What I did for/with Mead today

[MightyMosin]

I ran 4 cased of 12oz beer bottles through the dishwasher on its sanitize setting without ant any detergent. These had been cleaned previously and I was really mostly just getting any dust off the bottles and any that might have worked its way into the upside down bottles.

Work looks like it might be light tomorrow, so I'm going to try and get two 5 gallon kegs bottled. These bottles will certainly get a Star San or Iodophor treatment prior to bottling.

 

[nashiora]

Read The Compleat Meadmaker for an hour and researched yeast instead of sleeping last night, considering doing it again.

 

[MightyMosin]

Read The Compleat Meadmaker for an hour and researched yeast instead of sleeping last night, considering doing it again.

Here's some info for your down time
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/my-yeast-notes.703752/

 

[MightyMosin]

I bottled (2) 5 gallon kegs of carbonated session mead.
The first one was a bit too carbonated and foamed a bit, but the second one was perfect.

As I'm about 19 days into 30 days of no alcohol, I won't get to enjoy the tiny bit at the bottom of the kegs that the siphon tube leaves; but these will be sitting ready to enjoy after that.

With the garage refrigerator empty of those two kegs, a keg of Chile Mango will now go into the refrigerator to cool and tomorrow I'll likely hit it with my homemade quick carbonator and then leave it a week or so on CO2 to bottle the following weekend.

Now I'm off to get these kegs cleaned up.

 

[MightyMosin]

Busy day.
Quick carb of the Mango Chile mead and back into the refrigerator to sit on CO2 until next week and likely bottling. Cleaning, rinsing and sanitizing of that quick carb will happen tonight too.

Racked 5 gallons of a lemon ginger session that I made in 2022 and got it into a 5 gallon keg. Into the fridge to cool. I forgot about this carboy sitting back there, but I'm in the process of trying to get most items bottled or kegged over the next 2 months before I get into winter mead making.

Racked 3 gallons of V2 of my Marshmallow Mead... I love how it smells. I bottled this and ended up with (32) 375ml bottles.

3 carboys and 1 keg have gone on to the carboy cleaner for PBW wash, rinse and sanitization. I also purchased a small transfer pump with 3/8" connections and have been using it with the carboy cleaner to push the above clean, rinse, sanitize through my transfer tubing. I should have done that a while ago as it makes it so much easier and I can do other things while it cleans.

I was going to label what I bottled on Friday but I just found out that I am out of my labels, so that will wait until I get some new ones in.

I think that is it for today.

 

[Dan O]

Racked 3 gallons of V2 of my Marshmallow Mead... I love how it smells. I bottled this and ended up with (32) 375ml bottles.

Still looking forward to this recipe

 

[MightyMosin]

Still looking forward to this recipe

I already placed a V2 bottle next to the V1 bottle that is set aside for you.

In a few weeks, I'll taste the V3 to see how it is doing. I didn't add any Cacao Nib tincture to it yet. That will be a bit of a bench test.

 

[Dan O]

I already placed a V2 bottle next to the V1 bottle that is set aside for you.

In a few weeks, I'll taste the V3 to see how it is doing. I didn't add any Cacao Nib tincture to it yet. That will be a bit of a bench test.

I'll have to come up with another good one to send you. The chocolate/ cherry/ vanilla/ pomegranate aged on cherry wood is still yours. Have to go through what I have already bottled for the other.

 

[MightyMosin]

Yesterday and today I did the boring job of sorting left over wine bottles, getting rid of ones that were too oddball sized or had funk that didn't get properly rinsed once empty. This worked out nicely in helping me locate the 375ml bottles that I knew I had but wasn't sure exactly where they were at. I'm using these more and more compared to 750ml.

I also located about 24 flip top bottles spread across many boxes and got them consolidated. While boring, I cleaned a variety of bottles and soaked them externally in a PBW mix to loosen the adhesive and then scraped the labels off and cleaned up the bottles for future use.

The strength of the adhesive used is amazing in how much it varies from place to place. Lagunitas beer bottles are great in that a ~10 minute PBW soak has the labels falling off on their own and a quick scrub of the bottle clears the adhesive away quite fast. Elysian brewery bottles are apparently attached with sovereign glue that never lets go and I just chuck those into the recycle.

