First Meads, just saying hi!

Been lurking for about a month now but just thought I'd pop in and say hello!

Mead newbie but everything is going swimmingly. Spent so much time reading around here and the homebrew forums and got everything off to a great start! So much helpful info!

Our trees had so much fruit, and after drying/freezing/giving away we had no idea what to do with the rest... So we picked up 30lbs of local, Okanagan Valley (Canada) wildflower honey in mid August, picked up some wine making equipment from a guy who was getting rid of all his stuff, and went at it! What can I say; it's so much fun. I live in wine central up here, and I've never done any homebrewing my entire life. I think I'm addicted.

First 5g batch is a white plumb melomel. Used EC-1118 (yeah, i know) for its temperature tolerance (its hot here, even with the AC cranked), fermented like a beast. No fusels, still hot though, tasted about what I'd expect; Racked into secondary with 7lbs of plums, orange, zest and some cinnamon for just an added hint of flavor. Did a quick tasting with sample/fruit puree and if it turns out anything like that after aging I'll be blown away. Just a little fermentation around the fruit going on, not too much. Just watching the beginnings of the haze dropping. Fruit aroma is MUCH more pronounced than it was in the primary.

Then I read about JAOM; why not I thought? Doing two batches of the standard by the book JAOM for that pumpkin-spicy-orange goodness. Another single gallon batch with blueberries and just a few blackberries (the tannins, right?) and vanilla; One other I spooned a bit of nutrient in, went fruit free (aside from raisins) and am making with just straight-up honey to perserve the natural flavors of this freaking amazing local goo. Wondered how that would work with the JAOM recipe but it smells absolutely divine; They all do!

I have some different yeasts on the way--D47 and 71b--for attempting some more large batches during these colder months where I can more easily control a lower temperature in the basement. A friend of mine is a professional graphic artists so I should have some amazing bottles/labels incoming for at least the JAOMs soon. Here's hoping! Anyway I'll be back along to post pics as things progress.

Ugh, I'm hooked.

Just a little update.

My five gallon white-plumb melomel is coming along nicely. I was worried about using the EC-1118, but after racking it once on to more fruit, and now again to finish clearing, the sample has such delicious fruit notes and the honey notes still linger (maybe not entirely blown out the airlock). Also, I don't seem to understand why people don't like a dry mead; I find it very comparable to a dry white, which I am a fan of!

The four batches of JAOM and variants, I just sampled. All quite amazing even at a young age. The blueberry/blackberry/vanilla variant came out exceptionally well and the color is just astounding. Did one the same style but as a traditional, only using a few raisins for yeast nutrient... Clearing just as fast as the others and I'm more impressed with it as an experiment than I thought it would be. Overall, the JAOM recipe seems to be extremely versatile and can be pushed and stretched in many directions. The only thing I can fault is that they're a little sweet for my taste; Great desert meads and I'm sure my company will love them. Definitely going to do some more test batches in this fashion.

Used my last few lbs of honey for a one gallon bochet. Ferment seems a little stuck at the moment, and it seems to be a slightly more tempermental must to get going. Going to re-pitch today, as I don't think the yeast I used was in the best of shape. What a sticky mess to make though!

I'll post pictures at bottling.