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If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, Drinkin' strange fermented fluids,
it's good enough for me! - Pete Seeger Create a six gallon batch of high quality fruit mead (melomel) using Lalvin 71B (a beaujolais yeast), about 18 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 which may be collected by Mabon 2006 attendees during the Sun Stave 2007 Yule ritual.
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Day 0, 7pm - Sep 30, 2006 - We ended up with about 2.5 gallons of apple, peach, white and red grape, blackberry, raspberry, cranberry and nectarine juice. About 17 lbs of honey brought the OG to 1.12 as we topped off at 6 gallons total.
Day 0, 11pm - Sep 30 - Wow! Our mead has taken off extremely quickly. I've fitted it with a blow-off tube because I fear foam will overflow the very small amount of head room we left. It'll be fine and I'll re-attach the normal airlock in a day or two.
Day 1, 8am - Oct 1 - Yee ha! Full steam ahead! She didn't blow her top overnight (thank the Goddess) and if she doesn't tonight I'll refit the airlock. The krausen (foam) is thick and orange and heavy with fruit slurry. The smell is pure and fruity.
Day 1, 4pm - Oct 1 - Thar she blows! Our mead began to foam through the blow-off tube. No biggie. It's wonderful that it's so energetic on the very first day.
Day 2, 4pm - Oct 2 - Our krausen seems static so I've re-fitted the normal airlock. The smell is now fully into the "fermentation" side. From here on out I'll be minimizing the mead's exposure to air (so no more open top pics). I'll rack into a glass carboy when bubbling slows to once every seven or eight seconds.
Day 3 - Oct 3 - Yea! The airlock isn't full of foam, and it's bubbling like a hyper-ventilating scuba diver. My basement smells funky as heck!
Day 7 - Oct 7 - The bubbling is very constant at one per second. If you catch a wiff directly from the airlock it smells like wine, but the big "Whoa, what have you got going down here?" smell is gone.
Day 11 - Oct 11 - It's bubbling every 4-5 seconds now. In about three days I'll measure the gravity, compute the alcohol content, take some pictures, taste it, and if it's dry I'll add a cup or two of honey and give it a stir.
Day 13 - Oct 13 - I pulled off a sample. The Specific Gravity is 1.015, making it about 14% ABV ((1.120 - 1.015) / 0.75). The nose is of minerals, faint cider, grapefruit, and clean effervescence. Its legs are quite visible. The taste is initially medium-sweet and showcases a sharp fruit-punchy cider and then an alcohol warmth. Tartness and tannic structure are adequate. The finish is clean with a hint of cider memory. All in all I'm very satisfied. I will add no honey now but will stir in 1/8 tsp potassium metabisulfite to ward against infection and I'll rack it tomorrow.
Day 15 - Oct 15 - I racked (#1) off some of the fruit slurry and the yeast. Now begins the long wait/rack/wait stage.
Day 18 - Oct 18 - We've already got a 2 inch layer of sediment on the bottom and the clarity is improving. Fine bubbles continue to form a white crown on the surface so it's sure to go a little higher than the measured 14%. I'll taste it again in a week or two.
Day 25 - Oct 25 - It's crown of bubbles is now very small. The smell is cidery and clean. The taste is pleasantly sweet and then nicely acidic, mostly cidery with good depth, and then finally some tannins. The alcohol shows increased integration. I have great hope. I think we just about nailed the initial honey content. It's amazing, but with the amount of lees it's already generated I'm gonna go ahead and rack (#2) it again today and I'll add another 1/16 tsp potassium metabisulfite.
Week 4 - Oct 27 - The crown of bubbles is gone.
Week 5 - Nov 4 - The cider smell is becoming more round, allowing fruitier highlights, and the alcohol integration is continuing. Its aftertaste is surprising balanced for a five week old mead and at this point I can foresee no need to modify its structure.
Week 7 - Nov 16 - Our mead is clearing nicely, forming a four or five inch cloudy base of yeast and fruit slurry that will need to be racked again fairly soon, perhaps this weekend.
Week 9 - Nov 27 - Indoor lighting and my photography skills aside, the clarity and color are becoming impressive. I racked today (#3) and added 1/16 tsp sulfite.
Week 11 - Dec 9 - The smell is clear and cidery with just a hint of alcohol and not much sweetness. But the initial taste remains slightly sweet and is becoming more inviting as the sharp cider edges are aged out. Alcohol, honey, acids and tannins are integrating. It's aftertaste is clean.
Week 13 - Dec 26 - Added 1 cup of orange blossom honey warmed in a single cup of water.
Week 15 - Jan 12, 2007 - Tasted it... At fifteen weeks it's pathetically young and yet promising as all get out.
Week 20 - Feb 17, 2007 - Added 1 oz of high quality Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
Week 27 - Apr 5, 2007 - Wow. This is nice. The nose is beautiful and the taste is very fine. I'm proud. The vanilla really brought out the flavors.
Week 42 - July 17, 2007 - The punch-like quality of the gifted fruit juices steal into the back of my mind as I taste our creation. There's cidery apple to be sure, and some estery peach... but also there is a memory of tannic grape and even tart cranberry. Which makes this melomel a conundrum and an apropos beverage for this pagan community. With a little luck I will bottle soon.
Week 45, Aug 10, 2007 - Forth and final racking.
Week 70, Feb 3, 2008 - Wow. Nice, pale fruit nose with vanilla background. Lightly sweet, and smooth. It's delicious.
Nov 19, 2008 - This needs to be bottled. It hasn't changed much since Feb 3.