What would you call it?

For any alcoholic brew that doesn't fit into any of the above categories!
User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

What would you call it?

Post by Laripu » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:08 pm

I've got this in secondary. At first I wanted to call it a hypocras, but the definition of hypocras seems to vary depending where you look.
1. Wikipedia defines hypocras as spiced wine, sweetened with honey or sugar. To me, that's just mulled wine.
2. The Beertown website is no real help; it does not mention hypocras at all.
3. The BJCP parenthetically calls spiced pyment hippocras. (sic)

My closest guess is that this is a "spiced pyment". I will be bottling it with some priming sugar in half-liter bottles, so I suppose it will be a "sparkling spiced pyment". However this is so ungainly and ugly a name, that I was hoping for somethng more elegant.

Here's what's in it:
4 lb (i.e. 1 46 fl oz can) of Alexander's Pinot Noir concentrate.
9 lbs of orange blossom honey
7 oz shredded boiled galangal root
3 oz boiled Jamaican sorrel, aka roselle
----- the sorrel and galangal were boiled together and the boiling water was included in the must. (Another 7 ounces of chopped boiled galangal root were added to the secondary.)
soft water to make up 23 liters.
Last edited by Laripu on Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

maxashton

Post by maxashton » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:57 am

Let us know how it goes. Galangal and sorrel are both fantastic flavours.

prodigal2

Post by prodigal2 » Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:51 am

You are right to think of it as a Pyment (honey and grape fermented together) :wink:

Also a Hyocras, was the forbear to mulled wine. King Henry VIII used them to settle his indigestion, and then by the C18th it morfed into the mulled wine we know now.

Duffbeer

Post by Duffbeer » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:43 am

Hippocras is a pyment in which herbs and /or spices have been infused,(usualy sweet).

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Post by Laripu » Sat Aug 09, 2008 10:18 pm

Thanks for the help. I expect to bottle this concoction some time in August, work and family life permitting. By late September it should be fully carbonated and I'll report back the results of tasting. For research purposes only, of course. :wink:
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

lockwood1956

Post by lockwood1956 » Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:47 am

Hypocras is indeed a pyment infused with herbs or spices

:)

let us know how it turns out

regards
Bob

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Post by Laripu » Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:51 pm

maxashton wrote:Let us know how it goes. Galangal and sorrel are both fantastic flavours.
I bottled today, so here's an update:

At present the aroma is mostly Florida orange blossom honey, but mellowed due to the aging in secondary.

The flavour is a pleasantly acidic, blend of orange blossom honey together with a slight mustiness form the Jamaican sorrel and a hint of eucalyptus from the galangal root. This sounds bad, but it is very subtle and pleasant. The Pinot Noir grape concentrate doesn't contribute much flavour on its own at present; however its presence serves to bind the other flavours together nicely. And the hypocras is red from the grape concentrate, of course.

The mouthfeel is thin; I wanted to carbonate in the bottle, so I couldn't make the alcohol over 11%, and that limited the quantity of fermentables. But there was 7 ounces of galangal root in the secondary for 3 months, which contributed some tannic astringency that you would expect from grape skins. That helps. I expect the carbonation to help with that too.

It was bottled with 100 grams of Quebec wildflower honey. In a month or two it should have carbonated, and I expect the flavours to have blended, so I'll report back again then.

The bottles have all been labelled, and the beverage is now called "Hypothetical Hypocras". :D I used green flip-top Grolsch bottles, the ones with the wire-bale closures.

A note on the wildflower honey: It is from Intermiel, a meadery and apiary (also distiller) and a truly amazing place. I go there whenever I visit my old home town. If you're in the Montreal area, it's a 30 minute drive north and well worth it. It's in rural apple country, so along the country road that leads north to Intermiel you can find stores fronting the orchards, with excellent cider, pies, ice-wine from apples etc. Lovely. Along the same country road there's a bakery that makes tourtiere, traditional Quebec meat pie. There are great French restaurants in the nearby towns too, if you look for them, at prices far less than the ones in the city! Just don't go in winter. :wacko: If you have any conversational French it will help but won't be entirely necessary. Bring a phrasebook - they like it if it looks like you're trying.
Last edited by Laripu on Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

maxashton

Post by maxashton » Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:29 pm

I'd like to spend some time in Canada. Hey, if you're in Canada or the cooler parts of northern America in general, you can get native sorrel that's pretty tasty.

