![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Well, probably more like "Apricot Sparkling Small Mead". I'm still experimenting with alcoholic things to do with the annual apricot crop. The other inspiration this year is another kilo jar of Baggytrousers own honey. All home grown! including the lemons- juice gleaned over time from various sources.
The recipe is informed by three of my previous brews: Apricot wine, Apricot cider and Honey beer.
Proposed Apricot Champagne mead
3kg apricots
~half cup lemon juice ice cubes
Half cup strong black tea
Defrost, mouli
1 tsp pectinase
1 campden tablet
Combine, cover, wait 24hrs. (ready tonight)
~1kg honey
Say 3L water
Heat, boil 5min, skim, cool
All to fermenter, make up to 10L
2g? Wine yeast nutrient
Champagne yeast
While I wait for the campden tablet to do it's work, I have the honey sitting in a jar of hot water to aid in it's extraction.
Will need to rack before bottling, but the apricot cider worked well and that sat on the pulp for a couple weeks before racking. So doing this at the same time as a beer should be ok, hmm, except the lager may take longer. At the worst, I’ll have to buy or borrow another fermenter.
This all went to the fermenter first thing Monday 18th. OG 1.052 or a little higher, the pulp I think was causing problems getting a good reading.
Now ferment has started, the pulp is floating, borne by the bubbles.
Bubbling seemed to be inhibited by this pulp layer. Funny, I expected it to sink. After a week the ferment had slowed. Ran the lower clear liquid off to a clean fermenter (7.5L in 30L pot looks lonely). Within a few hours that was bubbling slowly but more evenly. Strained the remaining liquid (~1L) through cloth to a PET bottle (not sure it is sterile). It can ferment there and get bottled if it seems ok
2 weeks ferment.
Finished at a gravity of 1ish so ~6.5% alcohol.
Bottled into 23 small stubbie bottles*, sugar charged. Very pale, not much apricot colour left.
Flavour rather strange. Not horrid but not pleasant either. Might have overdone the lemon juice? Let’s give it some time and see how it goes. There is hope. The apricot wine of 18mths ago started as evil rocket fuel and is now pleasant to drink.
*two bottle are from the PET secondary- lids marked with three dots
This tasted bad when new. I'm not sure what the nasty flavour was. It lessened gradually and now at 3+ years it's finally tasty.
The recipe is informed by three of my previous brews: Apricot wine, Apricot cider and Honey beer.
Proposed Apricot Champagne mead
3kg apricots
~half cup lemon juice ice cubes
Half cup strong black tea
Defrost, mouli
1 tsp pectinase
1 campden tablet
Combine, cover, wait 24hrs. (ready tonight)
~1kg honey
Say 3L water
Heat, boil 5min, skim, cool
All to fermenter, make up to 10L
2g? Wine yeast nutrient
Champagne yeast
While I wait for the campden tablet to do it's work, I have the honey sitting in a jar of hot water to aid in it's extraction.
Will need to rack before bottling, but the apricot cider worked well and that sat on the pulp for a couple weeks before racking. So doing this at the same time as a beer should be ok, hmm, except the lager may take longer. At the worst, I’ll have to buy or borrow another fermenter.
This all went to the fermenter first thing Monday 18th. OG 1.052 or a little higher, the pulp I think was causing problems getting a good reading.
Now ferment has started, the pulp is floating, borne by the bubbles.
Bubbling seemed to be inhibited by this pulp layer. Funny, I expected it to sink. After a week the ferment had slowed. Ran the lower clear liquid off to a clean fermenter (7.5L in 30L pot looks lonely). Within a few hours that was bubbling slowly but more evenly. Strained the remaining liquid (~1L) through cloth to a PET bottle (not sure it is sterile). It can ferment there and get bottled if it seems ok
2 weeks ferment.
Finished at a gravity of 1ish so ~6.5% alcohol.
Bottled into 23 small stubbie bottles*, sugar charged. Very pale, not much apricot colour left.
Flavour rather strange. Not horrid but not pleasant either. Might have overdone the lemon juice? Let’s give it some time and see how it goes. There is hope. The apricot wine of 18mths ago started as evil rocket fuel and is now pleasant to drink.
*two bottle are from the PET secondary- lids marked with three dots
This tasted bad when new. I'm not sure what the nasty flavour was. It lessened gradually and now at 3+ years it's finally tasty.