Widely regarded as the worst vlog in Brisbane, we here at Beer Geek Wednesday enjoy a dalliance in superfluous material. From mistakenly posting on a Tuesday, to writing about wine, nailing the brief isn’t always on the agenda. And although we have discoursed the antebeer, propagandist regime of mead, today we’re back, to launch a very special episode of Blossum/Mead.
Clocking in at our highest abv product ever, with zero back-sweetening and a finishing gravity of 0.996SG, hailing from the roof, it’s stillllllllllllllllll meeeeeeead. Not sticky, not sparkling, not traditional and definitely not modern, fermented with Chardonnay yeast and beautifully aged in a stainless steel keg for 4 months, it’s our first foray into big kid mead.
In the past, we have used both English Saccharomyces yeast strains and the endogenous culture from the hive. However, the alcohol tolerance was always limiting. To get to that clean, dry finish but with higher alcohol levels we went with strain that is readily used in the whine (intended) industry, D47. The fermentation was controlled on the cooler side, to reduce ester production and completed in a couple weeks. The result is a clean, crisp experience with the alcohol providing structure and the perception of sweetness.
The majority of this batch made its way into some fresh fill Barossa Shiraz barrels, for another time. After the barrels were filled, we put aside the excess for a rainy day. Well, today it’s pouring as we tap this Pink Grapefruit and Raspberry infused, single keg only, 13.5% still mead. The fruits balance nicely with the dry mead, with a zesty bitter finish balancing the alcohol sweetness. Luke gets more bearable with each glass.
Sam's allergic.
Clocking in at our highest abv product ever, with zero back-sweetening and a finishing gravity of 0.996SG, hailing from the roof, it’s stillllllllllllllllll meeeeeeead. Not sticky, not sparkling, not traditional and definitely not modern, fermented with Chardonnay yeast and beautifully aged in a stainless steel keg for 4 months, it’s our first foray into big kid mead.
In the past, we have used both English Saccharomyces yeast strains and the endogenous culture from the hive. However, the alcohol tolerance was always limiting. To get to that clean, dry finish but with higher alcohol levels we went with strain that is readily used in the whine (intended) industry, D47. The fermentation was controlled on the cooler side, to reduce ester production and completed in a couple weeks. The result is a clean, crisp experience with the alcohol providing structure and the perception of sweetness.
The majority of this batch made its way into some fresh fill Barossa Shiraz barrels, for another time. After the barrels were filled, we put aside the excess for a rainy day. Well, today it’s pouring as we tap this Pink Grapefruit and Raspberry infused, single keg only, 13.5% still mead. The fruits balance nicely with the dry mead, with a zesty bitter finish balancing the alcohol sweetness. Luke gets more bearable with each glass.
Sam's allergic.
