Mead Journal: Raspberry Thyme and others
Mar. 29th, 2011 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrix4bSo we have racked all of the Meads in the carboy.
This required some cleaning and sanitizing.
I racked the Raspberry. It hasn't fully cleared yet but after I racked it I put in the lightly toasted oak chips. Those will be in for 2 weeks. I have procured some fresh thyme and that will go in tonight too. I didn't know that thyme actually comes in tiny leaves on a rather stiff branch, sorta like a bush. I plan on de-leafing the Thyme and brusing it up and then puting it in. Still undecided on how long, I am thinking 3 weeks should be fine and 2 weeks for the oak. Then let sit for a couple of weaks. Then rack again on some sparkloid to clear it a bit more. Right now it is a nice deep read color that had some proteans in it to make it slightly cloudy, but in a uniform manor. It could use the sparkloid, which is a wine refining agent, to become beautiful. I tasted it and it was very aromatic and tasted very sweet, almost too sweet. The Backsweetening worked well. Well that is why I am oaking it and bringing in Thyme into the equasion. I know from experience that oak does smooth things over a bit and make even harsh meads drinkable faster. The thyme should cut the sweetness too and bring things to a good balance. Thyme is a sweet herb but with a bit of a bite. It should do for the mead what hops does for beer, balance it a bit and bring the flavor to another level. I only want a little though. So of the thyme I bought, I will only be using about 12 stalks that are about 6 inches long. The leaves from that should be less than a teabag's worth. And I only plan on giving it 3 weeks so that the flavor gets integrated in but takse second fiddle to the raspberry. I know if I was carbonating it then that would take some of the sweetness away from the extra sugar eaten and the CO2 in the mix. This is a Still Mead so I am doing it with a complementary flavor. So, still on schedual to bottle late June. So this should be aged for next spring. I plan on passing it off to it's owner when it is bottled. I still don't have a label design. By all accounts this is looking to be a very good mead. It should be awesome when it is done aging.
Peach Spearmint: This one is light on the spearming but currently due to the subtle flavor of peach the mint is dominating. I am confident that this will change during aging. Some fruit flavors "Ripen" or start to come to the fore only in the aging process. The peach flavor is there but much lower than the mint. I sparkloided this one and it seriously cleared. Overnight almost. The instructions on the Sparkloid say to give it atleast 2 weeks. Good enough. I have yet to oak this one. That and bottling is all I need to do with this one. Very peased with the color and clairity.
Pumpkin Toasted Almond Spice: This one cleared up fairly well too. I don't need to do anything for clearing it. I may backsweeten it a bit and then sparkloid it. I already oaked this one with medium toasted oak. The problem here is that both pumpkin and almond are very subtle flavors and the spices are confusing the flavors. I am thinking of adding some almond extract to help boost the flavor, that and adding some molassas in the backsweetening process. This is to sweeten it up but give a more darker type of flavor. The flavors have not come out like I had liked on this one. We shall see, it is still young.
Lemon Lime: This one seems to be fine. The lemon and lime flavor tastes great. I opted for 3 cups of Lemon and 2 cups of lime and I plan on backsweetening it. I have it currently on the secondary in with the lemon and lime juice. Still in the early stages of this one.
This required some cleaning and sanitizing.
I racked the Raspberry. It hasn't fully cleared yet but after I racked it I put in the lightly toasted oak chips. Those will be in for 2 weeks. I have procured some fresh thyme and that will go in tonight too. I didn't know that thyme actually comes in tiny leaves on a rather stiff branch, sorta like a bush. I plan on de-leafing the Thyme and brusing it up and then puting it in. Still undecided on how long, I am thinking 3 weeks should be fine and 2 weeks for the oak. Then let sit for a couple of weaks. Then rack again on some sparkloid to clear it a bit more. Right now it is a nice deep read color that had some proteans in it to make it slightly cloudy, but in a uniform manor. It could use the sparkloid, which is a wine refining agent, to become beautiful. I tasted it and it was very aromatic and tasted very sweet, almost too sweet. The Backsweetening worked well. Well that is why I am oaking it and bringing in Thyme into the equasion. I know from experience that oak does smooth things over a bit and make even harsh meads drinkable faster. The thyme should cut the sweetness too and bring things to a good balance. Thyme is a sweet herb but with a bit of a bite. It should do for the mead what hops does for beer, balance it a bit and bring the flavor to another level. I only want a little though. So of the thyme I bought, I will only be using about 12 stalks that are about 6 inches long. The leaves from that should be less than a teabag's worth. And I only plan on giving it 3 weeks so that the flavor gets integrated in but takse second fiddle to the raspberry. I know if I was carbonating it then that would take some of the sweetness away from the extra sugar eaten and the CO2 in the mix. This is a Still Mead so I am doing it with a complementary flavor. So, still on schedual to bottle late June. So this should be aged for next spring. I plan on passing it off to it's owner when it is bottled. I still don't have a label design. By all accounts this is looking to be a very good mead. It should be awesome when it is done aging.
Peach Spearmint: This one is light on the spearming but currently due to the subtle flavor of peach the mint is dominating. I am confident that this will change during aging. Some fruit flavors "Ripen" or start to come to the fore only in the aging process. The peach flavor is there but much lower than the mint. I sparkloided this one and it seriously cleared. Overnight almost. The instructions on the Sparkloid say to give it atleast 2 weeks. Good enough. I have yet to oak this one. That and bottling is all I need to do with this one. Very peased with the color and clairity.
Pumpkin Toasted Almond Spice: This one cleared up fairly well too. I don't need to do anything for clearing it. I may backsweeten it a bit and then sparkloid it. I already oaked this one with medium toasted oak. The problem here is that both pumpkin and almond are very subtle flavors and the spices are confusing the flavors. I am thinking of adding some almond extract to help boost the flavor, that and adding some molassas in the backsweetening process. This is to sweeten it up but give a more darker type of flavor. The flavors have not come out like I had liked on this one. We shall see, it is still young.
Lemon Lime: This one seems to be fine. The lemon and lime flavor tastes great. I opted for 3 cups of Lemon and 2 cups of lime and I plan on backsweetening it. I have it currently on the secondary in with the lemon and lime juice. Still in the early stages of this one.