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Ok, So I racked off of the Pumpkin. Again about 1/2 of the pulp simply disintegrated into the solution. I expeceted it. I toasted the almonds at 350 degrees for about 8-10 min. They tasted yummy. Then racked the pumpkin on to it. I also put in the spice bag seperate: 1/2 to 3/4 a whole nutmeg freshly crushed, 2 vanilla beans sliced and cut into about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch sections, 2 cinnamon sticks about 1 1/2 inch long. In yet a seperate bag I put some medium toasted oak. The reason for the seperate bags is that I can take out the oak after about 2 weeks to keep it from being over oaky. The medium toast should leave a more carmelly flavor and smooth it out. I plan on leaving the spice bag in for a month and the toasted sliced almonds for another month after that. I shall take out the sliced almonds and see if they are edible. They may be. and may be quite tasty. I tasted the mead just off of the pumpkin. It had a nice pumpkin, sweet flavor. When I am done with the bags I plan on racking to my 5 or 6 gallon glass carboy and possibly rack on to some clairifyer. Then it gets racked about ever 2 months. I don't feel that I will need to back sweeten this one. It should be a little dryer than my usual fare.
The Peach got racked again. When I racked it off of the peach puree it had a lot of sediment, I racked the sediment into a glass gallon container and filled up the gallon. I then let it settle. It turns out that 1/4 of the fluid was on top and it settled again. I also worked with the rest of it pouring it through a paper towel in a strainer. It turns out that a coffee filter was too fine. I needed to change the paper towel frequently but it did get a portion of the pulp out. I was left with about 1/2 gallon of slightly murky. This is not one that is going to clear easily. Sigh, I wish that I had a pump and a filter system for racking. I haven't put in the spearmint yet. I will need to put in very little otherwise it will be competing with the peach. I only want a little mint flavor.
The other one I have going is the Rasberry Thyme. No Thyme in it yet. I racked it off of the pulp once and I think that I have a gallon of white pulp in the bottom. I will need to be very careful on this. I may just rack the pulp into another container. This one at last taste had a great aroma and was a very dark red. It tasted A bit tart. I will be back sweetening this too. I am thinking about 3-4 pounds in a gallon of fluid to sweeten it up. I know that this one is very potent and the addition of honey and water will lower the alcohol volume a little and make it more palatable. So going to need to do Raspberry again. Some changes are going to be in order with the knowledge that I am going to loose a lot of volume to pulp. I may even do a raspberry lemon. Or Lime..Hmm. But I think that I found another standard.
Standards I plan on: Pumpkin type one in fall. Rockbiter oaked, went over very well. Also a Blueberry and a Raspberry. Lime was also suggested by my wife as it also was a big hit.
So:
1. Pumpkin
2. Raspberry
3. Blueberry
4. Lime
5. Rockbitter.
Room for 2 more. Shall we say 2 experimental batches.
The Peach got racked again. When I racked it off of the peach puree it had a lot of sediment, I racked the sediment into a glass gallon container and filled up the gallon. I then let it settle. It turns out that 1/4 of the fluid was on top and it settled again. I also worked with the rest of it pouring it through a paper towel in a strainer. It turns out that a coffee filter was too fine. I needed to change the paper towel frequently but it did get a portion of the pulp out. I was left with about 1/2 gallon of slightly murky. This is not one that is going to clear easily. Sigh, I wish that I had a pump and a filter system for racking. I haven't put in the spearmint yet. I will need to put in very little otherwise it will be competing with the peach. I only want a little mint flavor.
The other one I have going is the Rasberry Thyme. No Thyme in it yet. I racked it off of the pulp once and I think that I have a gallon of white pulp in the bottom. I will need to be very careful on this. I may just rack the pulp into another container. This one at last taste had a great aroma and was a very dark red. It tasted A bit tart. I will be back sweetening this too. I am thinking about 3-4 pounds in a gallon of fluid to sweeten it up. I know that this one is very potent and the addition of honey and water will lower the alcohol volume a little and make it more palatable. So going to need to do Raspberry again. Some changes are going to be in order with the knowledge that I am going to loose a lot of volume to pulp. I may even do a raspberry lemon. Or Lime..Hmm. But I think that I found another standard.
Standards I plan on: Pumpkin type one in fall. Rockbiter oaked, went over very well. Also a Blueberry and a Raspberry. Lime was also suggested by my wife as it also was a big hit.
So:
1. Pumpkin
2. Raspberry
3. Blueberry
4. Lime
5. Rockbitter.
Room for 2 more. Shall we say 2 experimental batches.