Root of All Evil

Root of All Evil (Havoc)

1/30/2017

Root of All Evil is Havoc Mead's very popular Ginger Mead. It's surprisingly well-balanced between the dry honey flavor and the ginger spice.

Root of All Evil Clone Recipe
5 Gallon/19L
OG = 1.050
FG = .998
ABV = 6.9% abv.

Ingredients:

7.25 lbs Raw Wildflower Honey
4.5 Gallons Water
1 oz. Wyeast Wine Yeast Nutrient
5 Campden Tablets (if desired)
1/8 Cup Lemon Juice
1 oz. High Quality Ginger Powder
5 packets Lalvin D-47 yeast

Step by Step
Combine the first four ingredients at 104°F (40°C) stirring vigorously to aerate.
Wait 24 hours for the sulfites to do their thing, then sprinkle the dry yeast over the top of the must.
Maintain the fermentation at about 82°F (28°C).
Add lemon juice and ginger powder after 4 days.
Bottle (with priming sugar) or keg when bubbling has completely stopped (should be 8-10 days).
Enjoy in a week or two!

For general brewing principles and practices please visit our article: How We Brew Everything We Brew

19 Comments

Ian MacLeod

4/27/2017 11:53:58 am

I notice this recipe calls for 4x the usual amount of yeast nutrient compared to your other recipes. Any reason why?

Ricky the Meadmaker

4/27/2017 11:57:12 am

Just a typo! It should be 1 oz. nutrient. Good catch!

Lucas Bagley

10/23/2017 02:19:58 pm

Does this recipe not require any degassing?

11/2/2017 08:03:57 am

Degassing isn't necessary, but can always help remove sulfur-y flavors if they develop during fermentation.

catherine schneider

11/3/2017 10:13:02 pm

Hello. So I've told you, multiple stores (that will order for me), and about 100 people that the Root of All Evil is my favorite beverage. We were told that this has 0 carbs. Is this true? I think your nutritional info was on the verge of coming out at the time, but I can't find anything online. Will you email it to me or post here if you have it? Thanks! Keep up the good work. P.S. - will you also explain how you use all that honey and have 0 carb result if this is so? Thanks again.

Kelly

11/13/2017 03:44:04 pm

Hi Catherine,

We're glad you enjoy the mead so much, and thank you for reaching out to us! Root of All Evil is a dry mead, so it has almost no carbs. We don't have official testing yet, but there is almost no sugar left after fermentation, so the carbs should be very low if not actually 0.

In answer to your second question, during fermentation, the yeast consumes the sugar in the honey and creates alcohol and carbon dioxide, thus turning all those carbs into booze and bubbles!

The alcohol created is, of course, caloric, but not technically a carbohydrate.

Peter D Day

4/8/2018 08:18:27 pm

Hello Ricky, thanks for the recipe. Just wanted to make sure this is not another typo, no offense intended, but that is a tiny amount of lemon juice for a five gallon batch. Will there be a hint of lemon in this mead or is it there for ph purposes? And your answer may answer my next question but is there any downside to adding more lemon juice. Regards, Peter

5/4/2018 01:58:45 pm

No offense taken! The number is correct; it's very subtle.

The idea is that you shouldn't be able to taste it, per se, but you'd know if it was missing.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with increasing the lemon if that's your druthers. All of these recipes are really just a jumping off point!

Eric

5/22/2018 09:13:46 pm

Hello. I'm giving this a try and my fermentation seems to have gone a little cool, but is still very active after 4 days. Do you have a suggested gravity target to rack and add the Ginger and Lemon juice?

Thank you for the recipe. I look forward to seeing how this works out.
Eric

sheila moore

1/15/2019 01:35:52 pm

Am I read 5 packets of yeast per 5 gallon?? I have always use one packet per 5 gallon. But I have never make mead.

1/15/2019 01:41:13 pm

You read that correctly! Honey is a hostile environment for yeast, so, amongst other things, we recommend adding a lot more yeast than one would use for beer. For more on making mead, check out this article: https://www.groennfell.com/blog/making-mead-at-home-an-incredibly-contentious-article

1/15/2019 02:54:14 pm

Thank you for responding so quickly! I normally make wine no beer.. I looking into new things and see this web site. I will trust you on this.

1/15/2019 03:23:05 pm

With any beverage, it's hard to pitch too much yeast! And a lot of off-flavors come from pitching too little, especially in meadmaking. Happy brewing!

Igor

4/10/2019 12:07:06 am

What if I wanted to use raw Ginger - what would be the equivalent amount?

4/23/2019 08:51:08 am

That's a great question! It would give a different flavor profile, but that's not a bad thing.

We'd recommend starting with 2 oz., then increase it from there based on your personal taste.

Karthikeyan Palaniswamy

10/17/2019 03:47:24 am

Hi... I can see that this recipe calls for a higher fermentation temperature of 28'C compared to much lower temperatures in your other recipes? Why? Does this change the flavour profile?

10/23/2019 01:28:58 pm

Yes, this does change the flavor profile. Lower temperatures will result in a "cleaner" flavor, while higher temperatures can result in a more complex, often fruity, characteristic. Many of our recipes call for a higher fermentation temperature than is common with the D-47 yeast strain, because we have found that we (and, more importantly, our customers) enjoy the flavor we get from slightly higher temperatures. For more on this, check out our article, Why So Hot? https://www.groennfell.com/blog/why-so-hot

1/24/2020 01:47:26 pm

Thanks for the recipe, I have a small question about the ginger root powder addition. How is it recommended (or people are doing) to sanitize the ginger powder addition? I could boil it in some water, but know adding heat can change the flavor. Vodka?

1/25/2020 06:02:35 pm

I've been making variations of this for over a year now and I don't sanitize the powder, and have not had any problems. One thing I've come to do is rack off the cake a week before refrigerating, then refrige a week before adding ginger. That crashes the suspended yeast. Then I add ginger and whatever else. My latest is a ginger beets, tumeric which is easily one of my best.

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Root of All Evil (Havoc)

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