Pomegranate Wine Fix

Put into 50 oz glass jug and airlocked. There were some almost anise-y notes in the smell of the wine.

SG 1.034

#10 Acerglyn

I added another small dose of nutrient, hopefully the last. Immediate activity in response.

#10 Acerglyn

SG - 1.025 and still fermenting. If this gets down to 1.02 or a little lower, I'll be psyched. I had a tiny taste of it and it's just bit too sweet right now, but close. The maple is definitely present.

Pomegranate Wine Fix

I am making a microbatch of pomegranate wine to blend with the batch I have that is too sweet.

16 oz POM juice
32 oz water
12 oz blond sugar
tiny bit tannin
tiny bit nutrient
Montrachet yeast

OG 1.08

It will ferment down to dry, I hope. Then I'll blend it with the sweet wine. And hope.

#13 Tart Cherry Vanilla Melomel

Siphoned into glass jug, airlocked. I added about 5 oz. clover honey and some more cherries. I put in a tiny bit of nutrient to make sure the yeast could handle the extra sugar. Put in another vanilla bean.

SG before addition, approx 1.033
SG after addition, 1.04

#9 Guajillo Mead, Mini Cyser

I decided to rack the guajillo mead off its gross lees. There were just so much of them. None of the other meads I'm doing threw down sediments this thick. I'm guessing the honey itself, being raw/unfiltered, had some wax and other things in it. When my fridge is less full, I'll put it in the cold a time. I had the sweetness exactly where I wanted it, so I decided to rack onto sorbate. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. I read that premature sorbating could produce a nasty geranium character, so I decided to use sulfites just one more time (my partner probably wouldn't drink a straight traditional mead anyway, he is more partial to fruity stuff). During racking, I got a tiny bit of the lees in the tube, I think. Or I just may have disturbed the lees a little while moving it to the sink to rack. I held the jug up to the light to see how close the newly racked mead is to clear and I saw some particles in suspension. That's okay, it'll drop out before too long. Due to the thickness of the lees, I did lose a bit of mead in the process, I just hope there's not too much headspace. Anyway, I worry too much.

So I put a tiny bit of sorbate in the mini cyser and it's been in the fridge. It cleared more (though there is still a little haze). I should have racked it onto sorbate, but I didn't think about it. So I racked it today onto a tiny bit of clover honey and water to sweeten it. The flavor when I sampled it was more apple than honey, so I hope this balances it.

#13 Tart Cherry Vanilla Melomel

I am really impressed with the RC212 yeast so far. The mead was audibly bubbling within 6 hours of pitching the yeast, and foaming before I went to bed. When I transfer to glass/airlock, I think I'll put fresh cherries in, along with another vanilla bean.

I'm drinking some Redstone Meadery Solstice Mead. It's a vanilla cinnamon mead, good stuff. I'm happy to see they don't add sulfites, since my partner is an asthmatic.

Mini Cyser

I have a 20-something ounces of the Spiced Cyser put aside. When I first mixed the cyser, I made too much and set some aside in the fridge to top off with. Then I got ahold of a few small glass containers that had openings that could handle airlocks, so I transferred the extra. I took an SG today of the mini cyser and got a 1.01, which is fine by me. The mouthful I sampled is a bit hot, but definitely honey-apple tasting. I sorbated it and put it in the fridge. I'll attempt to bottle it in a couple days, I think. My only problem is that it's still a little hazy. The parent cyser is clear, but this one isn't quite yet.

#13 Tart Cherry Vanilla Melomel

honey blend (most to least) - orange blossom, guajillo, fireweed, wildflower, and a tiny touch of avocado blossom
four oz blond sugar
2 oz sucanat (in lieu of nutrient)
32 oz Knudsen's Just Tart Cherry juice
some tart baking cherries from a jar, no preservatives, packed in water
water to a bit over a gallon
one split vanilla bean
Lalvin RC212 yeast

I had planned to use nothing but orange blossom, fireweed, and guajillo honey in this one, but I didn't have enough to bring the sugars up to where I wanted it. I supplemented with wildflower and ended up putting in just a little bit of avocado blossom. I tasted the must before and after the avocado blossom addition and was glad I put it in. It rounded it out a little.

