The Grey Wizard 2nd Racking

I racked the Grey Wizard (Eary Grey-Lemon Mead) off the lees today; I had added the juice & zest of a second lemon when I had racked it the first time to enhance the lemon flavour.

 

Last time it tasted awful. It’s still tastes awful but it has improved a little bit. It’s also very dry. I suspect this is because of the yeast I’ve been using; Lalvin EC-1118 which produces very dry and strong wines in general. I think I’ll switch to Lalvin D47 in the future. Also, I wanted this one at least semi-sweet so I added 1 lb of honey. You can see the honey sitting on the bottom of the jug in the pictures. I didn’t want to shake it because everything I’ve read says that’s a bad idea. I probably should have dissolved in hot water though … lesson learned.

 

I took a hydrometer reading (1.098) before racking but not after adding the honey because it wasn’t well distributed. I’ll have no idea what the ABV is of this when it’s finished. I just hope the taste improves dramatically with age.

 

I used strong Earl Grey tea to prime the syphoning tube and topped up the jug with some more of the tea.

 

The pictures show:

 

• The mead before racking.
• The hydrometer reading: 1.098.
• The lees left behind after racking.
• The racked mead just before adding the extra honey.
• The honey sitting on the bottom of the jug.
• An “after racking” shot.