I have been so busy with a variety of activities and priorities that I have not spent much time on my winemaking and of course zero time on this blog in awhile.

Just when things seem to quieten down where I might be able to start a new batch, something comes up - and it even got to the point where I hardly had time to even check the water level in the air locks of some of the pre-bottled wines. This past weekend, when I finally decided I had better do something than risk losing some nice wines, it was with a bit of dread that I removed airlocks and had a “wee sniff” after noting low water level.

But thus far, everything seems ok!

I have quite a few wines that I would like to bottle and clean up the wine making area that I have so I can prepare. Prepare because it is summer and I’d prefer to be making wine now from that which is fresh and local rather than simply start another wine kit or wait for autumn for the grapes to be pressed. Berries and fruits and even vegetables are something I promised I myself I would do much more experimenting with this year.

There is still time!

Speaking of vegetables, I did bottle my Parsnip Wine yesterday. I didn’t really taste it but did have some on my tongue - it was not at all unpleasant, but I could imagine that if I tried serving it to someone who was expecting a grape wine, they might certainly be wondering about my wine making. I also think it will be better, chilled.

So I’ve got some racking to do, some bottling - a mead that has been bulk ageing now for two years should be bottled as well as some Mels. Then I’ll give the area a really good clean up and do a bit of reorganization and start planning on some summer crop wines.

Some readers will know I have a son that is now four years old. David has accompanied me in the past to vineyards in Niagara to pick up fresh juice for winemaking, and has “toured” vineyards, looking at all the “wine juice berries.”

Some will also know that I have a Maltese puppy who’s name is Rudy. David and Rudy get along awesomely, most of the time.

Today was a day where I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking up some stuff - but also doing some racking - and starting a new wine. I recently picked up a R.J. Spagnols “Restricted Quantities” Malbec kit - which I’ve started a review of, here.

First, David and I racked the Petit Chenin and Barolo I started last week. The we started a couple of loaves of bread like this. Then, David and I decided to start the R.J. Spagnols Malbec kit this evening.

David was quite helpful, stirring up the reconstituted juice prior to taking a specific gravity reading, and then helping to stir in the bentonite mixture. But - he also stuck his finger into the must and licked the residual juice and decided it was yummy.

So yummy, he wanted more. So we’ve decided to go to the grocery store tomorrow to buy some grape juice. Rudy the puppy also seems to have a sweet tooth; he seemed to enjoy discovering - and then licking - the splashes of the sweet juice that were on the floor before David and I cleaned them up. Rudy would have cleaned them up himself, I’m sure - the way he was lapping away with his tongue - but a clean kitchen is a good kitchen - and poor Rudy never did get to finish his licking.

The last several posts here have mostly been about the recent meads I started, and of course the sweet mead I am attempting using White Labs Sweet Mead Yeast (# WLP720).

To summarize, I started a batch of sweet mead on the 28th of January. I had misread the “Best Before” date on the vial of the liquid yeast and the date on it was for last year.

I went ahead and made an activator while keeping my mead safe for a couple of days with added sulphite, hoping the yeast would still be viable. Then, I went ahead and pitched the yeast on the 3oth of January.

This morning, the 1st of February I was fully prepared to observe no yeast activity and pitch a package of 71B-1122 that I had on hand. But to to my joy, there was definitely yeast activity in the sweet mead batch! A good aerating stir produced lots of foamy CO2 on top as well.

I did not take a Specific Gravity reading this morning - I’ll do that in a few days and watch the progress over the next ten days or so.

I guess when some say that this liquid sweet mead yeast takes a while to get going, they mean it!

I’ll continue to update information on this sweet mead as the fermentation continues.

As I wrote on the 25th of January, I started a new mead which used 20 lbs. of honey and a starting SG reading of 1.110. Fermentation continues to be vigourous six days later and today, I took a SG reading which showed 1.090. Just to repeat if you are interested, I used Lalvin EC-1118 yeast strain. It looks like this may take a good ten days in the primary before I rack to a carboy.

I’m still not confident in the vial of “Sweet Mead Yeast” (#WLP720), the liquid yeast from White Labs that I wanted to use in the second batch of mead I started this week. After 30 hours in the orange juice/yeast nutrient activator, there is no activity that I can observe - although it does have a “yeasty” smell to it now. But I don’t know if that is because the activator containing juice, sitting at room temperature for almost a day and a half, would take on that odour regardless.

But, I’m going to give it a try anyhow and see how it goes. If there’s no noticeable activity in two days, I may decide to pitch some 71B-1122 yeast, where over on this forum, a “Frank” writes, “I really like the one I did w/ 71B-1122. That mead tasted good even after only a couple months of fermenation. ”

I’m not entirely convinced that a strain of yeast will produce a beverage that has that much difference in taste - I think there are a lot more variables than yeast strain that affect the final taste of a wine or mead. But, if this liquid yeast doesn’t come through, it will make for a good experiment.

