Hi all, it's been a few months since I last posted. Work is busy and life goes on, and not really much I can do while I have 7 gallons under bulk aging. 
Anyway, after a rather disappointing 6 gallon peach wine that ended up very tasty but "strangely" sparkly and somewhat sedimentary in the bottle (stupid wine conditioner ) -- at least I have 36 bottles of wine to add to pasta sauce -- as well as a 1 gallon attempt at a mixed berry wine (hopefully a few years of aging will reduce the pucker factor!?!), I struck the jackpot with a mead I started back in May of last year!!
I made enough to fill a 6 gallon carboy, a 1 gallon demijohn, as well as 750 ml. and 1.5 ltr. PET bottles (for top-up purposes). Because honey is very, very, very expensive here in Japan, I decided that I wanted to make a 1) large quantity of mead, 2) age it a long time, and 3) blend different honeys together for an interesting taste.
Each time I did a racking, I poured off the "dregs" into a plastic container and stored it in the fridge. (I used to throw away the dregs...but why the hell would I want to repeat THAT mistake??). A rather large yeast sediment has dropped out from the dregs and tonight I decided to do a taste test. Wow! Absolutely amazing taste...much better than any of the several commercial brands I have tried, and MUCH better than I had been expecting! I'll try to describe the taste laster. I'm planning on bottling at the end of February and if what I have tasted tonight is any kind of indication of what I can expect, I feel pretty excited and fortunate!
I spent the equivalent of about $300 USD for my honey (like I said, honey is really expensive here), and ended up combining some varieties I have never even heard of before: Linden, Beechwood Honeydew, "Hundred Flowers", Sumac, as well as Ilex integra (Japanese Holly).
The colour is a rich, but not deep, amber. No sediment is coming out of this final racking, and it looks like I'm going to get something very clear for bottling. The sweetness comes out, but is not cloying, and has a Manuka honey taste (I'm guessing this might be from the honeydew), with a slight "whiskey" fragrance. The alcohol is present but not like rocket fuel. There is absolutely no sparkle (thank goodness).
I was originally going to call it, "Rambo Bear Mead" (hey, Rambo 4 was out last year, and my wife likes teddy bears so it sounded like a good idea at the time). But I'll have to rename it, because I am expecting my first child (a daughter) at the end of February. We'll be naming her "Anika", so maybe something like, "Anika's Blend?" (suggestions appreciated!)
Anyway, as I am so proud of this batch, my own original recipe (heh...mostly just guesswork based on my earlier peach and berry batches, combined with lots of reading winepress / homebrewing / gotmead / winemaking forum posts) and notes is as follows:
7 imperial gallons - 4 in brewing bucket A, 3 in bucket B.
10.4 Kg honey used: 6.2 Kg in A, 4.2 in B* (added additional 500g of "Hundred Flowers" later to increase SG)
- Linden ("Bodaiju") - 300 g.: ( B )
- Beechwood Honeydew 0.5 kg.: ( A )
- Hundred Flowers ("Hyakka") - 7.2 Kg (+500 g. later): (4.8 Kg -> A) (2.4 Kg + 500 g. -> B )
- Sumac ("Haze") - 300 g.: ( B )
- Ilex integra aka Japanese Holly ("mochinoki") - 2.1 kg: (900 g. -> A ) (1.2 Kg -> B )
- Tannin powder - (1.5 tsp. -> A ) (1 tsp. -> B )
- Nutrient powder - (4 tsp. -> A ) (4 tsp. -> B )
- Acid Blend - (4 tsp. -> A) (3 tsp. -> B )
- Campden tablets - (6 -> A ) (5 -> B )
- SG: 1.100 -> A, 1.095 -> B
- Must started on May 10, 2008 @ 20:00 JST; temperature 18 C
- Yeast - DC-47 (1 pkg. per bucket)
- 2 starters made on May 11 @ 2:00 JST - (2 cups water; 150 ml. honey)
- pitched yeast starter on May 11 @ 11:00 JST
- Added 500 g. "Hundred Flowers" on May 14 @ 23:00 JST (bucket B )
- May 26 - racked to secondary (2 weeks, 1 day) @ 21:00 JST
- Bucket A - 1.070
- Bucket B - 1.090 - looks like stuck ferment
- Bucket A + some of Bucket B racked to 6 gallon carboy
- Bucket B racked to 1 gallon demijohn + 1.5 ltr. PET bottle
- May 28 - added yeast nutrient +/- 0.5 tsp. to 1-gallon jug
- Glass carboy vigorously fermenting as of May 30
- Jug - no activity
- June 1 - added nutrafine to jug and PET bottle
- fermentation on all 3 strong! June 4 @ 24:00 JST
- July 2 @ 21:00 JST - bubbling slowed to 1 / 5 sec.
