4th Annual Harvest Mead 2007 If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me! - Pete Seeger Mission Create a six gallon batch of high quality fruit mead (melomel) using Lalvin 71B (a beaujolais yeast), about 18-19 pounds of clover honey, the juice created by juicing fruit gifted by attendees, and water. The finished product will be between "semi" and "medium" sweet and will be bottled in brown glass 12 oz beer bottles using O2 absorbing caps. Finished mead may be collected by this gatherings attendees during the Sun Stave 2008 Yule ritual. General Assembly Add a half gallon of water to a large stainless steel pot. Purée all gifted fruit and add to pot. Heat the purée to 150 and hold for 15 minutes to pasteurize. Add purée to primary fermentation container. Add ice to cool down to 85 degrees. Add honey and water for 6 gallons and an Original Gravity of 1.130 Pitch rehydrated yeast and stir vigorously. Journal Oct 13 (Day 0) - We puréed about 2.25 gallons of green apples, raspberries, marionberries, loganberries, peaches, plums and grapes. Then we added honey and water for a SG of 1.130 and pitched the yeast. Oct 14 (Day 1) - Affixed a blow-off tube just in case (not much headroom). Oct 15 (Day 2) - It's exhaling like mad but hasn't yet needed the blow-off tube. Oct 17 (Day 4) - The fruit slurry has formed a cap that won't let exhaust gases escape, so I've been tamping it down and cautiously mixing it in daily. The smell is winey and a little green-apple sharp. The taste is sweet and fruit punch-like. SG is 1.090. Nov 16 (Day 34) - Racked and added 1/2tsp sulfite. This was the most difficult racking ever. The fruit slurry kept clogging the cane. The color is bright pink. The smell is clean and tart. Jan 26 (Day 105) - The sediment is amazing. It kind of broke all at once, or maybe over a two week period. Now it has settled and appears to take up almost half of the liquid space. The color is a nice pink. The smell is a little cidery. It tastes pretty good, a little hint of sweet and then a smooth transition to a light berry. The alcohol is already pretty well integrated. Feb 22 (Day 132) - Racked to a 3 gallon carboy.