Batch 070: From a Cup: Dr. Tran's Buckwheat Varietal

This mead is another result of our epic honey haul from our Colorado trip. I had only tried West Coast buckwheat before, and I'm told that it's usually far more mild than the East Coast variety. While our local buckwheat tastes much like any other varietal, this stuff from Copoco's Honey in Fort Collins has the "farmyard" character buckwheat is known for in spades. The honey by itself is amazingly delicious and almost sherry-like; mixed with water, it initially tasted rather... challenging. I thus named it after a line from an old internet favorite, Dr. Tran. I'm also trying staggered nutrient additions for the first time here.

Ingredients in this batch

• 21 oz Copoco buckwheat honey
• 27 oz Kirkland clover honey
• 1 ½ tsp yeast nutrient, in three ½ tsp additions on June 7, 12, and 17
• ⅛ tsp Fermaid K
• Distilled water to 1 gallon
• ½ batch of Lalvin 1122 wine yeast, rehydrated in ¼ cup of 99-degree water; the other half went in my acacia varietal, Batch 069.

Observations

• 2017-06-19T20:00:00: This is a lovely dark color thanks to the buckwheat honey. At the third nutrient addition, the horse-y aroma of the mead had already mellowed considerably, so I'm hopeful it'll be drinkable one day.