Update 6/27/14 - Spiked with metabisulfite, backsweetened with 3 oz of buckwheat honey (what I had,...wish it were orange here), added a tannin tincture (over-steeped Peet's Osmanthus Fancy), and bottled. Who wants some?
--
Made some more mead. Yaaaaay. I'm still kind of just playing when making mead. One of these days I'll have more time to plan it out and take it more seriously. There was talk of making a pyment (Sauv blanc juice and orange blossom honey? yum) today, but that was more thought than I wanted to put in just now.
Mead Batch #05
Pluot Melomel
-5lbs Orange Blossom honey
-10lbs Macerated Pluots
-Water to 3 gallons
-1tsp pectic enzyme
~3g BA-11 dry yeast, rehydrated with GoFerm
OG: 1.090ish (calculated from honey and estimated sugar content of pluots)
FG: 1.008
ABV: 10.7%
Macerated/pitted pluots, stuck them in the freezer for a month or two. Thawed yesterday. Mixed honey and water, poured pluots into mesh bag, stirred in with must and pectic enzyme. Mixed in rehydrated yeast.
Showing posts with label mead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mead. Show all posts
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Soulfree, Careless.
Edit 9/24 - Meh. I mean, I'll drink it, but I'm not going to try and win anyone to the mead camp with it.
Edit 8/10 - Bottled, some with ginger liqueur, some not. Some with a bit more honey, some not. Dry, tart.
Edit 5/30 - 490g fresh ginger, sliced thin; 400g fresh pineapple, big chunks; 1 medium lemon, sliced 'n' stabbed real good, some bits of peel included. Vodka to the top of the above ingredients in a jar...about 500mL of Smirnoff.
--
蜂蜜酒 四番
ショウガの蜂蜜酒
--2キログラム 蜂蜜
--500グラム 麦芽エキス
--12グラム カスケード ホップ (20分)
--8リットル 水
イースト： 11.5グラム 「Safale 04」
Mead Batch #04
Ginger Mead
--2kg Honey
--0.5kg Light malt extract, dry
--12g Cascade hops, 20m boil with malt
--8 L water (for total volume of 9.4 liters)
--11.5g Safale 04 dry yeast
OG: 1.080-1.085 (estimated, no hydrometer at the moment)
FG: Didn't measure
ABV: I don't know, probably, like 10%
IBU: 4
Dissolve the malt extract (for some nutrients) and boil with hops for 20 minutes. Preferably hops that weren't just sitting on the shelf for months at Tokyu Hands. I'm not convinced this will have enough beer character to be called braggot. Mix everything together and pitch your yeast. I'd prefer 05, but my options were 04 or lager yeast. It's going to be a hot summer.
Now, you may be asking where the ginger is. That's for later. I will be making a splendiferous cocktail of lemon and ginger, with a little more ginger, and some ginger thrown in for good measure. This will get blended with the mead after fermentation slows.
And yes, my first brew/mazing day in Japan. :D i mean... (^-^)
Edit 8/10 - Bottled, some with ginger liqueur, some not. Some with a bit more honey, some not. Dry, tart.
Edit 5/30 - 490g fresh ginger, sliced thin; 400g fresh pineapple, big chunks; 1 medium lemon, sliced 'n' stabbed real good, some bits of peel included. Vodka to the top of the above ingredients in a jar...about 500mL of Smirnoff.
--
蜂蜜酒 四番
ショウガの蜂蜜酒
--2キログラム 蜂蜜
--500グラム 麦芽エキス
--12グラム カスケード ホップ (20分)
--8リットル 水
イースト： 11.5グラム 「Safale 04」
Mead Batch #04
Ginger Mead
--2kg Honey
--0.5kg Light malt extract, dry
--12g Cascade hops, 20m boil with malt
--8 L water (for total volume of 9.4 liters)
--11.5g Safale 04 dry yeast
OG: 1.080-1.085 (estimated, no hydrometer at the moment)
FG: Didn't measure
ABV: I don't know, probably, like 10%
IBU: 4
Dissolve the malt extract (for some nutrients) and boil with hops for 20 minutes. Preferably hops that weren't just sitting on the shelf for months at Tokyu Hands. I'm not convinced this will have enough beer character to be called braggot. Mix everything together and pitch your yeast. I'd prefer 05, but my options were 04 or lager yeast. It's going to be a hot summer.
