The Bottling

Sess came to help me and we bottled 40 liters of mead. Go us! My basement storage is suddenly full again.

Hild - 5L - bochet

SG 1040
Alc 15%

Very dark and beautiful colour. Good sweetness with enough complexity. Fruity caramel aftertaste.

bottles:
4 x 0.75
1  x 0.5
3 x 0.33
1 x 0.25

June - 10L - Cacao/Maple

SG 1034
Alc ~19? I think that's probably not right.

Beautiful dark red-brown colour. Currently not tasting the maple.  Right now it has that 90% cacao chocolate aftertaste - the acidity needs to mellow out and then I think this will be wonderful. I might try a little bottle by Christmas, but I think this needs at least a year. It tastes of potential, so I have hope and will make patience.

Bottles:
1 x 1L
8 x 0.75
2 x 0.5
5 x 0.33

Edain - 5L - Lemon Vanille

SG 1052
Alc 17%

Surprisingly not acidic at all - the tannin must have done its job slowly. I wish I had waited to backsweeten until I'd given the tannin some time because I would have liked this better a touch less sweet. It's a little on the over-sweet for me now, the vanilla comes out more and surprisingly the lemon mellowed way down. It's unexpectedly flowery with lemon aftertaste. Very summery.

Dale - 5L - pomegranate and vanille

 SG 1052
Alc ~20%? I don't think that's right

Same thing as with Edain - the tannin must have done more than expected, because the acidity is way down and it's lost that typical sour-dry-bitter mouthfeel.  Very sweet (a bit too much, again) fruity, very drinkable.

Idria (Gaia + Idris) - 13 liter - apple bochet

SG 1030
Alc 13%

Beautiful deep dark colour. And oh, this is GOOD. There's a bit of appelstroop to it, caramellisation is noticeable but not overpowering. Sweetness is just right. Very very drinkable and I'm excited to have 13 liter of it. 

Bottles:
4 x 1L
8 x 0.75
1 x 0.5
8 x 0.33

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.

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.

Gaia

Warming up Gaia in a waterbath seemed to get the fermentation going again a little, but not workable to keep it warm that way. It's now wrapped in a heat pad but probably at 1050 but 19%! not going to ferment much more. Added the dryest mead I could find in my storage - Shattered Spankerboom - and I think it's picking up a little. Let's see if we can get this to a drinkable rocket fuel state.

Chai, Dale, Edain, Gaia

Chai
Mead with Bengal Spice tea
SG 1030
Alc 17%

Ohh! Backsweetening was just what this needed. It's a well-rounded, medium sweet with a peppery backtone. Very nice and interesting but not a 'stunt mead'. Bottled this.

Dale
Pomegranate mead.
SG 1034
Alc 19%
Slight backsweetening has improved the taste a bit, but it's still very acidic in a way that further sweetening won't balance out. I had planned to bottle this but have added 3 vanilla pods instead. It was suggested to me that oak extract would help balance it, but I've run out - the pod of a vanilla bean might take on that job though. Let's hope so.

Edain
Lemon mead
SG ~1030
Alcohol 15%
Has the yeasty smell of fermentation-in-progress, but is probably well along the way to being finished. On the acidic side, which is to be expected of lemon. I don't taste the lemon though. Hmm. Added two vanilla pods hoping to counter the acidity a bit, and then we'll see. Maybe some zest after all?

Gaia
Apple mead
SG ~1050
Alc 19%
Oof. This is obviously Not Done but the alcohol percentage has to be pushing it even for the champagne yeast. I added back a bit of the yeast cake and gave it some new champagne yeast. It seems to still be alive, so we'll have to see how this goes.

Bathing

Gaia didn't start fermenting overnight, so I put it in a warm bath today to help the yeast get started


It's bubbling now.. or rather, foaming! Foam was pushing out through the airlock so I gave it a blow-off tube until it calms down

Gaia

Gaia

1800 gr supermarket honey
~4 liter homemade applejuice
Champagne yeast
yeast energiser

I think I want to make this a harvest mead, with spices in secondary