I fancy myself an apprentice potion maker. And as an apprentice, I can say with some certainty that most of my rudimentary concoctions are drinkable, at least after a fashion, do not explode, as of yet, and seem to be enjoyable to those brave fools who are willing to try my experimentations. To my limited understanding, the definition of experimentation is the art of putting known things together and seeing what happens. In this journey of mead potion making I need to record my successes and failures in order to track my progress in the art and to record my thoughts in case something happens. It will also help to record a recipe or two for posterity.

Preface:

Mead Batch Test #1

Start: 11/24/22

Jar 1
Recipe:
24oz Test Jar
.5oz Raisins- chopped
.5oz Orange Peel
8.0 oz Honey
1.5oz Black tea - Steeped 1 min
1/8tsp SN9 Yeast

Jar 2
Recipe:
24oz Test Jar
.5oz Raisins - chopped
.5oz orange peel
8.0oz Honey
1.5oz black tea - steeped 1 min
1/8Tsp cinnamon
1/8Tsp whole cloves
1/8tsp SN9 yeast

Jar 3
Recipe:
1 Gal Jug
2.02 lbs Honey
.5 oz Cortland apples- Peeled
1.5 oz Black tea - steeped
.5oz Vanilla Bean
.5oz Maine Maple Syrup
.5tsp SN9 Yeast

11/13/22
SpGr-O
Jar 1 : 1.100
Jar 2: 1.100
Jar 3: 1.101

11/24/22
SpGr - 1
1.068
1.061
1.082

12/13/22
SpGr - F
1.021
1.019
1.002

ABV Standard ABV Formula:
ABV = (OG – FG) * 131.25
10.37%
10.63%
12.86%

Notes:

Jar 1: Clear mead with lese settled on the bottom. Very Low action. Very distinct sweetness but alcohol forward taste.

Jar 2: Clear mead. Spice pack and fruit floating with little rafts of foam. Very minimal action. The taste had no notes of spices but was alcohol-forward and sweet.

Jar 3: Very foggy color with noticable rafts and high action. Fruit and spice pack floating. SG noticably higher but taste was lightly alcohic with little spicyness or fruityness, may need to continue fermentation.

Acerglyn V1.0

Acerglyn Test
1 Gal. Carboy

2Lbs. Local Honey
1Gal. Aquifer Well water, filtered and cold
1c. Black Tea Steeped, Hot
1/2 Orange Peel zest
1c Fresh-picked blueberries
1c divided local Maple syrup (1/2c used to back sweeten)
1 pack SN9 yeast



Date SpGr.
6/2 1.092
6/16 1.042
7/1 1.009 Secondary
7/10 1.005 Final

Notes:

6/2
The initial mix uses my neighbor's Maple syrup and blueberries from my garden. I macerated the blueberries.

6/16
SpGr to 1.042. Blueberries are turning whitish. Will let set for 2 more weeks.

7/1
SpGr. 1.009. Re-racking to separate fruit from mead. A taste test revealed a strong blueberry-forward flavor. Very smooth on the tongue with a slight honey finish and an aftertaste of maple. The maple was less pronounced than I would have liked. The smell is wonderful. Blueberry filled the room upon opening. The whole house smelled like I was baking a pie. The color is a medium brown with a slight tinge of blue.

7/10
SpGr. rested at 1.005. Time to bottle. I took this time to mix in 1/2 of maple syrup and agitated slowly before bottling. The SpGr. was taken prior to back sweetening.

You didn’t come this far to stop

Apple spice mead

Ingredients:

3lbs Local Wildflower Honey
1c. Black tea, steeped
1 tbs. Loose tea mix steeped, then added

Lemon grass, dandelion, licorice, ginger, st.​

Mary's thistle, cardamom, rosehip​

1 wh. Apple, peels added, quartered.
1/2c raises, macerated
1 cinnamon stick
1 wh. Vanilla bean
4 wh. Cloves
Lanvin 71b

O Sp.Gr. 1.079
Sec. SpGr.
F SpGr.

Notes:

I picked up a new jar. I am using a 1.3 gal. Kombucha fermenting jar with an infuser. All of the additives are placed in a plastic straining bag inside the infuser for easy removal. The airlock hole is drilled into the metal cap near the center. I think this will work great because the jar has a spigot close to the bottom. I hope it will allow me to drain 90% of the contents without disturbing the lees.

I also pre-activated the yeast.
I hope this goes as well as it smells.

UPDATE: Two weeks have passed and no more action in the jug. The batch failed to ferment or it just stopped. I will try the recipe again, this time I will add the yeast directly instead of trying to pre-activate it.


12/3:
Using the same recipe. So like any good science experiment, I will change one variable and re-run the trial. Every batch I make is an exercise in experimentation. Control is key. Here I go.

You didn’t come this far to stop