Lactomel Group Brew Project - 19/20th March 2016

[snowveil]

I won't be in Baltimore but I'm curious to hear more about your experience. Do you know your starting and final gravity? How long did you age before bottling? Can you describe the taste/aroma?

Sorry for the late reply, but I got some blind tasters at NHC and also at my local club meeting.

The general consensus was that no, you couldn't tell there was milk in it in any traditional milk flavor sort of way.

I had a few folks pick out "green pepper" out of it without hearing each other call for it. A few of them said it was an okay base mead that would really be better as a showcase for some spices.

I'm not sure I'd make the lactomel again to be honest because I'm not sure how much of a positive flavor impact the milk had over just using water. It turned out drinkable but no flavors were distinct enough to warrant me going through the trouble of the curds and buying the milk again.

Neat experiment, though!

 

[Yeroc]

Racked my peach lactomel off about a 1/2 inch of lees from the peach addition. Last racking was about 2 months ago. Still needs to clear a bit longer. SG is 1.010. Still slowly dropping. I added 4 med toast oak cubes. Topped off the gallon jug with about 7 oz of orange blossom mead.

The small sample I tasted had a nice peach flavor that helps balance the salinity.

 

[Johan__]

I bottled and waxed mine i will open one every year and see if it turns good.(not something i think is possible, couse mine came out terrible..)

View attachment 1467627337465.jpg

 

[Yeroc]

I bottled and waxed mine i will open one every year and see if it turns good.(not something i think is possible, couse mine came out terrible..)

Sorry to hear that. I'm not ready to call mine bad just yet. Unusual and maybe even weird, yes. Certainly an interesting experiment so far.

 

[Vex3521]

Like both of mine so far, it's running hot so gotta just let it age out. Needs racking this weekend and will see from there. Chai dropped put a bit so will be doing an addition for that one need to check coffee again and will probably cold press more just in case.

 

[TandemTails]

How is everyone's lactomel experiment going? I last racked my two 1 gallon batches to tertiary on June 13th (almost 3 months ago now) and they're sitting at 1.013. The berry version is almost completely clear and the plain version is slowly clarifying. I started this on March 18th so they've been going for 170 days as of today.

I'll probably do a taste test the next time I brew and have some extra starsan laying around.

 

[Dr_Floyd]

Mine has grown on me significantly even though it didn't turn out like I wanted. It's a little sour (I'd guess from the Whey) and has the strangest mouth feel.

I ended up with a Honeysuckle and Cinnamon Lactomel.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

I just bottled my second one ( cherry bochett lactomel ) and racked my third ( orange creamcicle ) to secondary. The first one is still a hit when I share it.

 

[Yeroc]

I pulled a sample of my first lactomel, the one that sat on peaches for a while. It's been about 7 months since I started it and 3 months since the last racking. I have to say it's getting better but still not there yet.

There is an unusual aroma fighting somewhat with the peach, but after sitting a few minutes, I think the peach predominates the bouquet.

The taste comes off dry, but with a good mouthfeel. Lingering peach on the tongue. The big surprise is that the salinity seems to have dropped whey back from where it started (see what I did there?). I didn't pull enough to take a gravity reading.

I think I should rack one more time soon. Then add metabisulfite and sorbate and back sweeten just a bit. It's temping to put it on more peaches first, but I kind of want to wrap up this experiment and get it into bottles.

 

[HawleyFarms]

I think I should rack one more time soon. Then add metabisulfite and sorbate and back sweeten just a bit. It's temping to put it on more peaches first, but I kind of want to wrap up this experiment and get it into bottles.

You could always kill 2 birds with one stone, add k meta and k sorbate and then rack onto a can of sliced peaches in syrup, back-sweetening and adding peach at the same time. Just a thought.

 

[TandemTails]

I ended up pouring my 2 gallons down the drain this weekend. The taste was tolerable but I simply couldn't get over the aroma. The closest thing I can relate it to is after you throw up and some gets into your nasal cavity and you have this acidic putrid smell masking everything for a few minutes.

Maybe the next group brew will have a better turnout haha.

 

[Yeroc]

I ended up pouring my 2 gallons down the drain this weekend. The taste was tolerable but I simply couldn't get over the aroma. The closest thing I can relate it to is after you throw up and some gets into your nasal cavity and you have this acidic putrid smell masking everything for a few minutes.

Maybe the next group brew will have a better turnout haha.

Sorry to hear you had to dump it. Anyone planning a new group brew of some type?

Here is my lactomel update.

On my 1 gallon peach lactomel I added 1 oz fresh ginger (sliced the size of match sticks) and a 4 whole peppercorns. Racked off these after one week. Very cloudy after the ginger, which surprised me. Topped off with about 6oz of sparkling apfelwein. Rinsed and transferred the oak cubes to the new jug.

My other lactomel that used leftover whey from yogurt making has not been touched for a long while. Last racked in June. I'll do something with this in the new year.

 

[bernardsmith]

I ended up pouring my 2 gallons down the drain this weekend. The taste was tolerable but I simply couldn't get over the aroma. The closest thing I can relate it to is after you throw up and some gets into your nasal cavity and you have this acidic putrid smell masking everything for a few minutes.

Maybe the next group brew will have a better turnout haha.

Sounds like butyric acid and that suggests an infection...

 

[TandemTails]

Sounds like butyric acid and that suggests an infection...

It wasn't that. I've smelled some beers that were infected with butyric acid before and the baby diaper aroma that comes with it wasn't the same as what I was getting.

It's possible it was infected with something that gave it the slightly sour twang

 

[bernardsmith]

It wasn't that. I've smelled some beers that were infected with butyric acid before and the baby diaper aroma that comes with it wasn't the same as what I was getting.

It's possible it was infected with something that gave it the slightly sour twang

Could it be lactic acid? That's the same acid that you find in yogurt or pickles if you use brine rather than vinegar - The yeast will, I think, convert the lactose (the sugars in the milk) to lactic acid. That would definitely make for a "sour twang".

 

[TandemTails]

Could it be lactic acid? That's the same acid that you find in yogurt or pickles if you use brine rather than vinegar - The yeast will, I think, convert the lactose (the sugars in the milk) to lactic acid. That would definitely make for a "sour twang".

I thought lactose was an unfermentable sugar. But the lactic acid twang is pretty much what I was getting. It reminded me of kefir which I don't like at all (which maybe is why i couldn't get over that with the lactomel).

 

[bernardsmith]

Good point. Not sure that wine yeast can ferment lactose (there is a yeast that can) but there are other bacteria in the milk (isn't that what causes milk to clabber?) and while the yeast are busy fermenting the added sugars from (in this case) the honey those bacteria may be encouraged to multiply given the drop in the pH that is the result of fermentation..

 

[Yeroc]

Mead Lactomel #1 (Ginger Peach) - 1 Gallon
On 2/20/17 (about 11 months since starting / almost 2 months since last racking) I racked and added 0.698 grams metabisulfite and sparkolloid. It was not clearing on its own. No taste test. Topped off with a few ounces of an orange blossom mead.

Mead Lactomel #2 (used Yogurt Whey) - 1 Gallon
On 2/20/17 (about 9.5 months since starting / 8.5 months since last racking) I racked and added 0.698 grams metabisulfite and sparkolloid. This had only been racked once before and was still super cloudy. I was surprised how much CO2 was still in suspension. I would have thought time would have dissipate more of it. Sample tasted interesting. Not horrible but somewhat odd. A bit like a gose. The lingering aftertaste was strangely pleasing. Topped off with a few ounces of an orange blossom mead.

I'll bottle both batches in 12 oz beer bottles in a few weeks - time permitting.