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.
Moragh - coffee mead (!)
Last year at Wasteland Weekend I tried an apparently rather popular coffee mead, and to me it was undrinkable - waaayyy too heavy on the coffee/bitter and also to my tastes really sour. I can't stand black coffee so I suppose I was never going to enjoy a strong black coffee mead.
It did intrigue me though! So here's an attempt at a subtle version. A hint of coffee rather than a punch of coffee.
MORAGH (2 liter)
Coffee cold-brewed from two pads of mocca
750 gr honey
mead yeast
yeast activator
It did intrigue me though! So here's an attempt at a subtle version. A hint of coffee rather than a punch of coffee.
MORAGH (2 liter)
Coffee cold-brewed from two pads of mocca
750 gr honey
mead yeast
yeast activator
Kearney
I made the two Kearney batches into one, since I had a 5l carboy free. Measured it while I was at it.
SG: 1032 (bang on where I like it for sweetness)
Alc: ~12%
It didn't taste half bad, the spice tea is distinct, but it's still very yeasty and 'working'. I added 250 gr honey because it's going to ferment a little further than it is now so I'd have to backsweeten anyway.
SG: 1032 (bang on where I like it for sweetness)
Alc: ~12%
It didn't taste half bad, the spice tea is distinct, but it's still very yeasty and 'working'. I added 250 gr honey because it's going to ferment a little further than it is now so I'd have to backsweeten anyway.
Mead ideas to try:
- Blueberry juice. Like, a LOT of it. I just finished a bottle of Yngvi and that had no colour at all. Shame
- Dates. They sell them at Odin
- Rosehip. I even ordered dried rosehip at some point.
- Speculaas spices. This could be a thing
- coffee mead. Come on, I gotta try. Just go easy on the coffee so it's a flavour suggestion, not a kick in the face
- Dates. They sell them at Odin
- Rosehip. I even ordered dried rosehip at some point.
- Speculaas spices. This could be a thing
- coffee mead. Come on, I gotta try. Just go easy on the coffee so it's a flavour suggestion, not a kick in the face
Lane
Lane - the 2.8 demijohn
1 kilo honey (lidl)
Steeped tea of 8 bags of ginger-hibiscus-apple tea
The new brand mead yeast (Mangrove Jack's) - then standard brand sherry/mead yeast.
Yeast activator
little bit of pecto-enzyme 1
I'm beginning to think that Mangrove Jack's yeast just isn't much good, that was the stuff I couldn't get the Kearney batch started on either and it wasn't doing anything in the starter I made to prep for this batch. Added the sherry yeast and they can battle it out in there.
Was curious what that tea would do and this demijohn was standing empty in my kitchen. Hibiscus should give a nice colour.
I put Edain (lemon) and Dale (pomegranate) in the fridge to cold crash. Dale has been clearing slowly but Edain is still hazy as hell, so I hope this will help.
1 kilo honey (lidl)
Steeped tea of 8 bags of ginger-hibiscus-apple tea
The new brand mead yeast (Mangrove Jack's) - then standard brand sherry/mead yeast.
Yeast activator
little bit of pecto-enzyme 1
I'm beginning to think that Mangrove Jack's yeast just isn't much good, that was the stuff I couldn't get the Kearney batch started on either and it wasn't doing anything in the starter I made to prep for this batch. Added the sherry yeast and they can battle it out in there.
Was curious what that tea would do and this demijohn was standing empty in my kitchen. Hibiscus should give a nice colour.
I put Edain (lemon) and Dale (pomegranate) in the fridge to cold crash. Dale has been clearing slowly but Edain is still hazy as hell, so I hope this will help.
Kearney(s)
Could NOT get this batch to start. Not with a warm bath, not with port yeast. The tannins of the tea making it hard for the yeast to get foothold? Gravity too high? I split it out over the two 2-liter jugs I have, adding about half a liter of water to each. Then it took another half-day and some more yeast before they're finally blooping away.
Kearney
Note to self: the size of this brown-glass carboy is, for reasons I do not understand, approx 2.8 liters
Kearney (~2.7 liters)
8 bags of Bengal tea (a known success) steeped to the max
1 kilo honey
mead yeast
to be put on cacao nibs in secondary
Kearney (~2.7 liters)
8 bags of Bengal tea (a known success) steeped to the max
1 kilo honey
mead yeast
to be put on cacao nibs in secondary
Idris, June
Racked the big batches.
IDRIS
Bochet with apple juice.
I was concerned I had made this too sweet, but it fermented out to 1012 SG (a touch too dry for my tastes) and 14% alcohol. Racked and added 500 gr honey. It's bubbling again now, so we'll see where that leaves us. I guess I could stabilise it? 14% is plenty so maybe I should.
JUNE
Bochet with cacao nibs
This had been in a bucket so far and still bubbling very actively. It's now in a demijohn.
Added 550 gram cacao nibs - toasted them first for about 20 minutes in a 150c oven. Really made the smell come up. Nibs are much, much less messy than cacao powder (which takes a century to clear out) so I just have to hope the taste transfers as well.
SG 1090, with alcohol at 9% - this still has a good distance to go.
I've ordered a 19 liter carboy. 19! That's kinda crazy. What the hell should I put in it? I feel like with a batch that big maybe it should be something simple and reliable and I can split it out and flavour it in secondary.
Or maybe I should do that Bengal Chai + cacao nibs idea I fever-dreamed up. Spicy peppery chocolate. That should be good, right? Right. Maybe I should test that theory in a 3 liter demi first.
19 liter! That's gonna take a fucking fortune in honey
IDRIS
Bochet with apple juice.
I was concerned I had made this too sweet, but it fermented out to 1012 SG (a touch too dry for my tastes) and 14% alcohol. Racked and added 500 gr honey. It's bubbling again now, so we'll see where that leaves us. I guess I could stabilise it? 14% is plenty so maybe I should.
JUNE
Bochet with cacao nibs
This had been in a bucket so far and still bubbling very actively. It's now in a demijohn.
Added 550 gram cacao nibs - toasted them first for about 20 minutes in a 150c oven. Really made the smell come up. Nibs are much, much less messy than cacao powder (which takes a century to clear out) so I just have to hope the taste transfers as well.
SG 1090, with alcohol at 9% - this still has a good distance to go.
I've ordered a 19 liter carboy. 19! That's kinda crazy. What the hell should I put in it? I feel like with a batch that big maybe it should be something simple and reliable and I can split it out and flavour it in secondary.
Or maybe I should do that Bengal Chai + cacao nibs idea I fever-dreamed up. Spicy peppery chocolate. That should be good, right? Right. Maybe I should test that theory in a 3 liter demi first.
19 liter! That's gonna take a fucking fortune in honey
June - Chocolate mead!
I remembered how nice Ehle (eventually) turned out and figured I should make a new batch so I'd have new chocolate mead in oh, 5 years or so. Adding the cacao right at the start made a huge mess last time (bubbles not popping but making a gross yeasty chocolate mousse that came right up through the airlock) so this time the plan is to let the primary fermentation slow down and only then add the cacao.
It's a 10 liter batch so the must is in a bucket right now and I can get the first sediment from the caramellisation out when I transfer to the demijohn and add the cacao.
JUNE
It's a 10 liter batch so the must is in a bucket right now and I can get the first sediment from the caramellisation out when I transfer to the demijohn and add the cacao.
JUNE
- 4 kilo lidl honey - caramellised medium dark
- 5 gr mead yeast
- teaspoon of energiser
- 200 gram Dutch cacao
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