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matrix4bChocolates
Ok, So on Sunday I racked both chocolates. What a mess. Some of the nibs escaped the mesh bag. It smelled good though. I found my screened big funnel was very useful. Ran it through the screen twice.
I racked it into the brew bucket and then procceded to heat up water for the maltodextrin. I melted that in and mixed it in. Also heated up a cup of water for the sparkloid which is a clearing agent. I mixed in Maltodextrin (1 pound in 1/2 gallon of water), 1 tablespoon of Sparkloid (a clearing agent) and 1 Tablespoon of Potasium Sulfate (This is to kill the yeast) and in one I put just under a 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract and medium toasted oak. I need to get another oz of medium toasted oak together to oak the other one. (So that's 2 racked and put away, med toasted oak needed.) Sad that my wife vetoed the Chocolate Hazelnet because she wanted a strait chocolate. Unfortunately, this one is going to take 1 1/2 years to age after bottling. Bottling should be in the Spring? so that would mean that aging should be done properly by fall or so in 2 yrs. Yes mead takes time, Chocolate is moreso because the oils need to break down.
Triple Toast test
I found that my over 1 gal of alfalfa honey had all crystalized so I boiled a gallon of water and began mixing it in to melt all the honey. This was tedious. I ended up putting the liquid back on the heat to heat it up again and repeated swishing the honey in the mix so that I could get it ALL melted. This took hard work and a long time. Intermixed with the other items of the day. In the end I got it all liquid and mixed it up. Put 1/2 gal of mixture in each of the brews as I racked it off. I mixed in Postasium Sulfate and Sparkloid on this too. No sense having wild yeast in the honey start fermentation again. The point is to back sweeten. I am not waiting for the 3 to drop and clear again. And then I will get the oak together. Going to need to order oak on the internet because I can't get heavy toasted oak locally. I also have need of a bunch more.
(So that's 3 more racked and treated)
Bottles
Needed to de-label bottles as I didn't earlier. Hard work there. I only got 5 cases done. That's like 2+ batches that I can bottle with it. Unforturnately it is turning too cold to do and because I use amonia, I can't do it inside in the winter. I may just have to bottle in spring and bulk age a bit.
Blueberry Lemon
Didn't rack this one or do anyting with it. It needs oaking then some time to settle more and then bottling.
Current in carboy: Triple Toast test, Double Chocolate, Blueberry Lemon (6 total carboys)
Pumpkin Hazelnut
Haven't started yet but I have the hazelnut extract made. I took 1 cup chopped hazelnet and toasted it for 1/2 hr on 300 degrees in oven. Then put through coffee grinder and in 2 cups of rum. Let sit in rum for 2+ months. Then filtered out the hazelnut and put it through a coffee filter. I ended up with about 1 cup of rum due to evaporation and the nuts absorbing some. I plan on putting this in the Pumpkin with some spices all in the secondary. I picked up some buckwheat honey for it, the buckwheat has some brown sugar notes that should complement the pumpkin. But haven't had time with the 5 rackings, 5 backsweetenings, and 5 cases de-labeled. Busy day.
Honey Buy
On sunday I also picked up 42 pounds of Buckwheat honey and 42 pounds of orange blossum honey. All for about $2.00 a pound. The price I had been getting it from Madhava's, Yea! The honey is strait from the apriaries and has only been heated up enough to make easier to pack it and is unfiltered. This means that it is PRIME honey for mead making with all of the florals and notes and stuff that makes varietal honey's worth it. I am happy about this. This is about 6 batches worth. I have planed a Mango, Strawberry, and Peach(Something) with the Orange Blossom. With the Buckwheat I have planed the Pumpkin and a Blueberry and maybe the Bamboo Jasmin in the summer.
That's all of the Mead News I have for now.
Dave
Ok, So on Sunday I racked both chocolates. What a mess. Some of the nibs escaped the mesh bag. It smelled good though. I found my screened big funnel was very useful. Ran it through the screen twice.
I racked it into the brew bucket and then procceded to heat up water for the maltodextrin. I melted that in and mixed it in. Also heated up a cup of water for the sparkloid which is a clearing agent. I mixed in Maltodextrin (1 pound in 1/2 gallon of water), 1 tablespoon of Sparkloid (a clearing agent) and 1 Tablespoon of Potasium Sulfate (This is to kill the yeast) and in one I put just under a 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract and medium toasted oak. I need to get another oz of medium toasted oak together to oak the other one. (So that's 2 racked and put away, med toasted oak needed.) Sad that my wife vetoed the Chocolate Hazelnet because she wanted a strait chocolate. Unfortunately, this one is going to take 1 1/2 years to age after bottling. Bottling should be in the Spring? so that would mean that aging should be done properly by fall or so in 2 yrs. Yes mead takes time, Chocolate is moreso because the oils need to break down.
Triple Toast test
I found that my over 1 gal of alfalfa honey had all crystalized so I boiled a gallon of water and began mixing it in to melt all the honey. This was tedious. I ended up putting the liquid back on the heat to heat it up again and repeated swishing the honey in the mix so that I could get it ALL melted. This took hard work and a long time. Intermixed with the other items of the day. In the end I got it all liquid and mixed it up. Put 1/2 gal of mixture in each of the brews as I racked it off. I mixed in Postasium Sulfate and Sparkloid on this too. No sense having wild yeast in the honey start fermentation again. The point is to back sweeten. I am not waiting for the 3 to drop and clear again. And then I will get the oak together. Going to need to order oak on the internet because I can't get heavy toasted oak locally. I also have need of a bunch more.
(So that's 3 more racked and treated)
Bottles
Needed to de-label bottles as I didn't earlier. Hard work there. I only got 5 cases done. That's like 2+ batches that I can bottle with it. Unforturnately it is turning too cold to do and because I use amonia, I can't do it inside in the winter. I may just have to bottle in spring and bulk age a bit.
Blueberry Lemon
Didn't rack this one or do anyting with it. It needs oaking then some time to settle more and then bottling.
Current in carboy: Triple Toast test, Double Chocolate, Blueberry Lemon (6 total carboys)
Pumpkin Hazelnut
Haven't started yet but I have the hazelnut extract made. I took 1 cup chopped hazelnet and toasted it for 1/2 hr on 300 degrees in oven. Then put through coffee grinder and in 2 cups of rum. Let sit in rum for 2+ months. Then filtered out the hazelnut and put it through a coffee filter. I ended up with about 1 cup of rum due to evaporation and the nuts absorbing some. I plan on putting this in the Pumpkin with some spices all in the secondary. I picked up some buckwheat honey for it, the buckwheat has some brown sugar notes that should complement the pumpkin. But haven't had time with the 5 rackings, 5 backsweetenings, and 5 cases de-labeled. Busy day.
Honey Buy
On sunday I also picked up 42 pounds of Buckwheat honey and 42 pounds of orange blossum honey. All for about $2.00 a pound. The price I had been getting it from Madhava's, Yea! The honey is strait from the apriaries and has only been heated up enough to make easier to pack it and is unfiltered. This means that it is PRIME honey for mead making with all of the florals and notes and stuff that makes varietal honey's worth it. I am happy about this. This is about 6 batches worth. I have planed a Mango, Strawberry, and Peach(Something) with the Orange Blossom. With the Buckwheat I have planed the Pumpkin and a Blueberry and maybe the Bamboo Jasmin in the summer.
That's all of the Mead News I have for now.
Dave