UGAVet
Member
I have a family tradition that we brew a small batch of mead for every child that's born and save the bottles to open on big life events (1st birthday, 21st, wedding, 1st grandchild, etc). I lived in Colorado when we had my daughter so I made a Colorado wildflower honey, ginger-peach mead. At the 1 year mark I was quite happy with it. Balanced flavor, little bit of bubble from the champagne yeast.
Our son was just born a few days ago and we now live in Tennessee, so I'm thinking of making a Tennessee bourbon soaked oak infused mead. Just wanted to get the opinion from some people that make mead way more often than I do to ensure I didn't miss anything. Thanks for the help in advance!
1 gallon water
3lb Southeast raw, unfiltered honey
0.5 oz Oak cubes, medium toast
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast
Plan: Sterilize all equipment. Warm honey (in bottle) in hot water bath to ease pouring. Bring water to boil to sterilize. Boil for 5 min. Turn off heat. Once cooled to ~100*F, add honey and yeast nutrient. Stir well and pour into primary.
*My last batch went from SG 1.095 to FG 1.000 in 15 days without any manipulation/stirring/degassing/etc. I was planning to do the same this time.
Once fermentation is complete, rack to secondary, add oak chips. Once fully settled/clear, bottle.
*Last time it took ~3.5 months to fully clarify before I bottled. I don't plan on drinking any before next January, so I'm not too concerned if the bourbon/oak flavors need time to mellow. Some of these bottles are going to age for 20-30 years before I open them.
Thanks again for the read and any feedback/advice.
Our son was just born a few days ago and we now live in Tennessee, so I'm thinking of making a Tennessee bourbon soaked oak infused mead. Just wanted to get the opinion from some people that make mead way more often than I do to ensure I didn't miss anything. Thanks for the help in advance!
1 gallon water
3lb Southeast raw, unfiltered honey
0.5 oz Oak cubes, medium toast
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast
Plan: Sterilize all equipment. Warm honey (in bottle) in hot water bath to ease pouring. Bring water to boil to sterilize. Boil for 5 min. Turn off heat. Once cooled to ~100*F, add honey and yeast nutrient. Stir well and pour into primary.
*My last batch went from SG 1.095 to FG 1.000 in 15 days without any manipulation/stirring/degassing/etc. I was planning to do the same this time.
Once fermentation is complete, rack to secondary, add oak chips. Once fully settled/clear, bottle.
*Last time it took ~3.5 months to fully clarify before I bottled. I don't plan on drinking any before next January, so I'm not too concerned if the bourbon/oak flavors need time to mellow. Some of these bottles are going to age for 20-30 years before I open them.
Thanks again for the read and any feedback/advice.
