Putting a pine honey I discovered at one of the fabulous Middle Eastern markets on Colorado Blvd to good use. Have I mentioned how excited I am about having access to really good ethnic markets? This honey was dark, woodsy, and a little bitter. This is the second batch of the day using Lalvin BM 4x4 red wine yeast.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 30 oz Buram pine honey
  • 10 oz Kirkland clover honey
  • Additional 8 oz of Buram pine honey added on 7/16
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • ½ pack of Lalvin BM 4x4 wine yeast
  • Denver tap water to 1 gallon

Process

One more low-effort batch. Starting gravity was 1.086. This started clarifying quickly and turned out a lovely light amber color. Unfortunately the yeast was thorough enough to leave me with a bone-dry and flavor-deprived mead, so I backsweetened on 7/16 with another 8 oz of the same pine honey, for a calculated adjusted SG of 1.108.

I bottled this batch on 8/5 with a FG of 1.011, giving me a calculated ABV around 12.7%.