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Post by Laripu » Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:33 am

maxashton wrote:I'd like to spend some time in Canada. Hey, if you're in Canada or the cooler parts of northern America in general, you can get native sorrel that's pretty tasty.
I do see it in grocery stores. But it doesn't grow where I am, which is Florida. I immigrated from Canada to the US 11 years ago. I visit up there occasionally, and bring back numerous tasty things that are not available here, like their buckwheat honey. On the other hand, when friends of ours visit here, they often bring back orange blossom honey or gallberry honey.

I can strongly recommend Canada as a tourist location. The cities are fun, but the rural areas are interesting too, especially if you like canoeing or rafting, camping or mountain climbing, or if you're a hunter for large edible game. (Moose is very tasty. I don't hunt, but I used be friends with a hunter.) Of course you can do all those things in the US too.

If it's something totally different you're after, Montreal is great place. It's mostly French speaking, but almost everyone understands English. They won't be rude to you - much. :roll: In the summer they have a great jazz festival and a comedy festival. Also a film festival.

Everyone says the most British place in Canada is the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. I've never been there myself. Canada's largest city is Toronto, which is 95% English-speaking. One attraction for my taste is that they have two Chinatowns - the old one downtown - and a new one in the north end that was built by Hong Kong immigrants in the 90's who didn't want to rejoin the communist mainland.

Boy, I wish I didn't have to work and could travel a lot more!
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Post by Laripu » Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:06 pm

This is probably the last update on this brew. The hypocras has been in the bottle about 4 weeks and it is fully carbonated. Because of the Jamaican sorrel (i.e. roselle) and the red grape wine concentrate, it is a deep red. I don't taste much distinct grape taste, but my wife does. We both taste a kind of pleasant muskiness, which I attribute both to the sorrel and the galangal. There is also a galangal aftertaste. The main taste is of orange blossom honey, but somehow the red grape concentrate holds it all together. Alcohol is about 11% vol/vol.

On the whole it is very interesting, and I think would go well with any seafood, but especially more robust kinds, like grilled shark or swordfish.

Next time (maybe five years from now!) I will probably use ginger instead of galangal, white wine concentrate instead of red, and leave out the sorrel altogether. That's not to say that I don't like it - I do - but it is much more like a wine than a beer, and I prefer beer.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: What would you call it?

Post by Laripu » Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:23 am

I had a hypocras tonight, first one in quite a while. For some odd reason I didn't feel like a beer.

The "Hypothetical Hypocras" has mellowed quite a bit since being bottled last September. The flavours have mellowed and I enjoyed it tremendously. At 11%, a half-litre does the trick nicely. It's not an everyday drink, but it went very well with tonight's supper of salmon, brussels sprouts and rice with spinach.

Cheers!
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

Mitchamitri

Re: What would you call it?

Post by Mitchamitri » Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:48 pm

I'd call it "Love Bright"

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: What would you call it?

Post by Laripu » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:44 pm

Mitchamitri wrote:I'd call it "Love Bright"
And how would that be pronounced, then? :lol:
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

User avatar
6470zzy
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4356
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:07 pm
Location: Cape Cod

Re: What would you call it?

Post by 6470zzy » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:15 pm

Laripu wrote:I've got this in secondary. At first I wanted to call it a hypocras, but the definition of hypocras seems to vary depending where you look.

Here's what's in it:
4 lb (i.e. 1 46 fl oz can) of Alexander's Pinot Noir concentrate.
9 lbs of orange blossom honey
7 oz shredded boiled galangal root
3 oz boiled Jamaican sorrel, aka roselle
----- the sorrel and galangal were boiled together and the boiling water was included in the must. (Another 7 ounces of chopped boiled galangal root were added to the secondary.)
soft water to make up 23 liters.
Do you recall what the yeast was that you used in this one?

Cheers
"Work is the curse of the drinking class"
Oscar Wilde

User avatar
Laripu
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7117
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Re: What would you call it?

Post by Laripu » Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:28 pm

6470zzy wrote: Do you recall what the yeast was that you used in this one?
After all these years, you'd think not, but as it turns out, for wine and mead, I've only ever used one brand of yeast, and for meads only three yeasts.

See this, I find these very high quality for wine and mead: http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

For mead, I've only ever used D47, K1-V1116(aka "killer yeast), and EC-1118 (Bayanus, aka Champagne yeast).... and D47 only once, and not for this batch.

I guess it was probably EC-1118, which is what I've used most often. It's also possible that I used one pack off Champagne yeast and one pack of killer treat

I'm posting from my phone right now; later I'll check if I have the recipe recorded on my computer, and I'll post again.

If I do it again, I'll use ginger instead of galangal, and leave out the Jamaican sorrel. Both of these take a long time too successfully age to mellowness.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

Post Reply