#no.071823

[boissonsaumiel]

This is that lapsang souchong mead batch I made a while back that came out way, way too sweet. I tried to restart fermentation a few weeks ago to get rid of the sweetness, watering it down and pitching fresh yeast. That attempt failed. I didn't water it down enough. The yeast pretty much died as soon as I tossed it in, despite how careful I was rehydrating it and giving it nutrients.

I tried again a week ago, this time pouring out a full 750ml bottle worth of the mead and replacing it with fresh brewed tea, then pitching in new yeast. Success! It's been bubbling steadily ever since. I might just get something drinkable out of this batch yet.

[boissonsaumiel]

This is kind of a lot of foam for a supposedly low foam yeast.

Inspired by my favorite whisky, I'm calling this batch:

Lagavillain

3 1lb jars Yosemite wildflower honey, 10 cups Stash's pine smoked Lapsang Souchong tea. I really want to capture that smoke flavor. I'm using K1-V1116 yeast + Fermaid O yeast nutrient. I did not add tannins. The tea should already have plenty of those.

The gravity reading was a little higher than I expected. There might have been slightly more than a pound of honey in those jars.

A pleasantly sweet smell is coming out of the airlock.

I'm going to add another cup of tea (or perhaps just water; I'll taste to see how strong the tea flavor is before deciding) at the end of the week when the fermentation has calmed down a little, and then I'm leaving on a family vacation for 2.5 weeks.

When I get back I'll add the final jar of honey.

[boissonsaumiel]

I added in one more jar of honey and another half cup of tea. I waited two weeks to add this last jar of honey, because I read that the yeast ferment better/to higher ABVs if you add honey gradually, instead of pouring it all in at the beginning. I also added a little extra yeast.

This time I weighed the honey jar before and after emptying it and it turns out there were actually 460g of honey in it, not 453 as stated on the label. If my calculations are correct, this batch has about 11% ABV so far, and should finish out at about 18%.

I’m removing the airlock for the time being. Hopefully that's enough to prevent the yeast from foaming over the top.

[boissonsaumiel]

I am going to use the rest of my Yosemite honey to make a highly alcoholic (aiming for 17%) Lapsang Souchong (立山小種) tea mead. City Steading Brews did a couple episodes on it [x, y], and reported that it came out tasting like a smoky Islay Scotch, which I'm a big fan of.

The tea is smoked over pine needles, so I think that will pair well with honey from a pine forest.

I'm going to try out a new yeast as well: K1V-1116

It's supposed to produced floral esters when fermented at low temps, and more neutral results at room temperature or higher. Given the weather lately, I'll have to see how it performs at higher temps. It's also supposed to be "low foam."