Racking Day

I racked 4 different meads today. From youngest to oldest:

2nd Racking of Jalpeño Mead
SG: 1.000

3rd Racking of The Grey Wizard v2
A lemon-Earl Grey tea mead.
SG: 1.006

6th Racking of The Grey Wizard v1
SG: 1.032

6th Racking of Undómiel
SG: 1.008

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”.

3rd Racking of The Grey Wizard

It was a busy day. This was also the third racking if The Grey Wizard (Earl Grey Tea-Lemon Mead).

Last time I had added 1lb of honey because I found the taste harsh and very dry. I was worried that might have been too much honey to add. It wasn’t. This one tastes good not great. It’s mellowing. The honey has smoothed out the flavour and some of the harshness of the lemon. (Next time I make this I’ll use less lemon.)

I’m a little concerned that this mead seems to be taking a rather long time to clear. I can’t see through it in the jug an I can see through all the others.

Hydrometer reading: 1.030

The last picture is an “after racking” shot.

Topped up with strong Earl Grey Tea, this variety has a very distinctive bergamot flavor.

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.

The Grey Wizard Racked

I racked the Earl Grey-Lemon Mead tonight. It was still bubbling, but slowly; 1 bubble every 35-40 seconds. I made another strong cup of Earl Grey tea and added the zest and juice from one lemon; just like I did when I first mixed it. 

 

You can see what the lees looked like after syphoning. I racked it into a Canadian Gallon jug thinking it would be good to have more than less of this flavoured mead; melomel. The hydrometer read 1.004 after racking and topping up with the tea, lemon and about a litre of spring water. You can see all this in the pictures below.

 

I also had a little taste. It was truly awful! I’m hoping it ages well. There was no sweetness to it at all. I was tempted to add some more honey but decided to wait and see how it changes in another month when I’ll rack it again.

The Grey Wizard Capped at 1 Week

I bought a proper stopper and airlock, sanitized them, topped it up with a little bit of spring water and took a hydrometer reading: 1.030.

I’m going to leave it in the primary for at least another week. It’s still bubbling and churning. Getting about 1 bubble every 10 seconds now. I suspect the longer ferment time is due to:

– I used 1 package of yeast for 1 gallon, last batch had 2 packages for 5 gallons.
– The lemon juice, zest and tea have given the yeast more to chew on in a happier environment.

The Grey Wizard @ 6 Days

I can hear it bubbling when I stand near it.

I’ll be putting a proper airlock and stopper on it tomorrow. Depending on the intensity of the bubbling I might also rack it into an Imperial Gallon jug.

Bubbling & Churning

It’s very cool to watch the yeast doing their stuff. They’re very active right now (12 hours since mixing). Take a look:

The Grey Wizard @ 10hrs

Woah! Lots of bubbling. Hope the balloon doesn’t break.

The Grey Wizard @ 2hrs

After 2 hrs it’s visibly bubbling, mildly churning and the balloon is inflated. It’s giving off a nice yeasty-lemon-bergamot smell.