What did you brew during your Coronacation?

Medsen Fey · Mar 23, 2020

In no way do I mean to make light of the seriousness of the Wuhan Coronavirus - Covid-19 pandemic as it is a serious condition that is going to take many lives, particularly amongst the elderly. It is going to put a strain on the hospitals and health providers if several million people all get sick in the same month. You can do the math pretty easily - 300,000,000 people in the US and if even 0.5% wind up needing a ventilator (and the number may be as high as 5.0%) that means 1,500,000 ventilators. We ain't got 1,500,000 ventilators available. So all this self-quarantining may slow down the spread so we don't get more people sick at one time than we can care for. This is going to be a problem until enough people develop immunity or we get a good treatment or a vaccine. This is not an extinction level event, and if 99.5% of people survive the virus, all will be well but losing 1.5 million people is going to suck.

That being said, every cloud has a silver lining, and being able to spend more quality time with family is good. As a mead-crafter, being trapped at home means having time to get some meads going, and I'm taking full advantage.

I just started Bucky's Sweet Traditional over in the mead log https://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/34361-Mead-log-Bucky-s-Sweet-Traditional

I also started a wine kit that has been in the back of the closet.
Also starting some other things not yet posted including another Elderberry Meadeira with clover honey this time. Elderberries have been shown to have some antiviral activity against corona viruses, so it couldn't hurt to have more Tonic!

SO, what is everyone else brewing during their Coronacation??

bernardsmith · Mar 23, 2020

I have started three different t'ej. One with mixed berries, one with mango and mandarines and one just with honey. I generally make very small batches.

4give · Mar 23, 2020

Oh man! I've been wanting to start some new batches, but I'm still finishing up the ones I started Nov-Feb. All coming along and only the newer ones needing some minor attention since I have secondary additions - mainly my Acai, Cherry, Chocolate, Vanilla (ACCV) mead; and my blackberry vanilla mead.

Besides the fact that I'd need to buy more vessels to brew (and age) more, I'm out of honey until my next (hopeful) harvest in the Fall, so I'll have to wait since the uncertain times and budget need some attention too.

I'm lucky that I can work from home for a tech company supporting customers all over the world. That work and the upcoming Spring start-up of my apiaries will keep me plenty busy.

Elderberry is on my list to experiment with, but I really want to do at least a couple pyments (Zin and Syrah, and maybe blend). I still want to get to a cyser as well.

loveofrose · Mar 23, 2020

So far, I’ve got the following:
1. Sultry: Blackcurrant, figs, dates, hibiscus
2. Perfect T’ej: Gesho
3. Pyser: Pear mead
4. OmniGinger: Dried and Fresh Ginger, galangal, and turmeric with marshmallows root; Anti-Kungflu
5. Full Quarantine: Malty braggot (keep wifey happy)
6. Butterbeer: Yes, from HP.

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Medsen Fey · Mar 23, 2020

loveofrose said:
So far, I’ve got the following:
1. Sultry: Blackcurrant, figs, dates, hibiscus
2. Perfect T’ej: Gesho
3. Pyser: Pear mead
4. OmniGinger: Dried and Fresh Ginger, galangal, and turmeric with marshmallows root; Anti-Kungflu
5. Full Quarantine: Malty braggot (keep wifey happy)
6. Butterbeer: Yes, from HP.

Butterbeer?? I love the sound of that. You need something to wash down the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that taste like earwax and dirt.

Do you have that recipe posted somewhere?

loveofrose · Mar 23, 2020

I can send it to you. You have to make 2 meads and blend them. One is jacked and barrel aged so I haven’t posted it.

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jjhodge3 · Mar 23, 2020

Prayers out to all affected and possibly infected. Medsen is right and most health field experts are expecting a double spike, not just one spike and then flatten out the curve of people being infected. Please be safe out there.

I brewed a 5 gal Quarantine Kolsch with grains, hops and raspberry blossom

I did a 2 gal BOMM with Avacado and Wyeast 1388

Reading up on Ryan’s Mesquite trad make along and getting ready to start it. Got my D21 in this week

rb2112br · Mar 24, 2020

I didn't start anything during this coronacation, but I did start one back on 3/1. It's a 5.25 gal (looking for a ~5 gal yield) batch with an East TN wildflower honey that I just cold crashed yesterday. I brewed it as a trad with plans to add adjuncts in secondary. I'll let the owners and brew masters at a local brewery sample it dry with nothing added to see if they think it can be used as a good base for mead variations. My daughter, who likes dry wines and meads better than sweet or semi-sweet, said this one is better than my meadowfoam trad from a few months ago, so that's promising.

