First off a happy summer solstice to all of you. As always, it feels like we're at least a month into summer here by the time the solstice rolls around. I've instituted a new family tradition that we'll celebrate the solstices (and maybe the equinoxes too) with some homemade hooch. Today I think it will be more of our hefeweizen as it's already at its peak and delicious. The hefeweizen was actually our second attempt at liquor making, the first one was the honey mead we started several months ago but just bottled this weekend. The mead was a bit of a learning curve for us as we learned some important lessons in sanitation, and how as it turns out, you should check all of your seals BEFORE you put the mead in the primary fermenter, otherwise you may have to put your hand in the brew to tighten things up. Despite the odds the mead turned out drinkable and not poisonous. We opted for a dry mead rather than a sweet one and this one is definitely dry. I think we left it in the fermenter a little long as it tastes more like a chardonnay that was left on the counter overnight... a hint of vinegar. Hey, I said it was drinkable, not wonderful. We're hoping that some aging will help it get a little better.
22 bottles of La Mano Venenosa MeadThe rest of the tiny farm is being productive as well. The 11 chickens are pitching in laying plenty of eggs in the 105 degree heat. Here's a week's worth:
Not bad considering that a few of these birds are pushing four years old and I'm still getting about 9 eggs a day!
22 bottles of La Mano Venenosa Mead
4 comments:
Aw, the vinegar taste. Don't let them age as they will get worse. Acetobacter is what makes it taste like vinegar and actually what creates vinegar. It really likes to turn already fermented things into vinegar, which is basically what red wine vinegar is. You start with an alcoholic liquid and introduce acetobacter to it to create vinegar. I'm planning on making vinegar soon to use for canning. It's a slow process though, taking about a year, so drink up and enjoy!
We just kegged a raspberry-cherry hard cider and our first original recipe (look ma! no kit!) honey apricot ale.
Woah, scrap those labels off. It makes a big difference presentation wise. Even if this batch of mead has a bit of vinegar taste to it.
Thanks for the tip Rachel. :)
Mikey- Most of the labels are off... guess I should have switched some around when I took the pic. We had planned on making special labels for them, but that was when we planned on sharing it with friends. This stuff isn't quite good enough to share though. :/
"The Poison Hand Mead" See, I need creative names like that for my brews.
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