Mine is still in the 2 gallon bucket (15 days). I think it's ready to be racked into a 1 gallon carboy any time now.
Bottled mine yesterday. Stabalized it and added another batch of the homemade strawberry syrup. End result was....interesting. It has none of the usual young alchohol harshness but does have some odd notes of something i don't know how to describe. Doesn't taste bad but im not sure I like it. The strawberry flavor and nose is incredibly faint but is present. Going to let it age a month and try it again.
Today I racked from the 2 gallon bucket into a jug and added another 1/2 pound of Mesquite honey (total of 2.5 lbs). I used the yeast slurry to start a skeeter pee.
Since I'm not close to a full gallon, I didn't pull a sample for a gravity reading. I did take a very small taste and was surprised to find it had a bit of milky tartness to it. Sort of reminiscent of the whey from yogurt but really not as sour as all that. Because the taste is leaning toward tart, I'm rethink my plan.
Instead of cinnamon and vanilla, I'm now contemplating those frozen peaches in my freezer. Maybe I'll top off the gallon jug with a can of Kern's peach juice. Then at some point later rack back into the 2 gallon bucket with a few pounds of the peaches.
Yeah even mine had some saltyness and i didnt make cheese first. A quirk of the milk perhaps?
I moved mine to coldcrash while im away for a couple of days. Does not look that good right now...
This is day 39 since starting my lacotmel...
About a week ago I added a 12 oz can of Kerns peach juice to the jug just to top it off a bit. This kicked up fermentation activity.
Yesterday I moved the lactomel back into the 2 gallon bucket onto 3 pounds of backyard peaches I thawed out a few days before. The peaches are in a mesh bag. 12 hours before combining fruit and mead, I added 1/2 tsp of pectin enzyme and about 1/16 tsp metabisulfite to the peaches. I also added 0.4 oz of fresh, sliced ginger root.
I let the yeast slurry that was left in the jug settle overnight in a measuring cup so that I could pour off enough mead to take a gravity reading this morning. I was very surprised to fine the lactomel at 1.019. I expected it to be lower. Is anyone else surprised by their gravity readings? Is it possible something in the milk (whey in my case) is keeping the gravity elevated? Or is my fermentation stalled? Hmmm...
I took a small taste of the gravity sample cold from the fridge. It still has that quality of salinity, and it seemed to have a hotter alcohol taste than my last taste test. I need to head to work soon so it was only a sip. I've saved the sample to drink tonight. I want to see if any other flavors come out as it warms.
I have another lactomel experiment ready to go. If I have time on Sunday, I'll get it going and post some info.
Bottled my blueberry lactomel and tried it with a couple of friends. Not good. Taste is close to a bad cheese.
OK. After the rave reviews I got sharing my Strawberry Lactomel at my homebrew club I decided to make another.
Cherry Bochet Lactomel:
3 lbs Clover Honey Heavily Caramelized. ( Cheap publix brand honey )
1 quart Tart cherry juice.
1/2 Gallon Low-Fat Milk.
Lalvin K1-V1116 Yeast.
I currently have it in my old LBK so not really photogenic. Ill snap some pics when i transfer it to secondary. I plan to rack it onto some cherries for secondary.
Not sure if this is a thread derailment...but I didn't necessarily brew this project as part of the group brew, but I did draw inspiration from this thread and make a lactomel with Orange Blossom honey, lavulin 71-b, and Lactaid. I'll have maybe 3-4 bottles at our club booth at Homebrewcon in Baltimore (LAF - Lebanon Area Fermenters) to share with some folks I know.
If you want to give it a try, just ask at the booth and I'll gladly pour you some. It won't be on the chalkboard because I've only got a few 12oz bottles. I can't promise it'll be good...but it'll be different!
I'll be one of the two "bald dudes with glasses named Mike" at the booth.
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