A little more specifics on the mead itself:
11 lb honey
Water (5.25 gal total)
OG - 1.076 (~9.8% ABV)
5g K1V yeast (rehydrated with GoFerm)
Followed TOSNA protocol

bernardsmith · Mar 24, 2020

loveofrose said:
So far, I’ve got the following:
1. Sultry: Blackcurrant, figs, dates, hibiscus
2. Perfect T’ej: Gesho
3. Pyser: Pear mead
4. OmniGinger: Dried and Fresh Ginger, galangal, and turmeric with marshmallows root; Anti-Kungflu
5. Full Quarantine: Malty braggot (keep wifey happy)
6. Butterbeer: Yes, from HP.

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Curious: what is a perfect t'ej?

loveofrose · Mar 24, 2020

bernardsmith said:
Curious: what is a perfect t'ej?

https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Perfect-tej/

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mannye · Mar 24, 2020

I am finally starting my mango/pine needle mead.

bernardsmith · Mar 24, 2020

loveofrose said:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Perfect-tej/

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Wow! Thanks but I wonder - I think that traditional t'ej tends to use a great deal more enchet than your recipe calls for. I will have to try your approach but I learned t use about 4 oz to a gallon with the gesho removed after two weeks and the t'ej continued to ferment/age another two weeks.

Squatchy · Mar 24, 2020

I have a 40-gallon barrel I need to empty soon. I never empty one until I have enough mead to fill up back up the same day.

I have 60 gallons of Blackberry blossom and 120 gallons of blackberry/meadowfoam. And several wine kits for my fruit fraction.

I will make 4 different meads. All the same must but 4 different strains of yeast, and then blend them back together once there are stable.

I have made this before 2 different times. And have won plenty of awards with it including Best of Shows as well. I have high expectations with this one as I have a good idea of how much of each strain I should make as well as my honey blend. And the stuff I have in that barrel now is the very best mead I have ever made in regards to blending. I made a bourbon wash as if I was going to distill some bourbon. And then once it was mashed up I added the same amount of a honey blend in gravity points and aged it in a freshly dumped bourbon barrel for the past year.

So I feel I have the very best of all the fractions dialed in now. And I need to get my Bourbon style mead out of the barrel before it becomes over-oaked. Once I get it past the feeding stage I [plan to start a few 6-gallon batches of other things I have made well in the past. I've made over 200 different meads and rarely do I ever make one a second time. I have 25 or more that were exceptional so I want to drop back and start dialing in some of them so at some point, I have a library full of really dialed in/proven recipes that have proven themselves in competitions, several times over. And then I can incorporate them in a book I have been working on if I ever seek to get it published.

jjhodge3 · Mar 26, 2020

Nice!!

I would buy that book for sure.

Squatchy · Mar 26, 2020

jjhodge3 said:
Nice!!

I would buy that book for sure.

Thank you. It's a huge endeavor. Seems never-ending

bernardsmith · Mar 27, 2020

I am sure that it must seem "never-ending" but there is so much hogwash out there that a well-written book based on best practices and time-tested recipes would be a real boon to mead makers .. and the publisher (if you know what I mean). I wonder if a company like Chelsea Green might help provide you with the support you might need...

Medsen Fey · Mar 27, 2020

jjhodge3 said:
Nice!!

I would buy that book for sure.

I think a lot of folks would like to see it. The art has moved substantially since the Compleat Meadmaker came out.

Squatchy · Mar 27, 2020

Thank you guys for the encouragement. The problem is you can go as deep as one can with science. I do pretty well it seems to teach "laymens" science. But I think it takes more than that to draw the entrest of a publisher. And it's that type of thing that drags on and on.

Squatchy · Mar 27, 2020

bernardsmith said:
I am sure that it must seem "never-ending" but there is so much hogwash out there that a well-written book based on best practices and time-tested recipes would be a real boon to mead makers .. and the publisher (if you know what I mean). I wonder if a company like Chelsea Green might help provide you with the support you might need...

Thanks for this. I have never heard of them but I will check it out

Medsen Fey · Mar 31, 2020

I also started Cocco's Loco Coccoloba Traditional which is using Sea Grape honey, one that I've not used before.

Additionally, I went berry picking at a strawberry u-pick farm. Lockdown or not, there is no safer place for social distancing than a large strawberry field in bright sunlight. You ain't catching anything there but a sunburn. I picked about 30 pound of really nice, ripe, strawberries, and I have them in the freezer while contemplating what to do with them. Any ideas are welcome!

What did you brew during your Coronacation?

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