[tschmidlin]

Damn it, damn it, damn it.  Sparking Key Lime Mead?!?!?  AYFKM?  I really need to rent a car next time here...

Tell me about it, I've been drooling over that one since Jeff mentioned it a while ago.

Jeff, any chance you're bringing some to San Diego?  How many pounds of limes did you use?  I saw key limes in the store the other day (and it made me drool because it reminded me off your mead).  I doubt they'll be as good as the ones you can get, but it might be the only way I can satisfy my craving.

[punatic]

If you actually make it to Key West try Kelly's.  It's a brewpub owned by Kelly McGillis in the original Pan Am office building from back when they started up by flying Key West to Havana.

[jeffy]

Damn it, damn it, damn it.  Sparking Key Lime Mead?!?!?  AYFKM?  I really need to rent a car next time here...

Tell me about it, I've been drooling over that one since Jeff mentioned it a while ago.

Jeff, any chance you're bringing some to San Diego?  How many pounds of limes did you use?  I saw key limes in the store the other day (and it made me drool because it reminded me off your mead).  I doubt they'll be as good as the ones you can get, but it might be the only way I can satisfy my craving.

I got a recipe from Joe in West Palm and changed it a bit.  'Not sure he's on the forum.  Originally it was a Mojito mead with mint added, but I skipped that part.  I tasted his in a mead/cider best of show last year and it was delicious.

I added 16 ounces of fresh squeezed key lime juice to a gallon of orange blossom honey and 4 gallons of water, then pitched a big slurry of Thames Valley ale yeast.  It was 23P at the start (mid December) and 1.012 at the finish.  I force carbed it Sunday.  I really like it.

[MDixon]

You could get some Yuengling...at least that would be local 

The Key West Sunset at one time was an lager and I forget who brewed it but it was pretty tasty. That was many, many moons ago (like 12+). My one trip to Kelly's in KW was pretty awful. Since then they have had new brewers and I believe they ditched the dry yeast (yes, they used one big old cake of dry yeast for everything at that time) so I've heard some good things about the beers improving. I've never found better than Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada in Naples, but each time I've been I'm there with work and not able to search the area.

[jeffy]

Most of those beers come from Florida Beer Company in Melbourne.  They make a pretty good APA (or is it an IPA?) called Swamp Ape, but most of the beers are pretty mainstream.

[gordonstrong]

My Mom had Yuengling in the fridge when I got here, so yes, I did have that already.  It's not bad for what it is, but I can get that at home.

Thanks for the ratio on the key lime mead.  I'll have to give that a try.  I wonder if Meyer lemon would work as well.  Both are less acidic than the normal lemons and limes.

There's a Kelly's in Naples; not sure if it's the same as the one in Key West.  There's a local fish place called Randy's.  I'm hoping to go there tomorrow night to have some Escolar.  I can't get that fish where I live and it's one of the tastiest I've had.  I've already had two different fishes this trip I never had before: black grouper and hogfish snapper.

And I'll +1 Tom's suggestion/request/demand that you bring some of that key lime mead to San Diego.  I'm already getting psyched about that trip.

[jeffy]

My Mom had Yuengling in the fridge when I got here, so yes, I did have that already.  It's not bad for what it is, but I can get that at home.

Thanks for the ratio on the key lime mead.  I'll have to give that a try.  I wonder if Meyer lemon would work as well.  Both are less acidic than the normal lemons and limes.

There's a Kelly's in Naples; not sure if it's the same as the one in Key West.  There's a local fish place called Randy's.  I'm hoping to go there tomorrow night to have some Escolar.  I can't get that fish where I live and it's one of the tastiest I've had.  I've already had two different fishes this trip I never had before: black grouper and hogfish snapper.

And I'll +1 Tom's suggestion/request/demand that you bring some of that key lime mead to San Diego.  I'm already getting psyched about that trip.

Well, I booked the conference, I have the room reserved and at least one or two room-mates and a nice customer of mine is giving me some Continental buddy passes, so it looks like I'll be there.
Love some Hogfish.
What beer did you find at Whole Foods?

