The Grey Wizard v2

My first Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead (The Grey Wizard) isn’t quite done. I’m hopeful it will finish well in time but I think it’s got too strong of a lemon scent/flavour and not enough bergamot. I’ve also got 3 lbs of wildflower honey from my friend Rex I still have to turn into mead so I made a one gallon (3.785 L) batch of another Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead building on what I’ve learned. Here’s the new recipe.

Recipe

3 lbs wildflower honey (very dark with fullbodied flavour)

1 litre of strong Earl Grey Tea (2 tea bags President’s Choice Brand; it has a strong bergamot flavour)

1 snack box of raisins

1 lemon cut into 8 wedges (A second lemon will be added during secondary fermentation.)

1 package of Lalvin D47 yeast (recommended for mead)

Step 1

Remember, step 1 is always: Sanitize everything, even the lemon. I use a mixture, in the kitchen sink, of bleech and water; 15ml/gallon. I usually use a gallon jug to measure out 4 gallons of water into the sink, add the bleech, mix and sanitize everything: the airlock & stopper, the knife, a spoon, a plate to cut the lemon, the cup that holds the yeast & water mixture, the container that holds the tea, the gallon jug … everything that’s going to touch my mead. I also sanitize the top of my plastic primary fermenter and use that as a surface to set anything down on while I’m pitching everything together.

About Yeast Nutrients

I’m using the mixture of tea, lemon and raisins (for nitrogen) in place of DAP (diammonium phosphate) as a yeast nutrient. I’m not certain yet of the wisdom of this. I’ve read about many brewers who prefer this “all natural” approach and at least as many brewers insist on using DAP or other chemical nutrients. Time will tell if this is the way to go. We’ll see how it tastes. 😉

UPDATE: Jan 4

I added a teaspoon of DAP. It seems to me the must is fermenting slowly; there’s not as vigorous yeast action as I was expecting. I’ve also been reading about staggered nutrient additions for mead. One fellow has his meads finish in 6 weeks! Anyway, I’ve added the DAP and a little spring water to the must. Within an hour the must was bubbling quite well.

Putting It All Together

I brewed a litre of very strong Earl Grey tea using two tea bags. While it cooled I boiled some spring water and used it to disolve the crystalized honey in the container. I also warmed (room temperature) a little spring water in a glass and added the yeast to get it started; at least 15 min.

I cut the lemon in eight wedges threw them into the gallon jug with a snack box of raisins. Then I added the tea and the hot water and honey mixture. I also topped it up a bit with some more spring water to cool it all down. I left a good 8-10 cm of space at the top of the jug to allow for the initial yeast activity. I’ll top it up again with more spring water in about a week or so when the yeast activity slows down.

Next, shake it all up for a good 5 minutes to get as much air in the must as possible. Then pitch in the yeast. Give a gentle swirl and put the airlock & stopper on top.

I took a hydrometer reading: approximately 1.110

 

I’ll rack it in about a month. I anticipate a 9 month wait before it’s “ready”.

Racking JAOM v2

I made this second batch of Ancient Orange Mead to share with my buddy Rex. He gave me about 6 lbs of wildflower honey and I’m turning it into mead.The wildflower honey is different from the honey (mostly from canola flowers) I’ve used in all my other meads; it’s darker and had a more full bodied flavour.

I first pitched it together on Nov 25. It’s cleared and, according to Joe, that means it’s ready. I’m not convinced. You can see from the pictures just how much sediment has accumulated. SO, I’ve racked it and I’ll let it sit for at least another two months. In a recent conversation I had with another brewer he told me that mead generally has a significant flavour jump after 3 months, 6 months and 10 months. I know JAOM is supposed to be a quicker mead to make but I want to give it at least 3 months before I bottle it and share it with Rex.

The pictures show:

• Two views of the new and old (bottled on Dec 16, pitched Oct 7) JOAMs side by side.
• A before racking shot from above.
• The detritus left behind after racking.
• An after racking shot; it’ll need some time to clear again.
• Two after racking shots side-by-side with my first JAOM.
• The SG reading: 1.040

I topped it all up with about 500ml of spring water after racking.

 

The dark colour of the wildflower honey will make this a darker mead. I made it exactly the same way I did my first JAOM except for this change in the honey. It’ll be interesting to see what effect that has on the flavour.