I wasn't expecting to come home from Wisconsin with a gorgeous orange blossom honey, but thanks to Honey Acres in the village of Ashippun, here we are. Batch 146: Turtleneck & Chain was one of my very favorite batches to date, so I immediately called dibs on this OB honey. There's a clover honey base to make sure the yeast doesn't chew through all the orange deliciousness. This is also my first ever batch with a new red wine yeast, Lalvin Bourgovin RC212.

This batch is named after a supposed Shakespearean insult that really tickled my fancy recently.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 25 oz (1 lb 9 oz) Kirkland clover honey
  • 4 lbs Honey Acres orange blossom honey
  • 3/4 tsp Fermaid O added at brewing, plus 2.5g each added on 6/9 and 6/12
  • 1 1/4 tsp Fermaid K
  • 1 pack Lalvin Bourgovin RC212

Process

Mixed, aerated, pitched. SG was 1.112. When I bottled on 11/13, FG was 0.996 (ABV: 15.2%). The mead still tasted fairly hot, and there's not nearly as much floral orange aroma as I've gotten out of California orange blossom. It's still lovely, though, and I hope the orange will come out more once this ages a bit.