# Flight 19 Barleymead



## Anthony (Jul 7, 2005)

05/31/06 Racked to secondary. OG 1.047 ~ Temp 72F

Will rack off lies and blend with additional honey when fermentation has completed.

06/02/06 ~ SG 1.030 ~ Temp 75F

Racked off lies into 12lb wildflower honey, pitched yeast saved from last braggot, added filtered water bringing the volume to 6 gallons. SG 1.140 ~ Temp 80

Today: gravity 1.030 ~ Temp 70F.

This should be near finished, I don't expect the gravity to drop much.

Aroma; Honey, malt and yeast.

Flavor; Malt is up front and sweet, with a strong chocolate note lasting well into the finish. The honey is well pronounced and theres a hint of hops bitterness.

Appearance; Medum chocolate brown, wondering what shade it will take on once the yeast has settled out.

Thinking about making a hops tea, then add measured amounts to a liter sample to calculate how much would bring the batch up to a bitterness I like.

Going to boil irish moss later this afternoon, then add the water.

Anthony


----------



## Anthony (Jul 7, 2005)

Gravity 1.022 ~ Temp 72F

Racked off lies onto 1 quart water used to cook Irish Moss.

With 62% of the grian bill being cara/roasted malt which was steeped, I fingered the FG would be around 1.030.

This is the first "Braggot Method" batch.

Dark brown in color with deep red highlights.

Aroma; Roasty aroma with honey and dark malt character, hinting of caramel and chocolate, very rich and sweet. Fruit notes like plums and cherries. Alcohol is apparent and warming. No hops aroma.

Flavor; Honey and a strong, sweet malt flavor that stops short of being burnt. Defined chocolate flavor, and a sharp taste. Very warm alcohol and low hops and malt bitterness. A tart, dry finish. The alcohol is very warm in the finish.

By far the most complex mead I have made.


----------



## Anthony (Jul 7, 2005)

The 3.5 gallons of ale was 3.3% abv before blending with honey and water for a total volume of 6 gallons.

ABV 1.9% ~ gravity 1.140 ~ potential 19.9%

This mead is 16.93% abv now.

Even though EC-1118 was used for tertiary. I feel it may need to be watered down so as not to kill of the yeast before bottle conditioning.

Anthony


----------



## Anthony (Jul 7, 2005)

Racked into 2 quarts water used to boil 0.7oz Galena pellet's for 1 hour, leaving 3" of trub behind.

This hops addition should bring the IBU's up to 15.


----------



## Anthony (Jul 7, 2005)

Primed and bottled last night, this one may need to age a bit. The alcohol is warming not hot or harsh, but... it does give a feeling like heart burn.

Any thoughts on what the causes of this is?

Clarity is brilliant.

Anthony


----------



## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

In my opinion this is caused by a combination of fusels, acidity and hard water. I have (unfortunately) made many meads with the effect that you describe. Most age well if refermented and bottled still. These are usually high alcohol methglins for me.

BTW I was thinking about your dislike of hop aroma. It occurred to me that the common solution that Belgian brewers use is to age hops in dry warmth. This removes the hop aroma, but keeps the bittering and the preservative qualities.


----------