Back in the latter part of 2005, I ordered a variety of dry yeasts from a vendor that offered a good variety in stock that I wanted to try. As well, they stocked White Labs “Sweet Mead Yeast,” which comes in liquid form.

Well, I misread the “Best Before” date on the vial of liquid yeast when it arrived. My eyes are getting dimmer, I guess - but I had read it as January 26 - 08 when in fact it was January 26 - 06. I’ve never used liquid yeast before, so it didn’t strike me as odd to read an expiry date just over a year away after receipt of it.

Last evening, I decided to make use of some time - and honey, and try a sweet mead using White Labs yeast. I took the vial out of the refrigerator where it has been stored since I received it, and started to prepare the honey and must while the yeast warmed up.

After my must was prepared, I took another look at the vial of liquid yeast, and realized that I had read the expiry date incorrectly.

So, I sent an email to the folk at White Labs, and JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson, their Sales and Marketing Manager was swift to respond. I had several emails with her throughout the day as she offered me advice and tips - and let me tell you - over a five dollar product, or whatever that vial cost me, I’m very impressed with White Labs’ - and JoAnne’s - willingness to respond to me practically immediately!

To be honest, I cannot do that myself with all of my own clients.

We’re still not exactly sure if this yeast that I’ve been keeping will indeed come along, but both JoAnne and I are crossing our fingers and giving it some time before I decide to resort to one of my dry yeasts that I have.

I put the yeast in an activator - and have seen no observable yeast activity - although I am smelling a “yeasty” smell that was not evident before. It’s also my understanding that liquid yeast, especially “Sweet Mead” yeast, can take a while to show signs of activity.

I’ll let you know how it goes. But regardless, Kudos to White Labs and JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson!

“Max Nelson earned his PhD in classical studies through pioneering scholarship and 10 litres of the oldest beer ever produced in Canada.

“The beer recipe reflected what they were doing in Egypt millennia ago,” says Nelson, a University of Windsor professor and beer history guru.

He describes the ancient beer, called bouza in Arabic, as intensely sweet-sour in taste and a beautiful ruby red in colour – once the heavy sediment settles.”

~ The Toronto Star

Along with a wee bit of history of beer and some attempts at tracing back why beer is sometimes shunned in preference for wine, the article contains perhaps the oldest known (and very simple) beer recipe known to man.

It’s interesting - and I may give it a try sometime.

As mentioned earlier this evening, I decided to start a new Mead. Mead takes a good long time to age to be enjoyed thoroughly - minimum of one year. In fact, I started a mead over a year ago and will continue to age it before serving to others for at least another six months.

However, using this recipe, I do find this mead to be a bit on the “thin” side as far as taste. This evening, I decided to increase the number of pounds of honey by almost 50%, and I was aiming for a specific gravity of at least 1.090. Using Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, this should provide a dry mead. An even higher specific gravity would be fine as well and indeed, increasing the amount of honey to 20 lbs and then adding enough water to just go over the 23 litre (5 Imperial gallon) mark, I ended up with a specific gravity of 1.110. A touch higher than what I was aiming for - but within range that things can be fixed later if need be.

I didn’t check acidity - I’ll worry about that later. I’m too tired now :).

I’m not sure exactly how much water I’ve used by volume for the 20 lbs. of honey but basically what I did was use a kitchen scale that uses a large wide mouth plastic container for placing material in to be weighed. Five pounds of honey by volume takes up a full volume amount of the plastic container - and five pounds of honey combined with two lots of water that can be carried by the plastic container is about enough for my biggest pots to hold.

If you read the recipe, you’ll realize that the honey should be combined with twice it’s volume of water and then boiled for awhile, and the foamy bits skimmed off.

So I have two large pots and therefore went through two separate events of boiling the honey/water, each event using two pots.

So, making mead this way is time consuming as far as one evening goes. You really do need to boil the honey/water mixture for at least half an hour and skim off the foam that appears on top. As you skim off the foam, you should end up with mostly just a boiling liquid. The foam will contain wax and impurities and the mead will clear much better the more foam that is skimmed.

A few other suggestions: Using liquid honey, if you can get it in a large enough size, will save you time!! My honey is not liquid, so I spent much of my time trying to carve up the hone in the large pails of it that I had and then spooning it out onto my kitchen scale. Makes for very sticky fingers. Which is ok.. if you like honey… and don’t mind sticky fingers

I have a very large “spoon” type of implement with holes in it - not sure what it is called… but it is simlar to what you might use for spooning out vegetables from boiling water. Except, mine has a very wide (about 4 inches across?) surface, with very little lip to it. This works well for me. But.. don’t worry too much if all you have is a ladle or some other type of serving spoon… don’t worry if you skim a little bit of the honey/water mixture. This ain’t rocket science, where you have to have everything exact.

