Honeysuckle mead

[wyoDreamer]

I was just kidding you - I saw that you added honey at the beginning of Sept. and was impressed that it was still fermenting.

You will need to add a "Butt Kicking Strong" warning to your label for this one, lol. And keep it away from Baby Bear...

 

[CrealCritter]

Can you split off some of it and add different fruits to change the flavors? Or does it not work that way? My brain is kind of picturing it like a sourdough starter..

You could, yes... Think of it like this.

You got live yeast eating away, reproducing and producing CO2 and Alcohol. As long as there is food for it to eat, it will keep on eating. Until it either runs out of food or it poisons it self to death by alcohol poisoning. Every yeast has it's alcohol tolerance expressed in %ABV (Alcohol by volume). This batch is Red Star Pasteur Blanc yeast, it's alcohol tolerance is 13~15%. I already know I'm well past 15% ABV on this mead.

So... for example, If you have a batch like mine that's near death. You could take say 1/2 the volume (2 quarts) and put it into another fermentation vessel (clean and sterilize glass jug) and feed it more sugars (fruit juice and honey would work good). Essentially what you would be doing is decreasing the alcohol content by 1/2 and feeding it. It should wake back up start eating, reproducing and making CO2 and alcohol again.

When I sample it, I top it back off with raw honey. So I'm basically doing what I said above.

I do want to say, don't expect to run down to your liquor store pick up a bottle of mead and add fruit juice and honey and expect to to start fermenting. Almost if not all store bought mead/beer/wine has had the yeast killed off, filtered and the adjuncts (like sugar) added for flavoring.

So sorry but you'll just have to start your own batch and experiment. With different flavors. Beside you would be drinking live cultured yeast, which is supposed to be healthy for you. The recipe is in the first post of this thread and I'm here to try and answer any questions you may have. When do we start?😂

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[CrealCritter]

I'd love to try, but I think I'll have to wait until we get our garage built, so we have a secure and hopefully temperature controlled (mostly) place to let it do its thing. Or the root cellar built, that would definitely be temperature controlled. I'm hoping to have lots of different fruits and berries growing next year, so that would be fun to play around with it. Blueberries, possibly raspberries and blackberries. I don't think the orchard will be producing next year yet.

So logically, you could start a plain mead, then split it once it got going, and flavor one part differently while allowing the other to remain plain, then repeat as it grows again. As long as you keep feeding it, it'll keep growing? So it is like a sourdough starter, but you have to keep checking the alcohol to make sure it doesn't get too high? This is neat.

Yes you could start a plain mead (maybe call it a mother mead) and use it to develop different "meads" with various fruits or jucies and more honey. I don't see why it wouldn't work. As long as you keep good records of it's alcohol content and projected or anticipate alcohol content which is called Final Gravity. There's all kinds of on-line calculators to help with initial gravity, final gravity and alcohol by volume. Heck some of them even have calories, if you're into that kind of thing.

My opinion only but mead is easier than beer and wine. That's just my opinion, so milage may vary.

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

 

[CrealCritter]

Wine yeast has already started cleaning up the color. Get your Viking on.

 

[CrealCritter]

Color day 3 - last post for a while, nothing really to see other than a strong ferment. I can still smell the honeysuckle coming out of the air lock. But at least I don't smell all pretty anymore.

Pictured next to apple cider and sassafras wine for color reference.

 

[CrealCritter]

So I totally forgot about this mead (honeysuckle buchet bumetheglin)
after I racked it to clear Dec 7 2019. Until my son in law text me and said he just racked some mead he made. So at 241 days since I begun this mead, I decided to give it a little taste test

Here's the dusty 1 gallon jug with full air lock thankfully.

A sniff, smells like sweet flowery orange blossoms. A sip was really good, very alcoholic but smooth as silk. Absolutely no bitter or harshness what's so ever. So I got a mouthful, wow it tastes like alcohol honey, just slightly sweet, very good. I still can't believe i made this. Most definitely worth the wait.

Now I'm debating about bottling or racking again. Decisions decisions, boy I have such a tough life, don't I? 😂

Edit... Well the airlock popped back up, so, the yeast is still alive . I topped it off with more raw honey. If I remember I'll check it again on a month or so and decide what to do with it then. My mead theory... More honey more better

 

[CrealCritter]

Well it's been 523 days since I pitched the yeast and remembered I should pull this gallon out of my closet and fill up the air lock. Yep you guessed right... The yeast is still alive and producing alcohol. I have no idea if this yeast will ever die off naturally. What is the alcohol content? It's anybody's guess at this point, I have absolutely no idea.

It's most definitely taking on a darker more mature tint. Get your Viking On!

 

[Mini Horses]

I'd like to try elderberry wine. Make some and let us know. Next yr I can pick more to do if it's good.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

You could, yes... Think of it like this.

You got live yeast eating away, reproducing and producing CO2 and Alcohol. As long as there is food for it to eat, it will keep on eating. Until it either runs out of food or it poisons it self to death by alcohol poisoning. Every yeast has it's alcohol tolerance expressed in %ABV (Alcohol by volume). This batch is Red Star Pasteur Blanc yeast, it's alcohol tolerance is 13~15%. I already know I'm well past 15% ABV on this mead.

So... for example, If you have a batch like mine that's near death. You could take say 1/2 the volume (2 quarts) and put it into another fermentation vessel (clean and sterilize glass jug) and feed it more sugars (fruit juice and honey would work good). Essentially what you would be doing is decreasing the alcohol content by 1/2 and feeding it. It should wake back up start eating, reproducing and making CO2 and alcohol again.

When I sample it, I top it back off with raw honey. So I'm basically doing what I said above.

I do want to say, don't expect to run down to your liquor store pick up a bottle of mead and add fruit juice and honey and expect to to start fermenting. Almost if not all store bought mead/beer/wine has had the yeast killed off, filtered and the adjuncts (like sugar) added for flavoring.

So sorry but you'll just have to start your own batch and experiment. With different flavors. Beside you would be drinking live cultured yeast, which is supposed to be healthy for you. The recipe is in the first post of this thread and I'm here to try and answer any questions you may have. When do we start?😂

Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸

I'd love to try, but I think I'll have to wait until we get our garage built, so we have a secure and hopefully temperature controlled (mostly) place to let it do its thing. Or the root cellar built, that would definitely be temperature controlled. I'm hoping to have lots of different fruits and berries growing next year, so that would be fun to play around with it. Blueberries, possibly raspberries and blackberries. I don't think the orchard will be producing next year yet.

So logically, you could start a plain mead, then split it once it got going, and flavor one part differently while allowing the other to remain plain, then repeat as it grows again. As long as you keep feeding it, it'll keep growing? So it is like a sourdough starter, but you have to keep checking the alcohol to make sure it doesn't get too high? This is neat.

 

[sumi]