Batch 12: Jim's Miscellaneous Dregs Batch.... became Nutmeg Peppercorn Mead

Batch Timeline

Batch #	Batch Type	Date in Primary	Date in Secondary	Date Racked	Date Racked	Date Filled
12	mead	8/14/12	9/18/12	1/12/13	6/25/13, 5/3/14, 10/18/14, 12/31/15	6/8/17

Yeast Type: cotes de blanc
Ingredients:
Jim's honey (see Comments)
5 campden tabs
Maple dregs/crystal sugar from 8 tiny cabins
5tsp yeast nutrient
Water to 5gal
Comments:
Made from dregs of honey bottling buckets, maple, crystallized 2011 honey, and 2012 spring honey to SG 1.111. I want to achieve about 3.0 to 3.5% residual sugar without stabilizing. I may need to add more honey at some point, depending on yeast performance. Cotes de blanc is supposed to go up to about 12%, but if it goes higher I will need more honey. The calculated % potential ABV is quite different based on hydrometer (15%) vs. refractometer conversion (16.5%).

Batch Data

Measurement	Pre-Ferm (PF)	Post-Primary (PP)	Post-Second (PS)	At Bottling (AB)
Specific gravity (hyd)	1.111	0.997	not determined	tbd
% Potential ABV (hyd)	15	not determined	not determined	tbd
%mas sacc (refrac)	28.4	11.5	13	tbd
° Oechsle (°Oe) (refrac):	120.5	48	51	tbd
KMW (refrac)	24	not determined	11	tbd
pH (pH meter)	4.2	3.5	not determined	tbd
% alcohol (vin)	N/A	16.0	16	tbd

08/15/2012:
Added yeast (lot number BB JAN 2014 0520) to batch. Stir plate still created vortex. Foil cap removed and replaced with paper towel.

08/18/2012:
After realizing that we were short on both stoppers and air locks (only one stopper and no air locks) I went into the "reserve" box of used stoppers and airlocks (acquired from a previous purchase of carboys) and selected three of the best looking "S"-style air locks and two stoppers (with the least amount of yellowing and schmutz) and wash them in warm water. In the course of separating the air locks from the stoppers to clean and sanitize them one of the airlocks (the one that was most yellow) disintegrated and split down the seam. I replaced that airlock with a vinty style air lock that looked almost brand new. All the stoppers and airlocks were first sterilized in a 20% v/v bleach solution for three minutes then triple rinsed in potable water and finally sanitized and maintained in sanitizer solution until used. The air lock/stoppers were taken to the "brew cellar" and the paper towels replaced with the air lock. Batch 12 received an S-style air lock. Vigorous bubbling of the air lock was seen immediately and a strong vortex was noted before and after the addition of the air lock. One disconcerting observation that was made was the presence of fruit flies surrounding batch 14. The hope is they were attracted to the aroma of the the fruit juice, honey, and yeast but were unable to get into the batches. No fruit flies were actually seen on the batch 12 carboy.

08/28/2012:
Turned off stir-plate.

9/18/12:
Racked to secondary and tested.  So much for the yeast crapping out at 12-13% ABV and 3% residual sugar.  It was dry with a hint of sweetness, 16% ABV.  I'll add some more honey to see if I can balance sweetness.

1/12/13:
Racked and added sparkeloid.  Very dry and high alcohol, as with almost every mead.  No new data captured.

6/25/13:
Tasted pretty good, good legs, smooth, still cloudy and need of clarification though sparkeloid was previously added.  Next step stabilize and sweeten, then bentonite.

5/3/14:
Racked off of bentonite.  We didn't even pull a sample for tasting.  Next time.

There appears to be a gap in the record for this batch as the prior entry doesn't record bentonite addition.  I therefore don't know if it is stabilized and backsweetened.  Hopefully we can determine by tasting for residual sweetness that it is stabilized and sweetened.  It would not have made sense to bentonite without sweetening... so hopefully we did something that makes sense.

10/18/14:  Racked off of sediment and transferred to Jim's house.  Tastes flabby, young.  Unable to tell if this has been stabilized.  It does not have significant residual sweetness, though the %mas sach increased since the prior reading.  Will consider pulling a sample and adding honey to see if fermentation restarts or not, which would indicate stabilized vs. not.

12/31/15:  Racked of tiny bit of sediment.  Nice mead, ready to bottle.  Probably not going to test if stabilized since I don't plan to add more sweetness and fermentation appears done.

3/23/17:  Tasted to see if I should bottle.  A little bit phenolic, will probably do some adjusting.  I'd like to try a vanilla fruit or ginger fruit blend.  No adjustments made.

6/8/17:  Tasted to make adjustments before bottling.  Pretty well balanced, with pronounced astringency that is not overwhelming.  Adjusted by adding 5 tsp nutmeg extract and 1 tsp black pepper extract to 4 gallon batch immediately prior to bottling.  It did cloud up a little bit upon addition, wondering if anything will settle in the bottles.  A decent mead after 5 years, but not astounding.