Mead batch number 2.

[knot_gillty]

Got my second batch of Mead on the go. Bought 3kg of Grey Box and 3kg of Round Leaf Box and blended them to mix up 20lt. Will do primary ferment then rack out to demijohns and flavor from there.

OG 1.100

 

[GregMeady]

So what recipe are you using? The JAOM? or something else.

 

[knot_gillty]

Just traditional in primary. Honey, yeast, water. I'll rack to secondary's and add spices etc to those. Not 100% sure what flavors yet. I'll be doing a star anise one for sure. Might look at a strawberry or something like that too.

They'll be racked into 5lt demijohns. Or maybe even some smaller bottles. I'll get to play with a few flavors.

 

[knot_gillty]

Just took a Gravity reading, fermenting nicely and is currently at 1.044. Hoping to get down to around the 0.980 mark somewhere.

Tastes quite nice too. Sweet and slightly carbed (still fermenting), tastes similar to a cider. Can't wait to rack to demijohns and spice.

 

[knot_gillty]

Currently sitting at 1.012 on week 4. Still fermenting pretty happily too. Taste wasn't as nice as previous tests. Got a strong alcohol/method sort of thing happening. I'll wait until it starts settling down the ferment, rack to secondary's and spice. See how she goes from there. Temp has been a steady 19-22C in the room I have it in.

 

[Rod Lowe]

G'day knot_gillty, looks like a lot of fun. I bought my first batch honey today and the bee keeper told me their Grey Box honey is low GI. I liked the look of it (nice and dark), but I went for the much paler option because she hinted the low GI variant might take a lot longer to ferment. Have you heard of this?

11 kg of Velvet Berry honey, mmmm... can't wait for the yeast etc. to come.

 

[knot_gillty]

Nah I hadn't heard about the GI levels or anything. I'm only pretty new to all this too. I'm happy to try a heap of different honeys to find the "right one". If the grey box isn't it, I won't use it again.

 

[knot_gillty]

Also Rod, if you're on Facebook jump on the Australian Mead Makers page. Heaps of great people and advice.

 

[knot_gillty]

So, today I racked and am currently cold crashing my Mead. I've got going now:
5L with 2 star anise
5L with 1 cinnamon stick and 3 cloves
5L with roughly 60g bourbon oak chips
2L with 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp mixed spice
2L traditional.

I'll keep an eye and tongue on the progress and keep reporting in.

Happy International Mead Day everyone!!

 

[knot_gillty]

 

[knot_gillty]

So tonight I racked off the oak bourbon chips into smaller bottles. The flavour of it wasn't too bad so thought I'd do this tonight. Got those bottles sitting in the fridge to clear. Took the bags of star anise and the cinnamon/cloves out of the other two and got those sitting on a shelf in the shed. The two others, nutmeg and all spice and the traditional I still have sitting on the shelf in garage. I have no idea what I'll do and when to those....

Really waiting to see how these will all turn out. I'll probably get another JAO going in the mean time!

 

[titatata]

Wow! Impressive! Good job, Knot! I like those bottles though. Great choices. Sounds fun and interesting!

 

[Rod Lowe]

Looking good knotty . I like your Chital mount too, where'd you find that fella?

 

[knot_gillty]

Looking good knotty . I like your Chital mount too, where'd you find that fella?

Got him on a hunt up Charters Towers way.

And please everyone, call me Gilly... or Gillty... haha

 

[Rod Lowe]

Got him on a hunt up Charters Towers way.

And please everyone, call me Gilly... or Gillty... haha

Looking forward to an opportunity to hunt out there some day Gilly, I have seen them in big numbers on the Blue Ranges Road when passing through.

 

[knot_gillty]

Looking forward to an opportunity to hunt out there some day Gilly, I have seen them in big numbers on the Blue Ranges Road when passing through.

We were seeing anywhere between 300-400 deer a day.. Granted, most would've been the same mobs seen daily but the numbers were huge! Was on a guided hunt on private property, bow hunting only. No high fences either in case you're wondering. Massive cattle farm.

 

[knot_gillty]

Finished one of the bottles of bourbon oak chip mead off tonight. Only been 14 days in bottles. Hadn't really cleared any but the taste isn't too bad. It's definitely not the nicest drink I've ever tasted but certainly not the worst!! As I said, we finished the bottle so it went ok!! One of my test subjects wasn't a huge fan but he's really not a wine type of drinker. His feedback (if you can call a cats arse looking face as feedback.....) was that it tastes similar to a muscat but with a high alcohol sort of taste.

To me (and I'm no expert at all) I can definitely smell the oak bourbon in it but the taste not so much. The "alcoholy" taste is there but depending on how it's sipped or drank it's either a strong or barely there taste. If it's sipped off the top, can hardly "taste" the alcohol. If it's "shot" or skolled same again. If you take half a mouthful then it's there, but let it sit in the mouth for a little and it goes... haha. Strange.

I'll be trying some more in about 4 weeks. My 40th is at the end of September and we're also heading away with a group of us for AFL grand final so I'm tipping it'll be one of those weekends..

I haven't tried any of the other flavours yet. I'll wait towards the end of the year.

 

[knot_gillty]

Righteo, through the week I bottled the cinnamon and clove batch. This one is smoooooooth as shit!! Doesn’t really have “taste” per se but it’s definitely smooth. Not sweet, not dry. Can just taste the honey and no strong alcohol “burn”. I like it, my test subjects like it so I think it’s a win. Got a few in law family members from Italy here and they’ve tried it and love it. So a nod from a wog on a wine is a bonus... haha.

Personally, I think next time I do this I will add 2-3 cinnamon sticks and the same cloves. I like cinnamon and would like this to show through.