Batch 071: Throatwobbler Mangrove
During a recent weekend near San Francisco, Xenia and I stopped at a roadside table with a sign saying honey
along highway 92 in Half Moon Bay. It turned out to be Wayne of Bee Happy Honey. Wayne was happy to let us taste samples of everything they had on them, but we finally walked away with just three pounds of mango varietal honey, which he told us comes from San Diego County. It's delicious, and really does taste strongly of mangos. There are going to be some peppers going into the carboy after primary fermentation slows, I think. In honor of one of the more brilliant short Monty Python skits, I'm going to call this brew Throatwobbler Mangrove.
Ingredients in this batch
- 2 lb., 6 oz. mango varietal honey from Bee Happy Honey.
- 13.6 oz. clover varietal honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
- ½ tsp. Fermaid K
- ½ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient
- ¼ tsp. potassium carbonate
- Approx. 2 fl. oz. fermenting mead from batch 068, which contains White Labs WLP570.
- filtered and (in much greater quantity) distilled water to just over one gallon
- First nutrient addition, 18 June 2017:
- ½ tsp. Fermaid K
- (note that the list of nutrients included at the beginning accidentally included two doses of Fermax, so none is included here.)
- Second nutrient addition, 26 June 2017:
- ½ tsp. Fermaid K
- ¼ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient
- 1½ tbsp. red Szechuan berries from a local Asian market, added on 26 June 2017.
- 1½ tbsp. green Szechuan berries from a local Asian market, added on 26 June 2017.
- 1 tsp. Tellicherry Indian peppercorns from Penzeys Spices, added on 26 June 2017.
Sanitized everything, then poured the mango honey in through a funnel. Followed this with the Fermax, Fermaid K, and then the clover honey. Poured in water to total about a gallon in the carboy. Poured in the K₂CO₃. Agitated for five minutes to oxygenate. Pulled off enough to take a hydrometer reading, taking it down to almost exactly a gallon. Pulled off a single turkey baster's worth of fermenting, yeasty mead from batch 068, which contains White Labs's Belgian Golden Strong yeast (WLP570), at which time the temperature of the must was 80℉, and dropped the must from batch 068 into this carboy. Popped in a fermentation lock and filled it to the line with vodka. Set the carboy under water in the same container providing a water bath for batch 068. The must in the carboy is entirely below the level of the water; only the carboy neck and airlock protrude above the water.
Performed nutrient additions at approximately the scheduled times, then added Szechuan berries and black pepper on 26 June 2017.
Brew date: 12 June 2017.
Original gravity: 1.116.
Bottling date: 6 Aug 2017
Final gravity: 1.018.
Estimated ABV: Approx. 13.5%.
Yield:
- 4 x 12 oz. beer bottles
- 3 x 500 mL beer bottles
- a hydrometer tube's worth of mead plus leftover tasting mead, totalling about 8 fl. oz. of slop
Total: About 106 fl. oz., or right about ⅚ gallon.
Observations
- 2017-06-13T17:11: No visible carbon dioxide production in the carboy.
- 2017-06-14T22:37: There is some sluggish carbon dioxide production visible from the airlock.
- 2017-06-18T20:00: There is still sluggish carbon dioxide production visible from the airlock, though still only at the rate of approx. 10 bubbles/min. Measured gravity: 1.070. Performed first nutrient addition (with no Fermax, because Fermax was overrepresented during the initial nutrient addition).
- 2017-06-26: Added the last nutrient addition to the carboy; also added the Szechuan berries and black peppers, as noted above.
- 2017-08-06: Bottled, yielding 7 bottles at approx 13.5% ABV.