August 20, 2018 Is my bochet stuck? No bubbles in the airlock today. Not sure what’s up. My plan is to degas every day during primary fermentation and I’m doing staggered nutrient addition. I degassed it (re: stirred). Will check for bubbles again tonight and tomorrow. Supposed to add more nutrient tomorrow. Should I hold…
Coffee Bochet
August 19, 2018 Today I cooked up the Bochet using the following recipe: 2 cups cold brew coffee (Trader Joe’s Bolivian Fair Trade, steeped for 24 hours, prepared ahead of time) 3 lbs Wildflower Honey (I get this from the local farmer’s market) boiled for about 50 minutes 10 cups filtered tap water Yeast energizer…
Planning 2nd Mead – Bochet
August 17, 2018 I am already excitedly planning my 2nd batch of mead. I decided I want to make a bochet. A bochet is a mead where the honey is boiled and caramelized instead of added raw. The caramelization creates a darker color and richer flavor. It sounds nice so I figured I’d try it….
First Mead Tasting and Racking
August 16, 2018 It’s probably early, but I decided to rack the mead today for a couple of reasons. First, the airlock activity is significantly reduced – a bubble every minute or so. Second, I can’t wait – I need to check it out and taste the stuff! And third, I’m concerned that my fruit…
Still Bubbling Away
August 13, 2018 My Blueberry Lavender mead is still in primary fermentation. The airlock is bubbling about once per second on day 10. I’ve been reading about fruit rot. Should I check for fruit rot? But I’m starting to read about Mazers (mead makers) who pull their fruit out after a week or so. My…
Second Guessing
August 4, 2018 My Blueberry Lavender mead is fermenting! There are beautiful bubbles in the airlock. It took a good 24 hours for things to start, which sounds like it’s perfectly normal. It’s not as frequent as some I’ve seen online, but I suppose that’s no problem. I am obsessing about my mead. Here are…
Blueberry Lavender Mead
August 3, 2018 My mead kit arrived and I created my first batch of mead! I followed the recipe from my previous post pretty much exactly. Instead of buying spring water I just used filtered tap water. I decided to ferment in the 2 gallon plastic bucket that came with the kit as opposed to…
Planning First Mead
July 29, 2018 My mead kit is on the way, and I am making preparations for my first batch. Based on some vlogs I watched on YouTube, I think I need to get some yeast nutrient and energizer. It doesn’t come with the kit, but it sounds important. Honey and water don’t provide an ideal…
The Mead Must FLOW!
July 20, 2018 Many years ago, I considered making my own beer. I LOVE beer, and making my own seemed like a no-brainer. But after a superficial conversation with a friend and homebrewer who described the focus and attention required to sanitizing the equipment for successful brews, I was turned off. I’m not big on…