No pictures this time, as it would just be a bunch of plastic jugs covered by t-shirts in a dark pantry. But I really do want to try and update this thing more often, and not once every few months. Even if it's just a "still clearing. Check back next month".
The plum went in to the secondary less than 24 hours after my last post.... and then proceeded to still be so vigorously fermenting that I had my first blowback. It's STILL producing pressure, which is impressive because I put it in there at 1.010, so this is likely to be truly beyond my hydrometer's ability to measure in terms of dryness. We tasted it and it was............... harsh. I'm hoping a lot of the sour is the yeast and the fact that it's young, and not because my plums weren't 100% mushy ripe yet. I have high hopes, but I don't know if it'll live up to them. It is darkening to a delightful deep reddish color, though, like dark tropical punch. If I can remember to keep the darned shirts on the carboys, hopefully this one won't fade.
The watermelon-strawberry is still slowly producing pressure, so it's not quite done yet. That one is still harsh, but has mellowed some. I'm hoping as time goes by the "I just drank rubbing alcohol" flavor will decrease and I'll get more fruit flavors. As it is, it smells a helluva lot better than it tastes. Could probably clean battery terminals with it....
The blueberry, on the other hand, is the only bright spot this summer. Slow to ferment because of the ascorbic (I can't spell) acid, I was afraid it wouldn't go dry. Well, I'm still worried but not as worried. The hydrometer still read 1.100 a few days after pitching the yeast. Then suddenly, it went to 1.090 and I did a small jig in my kitchen to celebrate proof that it WAS actually fermenting. And then in 12 hours it went to 1.070. Then 1.050, then it seemed to start lagging. At 1.030, I had to strain the solids and leave things to settle overnight as we were due to leave for a weekend away the next morning. It was still around 1.030 in the morning, so I crossed fingers and transferred to the secondary. And then watched the airlock anxiously to see if it would continue to ferment. Eventually pressure built up and it blooped, and I was happy.
A few days later, we came home from our delightful weekend away and (after checking in on all other, more higher order pets) when I checked in on all the wines, the blueberry was still blooping away, pretty steadily and while not massively rapidly, it was definitely not slow. This sucker might actually go dry!
Boyfriend and I had a taste before it all went in the secondary, and oh my word. If this mellows and ages the way I think it will, this will rival and could possibly surpass the mead. I liked it when it was still sweet, of course, but I have a feeling this is one I might like dry. There is so much blueberry flavor in there. I can't imagine how this is the MEDIUM bodied one!
I was planning to do one more batch this summer, as I have 5 carboys, but the plum predictably needed the second carboy for overflow. A lot of overflow. Like a gallon and a half of overflow. So I will probably just wait until I bottle the strawberry-watermelon to do my bochet. Gives me time to save up for the honey I'll need, and time to concentrate on Dragon*Con. :-p
No comments:
Post a Comment