Bentonite and Rudimel
04/07/2018
Well, one week after hitting the Orange Blossom mead with some Bentonite and its surprising crystal clear and ready to be racked. They say that you need to be able to read a newspaper through the mead to know if it’s clear enough to rack. Now that I live in the 21st Century, I no longer get the newspaper and have to rely other technology to test the clarity of it. I placed the carboy in front of the window see if I can look outside through it in order to test it. From the image, it is quite evident that it is indeed clear and I decided to rack it one more time to clear out any lingering Bentonite.
As if I didn’t have enough to do today, decided to rack my Cherry Melomel into the secondary fermenter. Rather than placing whole or crushed fruit in it, I decided to puree the cherries in a blender firster. The plan is to help with cap management as it continues to ferment in the secondary making it easier for me. I’m hoping that the air bubbles will be able to escape through the puree and not form air pockets in the fruit. This causes the chunks of fruit to float up and “capping” the carboy preventing the carbon dioxide for escaping.
The third and last thing that I did this weekend was to start some Rudamel, also known as Raspberry Mead. I’m trying to start two mead a month and keeping track of the next date that it will need my attention. Up until now, I’ve been counting months instead of weeks and I think that’s starting to confuse me. I also am finding that I’m not exactly sure when the batch will be needing my attention. I’m hoping that my placing the next date without any other information will help me keep track making it easier for me planning for the future.