- glass jug about 1 / 10 sec.
- July 10 @ 23:00 JST - fermentation has really slowed
- about 1 bubble / 10 sec.
- increased room temperature from 18 C -> 20 C
- August 1 @ 22:00 JST - increased room temperature from 20 C -> 22 C
- September 15 @ 22:00 JST - increased room temperature from 22 C -> 24 C
- October 5 @ 19:30 JST - racked 6 gallong carboy & 1.5 ltr. top-up
- note: black sediment in top-up bottle -- tannin??)
- turned off air conditioner -- room temperature around 26 C
- January 18 @ 15:00 JST - racked 6 gallon carboy & 1 gallon demijohn
- "rubber smell" present in 6 gallons ... contact with rubber stopper
- very sweet smell for 1 gallon!
- January 28 @ 20:30 JST - tonight's taste test!
When I go to bottle, I will determine FG and post an update here. I am slightly worried about that rubber smell in the carboy, but I certainly didn't detect it in the dregs so I might be okay. As they say, aging solves those kinds of issues.
Updates to follow...any comments / suggestions / criticism welcome!
Anyway, after a rather disappointing 6 gallon peach wine that ended up very tasty but "strangely" sparkly and somewhat sedimentary in the bottle (stupid wine conditioner
) -- at least I have 36 bottles of wine to add to pasta sauce -- as well as a 1 gallon attempt at a mixed berry wine (hopefully a few years of aging will reduce the pucker factor!?!), I struck the jackpot with a mead I started back in May of last year!!I made enough to fill a 6 gallon carboy, a 1 gallon demijohn, as well as 750 ml. and 1.5 ltr. PET bottles (for top-up purposes). Because honey is very, very, very expensive here in Japan, I decided that I wanted to make a 1) large quantity of mead, 2) age it a long time, and 3) blend different honeys together for an interesting taste.
Each time I did a racking, I poured off the "dregs" into a plastic container and stored it in the fridge. (I used to throw away the dregs...but why the hell would I want to repeat THAT mistake??). A rather large yeast sediment has dropped out from the dregs and tonight I decided to do a taste test. Wow! Absolutely amazing taste...much better than any of the several commercial brands I have tried, and MUCH better than I had been expecting! I'll try to describe the taste laster. I'm planning on bottling at the end of February and if what I have tasted tonight is any kind of indication of what I can expect, I feel pretty excited and fortunate!
I spent the equivalent of about $300 USD for my honey (like I said, honey is really expensive here), and ended up combining some varieties I have never even heard of before: Linden, Beechwood Honeydew, "Hundred Flowers", Sumac, as well as Ilex integra (Japanese Holly).
The colour is a rich, but not deep, amber. No sediment is coming out of this final racking, and it looks like I'm going to get something very clear for bottling. The sweetness comes out, but is not cloying, and has a Manuka honey taste (I'm guessing this might be from the honeydew), with a slight "whiskey" fragrance. The alcohol is present but not like rocket fuel. There is absolutely no sparkle (thank goodness).
