October 31, 2018

It’s been a couple of days since I stirred / measured the SG of my latest mead, so I figured I’d take a reading (and a taste) tonight after the trick-or-treating festivities were over. I had a hunch that fermentation would be complete, since it was down around 1.002 last time I checked.

It’s nice and clear – clearer than the coffee bochet mead I made last time. A great scent of spices. Without stirring, I ladled some into the test tube using a sanitized ladle. This is my method now for measuring SG, as opposed to using the siphon. It’s just easier. A lot easier. The SG came out to 1.002. Same as last time, which was 4 days ago. So I’m officially done fermenting. Yay!

I kept what was in the tube for a big taste (a full glass basically) and racked the rest into a sanitized carboy. It smells of cloves and cinnamon and vanilla (interesting because there is no vanilla in this recipe). You taste apple and sourness. I might be tasting a bit of the molasses. You might not immediately think gingerbread, but it’s definitely there. A little thin, but a lot going on. A very dry finish. It’s good. Jen used the word “pleasant.” It will be interesting to see what it tastes like after some time.

Here’s how it progressed:

• 10/14 – Starting gravity 1.085
• 10/16 – degassed, staggered nutrient addition 2 of 4
• 10/17 – degassed, SG 1.050
• 10/18 – degassed, staggered nutrient addition 3 of 4
• 10/20 – degassed, SG 1.004, staggered nutrient addition 4 of 4
• 10/27 – degassed, SG 1.002
• 10/31 – SG 1.002, racked into carboy