 

[Dan O]

Lagunitas beer bottles are great in that a ~10 minute PBW soak has the labels falling off on their own and a quick scrub of the bottle clears the adhesive away quite fast.

I find Grolsch bottles are the same way.....quick soak in hot soapy water, they come right off. I wish all labels came off so easy.

 

[MightyMosin]

Today I bottled a 5 gallon keg of a Chile Mango mead... carbonated.

Should it have been carbonated? I don't know, but I let the spouse make that choice as this one is for them and not me.

I also opened a 750ml of my first Cabernet Sauvignon pyment made in 2022.

 

[Ren06]

Forgot to add 2weeks ago that I bottled 6gallons of a stout based braggot 14.3% abv! No burn but smooth and delicious.
Tomorrow I should be bottling 5.5 gallons of my coffee mead and then 4.5 gallons of a spiced cyser.

 

[Ren06]

Today I bottled a 5 gallon keg of a Chile Mango mead... carbonated.

Should it have been carbonated? I don't know, but I let the spouse make that choice as this one is for them and not me.

I also opened a 750ml of my first Cabernet Sauvignon pyment made in 2022.

That cab sauv sounds good!!

 

[Ren06]

Checked the gravity on my 21 gallons of sweet potato mead. Its moving slow and steady and smelling great!

Also stabilized 2 days ago on my “garbage braggot” then backsweetened today. Also dry hopped with willamette.

 

[Agent]

This may be sacrilege, but today I whipped up some invert sugar to cut my melter honey. My batches with straight melter honey are not to my liking.

One little pound of rich goodness to 4lbs of inverted cane sugar.

And this stuff still tasted like those dark honey sticks you get for a quarter.

 

[MightyMosin]

While it won't be strictly for mead, I started a 2x fold bourbon vanilla extract today.
3oz of Madagascar vanilla beans split long way into ~420ml of Forty Nine Mile Bourbon (45%).

I've marked my calendar a year from today. The remainder of the bottle is for drinking.

 

[Ren06]

Finally bottled my coffee mead and waxed it, and also bottled my traditional too.

 

[Ren06]

Bottled 5gallons of “cyserglin” lol.

 

[MightyMosin]

The glory of peeling labels from bottles was accomplished today.

 

[MightyMosin]

I opened up a 375ml of one of my Pinot Noir Pyments. I had about 1/2 the bottle and it was very enjoyable.

 

[007]

Started 6 gallons of mead.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Paid for 2 entries in a mead only comp. Then evaluated my honeysuckle mead started earlier this year - delicately flavored wonderful bouquet. Needs some acid and backsweeting. I’m happy with it so far.

 

[MightyMosin]

I racked and stabilized three different meads that have been sitting around a while.

 

[DrWizzard]

I degassed my first brews then stared at it longer then i should because it wasn't bubbling as much before i degassed so I was panicking thinking i killed my mead. But its mead so i should be patient

 

[bushpilot]

Not today, but last Saturday I taught a mead class to 21 people. It went well, hopefully their meads will turn out fine.

I need to get going on this winter's meads, I always do my brewing in the winter.

 

[MightyMosin]

sanitized some bottles and then lost my will to bottle... probably tomorrow

 

[bushpilot]

Mixed up my first meads of 2024. 1.5 gallons of cyser, and 2 gallons of traditional (one will likely become a raspberry melomel).

 

[brewbama]

Entered three meads in DOMRAS Cup: M1C Sweet Mead, M3A Apple/Cin, and M2C Berry.

Mixed up a Cyser for next year’s competition. Planning an Agave Jalapeño and Mixed Berry for next year as well.

 

[Maylar]

The strength of the adhesive used is amazing in how much it varies from place to place. Lagunitas beer bottles are great in that a ~10 minute PBW soak has the labels falling off on their own and a quick scrub of the bottle clears the adhesive away quite fast. Elysian brewery bottles are apparently attached with sovereign glue that never lets go and I just chuck those into the recycle.

I hear that. NASA engineered adhesives. I know that for beer bottles any of the Guinness brands, including Smithwick's, come off with just a soak in warm water.
I drink a lot of Blackstone Merlot and recently got the idea of recycling the bottles for my meads. The labels are 2 part laminations. Goo Gone Took the paper labels off with ease, but there's a transparent film underneath them that was impossible to move. Acetone didn't do it either. Bummer. Into the recycling bin they go.

