Penczak Punch "Christopher Penczak is an eclectic witch, writer, and healing practitioner. His practice draws upon the foundation of modern Witchcraft blended with the wisdom of mystical traditions from across the globe. Formerly based in the music industry, Christopher was empowered by his spiritual experiences to live a magickal life, and began a full-time practice of teaching, writing, and seeing clients. His books include"... - Llewellyn Instant Magick: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Spellcraft Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth & Healing for the New Aeon The Inner Temple of Witchcraft Meditation CD Companion: Meditation CD Companion Magick of Reiki: Focused Energy for Healing, Ritual, & Spiritual Development The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development The Mystic Foundation: Understanding and Exploring the Magical Universe The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft: Shadows, Spirits and the Healing Journey The Witch's Shield: Protection Magick and Psychic Self-Defense The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals Outer Temple of Witchcraft Meditation CD Companion Magia blanca al instante: Descubre el poder de tu intencion y tu palabra Sons of the Goddess: A Young Man's Guide to Wicca The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft CD Companion Christoper will be in Salt Lake - Sept 28-30, 2007 - presenting two public worshops, a church service, and a book signing. They are not to be missed! Click here for details. Mission Create a batch of premium quality strawberry/banana melomel to celebrate the day, and to honor Christopher's gift. Ingredients 20 lbs raw clover honey 18 lbs strawberries 4 lbs ripe bananas Utah spring water to 5+ gallons 10g (2 pkgs) Lalvin 71B dry yeast Rehydration nutrient: Go-Ferm® Yeast Nutrients - Fermaid K®, DAP and K2CO3 2 oz Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract Acid blend (post fermentation, if needed [to taste]) General Assembly Clean and prep the 7.9 gallon primary Scrub, rinse and then soak the plastic primary bucket/lid/airlock overnight using warm water and Five Star PBW®. Rinse the primary well, then use One Step® and some warm water, swish around and drain. Do not rinse again. Prepare the must Add 3 gallons of spring water to the primary. Add 20 pounds of honey. Top off water to 5.2 gallons. Add 4.5g Fermaid-K®, 4.5g DAP and 5g K2CO3 - mix well Chop strawberries and add to fermenter - mix well. AFTER the honey water mixture is BELOW 80°F, take a SG reading and a temperature reading, and record these values with the date and time. Rehydrate the dry yeast using GO-Ferm® Bring 3/4 C tap water to 110°F. Mix-in 12.5g Go-Ferm® until dissolved. Sprinkle 2 pkgs dry yeast onto mixture (should be <105°F) - stir lightly to separate any clumps. Cover with Saran wrap, and allow to rest 20 min (NOT MORE THAN 30 MINUTES). Stir carefully until smooth, add to must and stir-in. Pitch the yeast slurry into must. Mix it in thoroughly and aggressively. Note that the headroom available in the 7.9 gallon primary will be minimal with this recipe, thus there is the distinct possibility of needing a blow-off tube. Add additional nutrients as follows: Stage 2: At active fermentation add 2.8g Fermaid-K® and 2.8g DAP. Mix thoroughly. Stage 3: At mid-fermentation (OG+FG)/2, add 1.8g Fermaid-K® and 1.8g DAP. Mix thoroughly. Racking and bananas Rack in about a month. Wash the bananas before peeling them to remove molds and bacteria. Place a sterilized funnel in the carboy neck, peel the bananas and place in the funnel. Mash the bananas through the funnel into the carboy. Rack again in about a month. Service Chill and serve on Saturday night's (Sep. 29) gathering and campout. Journal March 18, 2:30pm - Pitched - I had to remove about a quart of liquid to have a little head room. The SG is 1.112 at 64°. I affixed a blow-off tube just in case, due to very small head-room. March 19, 5:00am - It's bubbling, but hasn't thrown foam into the blow-off tube... yet. March 19, 5:00pm - She's going great guns now! Just a little in the blow-off tube. March 20 - Wow. That's a lot of foam. I added the second run of nutrients... 2.8g Fermaid K 2.8g DAP 5g K2CO3 (I forgot it when I pitched) 2 cups honey (I think an SG of 1.112 is a little low) ... and then I mixed the heck out of it. Some saran wrap over the top as I used the hand-drill attachment mixing rod through a small hole helped keep the massive pink slurry under some control. When it subsided I reattached the lid, and about an hour later the blow-off tube was shooting out CO2 at an incredible rate. March 23 - Added last set of nutrients... 1.8g Fermaid K 1.8g DAP ... and gave it a really good stir. The 2-3 inch thick layer of strawberry slurry is beautiful and pink and smells kind of "beery". I've attached the normal airlock. March 26 - At eight days out it's going pretty strong - bubbling every 2-3 seconds. It's now down in the basement where the temps are a bit cooler. April 1 - Stirred the thinning cap of strawberry slurry back into the mead which is now deep pink and smells like an alcoholic sweet-tart. April 4 - No airlock bubbling detected. I pulled off a small quantity as a sample. It's very cloudy and sort of orange/pink with good legs. The smell is mildy sweet and tart. The strawberries are easy to identify. The taste is dry, fairly pH balanced, and then alcohol. I stirred in the remaining 1.5 lbs of honey for a total of 24 lbs at this point. April 15 - Racked today and added 2 cups honey, 4 lbs of bananas, and 1/4 tsp sulfite. April 21 - In terms of early drinkability, 71B yeast wins hands down. The mead below the cap of bananas is clearing. The smell is of berries and sweet alcohol. The taste is on the very low end of sweet, which is fine for now, and quite drinkable even though the alcohol is a bit forward. I'm not yet able to smell or taste bananas. April 29 - The smell of bananas is now beginning to come through in the initial nose, and the clarity beneath the cap is improving. The color is a pale pink. The taste hasn't changed much. May 5 - All the bananas are now sitting on the bottom, and the clarity is amazing. May 19 (Two Months) - Here's a picture. As you can see, pink is giving way to yellow-orange. The strawberry and banana smells are clear and bright. It's semi-dry. The alcohol is integrating nicely. I think I may yet add a touch more honey when I rack off of the bananas. June 2 - The bouquet has come full circle. Its strawberry smell is now THE draw of this mead - very bright and ripe. The acidity / pucker is pretty high, though it's too young to be concerned. June 11 - Racked off the bananas. Added 2 lbs honey and 3 tsp sorbate. July 17 - Absolutely incredible nose. Beautiful and luscious. The acidity is mellowing. Aug 10 - Third and final racking. Sept 4 - Bottled.