OG 1.114

#12 Saffron Cyser

Siphoned into glass jug and put under airlock. Next time, I will use about 10 threads of saffron, I think 25 is excessive. We'll see, though. I added a wee pinch of nutrient before transfer.

SG 1.06

#10 Acerglyn (Maple Mead)

I think I over-added sugar to this one (or pushed it to the limit, at least), so I took the mini-brew I had saved from this batch (without the extra sugar addition) and blended it in. Then swirled the lees with the end of my long nylon spoon and added a tiny bit more nutrient. Airlock activity has increased a bit. This one will have to have a long aging time, I think.

SG 1.03

#5 New Moon Pomegranate Mead

SG 1.001. Super dry, some bitter tones, alcohol hot. The pomegranate tartness is there, but lost somewhat in the harshness. I'm thinking the harshness must be the nutrient.

#9 Guajillo Mead

I drew out a sample that read 1.015. That's fine by me. It is still bubbling slowly, so I think it will finish on the low side of sweet or semi-sweet. I really like this one. It's almost drinkable now and has a delicate honey flavor. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm going to leave this one on the lees. It's dropping clear on its own. I was reading that mead made with D47 can be left in primary for months at a time, so I'll just leave it alone.

#8 Roasted Metheglyn

Racked off sediment, onto medium toast French oak, a couple ounces of avocado honey mixed with distilled water, and a fresh, split vanilla bean. The SG reading was .995. I don't expect the honey to add much sweetness, but rather a touch more rich flavor.

The sample I drew out is dry and hot, of course, but there are some great undertones. The bitter is the bitter of the chicory in the Roastaroma tea. The mead itself has a warm, rich fragrance. I will backsweeten before I bottle it, but I have good hopes for this one. It's not clear yet, but I expect it will clear a lot after this racking.

#12 Saffron Cyser

three honey blend: leatherwood, orange blossom, Texas wildflower
pinch grape tannin
unfiltered apple juice (just under a gallon)
25 threads of saffron, soaked in warm water
small handful white raisins
D47 yeast

OG 1.12

I chose the leatherwood honey because of the spicy flavor, the orange blossom for the citrus/floral character, and the darker wildflower honey for some warm undertones I think will complement the saffron. I'm totally unsure about the amount of saffron, but I can always age it with a bit more.

edit: On second thought, I added a pinch of nutrient.

Misc (#6, #7)

#6 - The pomegranate wine was started with way too much sugar. I followed a recipe intended for a more aggressive yeast. I added about 1/4 (probably less) tsp of nutrient, hoping. Fermentation isn't done, there are still occasional bubbles in the airlock, but it needs a kick in the ass, definitely. SG still around the 1.05 range.

#7 - SG at 1.014. Excellent. The taste is rough, of course, but I can see it developing well. It's not totally clear, but when I held the sample to the light it has a beautiful, very dark purple-red color.

#10 Acerglyn (Maple Mead)

The fermentation was still going, but a tiny bit slower than I'd have liked, so I added a pinch (probably just under 1/4 tsp) of nutrient. There was an immediate reaction. I swirled the jug very gently to mix in the nutrient. Now the bubbling in the airlock is moving more quickly.

Later today I'm going to check the SG of the pomegranate wine, the blueberry melomel, and probably the roastaroma metheglyn and guajillo varietal. The guajillo seems to be trying desperately to drop clear.

I may start a cherry cyser today. Tart cherry.

#10 Acerglyn (Maple Mead)

I added 2 oz. each of maple syrup, avocado blossom honey, and sucanat. I did the sucanat first and I will never do that again without putting the jug in the sink first. As soon as the sucanat touched the mead, it burst into activity and foamed over. My partner was kind enough to mop up the mess while I added the other stuff.

This would bring the OG up to 1.145.

#7 Blueberry Lavender Melomel

Activity had slowed to one bubble in the airlock every 60 seconds, so I decided to sample and rack. The SG was well under 1.00. I lost more than I'd like during racking when my hand slipped. The sample tasted pretty good after I let it stand a minute or two. It's very fragrant, the lavender is immediately present. The fermented blueberry taste is obvious and the honey is overpowered right now. I added six ounces of wildflower honey, two ounces of organic sugar (evaporated cane juice), and topped with straight blueberry juice (Knudsen's). The color is lovely, a deep purple.

