Traditional (weirdomel) part 4

Ok, so it's the extra public holiday day, for the Queens diamond jubilee celebration (not that I've been celebrating it, as I'm a republican) and it's raining outside - no surprise there......

So I thought I'd get my finger out my arse and see how it's doing. It's doing bloody marvelously. It's not been bubbling for nearly a week now, but I've been a little nervous (not sure why) as to how and whether it's still going or not.

I've just taken a gravity reading and it's sitting at 1.010 - a drop of 130 points from the original 1.140 reading taken before I pitched the D21 yeast. That 130 point drop represents 17.6% ABV, which exceeds the 16% tolerance published by Lallemand in their yeast list.

It's not surprising, as the numbers in the list are for grape musts/wines, obviously all the nutrition and aeration has paid off.

The level on the bucket was telling me it was a total of 6 litres but obviously the gradations on Ritchies buckets aren't that accurate, as I got a full gallon DJ out of it (4.55 litres) and a 1 pint milk bottle. Both are full to just below the neck and there certainly wasn't nearly a litre of the must left in the bucket. Never mind, there's enough for me to let it settle and rack it off the lees once and top up from the milk bottle - which should do the trick enough for me to get it clear(ish).

Taste-wise, it's still got a little bit of sweetness to it, but about how I like it. If it should ferment a bit more now it's been moved out the primary, it doesn't matter, as I still have a half jar of the original honey I can back sweeten with. It's not quite as curious tasting as the original honey was - I'm thinking that it should turn out fine.