I'm deeply tempted to give this a go: chocolate mead
Logistically it'd a bit of a trick to stow away a demi for that long, especially upright with an airlock. Pretty much the only place I have is the storage shed, which is not temperature stable. At all.
Plus I'm not sure if I'd have the patience.
But damn that sounds nice.
Caelan
Added stabiliser. Then decided to add bentonite too. Not sure how much there is to gain with clearing, but I'm mostly just curious about how and if it'll work, so we'll call it an experiment :-)
I guess I ought to look how many bottles I have ready, and maybe have a practise go with the corker..
I guess I ought to look how many bottles I have ready, and maybe have a practise go with the corker..
Alexis and Brynn
While I'm updating...
Alexis is nowhere near ready - grav 1.010, Alc 8%. It's still very hazy without a hint of clearing, but also seemed to have all but stopped - no more bubbles and no more fizzing. I decided not to rack as that would have killed it completely, and gave it a very small bit of energiser instead, hoping to give the process a bit of a kick. Looks like this might take a few more weeks.
Brynn it still bubbling at about a bubble every 10 minutes, but very slowly also starting to clear. I am really curious about readings but don't want to disturb the demi right now, so will leave that for a bit.
Taking samples currently requires using the siphon which is a HUGE hassle because I need to move the demi to set it all up. None of the commercial sample-takers fit my demi's, so I'm going to see if I can find something like a 100ml syringe and a bit of tube to make sampling easier.
Alexis is nowhere near ready - grav 1.010, Alc 8%. It's still very hazy without a hint of clearing, but also seemed to have all but stopped - no more bubbles and no more fizzing. I decided not to rack as that would have killed it completely, and gave it a very small bit of energiser instead, hoping to give the process a bit of a kick. Looks like this might take a few more weeks.
Brynn it still bubbling at about a bubble every 10 minutes, but very slowly also starting to clear. I am really curious about readings but don't want to disturb the demi right now, so will leave that for a bit.
Taking samples currently requires using the siphon which is a HUGE hassle because I need to move the demi to set it all up. None of the commercial sample-takers fit my demi's, so I'm going to see if I can find something like a 100ml syringe and a bit of tube to make sampling easier.
Caelan
Since the racking a week ago it's had the slightest trace of white foam on the surface, but no bubbling or fizzing, it looked completely still. Readings:
Grav 1.000 (again, no starting readings so nothing to compare to)
Alc 14%
I'm happy with that alcohol percentage and it doesn't taste bad. Not good enough to have a glass of, but not yeasty or disgusting, so I'm happy leaving it at this. I've racked it off the last bit of sediment and will see if it starts clearing further. If it shows no signs of life I will probably try clearing it with bentonite in a week or so. It's not really hazy but not clear either – kind of hard to tell because it's dark red.
Grav 1.000 (again, no starting readings so nothing to compare to)
Alc 14%
I'm happy with that alcohol percentage and it doesn't taste bad. Not good enough to have a glass of, but not yeasty or disgusting, so I'm happy leaving it at this. I've racked it off the last bit of sediment and will see if it starts clearing further. If it shows no signs of life I will probably try clearing it with bentonite in a week or so. It's not really hazy but not clear either – kind of hard to tell because it's dark red.
Drake Done!
Since it had cleared so completely I had my suspicions that Drake could already be finished fermenting. Today I got the measuring tube I needed to take readings, and after some faff about how to get it full without stirring up sediment I managed to get it done with the siphon and bottling cane that I had foresightedly ordered at some point.
Gravity 1.002 (no begin readings so no real idea how that compares)
Alcohol 16% (!)
It tastes pretty icky at the moment, but it's icky-with-strawberries, and will hopefully improve with aging.
I've added potassium sorbate to stop the yeast from throwing a party later on when it's bottled, and I'm thinking about clearing it with bentonite tomorrow. It's pretty clear already so not sure if that would really make a difference.
I shall also take a reading off Caelan tomorrow.
Flat :-(
Both Caelan and Drake are still flat and haven't restarted bubbling, and I'm a bit worried. Caelan seems to be building a veeeeery slight bit of pressure and has the slightest trace of white foam on the surface. Drake is just flat and still, and I think it's definitely too early for that one too be done yet.
I'm wondering if I should add some nutrient tomorrow if it hasn't started by then.
I'm wondering if I should add some nutrient tomorrow if it hasn't started by then.
more moving notices
Racked Caelan and Drake as they both had a hefty amount of sediment going on. Drake is the most wonderful colour especially in sunlight. Goldish orange. Awesome.
Sadly my green 5l demi turns out to be too narrow-necked to use the autosiphon from, which is a huge pain. Had to get it tranferred to a better demi by way of pouring. *grumble*. Yes I know you can siphon using just a tube. You can, I can't, because I'm super clumsey.
Have ordered two new 5l demi's and some more rubber stoppers.
Caelan did some bubbling straight after racking, but they were both still when I closed the curtains (they're in the windowsill) an hour ago. Let's home they've restarted bubbling by tomorrow.
Sadly my green 5l demi turns out to be too narrow-necked to use the autosiphon from, which is a huge pain. Had to get it tranferred to a better demi by way of pouring. *grumble*. Yes I know you can siphon using just a tube. You can, I can't, because I'm super clumsey.
Have ordered two new 5l demi's and some more rubber stoppers.
Caelan did some bubbling straight after racking, but they were both still when I closed the curtains (they're in the windowsill) an hour ago. Let's home they've restarted bubbling by tomorrow.