Now, you may be asking where the ginger is. That's for later. I will be making a splendiferous cocktail of lemon and ginger, with a little more ginger, and some ginger thrown in for good measure. This will get blended with the mead after fermentation slows.
And yes, my first brew/mazing day in Japan. :D i mean... (^-^)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Melomelomel
Update 5/15/12 - FG 1.003. Bottled. Tart, tasty, just a hint of sweetness and alcohol (tasted at room temp)
Update 10/31 - SG 1.026. Racked off of berries. Will try to let the gravity drop a little more.
Update 10/14 - SG 1.035. The blueberries float. Recommend mesh bag and some weights to submerge next time. Pretty tasty. Magenta color.
Update 9/13 - Racked to secondary with blueberries. SG 1.050. Probably should have stirred up the lees a couple times before now. Oh well. Patience and maybe some more yeast in the coming weeks.
--
Made some more mead. Yaaaaay.
Mead Batch #03
Black and Blue Melomel
-12lbs Orange Blossom honey
-2lbs Blackberry puree (frozen, primary)
-3lbs Blueberries (frozen, secondary)
-Water to 4 gallons
-GoFerm
Split yeast: 71b-1122 (8g)
OG: ~1.116 (estimated, too much fruit gunk in solution to measure)
FG: 1.003
ABV: ~14.8%
Mix it all up. Go!
Update 10/31 - SG 1.026. Racked off of berries. Will try to let the gravity drop a little more.
Update 10/14 - SG 1.035. The blueberries float. Recommend mesh bag and some weights to submerge next time. Pretty tasty. Magenta color.
Update 9/13 - Racked to secondary with blueberries. SG 1.050. Probably should have stirred up the lees a couple times before now. Oh well. Patience and maybe some more yeast in the coming weeks.
--
Made some more mead. Yaaaaay.
Mead Batch #03
Black and Blue Melomel
-12lbs Orange Blossom honey
-2lbs Blackberry puree (frozen, primary)
-3lbs Blueberries (frozen, secondary)
-Water to 4 gallons
-GoFerm
Split yeast: 71b-1122 (8g)
OG: ~1.116 (estimated, too much fruit gunk in solution to measure)
FG: 1.003
ABV: ~14.8%
Mix it all up. Go!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
They don't allow you to have bees in here.
Update 8/2
Bottled lager yeast portion, final gravity 1.001.
--
Update 7/8
Bottled mead yeast portion. Racked lager yeast portion, started lagering.
--
Update 7/3
Water: 0.4+ Brix (I need a tiny screwdriver to calibrate properly)
Mead yeast: 5.5 Brix; (~13%abv) Dry, floral and perfume - almost medicinal.
Lager yeast: 8.4 Brix; (~11%abv) Sulfur aroma, slightly harsh. Might benefit from lagering.
Both have a nice hint of the source honey.
--
More mead! This one's going to be a little lighter in alcohol.
Mead Batch #02
Wildflower Mead (5 gallons)
-12lbs Wildflower honey
-1/4tsp Fermaid K
Split yeast: WLP720 Sweet Mead yeast (1L starter), Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 (11.5g)
OG: ~1.082 (19.5°Brix) <--yep, bought a refractometer.
FG: 0.997 (WLP720), 1.001 (W-34/70)
ABV: ~11% (WLP720), 10.6% (W-34/70)
Boiled 4 gallons water with yeast nutrient, let it cool just a bit, and mixed in (almost) 12 lbs honey to reach (almost) 5 gallons. I spilled some on the way, which is why my shoe smells so good. Chilled and split the must into two 3-gallon carboys. Fermenting the WLP720 around 70F and the W-34/70 at 50F.
Bottled lager yeast portion, final gravity 1.001.
--
Update 7/8
Bottled mead yeast portion. Racked lager yeast portion, started lagering.
--
Update 7/3
Water: 0.4+ Brix (I need a tiny screwdriver to calibrate properly)
Mead yeast: 5.5 Brix; (~13%abv) Dry, floral and perfume - almost medicinal.
