Since batch 030 turned into a finished mead so quickly, we want to try tweaking the recipe: this is going to be a batch of mesquite mead with floral additions in secondary. Half a gallon of this is going to wind up labeled Lemon Lavender?? after a recurring Flying Circus joke; the other half is going to be blended with batch 033.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 2 lb. 14 oz. Trader Joe's Mostly Mesquite Honey.
  • ½ tsp. of Valley Brewers yeast energizer.
  • ¼ tsp. of Fermax yeast nutrient.
  • Distilled water to 1 gallon
  • ⅓ packet Lalvin K1V-1116 wine yeast.
  • ¼ oz. Cost Plus dried lavender (left in batch 043A from 3 February to 8 February 2017).
  • peel from one large lemon, removed from meat and thick-sliced, with pith left on (added to batch 043A on 8 February 2017).
  • ½ oz. Imperial Spices dried roses (left in batch 043B from 5 February to 7 February 2017).
  • peel from one medium blood orange, removed from meat and thick-sliced, with pith left on (added to batch 043B on 7 February 2017).
  • fresh-squeezed juice from one medium blood orange (added to batch 043B on 13 February 2017).

Sanitized everything, then poured the honey in, measuring the amount on a scale tared to the weight of the carboy and a funnel. Poured in the yeast energizer and yeast nutrient. Poured in water to total about three-quarters of a gallon in the carboy. Agitated for three minutes to oxygenate, then filled it to a gallon and shook for another three minutes. Pitched the yeast, then popped in a fermentation lock and filled it to the line with vodka. Labeled the carboy. Set it on a shelf to ferment.

Split into two half-gallon batches on 3 February 2017; batch 043A got lemon peel and dried lavender, whereas 043B got dried rose petals, orange peel, and orange juice.

Brew date: 11 December 2016.
Original gravity: 1.109.

Yield:

  • Batch 043A (F.G. 1.011; approx ABV 12.8%):
    • 2 x 750 mL wine bottles
    • 1 x 10 oz glass
  • Batch 043B:
    • Bottled, combined with batch 033. Total yield unknown, but somewhere under a half-gallon.

Total yield: Hard to determine due to blending of batch 043B. Probably about a gallon..

Observations

  • 2016-12-12T10:11: There's fermentation in the carboy. Vigorous discharge in the airlock.
  • 2017-01-05: Mead in the carboy has already clarified substantially.
  • 2017-02-03: Split into two half-gallon batches in beer growlers. Batch 043A gets a quarter-ounce of dried lavender in a brewing sock. Batch 043B will get rose petals, but it turns out there are none at home right now, though I thought that we had some.
  • 2017-02-05: Bought a half-ounce of dried rose petals; put them into batch 043B in a brewing sock.
  • 2017-02-07: Pulled a small sample of batch 043A. Definitely enough lavender. Pulled out the sock: perhaps use (proportionally) less when it's scaled up.
  • 2017-02-07: Pulled a small sample of 043B. Too much rose; it tastes like an old lady's house. Pulled out the rose petals. Needs something bitter: Xenia suggests blood orange, so I cut up a peel into thick slices and dropped it into the growler.
  • 2017-02-08: Pulled out the lavender out of batch 043A. Sliced the peel of one large lemon into thick strips, leaving on the pith (and shreds of the meat, which really clung to the peel) on the inside. Added to the growler.
  • 2017-02-16: Bottled batch 043A, yielding 2 wine bottles and a 10 oz. glass at 1.011 (approx 12.8% ABV).
  • 2017-03-26: Tasted batch 43B again. The orange juice had initially produced very sharp odors, but these have mellowed out. As intended, the flower scent is now a background taste and scent, but the orange juice flavor has become quite prominent. Thinking of blending this with batch 033 at bottling, but I'm going to let this sit for a bit first.
  • 2017-04-13: Bottled 043B, combining it with batch 033 (q.v.).