, and I think either way would be fine.
Hope this helps,
Erroll
Thanks for the response. My computer has been down and I didn’t get a chance to thank you and, of course, ask another question. Is there a way to halt fermentation without using Camden tablets? The sulfite thing makes my lady a bit twitchy. Thanks again. Oh, and I used Penzey’s powdered cocoa (Mail Order). Intense chocolate flavor, good price. $7.50/lb
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscocoapowder.html
Hi Patrick,
This is really a two-part question. The first part is about halting fermentation, and sulfite really isn’t good for that – sulfite and sorbate together are excellent for stabilizing a wine once fermentation has stopped. If you really want to stop fermentation at a particular point, I think cooling is your best bet. Chill the wine well below the yeast’s tolerance – into the low 30’s if you can. Once you’re sure fermentation has stopped, rack into a new container with sulfite and sorbate. That said, I think it’s easier and more reliable to ferment dry and then stabilize and sweeten.
The second part of your question is about doing without sulfite. I get asked about this from time to time and there isn’t a good answer. Some people do it, so it can be done, but sulfite is a great way to reduce the risk of problems like infection and oxidation. So to me, not using sulfite is a mistake.
If you must do without sulfite, then cleanliness and sanitation must be top notch. Make a vigorous starter. You racking technique must be perfect – no splashing – and you must top up religiously. Sweetening will be difficult, maybe even dangerous because fermentation might resume in the bottle, so bottle dry.
Good luck (you’ll need it!),
Erroll