Well, we found a local source for meadowfoam honey. Hallelujah. This is wonderful stuff. For now, we're calling this batch Meadowfoam Varietal. Hopefully a better name will become apparent as it matures. And I think we might add just a little bit of spice in secondary, though I'm still pondering what it will be, exactly.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 2 lb, 12 oz meadowfoam honey from Bennett's Honey Farm.
  • 1 packet White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Strong ale yeast.
    • Note: no SNA planned for this batch.
  • ⅜ tsp. Fermaid K.
  • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
  • water to 4 liters.
  • ½ tsp. ground peppercorns (mixed Tellicherry Indian black peppercorns/Sarawak white peppercorns, both from Penzeys Spices), added 16 July 2018.

Procedure

Standard procedure: Sanitized, then mixed honey and powders and water, then agitated thoroughly by shaking. Pitched yeast and measured gravity. Popped in and filled an airlock.

Brew date: 8 March 2018.
Original gravity: 1.100.
Bottling date: 5 August 2018
Final gravity: 1.012.
Estimated ABV: Approx. 12%.

Yield: TBD; hopefully, about a gallon.

  • 6 x 12 oz. beer bottles
  • 1 x 500 mL wine bottles
  • 1 x 750 mL swing-top bottle
  • approx. 8 oz. leftover, for tasting

Total: Approx. 122 fl. oz, or just over 95% of a gallon.

Observations

  • 2018-03-11T10:11: There's regular carbon dioxide discharge in the carboy.
  • 2018-07-16: Added some loose ground pepper to the carboy.
  • 2018-08-07: Bottled, yielding 95% of a gallon at 12% ABV. Oh wow, it's sweet and delicious, and that amount of pepper is just about right. Meaning that it's far over the line for many people, I'm sure. Boring people.