Wednesday, October 04, 2006
We Have Mead!
Well, sort of.
I racked the mead from it’s primary fermentation vessel to secondaries last night. I stopped fermentation on 1 gallon, and racked the other 4 gallons in new carboys. Still bubbling like crazy in it’s new home, so all should be well there.
Actively fermenting mead is difficult to siphon. It will effervesce in the tube, and eventually you’ll have to start the siphon again.
The gallon I added potassium sorbate too is pretty tasty. It’s at ~3.75% alcohol by volume. DW and I shared a (rather large, plastic) glass of it last night, and it was much better chilled (added ice cubes, how elegant) than it was warm. I think it’s still a little too sweet for most people, but you can definitely tell where it’s going. The maple flavor is fantastic, and doesn’t taste syrupy. I think I’ll keep that gallon, and let it age a bit. I’m a little concerned that its still fermenting, and I’m going to have a glass explosion, hopefully that’s not the case. I’ll keep it in the gallon jug its in now until it’s time to bottle everything. Hopefully that doesn’t ruin any flavor when I reopen it.
It’s still an amber color, just a bit lighter than it was when I started the process. I’m glad that I tried this. Hopefully it all remains potable, and will make nice Christmas gifts.