[blatz]

I got a recipe from Joe in West Palm and changed it a bit.  'Not sure he's on the forum.  Originally it was a Mojito mead with mint added, but I skipped that part.  I tasted his in a mead/cider best of show last year and it was delicious.

yeah, Joe doesn't frequent the forums.  I was so taken with that mead that Joe and I made some together in January - though I am keeping it mojito and will be adding spearmint leaves in a month or 2.  Used mead yeast though and cut it out around 1.030ish IIRC - started at 1.108.

Look forward to trying your version.

[bluesman]

And I'll +1 Tom's suggestion/request/demand that you bring some of that key lime mead to San Diego.  I'm already getting psyched about that trip.

+1

Me too. How many entries do you have this year?

[gordonstrong]

And I'll +1 Tom's suggestion/request/demand that you bring some of that key lime mead to San Diego.  I'm already getting psyched about that trip.

+1

Me too. How many entries do you have this year?

None.  I'm done.  Time for someone else to step up.

[gordonstrong]

What beer did you find at Whole Foods?

Pretty much like you guys said.  Two sixers, Maduro Brown Ale and an IPA.  I bought the brown ale.  Over in the big bottle section, they had four: Sea Bass dark-bodied (?) farmhouse ale, something big with rye in it called Improvisation, something with guava in it, and an empty spot where the Marshall Zhukov Imperial Stout belonged.  After cursing my luck, I bought the Sea Bass.  I didn't really look at the other two closely.

Drinking the Maduro Brown Ale right now.  Sort of an aggressive English brown ale, with lots of chocolate flavor.  Some graininess.  Almost a porter, but brown ale is probably right.  Quite tasty.  Nice and fresh.  Oh, look, it's gone already.  I'll try the Sea Bass tonight with dinner (fish cakes made from the leftover grouper).

There were a couple other Florida beers there, including that random Orange Blossom Pilsner and some other "Caribbean-style Pilsner", I think from Hurricane Ridge(?). I didn't get either, but at least they had some local things.  The CCB beers all had these orange "local" tags on the shelves.

WF had a big selection of domestic and import beer, much better than I had seen in previous years.  Lots of things I would have bought if I wasn't going for the local angle.  A ton of miles on domestic beers (Bells from MI, stuff from Maine, PNW, and San Diego).  Wanted to see more local stuff, but at least they had something.

I appreciate the help.

[bluesman]

And I'll +1 Tom's suggestion/request/demand that you bring some of that key lime mead to San Diego.  I'm already getting psyched about that trip.

+1

Me too. How many entries do you have this year?

In a sense, I can't blame you one bit. It's a tremendous amount of work and anticipation.

[jeffy]

Orange Blossom Pils is a local Orlando guy, Tom Muench, but it is contract brewed in Carolina.
I'm not too impressed with Sea Bass.  I think they were using Bob's (St.Somewhere) yeast to make that. 
The Jai Alai IPA is an excellent West Coast Style IPA.  It's nice to find on tap all over my area.
Guava Grove is actually a very good fruit beer, but it isn't always consistent.
I like the Maduro.  If you see Jose Marti American Porter it's nice, too.

[tschmidlin]

I added 16 ounces of fresh squeezed key lime juice to a gallon of orange blossom honey and 4 gallons of water, then pitched a big slurry of Thames Valley ale yeast.  It was 23P at the start (mid December) and 1.012 at the finish.  I force carbed it Sunday.  I really like it.

No zest?  I was thinking about zesting some of them, and using fireweed honey since I have it   I assume staggered nutrient additions, did you adjust the pH at all?

A pint of juice . . . that will take a while

[jeffy]

I added 16 ounces of fresh squeezed key lime juice to a gallon of orange blossom honey and 4 gallons of water, then pitched a big slurry of Thames Valley ale yeast.  It was 23P at the start (mid December) and 1.012 at the finish.  I force carbed it Sunday.  I really like it.

No zest?  I was thinking about zesting some of them, and using fireweed honey since I have it   I assume staggered nutrient additions, did you adjust the pH at all?

A pint of juice . . . that will take a while

No Zest.  No nutrients.  No pH adjustments.  Thames Valley Yeast.  Strange, eh?
Joe originally used only a cup of juice in his 5 gallon batch and I really liked his.
I had some fireweed mead once.  Interesting flavors, kind of sharp and spicy as I recall.  Does that sound right?