Todays "report" (28/2/10)

So, today's efforts have been as follows........

1 x 1 gallon of the unknown "Polish" honey/Chenin Blanc pyment has had it's yeast (Lalvin D21) pitched. It's also had 1/2 tsp of tannin added (would have been a whole tsp, but I forgot that I didn't have enough until I opened the pot......) it showed a starting gravity of 1098, so not too strong/sugary.....

1 x 1 gallon of Oklahoma Wild Flower honey/Chenin Blanc pyment has had the same as the above i.e. D21 and 1/2 tsp of tannin. That showed a starting gravity of 1110.

1 x 1 gallon of Oklahoma Wild Flower traditional mead, same treatment as above, but showed a starting gravity of 1112 - and that's allowing for 3 and 1/2 lb of honey to the gallon.

Actually, all 3 of the above batches are just under the gallon as at the moment, I've left some air space, because the D21 yeast was rehydrated with about 100mls of must, 100mls of warm water (checked temp and it was about 30 or so degree's C) and 1/2 a teaspoon of GoFerm rehydration nutrient. Hence the air space is left in the DJ so when they've started to show proper indication of fermentation, I can mix 1 tsp of Fermaid-K nutrient with a little warm water and when it gets added to the batches, hopefully they won't foam all over the place - as can happen.

I've also racked 1 gallon of Apple and Raspberry "08", it's had a campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of wine stabiliser - as I topped it up with mixed fruit juice (mixed fruit juice was the left over from my purge of freezer a couple of weeks ago). Plus I also racked off 2 x 1/2 gallon of Mixed fruit melomel which was made with the rest of the juice mentioned above - that's also had a campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of stabiliser, as it was topped up with the last little bit of the mixed fruit juice and with the left over little bit of chenin blanc juice.

So now it's just a case of keeping an eye on the 3 gallons of mead/pyment to see when they've finished the "lag phase" and started to ferment properly so I can add the Fermaid-K and top them up with about a half to three quarters of a pint of spring water.

Obviously, the gravity numbers will drop a little when they're topped up, but that's a snag of making the batches directly into demi-john jars and not starting them in buckets first. The air space will allow a little more room for stirring/aeration, which will have to be done for at least the first couple of days. I'll have to wait and see how they progress.

I still haven't decided, but there's enough of the Oklahoma Wild Flower honey left to make another batch that will basically be made the same but using K1V-1116 yeast.

Oh and no, I haven't added any acid to them at this point, as there's probably enough already in the honey, and especially in the 2 gallons with the chenin blanc concentrate in them. Hence just the tannin and rehydration nutrient at this point......

TTFN

p.s. Oh and no, I didn't check the "mystery" wine that I mentioned on the 14th. It seems to have stopped fermenting but I'm gonna leave it a bit longer before I sample and check it's "numbers"....