First Partigyle today! 5 Gallons of Wee Heavy and 5 gallons of Scottish export (80 shilling)
And I hit my goal gravity (1.090) for the Wee Heavy on the nose without having to mix between the two beers! Boil for the 80 shilling just started
First Partigyle today! 5 Gallons of Wee Heavy and 5 gallons of Scottish export (80 shilling)
I couldn't resist tasting them.... Spiced mead is pretty dry and still has a very 'raw' spicy taste that is quite intense, I'm hoping it'll mellow out with age, I may add some more honey at some point just for a little extra sweetness. The ginger and apricot mead is just right at the moment, I didn't measure either with a hydrometer but I'd guess they're both somewhere between 13 and 17%. I'm not sure whether I should kill off the ferment in the apricot or let it ferment out and potentially have to sweeten it at a later date. Next on the cards is a batch of short mead that I'll be starting tonight, one I can actually drink in a couple of weeks (presuming it doesn't taste awful!)
I had good luck mellowing out mead with charred oak chips. I used buckwheat honey from a local apiary, and the stuff was very strong tasting. I used a dark char oak chips from the brew supply store and kept them in contact for three weeks. It imparted a darker color, but the char absorbed some of the harsher tasting compounds. I don't know if that helps you much, but I thought I would put my 2 cents in. I have an advantage when a batch goes bad - I just dump it in the still and save the alcohol. Done it many times!
My beer is bottled and conditioning as we speak! Next Sunday I will try one and leave the rest for later.