Mead

[the.fee.fairy]

racking off?

Is that the same as bottling?

I found a couple of surprise demijohns in the shed...might try some Mead ready for next christmas!!

Don't understand some terms though...is there a website or anything that has a list of them?

[The Chili Monster]

Racking is the action of removing the contents off its lees (sediment) by siphon from one gallon-jar (demijohn) to a fresh (clean) one, once the wine has cleared. It is usual to carry out this procedure at least twice, preferably thrice, before bottling.
See also this thread for a link to a home winemaking website.
http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3301

I recommend thoroughly that you buy or borrow a copy of CJJ Berry's First steps in Winemaking for clear, well set-out advice on technique plus foolproof recipes.

[the.fee.fairy]

ta very muchly. I now believe i have a rough understanding...

:D

[the.fee.fairy]

Chili monster - if you go to yoru local pound shop, they've got some Gales Runny honey in there for £1 a jar (1lb), so you might not need to stock upso much after all

[the.fee.fairy]

I've just started a batch of mead today.
Its an experimental recipe (aren't they all...)

I had:

4 jars of runny honey, approx. 1lb per jar
2 teabags (Yorkshire Hard if that makes a difference)
2 lemons
some bread yeast
and water.

I boiled enough water to fill a demijohn with the two teabags in it.
Then i dissolved the honey in it, and left it to cool.

When it was cool (just above body temperature), i added the juice of the lemons and poured it into the demijohn.

Then i added a teaspoon of yeast and left it.

Its bubbling nicely already...just hope it doesn't explode, i've already exploded one today, don't want to lose another one!!

[the.fee.fairy]

Mead's going well, its slowed down on the bubbling, so i'm going to rack it off tomorrow (see...i do understand!!) and fill it to the top with sugar solution. I'm aiming for quite a thick mead - like Moniack hopefully!

I'll let you know how it goes.

At the moment, it looks a bit like pond water/cloudy ale.

[Milims]

We could just do the easy thing and buy it - living so close to Lindisfarne where they make mead - but finding out that its a marriage drink (and we are hopefully getting married soon if we find the time!! lol) it looks like we will be making our own!! Apparently there is some link with my grandmothers family and the mead at Lindisfarne - maybe I should try it and hope the genetic link brings luck!!!
Why the egg white?
Helen

[Dendrobium]

The egg white is confusing me too! I know you can whisk up egg white and pass it through beer/wine to clear all the grot from it (they use that in some parts of spain to clear sherry).

The vitamin 'c' I guess is instead of citric acid which helps the yeast along, that's why alot of country wines use lemons, oranges or citric acid to help the yeast convert the sugars to alchol. Honey also alone hasn't enough nutrients on it's own, and often you need to add some vit b nutrients for it as well.

[Shirley]

I'd guess that the whisked egg white is to clear it.... but I've not made any yet as the aberdeenshire honey that I had earmarked for this was EATEN!!!!!

[the.fee.fairy]

i didn't put egg white in mine.
meh...we'll see what happens!!

[hedgewizard]

I've just come across a recipe for making mock honey out of parsley which used to be used in the war. Hmmm... I always thought bees were doing their best to make themselves indispensable, and this just proves it!

[the.fee.fairy]

Mock honey? Does it taste good?

[the.fee.fairy]

Racked off the mead today - i added some sugar water to kick start it and fill the demojohn. I had loads of sugar water left, and because i'm not the best at pouring stuff from one to another, i decided to put the rest of it in the demijohn with the lees left to see what would happen. I wanted to let it sit for a while to separate again anyway, so its all an experiment!!

Mead is looking a little less like pond water - it now looks like cloudy beer, so its getting closer to the colour i'm aiming for. It tastes sweet, and smells winey, so something good must be happening!

I'm wondering if, if i put some more honey in it instead of sugar water next time i rack it (maybe more of the honey/tea combination) whether it will turn out darker and more Moniack-like rather than the lighter Lindisfarne style (which, if i remember correctly is grape win with added honey - like their fruit wines are). I'm aiming for a dar brown (a bit lighter than Tia Maria) thick mead with lots of deep honey flavour, rather than the lighter top notes.

Will keep you all updated!!

[red]

my mead has stopped working... I think, and its a cloudy golden colour. must have a test soon. wonder if it will clear any more

no egg whites when in mine.. mine was honey tea water and yeast.. then when i racked it last, i topped up with sugar syrup

[the.fee.fairy]

I read somewhere that it had to be racked 3 times, and this is my first racking. I added sugar water too, with some lemon juice in it.


Mine is also a cloudy golden colour (more on the orangey brown side of golden!).

Fingers crossed!