 

[Maylar]

Preparing for this year's meads. I've been out of it for a while due to health issues. Haven't been to the brew room for about 3 years. Ordered fresh replacements for my chemical stash, as I know most of that has a shelf life. New transfer tubing, a filter housing, gonna do the mead science thing and have some fun. Even have temperature control now. Did an inventory and found about 30 lbs of honey. Tupelo, Star Thistle, and some local wild flower. Cleaned up the brew bench and even washed the floor (spilled mead is darned sticky!). I have 2 gallons of 2019 cider to be kegged (that oughta be tasty!) and 2 gallons of 2020 JAOM to be bottled. We'll find out if aging has an effect on the world's easiest mead...

 

[Dan O]

We'll find out if aging has an effect on the world's easiest mead...

It absolutely does. The clove starts to take a back seat vs when it's green.

 

[007]

Racked 6.25 gallons to secondary for settling, 13.8% ABV. Check it in March.

 

[MightyMosin]

Ordered fresh replacements for my chemical stash, as I know most of that has a shelf life.

I have new stabilizers come. I think they arrive this Thursday along with some Wyeast Malolactic bacteria.

 

[DrWizzard]

I reracked my mead and added blackberry jam and some pecktide powder and some asid(the apple based one) to it as well.

 

[Maylar]

I reracked my mead and added blackberry jam and some pecktide powder and some asid(the apple based one) to it as well.

I see a couple of things there - The headspace in the gallon jug is considered to be a no-no. Chances of oxidation and bacteria growth (bugs need oxygen). Fortunately, mead is less prone to either of those than other brews, but as a matter of best practice that should be avoided. I see you have a Little Big Mouth Bubbler. I absolutely love mine. I can start with enough volume in primary to enable racking to a full gallon jug with no head space. Consider that from now on.

Also, adding acid to a batch without tasting it is silly. That should be done TO TASTE at bottling time. Just an FYI for a beginner.

 

[brewbama]

Added clarifier to a Cyser.

 

[Maylar]

Added clarifier to a Cyser.

What are you using? I find cysers to be particularly difficult to clear. Pectic enzyme works for the pectin, and Bentonite works with honey haze but they don't work together.

 

[brewbama]

Kieselsol and chitosan

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Met with some makers yesterday and made a cyser with local honey and freshly pressed cider from a local orchard. Today getting entries together to ship tomorrow.

 

[MightyMosin]

Racked my Marshmallow Mead v3 out of the barrel (~4.75 gallon) and did bench testing of a cacao nib tincture addition.

First thing to note is that the tincture added to the mouth feel with its viscosity. I almost started with a 10% addition...
I started at a 5% addition and quickly reduced to 2%.

The 5% wasn't really objectionable, but it destroyed the Marshmallow root flavor and that made it a problem.
The 2% was much better as the cacao dropped back so it wasn't a noticeable flavor but more of a supporting actor. I did a 1% test and this was more of what I was looking for.

A quick approximated calculation said I needed 174ml of the tincture to get to a 1% addition. I creeped up to my final by starting with 100ml. At 100ml the flavor was good but the cacao was not really present though the Marshmallow root was displaced a bit.

I added another 40 ml of the tincture which got me to ~.08% tincture added and tried again. This ended up where I decided to leave it for now. There was still the Marshmallow root flavor along with the Meadowfoam honey but the cacao was now a contributing flavor that wasn't entirely a stand out flavor on its own. I can always add more if needed, but that whole taking it out is a problem.

I added 1g K-Meta to the barrel and then racked everything back into a CO2 filled barrel and the plugged the bung up. I will revisit this in a few weeks to see how it has integrated after sitting for a bit. I'll decide after it sits if it needs any acid adjustments. Even at the ~.08% tincture addition there was a noticeable bump in the mouth feel of the drink. Sorry @Dan O that this wasn't ready for you to try with V1 and V2.

The biggest thing that I notice missing in this version is the influence from the whiskey barrel; I assume that the first two batches have extracted all of that from the barrel. I may end doing another bench test and possibly adding a slight amount of Bourbon or other whiskey to this, though it might be less than a .5%, based on what the other tincture added.

That mouth feel bump is nice and I can't wait for my vanilla tincture to be ready for playing with.