Another year, another mead. After the first mead was good but dry, this time Tarou decided to try for sweeter. Out of my own curiousity, instead of clover honey this time I got orange blossom honey mostly because I personally like the flavor better.
Water and honey were simmered until foam rose, about 15 minutes. Foam was skimmed off, and mixture allowed to cool to about 85 degrees. Once cool, mixture was added to gallon jug, with a little reserved to pitch the yeast in. Yeast was then add, plus lemon zest and ginger.
This was also during my investigation into plum wine, and so we decided to split this mead batch when we racked it, half as is and half onto black plums. Not much to say about the plum mead except it was disappointing, its only relevant as to why there was only a half gallon of Tarou’s when it was done. As in experiment, this batch of mead was clarified with Sparkaloid, and then put through a funnel with a coffee filter and cotton balls. While it did trap some things, the excruciatingly slow rate of filter made us consider that it might be a bit much.
This mead did win Tarou a very nice drinking horn at Feast and Song, as well.
What do you think?