Mead

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A few bottles of Baggins Brew

Some as gifts and some to have at home.

Amazingly this batch is still fermenting. I can still…

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Traditional v2

Dauphin, Manitoba Location (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few months back another friend, after learning I was making mead, gave me 13 lbs of honey from Western Sky Apiaries in Dauphin, Manitoba. Today I got the chance to finally mix my second 5 gallon batch…

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JAOM Variants v3 and v4

English: A bee sit on the sunflower, collect honey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It turns out a friend on my street keeps a beehive. We got to talking and he gave me 4.5 lbs of sunflower honey he had harvested last summer. I’m making some mead and I’ll share…

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Capsicumel: Jalapeño Chili Mead

I've been wanting to do this for a while now. I would've never thought to add chilies to mead but folks that have made chili mead (known as capsicumel) speak highly of it. We'll see how it tastes in six months.

Recipe 3.25 lbs of farm fresh honey 2.5 litres of spring water 3 jalapeño chilies seeded & cut in sixths 1 tsp DAP (yeast nutrient) 1 tsp yeast energizer 1 package of Lalvin D47 yeast

First I sanitized everything including the uncut jalapeños.

The honey had crystallized so I heated it for 2 minutes in the microwave and added 500ml of boiled spring water. Shook it up until it was all dissolved.

I poured the honey water into the glass jug and added the cut & seeded jalapeños.

While that was going on I had two sanitized glasses filled with warm spring water. In one I added the yeast nutrient and energizer. In the other I added the yeast. I let them sit for 15 minutes.

I added the yeast nutrient & energizer mixture and took a hydrometer reading: 1.132. Then I stirred and added the activated yeast.

I shook the jug for a solid 5 minutes to oxygenate the mixture well.

I added enough water to leave about 10-15cm of head space and capped it with an airlock.

I'm using a brown jug so I don't have to wrap it in a towel to protect it from sunlight. In about a week I'll likely move it into a clear secondary.

[mymead]

The Grey Wizard v2

My first Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead (The Grey Wizard) isn't quite done. I'm hopeful it will finish well in time but I think it's got too strong of a lemon scent/flavour and not enough bergamot. I've also got 3 lbs of wildflower honey from my friend Rex I still have to turn into mead so I made a one gallon (3.785 L) batch of another Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead building on what I've learned. Here's the new recipe.

  Recipe

3 lbs wildflower honey (very dark with fullbodied flavour)

1 litre of strong Earl Grey Tea (2 tea bags President's Choice Brand; it has a strong bergamot flavour)

1 snack box of raisins

1 lemon cut into 8 wedges (A second lemon will be added during secondary fermentation.)

1 package of Lalvin D47 yeast (recommended for mead)

  Step 1

Remember, step 1 is always: Sanitize everything, even the lemon. I use a mixture, in the kitchen sink, of bleech and water; 15ml/gallon. I usually use a gallon jug to measure out 4 gallons of water into the sink, add the bleech, mix and sanitize everything: the airlock & stopper, the knife, a spoon, a plate to cut the lemon, the cup that holds the yeast & water mixture, the container that holds the tea, the gallon jug ... everything that's going to touch my mead. I also sanitize the top of my plastic primary fermenter and use that as a surface to set anything down on while I'm pitching everything together.

  About Yeast Nutrients

I'm using the mixture of tea, lemon and raisins (for nitrogen) in place of DAP (diammonium phosphate) as a yeast nutrient. I'm not certain yet of the wisdom of this. I've read about many brewers who prefer this "all natural" approach and at least as many brewers insist on using DAP or other chemical nutrients. Time will tell if this is the way to go. We'll see how it tastes. ;-)

  UPDATE: Jan 4

I added a teaspoon of DAP. It seems to me the must is fermenting slowly; there's not as vigorous yeast action as I was expecting. I've also been reading about staggered nutrient additions for mead. One fellow has his meads finish in 6 weeks! Anyway, I've added the DAP and a little spring water to the must. Within an hour the must was bubbling quite well.

  Putting It All Together

I brewed a litre of very strong Earl Grey tea using two tea bags. While it cooled I boiled some spring water and used it to disolve the crystalized honey in the container. I also warmed (room temperature) a little spring water in a glass and added the yeast to get it started; at least 15 min.

  I cut the lemon in eight wedges threw them into the gallon jug with a snack box of raisins. Then I added the tea and the hot water and honey mixture. I also topped it up a bit with some more spring water to cool it all down. I left a good 8-10 cm of space at the top of the jug to allow for the initial yeast activity. I'll top it up again with more spring water in about a week or so when the yeast activity slows down.

  Next, shake it all up for a good 5 minutes to get as much air in the must as possible. Then pitch in the yeast. Give a gentle swirl and put the airlock & stopper on top. 

  I took a hydrometer reading: approximately 1.110

I'll rack it in about a month. I anticipate a 9 month wait before it's "ready".

[mymead]

Racking JAOM v2

I made this second batch of Ancient Orange Mead to share with my buddy Rex. He gave me about 6 lbs of wildflower honey and I'm turning it into mead.The wildflower honey is different from the honey (mostly from canola flowers) I've used in all my other meads; it's darker and had a more full bodied flavour.

