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Ok, So It has been a LOONNG time since I racked the meads. From what I read that shouldn't really hurt the end product. From what I experince it is true. Mead Making is really the lazyman's brewing. But hey, It is good once done.
Pineapple Lime Mint:
I racked this one first. I was initially really worried about this one because of the dark color it took on. I got it up on the counter and into the light and really it's color didn't look too bad. Kinda a medium tea color. I think that the darkness that it appeared was mostly a trick of the light and the sediment was grey. So got it racked, gingerly tasted it fearing the worst. And I come to find that the lime flavor has calmed down, the pineapple has become a subtle background and the mint is very slight. It all has jelled into something wonderful. I was afraid that the mint was to much, evidently 1/2 teaspoon of pure mint extract in 5 gal is not much to worry about, it makes it minty without overpowering it and the mint and the lime really blended together. Overall I say it is a success. It is still VERY sweet but that should be fine. You put it over ice and you got yourself a great drink. I am totally psyched as to when it will be done aging. By the looks of it it should be ready to bottle in a couple of months. YUM!! I think that this one is realitivly low in ABV% like maybe 10%. Which is good and makes it more drinkable.
Orange Creamcicle:
This one was next, I worried about this one being on the vanilla for so long. I think it was on the vanilla for several months, like 3 or 4. One month should have done it. But I got lazy. Hurray for lazyness. The orange and the vanilla jelled VERY well. The sweeting it up with 1 pound of Lactose has made it more creamy of a mouth feel but you notice it more in the taste. It does indeed taste like an orange cream soda. The flavors do need to mesh a little more but I am confident that this will happen in the aging process. I think that the ABV% is around 9-10% due to the fact that the acidity of the orange may have killed off the yeast premaurely. That and the fact that Lactose is non-fermentable is a plus that makes it sweet. after racking it I put 1 oz of lightly toasted oak chips in it. Should mellow and bring out the flavors even more. I am thinking only 2 weeks on the oak, don' want to over do it. So another success. I think that layering the flavors in helped too. This one is also looking almost clear enough to bottle.
Cyser Leftover:
This is the left over of the apple cider I made form a caroling party of a friends. The cider is non alcoholic. I put a little sugar in it when it started. I think that it fermented very dry. So I put about 1 cup of brown sugar into it (ended up with 2 galons) and some potasium sorbate to stop the yeast, I also put in some more apple juice that I had from yesterday. About 3 cups worth. I racked them into 2- 1 gallon containers. Not sure how this experiment will turn out. But I think that I might bring some of it, still unaged, to next caroling party. Who knows. I don't think I sweetened it up too much. Don't have gravity readings yet.
For the future, been on a bit of a financial crunch so I haven't been able to buy honey. Looking forward to getting some from taxes. Maybe I can get a bucket or two of honey with tax refund money. I am hoping. My wife wants me to do my chocolate experiment. I am seriously thinking on another strawberry or blueberry as that went over well and I am nearly out of it. Also was thinking on doning the bannana nutmeg batch too. If I get 2 buckets then I can do 4 new batches. The chocolate experiment will be 1 batch. Who knows. Dare to dream.
Pineapple Lime Mint:
I racked this one first. I was initially really worried about this one because of the dark color it took on. I got it up on the counter and into the light and really it's color didn't look too bad. Kinda a medium tea color. I think that the darkness that it appeared was mostly a trick of the light and the sediment was grey. So got it racked, gingerly tasted it fearing the worst. And I come to find that the lime flavor has calmed down, the pineapple has become a subtle background and the mint is very slight. It all has jelled into something wonderful. I was afraid that the mint was to much, evidently 1/2 teaspoon of pure mint extract in 5 gal is not much to worry about, it makes it minty without overpowering it and the mint and the lime really blended together. Overall I say it is a success. It is still VERY sweet but that should be fine. You put it over ice and you got yourself a great drink. I am totally psyched as to when it will be done aging. By the looks of it it should be ready to bottle in a couple of months. YUM!! I think that this one is realitivly low in ABV% like maybe 10%. Which is good and makes it more drinkable.
Orange Creamcicle:
This one was next, I worried about this one being on the vanilla for so long. I think it was on the vanilla for several months, like 3 or 4. One month should have done it. But I got lazy. Hurray for lazyness. The orange and the vanilla jelled VERY well. The sweeting it up with 1 pound of Lactose has made it more creamy of a mouth feel but you notice it more in the taste. It does indeed taste like an orange cream soda. The flavors do need to mesh a little more but I am confident that this will happen in the aging process. I think that the ABV% is around 9-10% due to the fact that the acidity of the orange may have killed off the yeast premaurely. That and the fact that Lactose is non-fermentable is a plus that makes it sweet. after racking it I put 1 oz of lightly toasted oak chips in it. Should mellow and bring out the flavors even more. I am thinking only 2 weeks on the oak, don' want to over do it. So another success. I think that layering the flavors in helped too. This one is also looking almost clear enough to bottle.
Cyser Leftover:
This is the left over of the apple cider I made form a caroling party of a friends. The cider is non alcoholic. I put a little sugar in it when it started. I think that it fermented very dry. So I put about 1 cup of brown sugar into it (ended up with 2 galons) and some potasium sorbate to stop the yeast, I also put in some more apple juice that I had from yesterday. About 3 cups worth. I racked them into 2- 1 gallon containers. Not sure how this experiment will turn out. But I think that I might bring some of it, still unaged, to next caroling party. Who knows. I don't think I sweetened it up too much. Don't have gravity readings yet.
For the future, been on a bit of a financial crunch so I haven't been able to buy honey. Looking forward to getting some from taxes. Maybe I can get a bucket or two of honey with tax refund money. I am hoping. My wife wants me to do my chocolate experiment. I am seriously thinking on another strawberry or blueberry as that went over well and I am nearly out of it. Also was thinking on doning the bannana nutmeg batch too. If I get 2 buckets then I can do 4 new batches. The chocolate experiment will be 1 batch. Who knows. Dare to dream.