Well.. try and try again. Hopefully I don’t have to dump the entire batch down the driveway this time. Mary and I stopped into our local market and picked up a gallon of bottled apple juice. This time I read the label and it included no preservatives.
I threw together another apple cyser with the following ingredients
- 2.5 lbs of orange blossom honey
- 3 whole cloves
- 8 whole allspice berries
- 20 halved raisins
- 1 cup of black tea
- 1/2 tsp hydrated yeast hulls
- 1/2 packet Lavlin 71B yeast hydrated
- fill the rest of the carboy with apple juice
Brew details
- Started: 9/11/2022
- Bottle #3
- OG: 1.121
- Swish daily until 9/24/2022
- Leave undisturbed 9/24/2022 – 10/15/2022 the rack into another gallon carboy. Add graham crackers for pie crust flavor.
- Finish the process and bottle on 12/23/2022.
10/5/2022 Update:
I racked this brew into another gallon jug. Below is the ABV calculation (assuming I read the scale right):
OG = 1.121
FG = 1.030
0.091 * 131.25 = 11.94% ABV
10/10/2022 Update:
Mead is clearing from the top down. The top 2 inches of the mead is clear. Hoping the rest of the brew completely settles to the bottom before it’s racked into bottles in 2 weeks.
10/16/2022 Update:
I bottled the mead today. I was able to get two 750ml bottles as well as 2 16 oz bottles. Still a little “footy” but not bad for a first attempt. One of the two 750ml bottles will go into the storage room for a year. Should be interesting.
FG = 1.030 which is the same as the earlier reading. It should be ready to bottle,