It won't stop eating honey and turns out about 50 proof..

WOW -- into the oak whiskey barrel it goes for a year

What'cha gonna call it?

I did that once with apple wine. No turbo yeast, just the regular stuff.

When the fermenting stopped it read as 23%.

Didn't bother with the ageing.

the one i did last year, 18ABV before going in .. came out some higher, but tons sweeter, is VERY nice..

this one i put in, just to see if my perception of it getting sweeter is accurate .. its clean, "tasteless" as compared to other meads, and should improve aged ... i bottled a couple as is to see and compare them in a year

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
It won't stop eating honey and turns out about 50 proof..

WOW -- into the oak whiskey barrel it goes for a year

How big a batch did you make?

I need directions to the "opening party" and a firm date so I can put it on my calendar.

a whiskey barrel is 56-58 gallons ..
a commerical FOOD GRADE plastic drum is 56 gallons ... so just at 1/4 of a household annual limit of home brew .. its HARD to make even 100 gallons of anything.. i can't imagine someone brewing enough to hit the legal limits

I bottled last years batch a couple weeks ago, so its already bottle conditioned and drinkable .. this batch was wicked sweet, but you don't need alot .. like an ice wine, really ... we had a tasting last night...

The batch i bottled on memorial day was my best batch, ever ... still too sweet for most people to enjoy as anything other than a dessert wine ..

this current batch will split the difference between that, and some of my older batches.. the wife likes mead closer to white wine ... and white wine is EASY to buy, so why bother?

If you are in the area, and would like to try some, let me know
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jeffe

Never heard of Mead before. Found this after reading your post http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead. Jeff do you add spices to yours?

try http://www.gotmead.com/

not in big batches .. mine is more of a traditional "shack mead", as the sg is WAY over 1.12 or 1.13, depending on who you read.

I've done buckwheat, too .. its an interesting taste.

generaly, my meads are honey, water, yeast, calcium carb to control PH,and aged in oak .. but a whiskey barrel COULD be mistaken for spicing.. its not, but could be.

we tried a blueberry .. that didn't taste at ALL bb ... and then i tried a braggot .. that went no where

if i don't do meads, I am doing a russian imperial or a saison

My Great Grandmother used to make something she called "Cherry Bounce". Mashed up sweet cherries grown in her backyard half block off the river, pounds of real Caribbean Cane Sugar, and some sort of booze starter. Mixed into a mash packed into large mason jars, wrapped with cloth and stored in a closet for a year or so. Hers was like cherry ether my attempt was like bilge water. Guess I should have learned the technique when I had the chance.

Thanks Jeff for the link. My father makes wine and every few years makes Grappa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grappa Good with coffee after dinner.

Macifej, just like great granny used to make?

That's the stuff ...!!! She used Bourbon I'm pretty sure. What's the name of that book ..??

Is this the book?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579906486

Yes, that's the paperback book.

those sound like cordials/tinctures, rather than brewing.

nothing wrong with that, just not the same thing .. basically, the most you can drive yeast to is about 25%, and that is the extreme case .. 18% is generally the upper limit, and 12-15% is the normal range for wines ...

anything past 15-16 % requires CAREFUL control of pH, fermentables, and nutriants .. adding a bit of calcium (1 teaspoon, in 50 gallons, will raise pH by 1 in an unbuffered solution) and a tablespoon of NO HUSKS INCLUDED nutriant a week before adding more fermentables works miracles