Lager yeast: 8.4 Brix; (~11%abv) Sulfur aroma, slightly harsh. Might benefit from lagering.
Both have a nice hint of the source honey.
--
More mead! This one's going to be a little lighter in alcohol.
Mead Batch #02
Wildflower Mead (5 gallons)
-12lbs Wildflower honey
-1/4tsp Fermaid K
Split yeast: WLP720 Sweet Mead yeast (1L starter), Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 (11.5g)
OG: ~1.082 (19.5°Brix) <--yep, bought a refractometer.
FG: 0.997 (WLP720), 1.001 (W-34/70)
ABV: ~11% (WLP720), 10.6% (W-34/70)
Boiled 4 gallons water with yeast nutrient, let it cool just a bit, and mixed in (almost) 12 lbs honey to reach (almost) 5 gallons. I spilled some on the way, which is why my shoe smells so good. Chilled and split the must into two 3-gallon carboys. Fermenting the WLP720 around 70F and the W-34/70 at 50F.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
My First Mead
Update 12/23 - Bottled. Only got about 3/4 gallon. It's pretty tasty, so we'll see how it ages. Easy to make, so I'll probably throw in another one soon, too.
--
Because why not. Based on what some people recommend as a mead to start with - Joe's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead. And because I had the itch and was lazy. Just like any recipe, I made changes and subs based on what I had and what seemed like a good idea.
Mead Batch #01
Joe's Ancient (1 gallon)
-3lbs Mesquite Honey
-1 large navel orange
-1/4 cup dried blueberries
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 clove, whole
-dash nutmeg from grinder
-1/8 tsp Fermaid K
-1 tsp bread yeast
OG: 1.110 (calculated)
FG: 1.019
ABV: 12%
Brought a half gallon of water with yeast nutrient to a boil. Washed and cut the orange, and jammed it into my fermenter. After water boiled for a little bit, tossed in berries, spices, and killed the heat. Added the honey while heating a quart of water in a tea kettle. Used the hot kettle water to rinse out my can of honey. Let it cool off a bit, and poured everything into the fermenter. Topped off to 1 gallon with the left over kettle water. As it turns out, 3lbs of honey is dang close to 1 qt in volume and with the orange this method got me just about on the nose for volume. Let the whole mess cool to room temperature and added the yeast. I know, it makes no sense, but I'm just going to trust Joe on this one. Fermented at ambient in the dark. Waiting for mead.
I'm actually sort of excited about this. It's a lot faster than brewing, and there are a few recipes I want to try - persimmon mead, t'ej (hopped, had some at GABF...dang good stuff), chocolate mead...maybe even one that's just mead. Damn. Now I have to go to the Renaissance Festival.
--
Because why not. Based on what some people recommend as a mead to start with - Joe's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead. And because I had the itch and was lazy. Just like any recipe, I made changes and subs based on what I had and what seemed like a good idea.
Mead Batch #01
Joe's Ancient (1 gallon)
-3lbs Mesquite Honey
-1 large navel orange
-1/4 cup dried blueberries
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 clove, whole
-dash nutmeg from grinder
-1/8 tsp Fermaid K
-1 tsp bread yeast
OG: 1.110 (calculated)
FG: 1.019
ABV: 12%
Brought a half gallon of water with yeast nutrient to a boil. Washed and cut the orange, and jammed it into my fermenter. After water boiled for a little bit, tossed in berries, spices, and killed the heat. Added the honey while heating a quart of water in a tea kettle. Used the hot kettle water to rinse out my can of honey. Let it cool off a bit, and poured everything into the fermenter. Topped off to 1 gallon with the left over kettle water. As it turns out, 3lbs of honey is dang close to 1 qt in volume and with the orange this method got me just about on the nose for volume. Let the whole mess cool to room temperature and added the yeast. I know, it makes no sense, but I'm just going to trust Joe on this one. Fermented at ambient in the dark. Waiting for mead.
I'm actually sort of excited about this. It's a lot faster than brewing, and there are a few recipes I want to try - persimmon mead, t'ej (hopped, had some at GABF...dang good stuff), chocolate mead...maybe even one that's just mead. Damn. Now I have to go to the Renaissance Festival.
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