I thought that vanilla would add a lot to the other flavors, so I split a bean and added it. I went outside and picked a couple sprigs of rosemary and replaced the old one.

By my calculations, the honey, sugar, and blueberry juice I added would have made the OG up to 1.134. I think next week I'll add 2 more ounces of sugar.

#9 Guajillo Mead

On the advice of some Got Mead? folks, I gave the lees of this one a slow, gentle stir. There was an immediate, strong, noisy reaction. Pretty cool.

#6 Pomegranate Wine

Racked off sediments, topped with a few ounces of POM juice (reading taken before topping off).

SG 1.047

Taste is pretty good. Tart, a little too sweet. Not a harsh bite at all. It's much better than just a little while back, when I sampled it. I hope it finishes at about 1.03. It's a very nice color, sort of the pinky-red of a ruby more than the deep red of a garnet.

#11 Buckwheat Show Mead

Siphoned into glass jug and put under airlock. Added tiny pinch of tannin.

SG 1.08

#11 Buckwheat Show Mead

My friend and neighbor Jackie had a taste/smell of some of my varietal honeys yesterday and was really in love with the buckwheat. So I thought I'd use my powers for good, instead of evil. And stuff.

3.7 lbs (approx) western buckwheat honey
water to a over a gallon (for topping up purposes)
K1V-1116 yeast

Like I said before, I'm using the K1V in the hopes that I won't need to add any nutrient. If I have to though, I have to. We'll see. I'm also not adverse to adding a pinch of tannin or a tiny bit of lemon juice for acid later down the line. But I'd like to make this as close to a show mead as I can and give a bottle or two to Jackie someday if it turns out. I think I'm going to quit at a dozen batches for awhile, my pantry floor is getting full.

OG 1.115

#10 Acerglyn (Maple Mead)

Siphoned into glass jug and put under airlock. I put the leftovers (about 8 oz worth) into a tiny glass apple juice container and put that under airlock too, for topping up after first racking.

SG - 1.085

My guajillo mead is doing a funny thing. I've picked up the jug a couple times to hold it up to the light and see how it's looking. It seems like whenever I disturb the jug, no matter how careful I am, it sets off a little explosion inside it. I hear a massive amount of fizzing and I can see what look like cloudbursts happening inside. So weird. I should ask about it on the gotmead forums.

misc (#6, #1, #10)

I did an SG reading of the pomegranate wine. It's at 1.05, which is still very sweet. I'm going to wait another week to rack it. It's just starting to drop clear. It tastes completely different from the pom mead, which is probably isn't the honey quite so much as the yeast. The wine is Côtes des Blancs and the mead is D47. There's some tartness, but it's really cloying more than anything else. I'll just wait on it.

I drew out a tiny sample of the Rose Vanilla mead. Oh my. I used champagne yeast, because I didn't know any better. It's very, very dry and hot. There is some rose presence, but there's a bitterness too. No vanilla whatsoever. Next time I rack it, I'll add a bean. The color is pretty, though. Amber/brown/rose.

I took an SG reading of the acerglyn. 1.09. It might be lower because of the bubbles pushing up the hydrometer. It's pretty foamy.

I think I'm going to do a buckwheat show mead next. Buckwheat has just enough nutrients, I think, for a K1V to do it.

I took a look at the cyser and sassafras metheglyn. Both were pretty clear. The cyser is nice and gold, the sassafras red-gold. I had saved some of the cyser that wouldn't fit in the gallon jug in the fridge, then found a tiny glass jug (10 oz) and put it in that with an airlock. It's cute, a little mini-mead. I'll use it to top off next time I rack.

#10 Acerglyn (Maple Mead)

1 qt grade B amber maple syrup
1 lb sage honey
approx 1/2 lb avocado blossom honey
a couple oz wildflower honey
pinch acid blend
pinch tannin
water to a gallon
Lalvin D47 yeast

I've read about a lot of people using only lighter honey with maple meads, but I threw in a good bit of the super dark avocado. I prefer the low notes of maple flavor to the high ones, if that makes sense. I hope this ferments to sweetness, I certainly pushed the SG up there.

SG 1.13