Seriously, I didn't know today was the Superbowl. The only important thing on my mind was next week The Walking Dead resumes. At times I think that's smart and at the same time hate it. On the one hand I don't have to go a whole year without seeing this show. They give it to us in small doses and leave us wanting more. The bad news is that what they do give us is over too soon.
I don't even know who's playing, let alone care about the halftime show/commercials.
Yesterday I racked the prickly pear mead and it looks like this:
Looks pretty good, right?
The hydrometer reading tells a different story. The yeast didn't convert the sugars and there is next to no alcohol in that. My nose tells me differently. I'm reading up on various strengths of yeast and what they're supposed to do. The one I used for this batch suggests that this mead might be ready for consumption around six months from now... maybe.
What's bothering me is that all this may be a waste of time, money and effort. That's the small voice in the back of my head whispering doubts about what I'm doing. Everything is there, it simply needs time. As friends will tell you, I'm not the most patient person on the block. Having this as a hobby is my way of teaching myself patience. Making mead doesn't have a set end time. The final result may happen this time next year. Which reminds me. I need to go buy a Sharpie so I can write down brewing notes and dates on the bottle.
The color of this batch will change over the next month or two. In the meantime I am going to try another brand of yeast, one that will yield a drinkable mead in three to four months. There are recipes out there that will produce mead in one month. Eventually I'll get around to them, but for now I'm going to use the resources I've acquired so far. I'm looking at a can of elderberry juice that is going into my next mead brew. After I get that started, we'll see what there is to be done.
That should be a title. 'What there is to be done.' Actually I think that already exists in one form or another.
One additional note: Apparently I don't know how to read a hydrometer. I opened a dry mead yesterday. They managed to carbonate and improve the taste. Also it went straight to my head and gave me a buzz that lasted several hours. It is possible the hydrometer is broken somehow, seeing as it's glass I would have noticed. So mead production resumes, full steam ahead.
I don't even know who's playing, let alone care about the halftime show/commercials.
Yesterday I racked the prickly pear mead and it looks like this:
 |
| Not sure if I've invented a new color |
The hydrometer reading tells a different story. The yeast didn't convert the sugars and there is next to no alcohol in that. My nose tells me differently. I'm reading up on various strengths of yeast and what they're supposed to do. The one I used for this batch suggests that this mead might be ready for consumption around six months from now... maybe.
What's bothering me is that all this may be a waste of time, money and effort. That's the small voice in the back of my head whispering doubts about what I'm doing. Everything is there, it simply needs time. As friends will tell you, I'm not the most patient person on the block. Having this as a hobby is my way of teaching myself patience. Making mead doesn't have a set end time. The final result may happen this time next year. Which reminds me. I need to go buy a Sharpie so I can write down brewing notes and dates on the bottle.
The color of this batch will change over the next month or two. In the meantime I am going to try another brand of yeast, one that will yield a drinkable mead in three to four months. There are recipes out there that will produce mead in one month. Eventually I'll get around to them, but for now I'm going to use the resources I've acquired so far. I'm looking at a can of elderberry juice that is going into my next mead brew. After I get that started, we'll see what there is to be done.
That should be a title. 'What there is to be done.' Actually I think that already exists in one form or another.
One additional note: Apparently I don't know how to read a hydrometer. I opened a dry mead yesterday. They managed to carbonate and improve the taste. Also it went straight to my head and gave me a buzz that lasted several hours. It is possible the hydrometer is broken somehow, seeing as it's glass I would have noticed. So mead production resumes, full steam ahead.
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