What, prey tell, is this coppery lovely you see beneath?
Why, this is a Fig Vanilla Mead (fermented with Port yeast and aged on oak chips) that I will be bottling in honor of this day. My recipe/process:
Fig Vanilla Mead (original brew date 10/14/12)
3 gallon batch
9 lbs. Clover honey
1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 1/12 tsp. yeast energizer
Port yeast
Original gravity = 1.100 (oh my!)
- 10/23/12 Racked atop 2.5 lbs. Mission figs.
- 11/9/12 Racked off figs and onto 1 oz. (light toast) oak chips.
- 12/21/12 Racked off oak chips and onto 3 vanilla beans (which had been steeping in spiced rum for several months) and new oak chips.
- 1/20/13 Racked into a fresh fermenter, off oak chips and vanilla beans (to finish). Split and added one vanilla bean back.
- 3/3/13 Final gravity = 1.00 (approximate ABV = 13%)
Tasting notes (per the Brewmistress Log in March):
Pleasant full fig flavor, round and fruity with a vanilla finish.
Aaaand, coming up in part two? I bottle this exquisite creation, taste it again, and explain what the muck on the bottom of the carboy is.
Cheers, and enjoy (or make) some mead today!
