Cyser

Cyser is a fermented beverage. It is a type of mead. Mead is considered by some to be mankind's oldest fermented beverage. Mead is simply honey and water that has fermented. Early examples were fermented by wild yeast. Mead is independently multicultural. It is known from many sources of ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, although archaeological evidence of it is ambiguous. Its origins are lost in prehistory; "it can be regarded as the ancestor of all fermented drinks," Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat has observed, "antedating the cultivation of the soil." Claude Lévi-Strauss makes a case for the invention of mead as a marker of the passage "from nature to culture."

Modern manufactured mead is a controlled product just as wine is. Makers control the variables in the manufacture, yielding a consistent product. When honey is mixed with fruit juice the resulting fermentation is a type of mead known as metheglin. When the fruit juice used in making metheglin is apple juice - the resulting fermentation is known as cyser.

One of the best books I've found to help me in my Cider making adventure happens to be a book on Mead. Making Mead seems a natural extension of making Cider. There is a road side honey stand on Venable in Crystal River that I pass every day, so the temptation was too great. 1/2 gallon (5 lbs.) of natural Citrus County Wild Flower Cider followed me home, and a trip to Winn Dixie for the cheapest WD brand Apple Cider (looks just like apple juice) and I was ready to try a new recipe.

This may be my best home brew, and is slightly sweet and very drinkable, in fact it may be the first batch to disapear before the next batch is complete. Too good to hog to myself, We've been readily sharing the cyser.


Recipe

4 gallons Apple juice (bottle says cider)

5 lb. Citrus County natural honey

1 pkg. white wine yeast

Dilute honey so it would flow with about an equal volume of water and heated it to just below the boiling point. This was added to fermenting bucket, and then 3 gallons of the apple juice was dumped in. The yeast package was pitched (dumped into bucket), and the last gallon of juice was poured in to mix the yeast. Bucket was sealed, and allowed to fermentation started in a day or so and was vigorous for about a week, at 8 days it tasted divine, and we added 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation and bottled the next day. The product was not clear but was oh so delicious and drinkable. This will definitely be a formula to repeat.

I'll post a picture of a glass of this "Nectar of the Gods" soon.

Aged Cider part II

Started tasting the aged cider at around 5 weeks. The instructions for the oak barrel said that the first batch would age more quickly.

they were right at 6 weeks it was perfect, at 6 weeks and 2 days it was a little too smokey, for some, I like it.

The aged cider is crisp, dry, and smokey. It has the aroma of an aged whisky but the lightness and drinkability of a cider. although more recent experiments with Honey have lead to a Cider/Mead that I like better than the Oak Aged Cider alone, the flavor and drinkability, look, and smell of the Oak aged cider, is such that I will be doing another batch very soon.