5/12/23
2 lemons peeled
1/2 orange peeled
4 oz ginger (peeled and sliced)
4 cups water
2 bags Earl Grey
Boiled the peels for 10 minutes. Steeped the tea bags for 10 minutes while cooling
1 Gallon Niagara Filtered Water (From Dollar tree)
1 Gallon tap water (using empty filtered bottle)
About 5 lbs honey (2 lbs Gleens and 3 1.8 lb Clover honey from Aldi)
1 1/2 tsp pectic Enzym
1 tsp Fermaid-O (reconstituted)
1 whole pack of Mangrove Jacks Mead Yeast (reconstituted)
100 raisins (not counted out but a lot)
I added the water and honey to the bucket and stirred. I added the lemon ginger tea to the bucket and stirred. Added the raisins.
I added the other gallon of water (using it to shake ALL the honey out of the containers) and stirred. I didn’t think I was going to get the flavor that I wanted so I added all the peels (lemon, orange and ginger) right to the bucket and stirred. I took a gravity reading: 1.090 starting gravity.
I added the yeast at 85 degrees to the bucket and put the lid on. 1 day since pitch. It’s a FULL bucket.
5/30/23
Took Gravity reading: 1.002. Initial taste: Amazing. Lemon and ginger come through very nicely. I might back sweeten slightly. It doesn’t need much.
I’ll take another gravity reading on Friday. Need to rack into secondary.
6/1/23
S.G. = 1.000
Racked and taste tested. It’s got a strong lemon flavor. In my testing adding more ginger is not the answer. I sweetened it (the tasting only) and that cut the lemon a little. I added vanilla and that seem to smooth it out nicely. In the next week or two I’ll rack again and add sweetener and vanilla. More notes later.
6/12/23
No gravity reading today but I stabilized with 1tsp Potassium Sorbate and 1/4 tsp Potassium Metabisulphite. I tasted just a very small spoonful and was pleasantly surprised. It’s starting to mellow and the ginger flavor is coming through nicely. I will let it set for a few more days and rack it, backsweeten and bottle.
6/14/23
Racked, back sweetened and bottled today. S.G. was 1.090 with a final Gravity of 1.000 and back sweetened to 1.028.
35 days with an ABV of 11.9%
7/17/23
Tasted at 1 month and OMG! It’s my best yet. Mouthfeel is great, flavor is awesome. The lemon hits at the front and the ginger kicks in at the end. It’s sweet and perfect. I will be making this one again.
7/29/23
I shared a bottle with Drew. It’s still very tasty. Ginger flavor up front, lemon on the back of the tongue. Great mouthfeel and pleasant aroma.