1600 gr honey
6 fresh-frozen then briefly stewed figs
1 dried fig
port yeast
Ready to bottle!
Hild (bochet) and June (bochet with cacao nibs & maple) are both beautifully clear and ready to bottle. I think I can probably get Dale and Edain cleared by the weekend too. So even if Idris/Gaia isn't ready we'll still have 25 liters bottled and to the basement. Room for new things!
I'm giving a talk on mead brewing at a makerspace tomorrow night. Yikes. I should probably organise information into a useful order at least.
I'm giving a talk on mead brewing at a makerspace tomorrow night. Yikes. I should probably organise information into a useful order at least.
Lane, Kearney, moragh
The three that are still in fermentation stages!
Lane (Hibiscus/apple/ginger tea)
Very dry - 1004. Sweetened up to ~1030
Alcohol ~17% (disclaimer: I've recently been informed that The Math says my alcohol meter is wrong and the level can't be that high, but it's all I have as indication, so eh)
I feel like this could be more tea-ish but I'm hesitant to add teabags into a carboy for fear of never getting them out again. So not sure what to do with that
Kearney (Bengal tea & cacao nibs)
Bone dry - 1002. Sweetened up to ~1032
Alcohol ~17%
This is on course for Bengal tea mead, though less peppery than the previous version. Sadly I'm not getting the cacao. Not entirely surprising as I recycled these nibs from making cacao vodka, so they'd probably lost their potency. Will need to retry with that.
Moragh (coffee mead)
Thought about racking but it is weirdly enough STILL bubbling so I left it alone.
Lane (Hibiscus/apple/ginger tea)
Very dry - 1004. Sweetened up to ~1030
Alcohol ~17% (disclaimer: I've recently been informed that The Math says my alcohol meter is wrong and the level can't be that high, but it's all I have as indication, so eh)
I feel like this could be more tea-ish but I'm hesitant to add teabags into a carboy for fear of never getting them out again. So not sure what to do with that
Kearney (Bengal tea & cacao nibs)
Bone dry - 1002. Sweetened up to ~1032
Alcohol ~17%
This is on course for Bengal tea mead, though less peppery than the previous version. Sadly I'm not getting the cacao. Not entirely surprising as I recycled these nibs from making cacao vodka, so they'd probably lost their potency. Will need to retry with that.
Moragh (coffee mead)
Thought about racking but it is weirdly enough STILL bubbling so I left it alone.
Idris + Gaia
I was hoping to bottle this the coming weekend (Sess is coming to help me mass bottle) but the clearing process did not work and it even started bubbling again! Added more yeast stop and may try another superklar treatment (I did not stir the previous one sufficiently and have since made a stirring spoon that fits inside the carboy). But bottling feels like a pretty significant risk if the fermentation has kicked off again, and you're supposed to wait 2 weeks after adding yeast stop, so I don't know.
Dale & Edain tartness issues
Got recommended to add tannin (bitter) and honey to balance out the tartness. I THINK we're ready to bottle & age in terms of flavour but of course adding honey has made it hazy again.
Missed chance: should have sweetened the lemon mead with thyme honey. I feel like that would have worked well.
Missed chance: should have sweetened the lemon mead with thyme honey. I feel like that would have worked well.
Change of plans
Dale: pomegranate
SG: 1038.
Alcohol: 19%
Honestly, this one has to be among my most frustrating batches. It's sweet enough, but also very, very tart, and it has the kind of wry-bitter aftertaste that reminds me of sweetened cranberry juice. It is beautifully clear and ready to bottle, but it is Not Good and I am out of ideas. Unless somebody on r/mead has a clever suggestion I am considering offering this one up to the still.
Edain: lemon & vanille mead
SG 1030
Alchol 15%
This tastes of potential, but just a bit too tart for pleasant drinking. Also still a big pectin haze.
Mixed in the ~500 ml very dry mead I had made (though was planned for Gaia). Added 250 gr honey and yeast stop.
Theory is that the dry addition would dilute both the acidity and the sugar level to a good acidity level, and I could then sweeten it again to drinkablility. Let's see how that turns out.
June: bochet with cacao nibs + maple syrup
Should have added that yeast stop. Fermented to 1022 and 17% - the nibs give a type of acidity that I know ages out eventually. I sweetened it with 400 gr maple syrup, added yeast stop, and once it's clear enough it goes to bottle for a long rest.
Hild: bochet +maple syrup
SG 1042, Alcohol 13%
The plan was to add maple syrup to Hild, but the sweetness is perfect and the taste honestly pretty damn good, so I added yeast stop and bentonite and it'll be ready to bottle with some more de-gassing.
Instead I added the maple syrup to June, which needed the sugar
SG: 1038.
Alcohol: 19%
Honestly, this one has to be among my most frustrating batches. It's sweet enough, but also very, very tart, and it has the kind of wry-bitter aftertaste that reminds me of sweetened cranberry juice. It is beautifully clear and ready to bottle, but it is Not Good and I am out of ideas. Unless somebody on r/mead has a clever suggestion I am considering offering this one up to the still.
Edain: lemon & vanille mead
SG 1030
Alchol 15%
This tastes of potential, but just a bit too tart for pleasant drinking. Also still a big pectin haze.
Mixed in the ~500 ml very dry mead I had made (though was planned for Gaia). Added 250 gr honey and yeast stop.
Theory is that the dry addition would dilute both the acidity and the sugar level to a good acidity level, and I could then sweeten it again to drinkablility. Let's see how that turns out.
June: bochet with cacao nibs + maple syrup
Should have added that yeast stop. Fermented to 1022 and 17% - the nibs give a type of acidity that I know ages out eventually. I sweetened it with 400 gr maple syrup, added yeast stop, and once it's clear enough it goes to bottle for a long rest.
Hild: bochet +
SG 1042, Alcohol 13%
The plan was to add maple syrup to Hild, but the sweetness is perfect and the taste honestly pretty damn good, so I added yeast stop and bentonite and it'll be ready to bottle with some more de-gassing.
Instead I added the maple syrup to June, which needed the sugar
Idris + Gaia
Idris (apple bochet, SG 1030 alcohol 18%) wasn't sweet enough for its level of tart. Gaia (apple mead, SG 1050 last time I looked) mixed together to a very tolerable balance.
SG 1040, alcohol 16%
Gaia had pectin haze problems, so I added enzyms and hope the mixture will clear. It's pretty ready for bottling when it does. I should probably add yeast stop. I hope it ages up nicely, because now I have 15 liters and my storage will be stacked with it. Be drinking this for a while to come.
SG 1040, alcohol 16%
Gaia had pectin haze problems, so I added enzyms and hope the mixture will clear. It's pretty ready for bottling when it does. I should probably add yeast stop. I hope it ages up nicely, because now I have 15 liters and my storage will be stacked with it. Be drinking this for a while to come.
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