Alexis update
I've just returned from a few days abroad and noticed that Alexis has slowed down almost completely - bubbles happening once every 5 minutes at most. I guess that means it's done, or near as - I will consult the book tomorrow to see if it's clearing and bottling time or if I should give it some more time. It is quite exciting to finally get to this stage!
More racking
Yesterday it looked like the B, C and D batches were about due a racking. Drake dropped an enormous amount of sediment sludge in the few days it was in a demi, and seemed to be fermenting robustly enough that I figured it'd be okay racking it so soon.
They've since all started bubbling again. And.. Drake has dropped more sediment, almost looks like I didn't take anything out at all.
They've since all started bubbling again. And.. Drake has dropped more sediment, almost looks like I didn't take anything out at all.
Moving Notice
Last time I had the bucket fermenter (home of Drake) open the strawberries were looking pretty pale (and, to be honest, disgusting). I figured it was about time to re-home Drake to a nice glass demi.
My auto-siphon is a godsent (not regretting that expense at ALL) because it went without a drop (of sticky smelly protomead) spilled. I made a little more than 5 litre so I just discarded the last bit with the strawberries and dead yeast and still have a nice demi full.
I wasn't sure if the strawberries had coloured it at all until I saw it in the demi - lovely reddish blush in there. It's already bubbling away like there's no tomorrow.
Bored now
I knew this was coming! I have four batches bubbling away, so now... I wait. Not my strongest point! I have capacity for a 10 l batch but right now I want to see how the first batches turn out before I go anywhere near a large batch.
The next batch is going to be called Ehle and I think that will be a summer honey (the good stuff, no more supermarket honey) with mint leaves. But I'm not allowing myself to start it before Alexis is bottled. Impatience, I has it.
The next batch is going to be called Ehle and I think that will be a summer honey (the good stuff, no more supermarket honey) with mint leaves. But I'm not allowing myself to start it before Alexis is bottled. Impatience, I has it.
Drake
I drove down to the orchard outside town and bought 1.5 kg gorgeous strawberries. They made the car smell soooo good. (Oh, also half a kilo cherries for boozemaking, see other post)
The D batch is called Drake *. It's a strawberry melomel that's currently sitting in a plastic fermenter. Made it with supermarket honey and aforementioned really nice strawberries. First time I used yeast activator, which is supposed to kick it off, but so far hasn't. Only been a few hours though. Will see how it's doing tomorrow.
Using the plastic bucket fermenter for ease of getting the fruit out later, but damn it's annoying to not be able to see into it! I like the glass demi's much better, it's fascinating to watch what's happening in there.
*) a naming reference that only works if you're Dutch/English bilingual. And me.
The D batch is called Drake *. It's a strawberry melomel that's currently sitting in a plastic fermenter. Made it with supermarket honey and aforementioned really nice strawberries. First time I used yeast activator, which is supposed to kick it off, but so far hasn't. Only been a few hours though. Will see how it's doing tomorrow.
Using the plastic bucket fermenter for ease of getting the fruit out later, but damn it's annoying to not be able to see into it! I like the glass demi's much better, it's fascinating to watch what's happening in there.
*) a naming reference that only works if you're Dutch/English bilingual. And me.
Boozemaking - Euphoria
Something non fermenting today. In the book about meadmaking is also this recipe, and when I had extra fruit I figured it'd be a nice surprise for myself in the autumn.
Plus, I've picked up these nice litre bottles in Ikea yesterday :-)
It's fruit (one cherry, one strawberry), sugar and vodka - should be nice in about 4 months. I've given it labels which say "Do not open before graduation" as I hope to graduate uni in October and it'd be a nice treat!
Caelan de-berried
A few more supplies arrived; new siphon* , a straining cloth and some more cleaning agent (love the active oxigen stuff but it does go pretty fast)
Now I had the straining cloth I could take Caelan off the berries. Since I didn't see a way to siphon it off without getting the siphon horribly clogged with berry pulp, I settled for gently pouring it into the cloth-wrapped funnel. Don't know if the aereation has done it harm, but it's already bubbling again a few hours later.
Sadly the new siphon does mean that one of the 5l demi's isn't useable because the neck is too narrow to fit the siphon into. I only intend to have 4 small batches going at one time (and 1 10l batch) so I'll always have a free demi to rack to, but it would have been handy to have an extra so I can use a demi to let stuff age. Ah well.
Tomorrow I think I shall go on an expedition for fresh strawberries. The farms are selling them in stalls along the road at the moment.
*) I know just a bit of hose will do, but I am not the most well coordinated person in the world and one mouth full of yeasty honey water was enough for a lifetime. This one is more practically sized and also has a much nicer pump-start system that does not aereate the proto-mead.
Now I had the straining cloth I could take Caelan off the berries. Since I didn't see a way to siphon it off without getting the siphon horribly clogged with berry pulp, I settled for gently pouring it into the cloth-wrapped funnel. Don't know if the aereation has done it harm, but it's already bubbling again a few hours later.
Sadly the new siphon does mean that one of the 5l demi's isn't useable because the neck is too narrow to fit the siphon into. I only intend to have 4 small batches going at one time (and 1 10l batch) so I'll always have a free demi to rack to, but it would have been handy to have an extra so I can use a demi to let stuff age. Ah well.
Tomorrow I think I shall go on an expedition for fresh strawberries. The farms are selling them in stalls along the road at the moment.
*) I know just a bit of hose will do, but I am not the most well coordinated person in the world and one mouth full of yeasty honey water was enough for a lifetime. This one is more practically sized and also has a much nicer pump-start system that does not aereate the proto-mead.
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