I'll try to be better
I would like to try and be better about updating this blog. Even if I don't have much to say, I can probably say it here and share it to Mastodon instead of saying it directly on Mastodon. Anyway, the only interesting thing I've really been doing is making mead. I think I'll start sharing the progress and recipes here.
I finished up the cranberry and elderberry ones a couple months ago. Those were my first melomels (fruit meads) and my first flavored meads. They were a learning experience. I used R.W. Knudsen organic cranberry juice for the cranberry flavor, and some local elderberry syrup for the elderberry flavor.
The high pH of cranberry inhibits fermentation. That and the likelihood that there was at least some small amount of preservatives in the juice gave the yeast a lot of trouble. I let it sit for a couple of weeks before finally racking it off the old yeast and pitching some stronger yeast, some EC-1118. That did the trick. After that, fermentation took off and finished in about 10 days for a roughly 11% ABV. It was good straight out of the jub, but it has aged extremely well. It is now tasting like a nice medium-body red wine. I have a couple bottles left sitting in the basement so we can see how it tastes in a couple more months.
The elderberry one proved similarly tricky, as the elderberry syrup I used definitely contained a lot of preservatives for extending the shelf-life. As with the cranberry, I let the elderberry sit through the initial fermentation with some raisins and cinnamon sticks for a couple of weeks, and then racked it and pitched some EC-1118. It completed fermentation in about 12 days with an ABV of about 13%. The cinnamon was quite strong at first, but over the last couple of months in the bottles, the cinnamon has blended nicely and the elderberry comes through more. It's quite delicious.
I also made a plain cyser (apple cider mead). Very simple, just 3lbs of honey and a gallon of organic apple cider from the market. It has a light, crisp flavor with a little floral spice from the wildflower honey. With some aging, the tart apple flavor should come through more. Next, I want to try some different flavors of cysers. Our farm market carries peach, blueberry, and cherry cider, all of which would be great flavors for future batches. Ginger-peach and cherry-vanilla are on my to-do list.
I finished up an orange-vanilla mead a couple weeks ago. For the initial fermentation, I added zest and juice from half a dozen cara cara oranges, a split vanilla bean pod, and a crushed cardamom pod (in a brew bag). One vanilla bean pod was much stronger than I expected, and it tastes much more like a creamsicle than I had intended. Also, one cardamom pod did not add as much spice flavor as I wanted, so I may attempt this one again in the future with some adjustments. We'll see how it ages in the coming months.
On the shelf now, I've got a watermelon lime jalapeno mead for my wife, and a pumpkin pie mead. The watermelon one started with half a watermelon (pureed) from the garden, 2 small jalapenos (sliced, no seeds), and a teaspoon of pectic enzyme (this helps break down the fruit for the yeast to consume and has many benefits). After initial fermentation, I racked the mead off of the yeast, watermelon, and jalapeno, then added 2 cups of fresh watermelon puree to help enhance the watermelon flavor a bit and balance out the flavor and spiciness of the jalapenos. Two jalapenos was probably a bit much, but I won't be the one drinking it, my wife will, and she likes it spicy. This weekend I'll add some lime juice and zest and see how it tastes a few days after that. If needed, I will back sweeten it with some orange blossom honey to try and take the edge off the spiciness a bit and bring out the watermelon flavor even more.
The pumpkin pie one has a 15oz can of roasted pumpkin puree, 3lbs of wildflower honey, and a teaspoon of pectic enzyme for the initial fermentation. I roasted the pumpkin puree to caramelize the sugars a bit prior to adding it to the must to help enhance the final flavor of the mead. When initial fermentation is complete I'll rack the mead and add the cinnamon stick, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. That will sit for about 2 weeks, after which I'll rack and bottle it if it tastes good. It may need backsweetening (I doubt it but maybe) and I might add a pinch of vanilla for that "pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream" flavor, we'll see.
So that's about it, you're caught up on my adventures in mead making. I'll keep posting updates here and I'll organize my recipes and post them here as well. TTFN.
I finished up the cranberry and elderberry ones a couple months ago. Those were my first melomels (fruit meads) and my first flavored meads. They were a learning experience. I used R.W. Knudsen organic cranberry juice for the cranberry flavor, and some local elderberry syrup for the elderberry flavor.
The high pH of cranberry inhibits fermentation. That and the likelihood that there was at least some small amount of preservatives in the juice gave the yeast a lot of trouble. I let it sit for a couple of weeks before finally racking it off the old yeast and pitching some stronger yeast, some EC-1118. That did the trick. After that, fermentation took off and finished in about 10 days for a roughly 11% ABV. It was good straight out of the jub, but it has aged extremely well. It is now tasting like a nice medium-body red wine. I have a couple bottles left sitting in the basement so we can see how it tastes in a couple more months.
The elderberry one proved similarly tricky, as the elderberry syrup I used definitely contained a lot of preservatives for extending the shelf-life. As with the cranberry, I let the elderberry sit through the initial fermentation with some raisins and cinnamon sticks for a couple of weeks, and then racked it and pitched some EC-1118. It completed fermentation in about 12 days with an ABV of about 13%. The cinnamon was quite strong at first, but over the last couple of months in the bottles, the cinnamon has blended nicely and the elderberry comes through more. It's quite delicious.
I also made a plain cyser (apple cider mead). Very simple, just 3lbs of honey and a gallon of organic apple cider from the market. It has a light, crisp flavor with a little floral spice from the wildflower honey. With some aging, the tart apple flavor should come through more. Next, I want to try some different flavors of cysers. Our farm market carries peach, blueberry, and cherry cider, all of which would be great flavors for future batches. Ginger-peach and cherry-vanilla are on my to-do list.
I finished up an orange-vanilla mead a couple weeks ago. For the initial fermentation, I added zest and juice from half a dozen cara cara oranges, a split vanilla bean pod, and a crushed cardamom pod (in a brew bag). One vanilla bean pod was much stronger than I expected, and it tastes much more like a creamsicle than I had intended. Also, one cardamom pod did not add as much spice flavor as I wanted, so I may attempt this one again in the future with some adjustments. We'll see how it ages in the coming months.
On the shelf now, I've got a watermelon lime jalapeno mead for my wife, and a pumpkin pie mead. The watermelon one started with half a watermelon (pureed) from the garden, 2 small jalapenos (sliced, no seeds), and a teaspoon of pectic enzyme (this helps break down the fruit for the yeast to consume and has many benefits). After initial fermentation, I racked the mead off of the yeast, watermelon, and jalapeno, then added 2 cups of fresh watermelon puree to help enhance the watermelon flavor a bit and balance out the flavor and spiciness of the jalapenos. Two jalapenos was probably a bit much, but I won't be the one drinking it, my wife will, and she likes it spicy. This weekend I'll add some lime juice and zest and see how it tastes a few days after that. If needed, I will back sweeten it with some orange blossom honey to try and take the edge off the spiciness a bit and bring out the watermelon flavor even more.
The pumpkin pie one has a 15oz can of roasted pumpkin puree, 3lbs of wildflower honey, and a teaspoon of pectic enzyme for the initial fermentation. I roasted the pumpkin puree to caramelize the sugars a bit prior to adding it to the must to help enhance the final flavor of the mead. When initial fermentation is complete I'll rack the mead and add the cinnamon stick, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. That will sit for about 2 weeks, after which I'll rack and bottle it if it tastes good. It may need backsweetening (I doubt it but maybe) and I might add a pinch of vanilla for that "pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream" flavor, we'll see.
So that's about it, you're caught up on my adventures in mead making. I'll keep posting updates here and I'll organize my recipes and post them here as well. TTFN.