I was originally going to call it, "Rambo Bear Mead" (hey, Rambo 4 was out last year, and my wife likes teddy bears so it sounded like a good idea at the time). But I'll have to rename it, because I am expecting my first child (a daughter) at the end of February. We'll be naming her "Anika", so maybe something like, "Anika's Blend?" (suggestions appreciated!)
Anyway, as I am so proud of this batch, my own original recipe (heh...mostly just guesswork based on my earlier peach and berry batches, combined with lots of reading winepress / homebrewing / gotmead / winemaking forum posts) and notes is as follows:
7 imperial gallons - 4 in brewing bucket A, 3 in bucket B.
10.4 Kg honey used: 6.2 Kg in A, 4.2 in B* (added additional 500g of "Hundred Flowers" later to increase SG)
- Linden ("Bodaiju") - 300 g.: ( B )
- Beechwood Honeydew 0.5 kg.: ( A )
- Hundred Flowers ("Hyakka") - 7.2 Kg (+500 g. later): (4.8 Kg -> A) (2.4 Kg + 500 g. -> B )
- Sumac ("Haze") - 300 g.: ( B )
- Ilex integra aka Japanese Holly ("mochinoki") - 2.1 kg: (900 g. -> A ) (1.2 Kg -> B )
- Tannin powder - (1.5 tsp. -> A ) (1 tsp. -> B )
- Nutrient powder - (4 tsp. -> A ) (4 tsp. -> B )
- Acid Blend - (4 tsp. -> A) (3 tsp. -> B )
- Campden tablets - (6 -> A ) (5 -> B )
- SG: 1.100 -> A, 1.095 -> B
- Must started on May 10, 2008 @ 20:00 JST; temperature 18 C
- Yeast - DC-47 (1 pkg. per bucket)
- 2 starters made on May 11 @ 2:00 JST - (2 cups water; 150 ml. honey)
- pitched yeast starter on May 11 @ 11:00 JST
- Added 500 g. "Hundred Flowers" on May 14 @ 23:00 JST (bucket B )
- May 26 - racked to secondary (2 weeks, 1 day) @ 21:00 JST
- Bucket A - 1.070
- Bucket B - 1.090 - looks like stuck ferment
- Bucket A + some of Bucket B racked to 6 gallon carboy
- Bucket B racked to 1 gallon demijohn + 1.5 ltr. PET bottle
- May 28 - added yeast nutrient +/- 0.5 tsp. to 1-gallon jug
- Glass carboy vigorously fermenting as of May 30
- Jug - no activity
- June 1 - added nutrafine to jug and PET bottle
- fermentation on all 3 strong! June 4 @ 24:00 JST
- July 2 @ 21:00 JST - bubbling slowed to 1 / 5 sec.
- glass jug about 1 / 10 sec.
- July 10 @ 23:00 JST - fermentation has really slowed
- about 1 bubble / 10 sec.
- increased room temperature from 18 C -> 20 C
- August 1 @ 22:00 JST - increased room temperature from 20 C -> 22 C
- September 15 @ 22:00 JST - increased room temperature from 22 C -> 24 C
- October 5 @ 19:30 JST - racked 6 gallong carboy & 1.5 ltr. top-up
- note: black sediment in top-up bottle -- tannin??)
- turned off air conditioner -- room temperature around 26 C
- January 18 @ 15:00 JST - racked 6 gallon carboy & 1 gallon demijohn
- "rubber smell" present in 6 gallons ... contact with rubber stopper
- very sweet smell for 1 gallon!
- January 28 @ 20:30 JST - tonight's taste test!
When I go to bottle, I will determine FG and post an update here. I am slightly worried about that rubber smell in the carboy, but I certainly didn't detect it in the dregs so I might be okay. As they say, aging solves those kinds of issues.
Updates to follow...any comments / suggestions / criticism welcome!