I first pitched it together on Nov 25. It's cleared and, according to Joe, that means it's ready. I'm not convinced. You can see from the pictures just how much sediment has accumulated. SO, I've racked it and I'll let it sit for at least another two months. In a recent conversation I had with another brewer he told me that mead generally has a significant flavour jump after 3 months, 6 months and 10 months. I know JAOM is supposed to be a quicker mead to make but I want to give it at least 3 months before I bottle it and share it with Rex.

The pictures show:

Two views of the new and old (bottled on Dec 16, pitched Oct 7) JOAMs side by side.

A before racking shot from above.

The detritus left behind after racking.

An after racking shot; it'll need some time to clear again.

Two after racking shots side-by-side with my first JAOM.

The SG reading: 1.040

I topped it all up with about 500ml of spring water after racking.

The dark colour of the wildflower honey will make this a darker mead. I made it exactly the same way I did my first JAOM except for this change in the honey. It'll be interesting to see what effect that has on the flavour.

[mymead]

Racking JAOM

I racked the Orange Spice mead I brewed back at the start of October. It's been clear for a little more than a week. There's a lot of sediment and "stuff" from the fermenting process.

You can see in the pictures how clear the mead became and:

• the cinnamon stick sitting in the lees. • the orange slices, raisins & clove sitting on top. • all the stuff leftover after racking. • the racked mead, which got cloudy from some of the sediment that got mixed into it. • the hydrometer reading: 1.030

I've also got a short video from the taste test I did. I'll add that to the bottom of this post too.

[mymead]

3rd Racking of The Grey Wizard

It was a busy day. This was also the third racking if The Grey Wizard (Earl Grey Tea-Lemon Mead).

Last time I had added 1lb of honey because I found the taste harsh and very dry. I was worried that might have been too much honey to add. It wasn't. This one tastes good not great. It's mellowing. The honey has smoothed out the flavour and some of the harshness of the lemon. (Next time I make this I'll use less lemon.)

I'm a little concerned that this mead seems to be taking a rather long time to clear. I can't see through it in the jug an I can see through all the others.

Hydrometer reading: 1.030

The last picture is an "after racking" shot.

Topped up with strong Earl Grey Tea, this variety has a very distinctive bergamot flavor.

[mymead]

3rd Racking of Undómiel (Jasmine Tea Mead)

Racked Undómiel for the third time today. I remember so clearly how good it tasted (sweet & full bodied) the first time I racked it. It doesn't taste so good right now; it has a harsh almost bitter taste to it. Hopefully that will mellow with time.

Last time I added a little bit is honey to the jug. It's got a very dry flavour and while I didn't add any more honey this time I might sweeten it a little next time.

Hydrometer reading: 1.006

Topped up with strong Jasmine Green Tea.

[mymead]

4th Racking of Baggins Brew

Baggins Brew is coming along nicely. The taste has really improved. Mild with a hint of sweetness to it.

Hydrometer reading: 1.026

Topped up with spring water.

[mymead]

Ancient Orange Mead v2

My buddy Rex gave me about 6lbs of farm fresh wildflower honey. I'm making some more of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead with it (because its the fastest mead I've learned how to make to date; 2.5 months) which we'll share.

RECIPE 3.5 lbs of honey 1 cinnamon stick 1 clove 1 orange cut into eighth pieces Spring water to fill a gallon jug 1 teaspoon of bread yeast

I put everything into a jug, except the yeast, and shook it up like crazy for 5-6 min (sore arms). I left a good 4-5 inches of head space in the jug. Then I added the yeast and put an airlock on top.

The yeast action was quite intense for the first few days. As it settled down I topped up the water until it was a few centimeters from the stopper.

Now we wait. About three months.

The last picture below shows this mead side by side with the one I made about two months back. It's almost done.

[mymead]

Undómiel 2nd Racking (Jasmine Tea Mead)

As you'll see in the video below this mead has been fermenting pretty steadily for the last month which is interesting to me because it was a slow ferment initially.

  I use a litre of spring water to make some more strong Jasmine tea. I used the tea to prime the siphon tube and to top up the mead after racking.

It didn't taste very sweet. I'm finding all my meads are finishing very dry. I suspect that's because of the yeast I've been using: Lalvin EC1118. It's a champagne yeast with a very high alcohol tolerance; up to 18% ABV. I want this one to be a dessert mead so I added some more honey. I didn't really measure it out but it was probably about 3 or 4 tablespoons worth of crystallized honey.

In the picture gallery:

• The Jasmine Tea • Hydrometer reading before racking: 1.014 • Siphoning/Racking Undómiel • After Racking • The crystallized honey I added sitting on the bottom of the jug. (I expect this will all dissolve into the mead over the course of the next month.)

[mymead]

The Grey Wizard Racked

I racked the Earl Grey-Lemon Mead tonight. It was still bubbling, but slowly; 1 bubble every 35-40 seconds. I made another strong cup of Earl Grey tea and added the zest and juice from one lemon; just like I did when I first mixed it. 

You can see what the lees looked like after syphoning. I racked it into a Canadian Gallon jug thinking it would be good to have more than less of this flavoured mead; melomel. The hydrometer read 1.004 after racking and topping up with the tea, lemon and about a litre of spring water. You can see all this in the pictures below.

I also had a little taste. It was truly awful! I'm hoping it ages well. There was no sweetness to it at all. I was tempted to add some more honey but decided to wait and see how it changes in another month when I'll rack it again.