Hello and thanks for any thoughts on the following.
I wanted to try and make a Heather Mead that was similar to Pictish descriptions I have read.
Steeped 1/2 cup heather flowers in 1 quart water overnight. Next day realized miscalculated and steeped another 1 cup of heather flowers with 2 quarts water for 3 hours and added to honey and water below.
Added 1.5 lbs Scottish Heather Honey (bought off Amazon from Scotland -- very expensive!) and 1.5 lbs local raw honey. Figured 3lbs honey to 1 gallon is a semi-sweet mead.
Heated honey and water to 130 degrees.
Added 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (Northern Brewer Yeast Energizer) and 1/2 cup of black tea and juice of 1 lemon (per Zimmerman, Make Mead Like a Viking)
This is then poured through a funnel lined with 1 cup of heather flowers.
Red Star Premier Blanc (Pasteur Blanc)
O.G. = 1.108
Two weeks later F.G. = 1.003 (ABV = 11%)
Removed one pint and steeped with 1/2 cup heather flowers (after Buhner's recipe) and returned to fermenter.
Taste strongly of petroleum (a taste I find in a lot of commercial meads -- not pleasant -- but minimal in previous meads with lower honey content).
Added two more pounds of local raw honey and transferred to a secondary. (Realize in retrospect this is probably backsweetening.)
One week later remained well distributed with evidence of fermentation and new sediment.
At 4 weeks, S.G. = 1.045 (did not recalculate O.G. after adding honey at two weeks). According to meadmaker batchbuilder, this would make the O.G. 1.175 (5 pounds of honey in one gallon).
After two more weeks (6 weeks total), there is a slight petroleum taste but good honey as well.
At 4 months, still not clear, S.G. = 1.038 (ABV = 14.39%). Taste is good, piney, buttery, sweet.
At 5 months, S.G. is unchanged. Added 3 grams of yeast ghosts. But still not increasing fermentation. Appearance is still very cloudy, though taste is very nice, smoky but smooth.
SO, should I wait longer for this to clear, or is this what it is and I should just bottle now.
THANKS!
I wanted to try and make a Heather Mead that was similar to Pictish descriptions I have read.
Steeped 1/2 cup heather flowers in 1 quart water overnight. Next day realized miscalculated and steeped another 1 cup of heather flowers with 2 quarts water for 3 hours and added to honey and water below.
Added 1.5 lbs Scottish Heather Honey (bought off Amazon from Scotland -- very expensive!) and 1.5 lbs local raw honey. Figured 3lbs honey to 1 gallon is a semi-sweet mead.
Heated honey and water to 130 degrees.
Added 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (Northern Brewer Yeast Energizer) and 1/2 cup of black tea and juice of 1 lemon (per Zimmerman, Make Mead Like a Viking)
This is then poured through a funnel lined with 1 cup of heather flowers.
Red Star Premier Blanc (Pasteur Blanc)
O.G. = 1.108
Two weeks later F.G. = 1.003 (ABV = 11%)
Removed one pint and steeped with 1/2 cup heather flowers (after Buhner's recipe) and returned to fermenter.
Taste strongly of petroleum (a taste I find in a lot of commercial meads -- not pleasant -- but minimal in previous meads with lower honey content).
Added two more pounds of local raw honey and transferred to a secondary. (Realize in retrospect this is probably backsweetening.)
One week later remained well distributed with evidence of fermentation and new sediment.
At 4 weeks, S.G. = 1.045 (did not recalculate O.G. after adding honey at two weeks). According to meadmaker batchbuilder, this would make the O.G. 1.175 (5 pounds of honey in one gallon).
After two more weeks (6 weeks total), there is a slight petroleum taste but good honey as well.
At 4 months, still not clear, S.G. = 1.038 (ABV = 14.39%). Taste is good, piney, buttery, sweet.
At 5 months, S.G. is unchanged. Added 3 grams of yeast ghosts. But still not increasing fermentation. Appearance is still very cloudy, though taste is very nice, smoky but smooth.
SO, should I wait longer for this to clear, or is this what it is and I should just bottle now.
THANKS!