Batch Reports
The three batches I brewed over Labor Day weekend are off to a GREAT start! The elderberry wine has a solid three inches of krausen (!!!), the elderflower mead is visibly roiling, and the blueberry melomel is already developing some bleaching in the berry layer. All three airlocks are blooping every second or two, and the elderberry wine lets out a whole series of bubbles each time.
Orange Blossom Mead
I don't know if I should be concerned about the orange blossom mead. I added the two pounds of honey to sweeten it up, and some greyish clumping has appeared. Hopefully it's just bits of honey that haven't fully dissolved.
The taste is smooth, and the hints of yeast and astringent have faded to barely noticeable (and again, I'm looking for flaws here). Otherwise, the taste is about what I was going for. I think I'll wait a month and see if the added honey dissolves and possibly bottle it then. It's definitely drinkable now...
Clover Mead
This stuff is a year and two days old now. The flavor is... nice... but meh. Passable. I dunno. I pick up that "soapy" flavor I don't like. It's definitely done and cleared, so I think I'll bottle it and bring it some to Wings to see what folks think.
Catawba Wine
I think my step-dad is anxious for this stuff to be done (patience is not his strong point).
This stuff will be a year old on the morrow. Neither the oaked nor the unoaked have cleared in the slightest.
The unoaked tastes like watered down pink lemonade. The oaked tastes like pink lemonade that's been aged in oak.
Blech. Not sure what to do about this stuff.