Mead Journal: racking all

[matrix4b]

I have racked all of the 4 batches of mead I have.

Limey:  The limey seems to be the best of the bunch.  It is very sweet and does have the lime taste and a nice citrus scent.  I looks to be ready to bottle and age.  It is just a little cloudy but when I racked it I did not see much in the way of setament.  I will see about bottling it on 9/15.  That will be one month from now and it should age a few months.  One to two should do it.

Ned's Happy Place (or watermellon mead): This is indeed ready to bottle.  After only 2 rackings.  It seems to be just a bit anaseptic but a very low tone on the flavor scale.  Kinda a medium sweetness.  This could benifit from some back sweetning a lot.  I don't think that I will back sweeten it because it seems to have a nice drinkable mellow tone.  Once it ages a bit it should be a very good batch.  This may benifit from about 6 months in the bottle.

Blueberry: First racking after the back sweetening and flavoring with about a pound of strawberries seems to have been successful.  It was very dry when I started.  This is what I get for putting the fruit in the primary.  I think that once it ages it should be good.  In the meantime it is like a very dry wine with the bit of sweetness added back it.  Not very impressive but it seems to be it will turn out better than the strawberry.  I think that this will need at least 6-14 months aging in the bottle.  I feel that the longer the better by this one.  I could be wrong.

Strawberry:  Again the first racking after the back sweetning did work.  Probably would benifit from more sweetening.  Again, this is the last time I put the fruit in the primary.  Unless I don't like the flavor of the fruit.  Not likely.  This dryed out LOTS when it was fermenting.  I don't think that this will be as successful as the other batches I have going.  I see what they mean when it is difficult to do a strawberry and that most strawberry meads a sparkling to hide the dryness.  Very hard to do.  I shal have to try the strawberries in the secondary or even after the second racking.  I had an Idea to do a stawberry oatmeal batch to mellow out the flavor a bit.  Not sure.  Creating the wort from the oatmeal is a bit of a process.  Overall, the strawberry should take at least 9 months to age in the bottle due to it's harshness.  Might benifit for a whole year aging.

I haven't decided much more about the future projects in October and september on what to do.  I really want to do a peach batch or a peach/clove/vanilla.  I think that september is the time for peach and pears.  Have to check on that.  Not going to do a cranberry this year.  In October planing on starting the Pumpkin.  Going to see on adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg and a vanilla bean or two, going for a nicely flavored pumpkin spice.  

So In September and October the curent plan is:

Pumpkin spice
Peach
Pear Nutmeg
And another plain honey mead of my Rockbitter brand.

Not sure I will do the peach, actually thinking that a cherry lime or a cherry vanilla might be good.  I think that bing and black cherry season is in the early fall or rather in september.

Ah well.