Mead Journal: Backsweetening again
So another fun day of working with mead and my apprentice. Did some typical maitanence stuff.
The Mojito- Lime Vanilla Mint
Removed the oak, now just need to let it settle. All the flavors are wonderfully balanced, This will be a crowd pleaser. The vanilla is there as is the lime and the mint just blending the two wonderfully. It was a bit foggy but that was from the oaking. Oaked it for 4 weeks with lightly toasted oak and my oaking wand.
Peach Vanilla Nutmeg
Removed the oak. Now just needs to clear. Practially there now, the oaking dusted it up a bit, not much. The taste is amazing. The peach is there and the vanilla is there and for now they have subdued the nutmeg which is still there and will come out stronger as it ages. The flavor will be amazing as well. For those that like peach, this will be very good. Not too cloying and I expect the nutmeg to come out with a bit of a zing on the tounge. Still a bit of a winner here.
Mead from the Dark Side- Black Berry Black Tea
Removed the oak here. Used some medium toasted oak. A bit of a green woody smell but worked out good. I back sweetened this with 6 pounds of clover honey. The flavor after backsweetening was really good, a bit of tannins from the tea that's going to make this a more of a medium sweet mead. It should be really good. Just it will need to blend and age a bit.
Ameretto Cream Bochett
This one, I didn't oak. I backsweetended this too. I added 2 pounds of lactose and 1 pound of maltodextrin and 6 pounds of honey. This served to sweeten this up and give it an almond aftertaste. It tastes like a carmel toffee with a back hint of almond, which I hope will strengthen over the aging process. Not sure how creamy I got it but, it was very good. Mixing in the lactose it looked like coffee with milk mixing in. I am sure that this will lighten it up a bit in color. Mental note, heat up water and disolve the maltodextrin in slowly. It had a tendency to clump up and didn't want to blend in the must. I am afraid that I have oxidixed it a bit mixing in the powders in. Seemed to work out fine. This one will be very sweet. I am tempted to add some more almond extract. We shall see at next racking.
Sinful Raz-Time- Raspberry Thyme Cinnamon
Racked off of the fluffy Lees, most of the pulp is out of it now. I put in some thyme and a stick of cinnamon. The smell of the thyme was great. The raspberries smelled great. This is still too early to back sweeten yet but I put in the spice pack. This will sit in for 4 weeks. Should be enough time. When this get's backsweetened it will be awesome and yummy.
So by end of June I may be able to buy my next batches of honey. I have 3 planned: Apricot something, Strawberry Rhubarb with a bit of allspice, and the re-vamped Pineapple Lime Mint. Should be yummy. Plan on correcting some of the technical errors I made wiht the first one.
That's all for now.
Dave
The Mojito- Lime Vanilla Mint
Removed the oak, now just need to let it settle. All the flavors are wonderfully balanced, This will be a crowd pleaser. The vanilla is there as is the lime and the mint just blending the two wonderfully. It was a bit foggy but that was from the oaking. Oaked it for 4 weeks with lightly toasted oak and my oaking wand.
Peach Vanilla Nutmeg
Removed the oak. Now just needs to clear. Practially there now, the oaking dusted it up a bit, not much. The taste is amazing. The peach is there and the vanilla is there and for now they have subdued the nutmeg which is still there and will come out stronger as it ages. The flavor will be amazing as well. For those that like peach, this will be very good. Not too cloying and I expect the nutmeg to come out with a bit of a zing on the tounge. Still a bit of a winner here.
Mead from the Dark Side- Black Berry Black Tea
Removed the oak here. Used some medium toasted oak. A bit of a green woody smell but worked out good. I back sweetened this with 6 pounds of clover honey. The flavor after backsweetening was really good, a bit of tannins from the tea that's going to make this a more of a medium sweet mead. It should be really good. Just it will need to blend and age a bit.
Ameretto Cream Bochett
This one, I didn't oak. I backsweetended this too. I added 2 pounds of lactose and 1 pound of maltodextrin and 6 pounds of honey. This served to sweeten this up and give it an almond aftertaste. It tastes like a carmel toffee with a back hint of almond, which I hope will strengthen over the aging process. Not sure how creamy I got it but, it was very good. Mixing in the lactose it looked like coffee with milk mixing in. I am sure that this will lighten it up a bit in color. Mental note, heat up water and disolve the maltodextrin in slowly. It had a tendency to clump up and didn't want to blend in the must. I am afraid that I have oxidixed it a bit mixing in the powders in. Seemed to work out fine. This one will be very sweet. I am tempted to add some more almond extract. We shall see at next racking.
Sinful Raz-Time- Raspberry Thyme Cinnamon
Racked off of the fluffy Lees, most of the pulp is out of it now. I put in some thyme and a stick of cinnamon. The smell of the thyme was great. The raspberries smelled great. This is still too early to back sweeten yet but I put in the spice pack. This will sit in for 4 weeks. Should be enough time. When this get's backsweetened it will be awesome and yummy.
So by end of June I may be able to buy my next batches of honey. I have 3 planned: Apricot something, Strawberry Rhubarb with a bit of allspice, and the re-vamped Pineapple Lime Mint. Should be yummy. Plan on correcting some of the technical errors I made wiht the first one.
That's all for now.
Dave