Hey.. don’t forget that you’re boiling this mixture - it’s going to need time to cool down before you pitch your yeast! Hot temperatures can kill yeast. To get my must up to just over five gallons, I needed to add about two gallons of cold water - and it was still way too hot to add yeast. Use that time to proof your yeast in the orangejuice and yeast nutrient mixture. Heck, you could even just let it cool overnight to room temperature, and you’ll be fine.

Anyhow, if you’re interested in mead making, be prepared to experiment. Be prepared to realize it should take at LEAST a year before you have something that is enjoyable.. and even then.. it might be longer.

If you really want to make mead and melomels, prepare to spend a little on honey… experiment… try some different things (my next experiment will be decreasing the pounds of honey.. probably to about 18 pounds approximately, and using a yeast developed for sweet mead - I’ve got some yeasts that I want to try and see how things turn out as opposed to others that I’ve tried in the past).

And in the meantime, go buy some mead from the local liquor store. You might not even like the stuff that others like! And that’s ok.

But.. a bit of trivia… do you know that the term “honeymoon” and mead are related? The term “honeymoon” comes from an ancient tradition of some peoples, where newlyweds would drink “honeyed wine” or mead everyday for the first month after being married.

Sometime ago, I wrote a review of an “Advintage Celebrations” kit, using Barolo juice. Admittedly, my review of the kit as far as the instructions are concerned was not very good. But what of the final product?

Well, I have to admit that I never did write any formal tasting notes - but - it was, in my opinion, yummy! I had some bottles that were drunk young, other bottles aged a year - and all of them were just… wonderful. One thing I do recall that was a distinctive licorice or anise taste to it. But not overwhelming anise or licorice - and the flavours were bursting - and delicious that the 30 bottles I made have all been consumed over the past two years. This Barolo went well with pasta dishes, red meat, or just for the want of sipping and tasting Barolo.

I know there is some controversy about what makes a “real” Barolo - in days gone by, a Barolo was expected to age for years. But whatever - I’m not interested in what is “real,” but rather, what I enjoy and like. And it was time to make another Barolo.

This evening, while starting the Petit Chenin Blanc, I decided I also had time to start another Advintage Celebrations Barolo kit that I’ve had for a couple of weeks. I was visiting my friend Debbie (the very pretty and knowledgable Debbie) who owns “Wines To Go” in Alliston, and asked her, “Debbie… do you have any of that Barolo?”

Well, she did! So I bought one. Started it this evening, and this time, I’m committing myself to keep back even more bottles (oh, if I can… if I can) for longer ageing.

I still say the instructions are not the easiest to follow - but I am so looking forward to the final product. I also suspect that I might have to go see Debbie again - no.. not just to have an enjoyable conversation with her - but to pick up another Advintage Celebrations Barolo kit. Maybe if I have 60 bottles instead of 30 - I can really put some aside for longer ageing.

I’m also experimenting with another mead this evening - more on that soon. The mead I made last year, using this recipe seems “ok,” but at the same time, a little thin. So, I’m increasing the pounds of honey I’m using and am hoping that I came close to something that will have a starting specific gravity of at least 1.090.

Posted a review of R.J. Spagnols 2006 “Restricted Quantities” Petit Chenin Blanc. I’ve been enjoying it so much, I went back for another kit, which Winemakers had in stock.

The above review also includes tasting notes.

Alright, over here, Jeff asks what the garlic wine actually tastes like. He claims he’s tasted garlic icecream, and that it was “supurb.” Well, I have no clue about Jeff’s subjective likes and dislikes as far as his taste buds go, but what the heck - I’m up to the challenge of tasting my garlic wine - straight - and without cooking it with something first.

So.. here goes… as I start to think to myself, “Ok Ian, are you nuts?? Well… yeah, and a promise to Jeff is still a promise, even if it is to Jeff… ”

So I’ve poured a very small amount into a wineglass.

Colour: About the colour of pineapple juice. I was thinking something else at first, involving snow and one of those moments when you really have to go… but thought there might be a better description. So the colour of pineapple juice is it.

On The Nose: You know, it’s not bad at all! It’s kind of like.. mixed vegetables.

Alright… here goes the part where I become a he-man, willing to actually taste… garlic wine.

On The Tongue: You know what? This is not unpleasant. There is a hint of garlic, but ever so subtle. But along with that subtle garlic are flavours, believe it or not, of salt, celery and tomato.

But, there is also something very unique that I can’t place at all. It’s not gross or anything; at the same time, I’m not planning on sitting down with a glass of this stuff to sip on while reading a book, that’s for sure. But it’s really not unpleasant at all.

If you were thinking you might be able to torture someone by forcing them to drink garlic wine, I don’t think it would work. I don’t think folks would come back for seconds mind you - unless it was something you had cooked using the garlic wine, which does add a very nice subtle flavour, at least to the rack of lamb dish I cooked the other day.