Month: januar 2015

2014 batch 2: Currant mead (12) – More oak….

25. januar 2015
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Tasting my currant mead against the sample I took before I added oak first time, I found that the difference between the two was evening out with just a bit of aging, so I decided to give my mead one more shot of oak. Same oak as before: American oak chips – medium toast. I added 25 g again, but this time I did not boil the oak. Instead I just rinsed the chips and hop bag in cold tap water and put the bag in the microwave for 60s at full power. The smell of the wood was quite intense, and it must have been all that great stuff […]

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2014 batch 3: Bochet (8) – Racking using pump

24. januar 2015
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The Bochet has now been resting for quite a while, so it was time rack it to get rid of more sediment. For this purpose I tested my newly acquired pump. I prepared the clean fermenter by pouring boiling water into it, and over the tubing going to the pump. I figured I would used the bottom part of my old racking cane to have a controlled distance to the bottom of the fermenter. Then I attached the hoses to the pump and pumped the hot water out of the fermenter. I still needed to draw the water to the pump because it is not able to pull air. Finally, […]

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New pump to be used for racking

20. januar 2015
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This weekend I received my new toy – a small pump to be used when racking meads. The pump was purchased at solarproject.co.uk. It is a small 6W pump which is specified for home brewing among other uses. The pump specifications are: Voltage: 12 V DC (7-14V DC)Power: 6 Watts (500 mA at 12 V)Temp. range: -40 to 105 CFlow: approx. 6 L/min unrestricted flowVertical head: 2 m It is great that it can pump freshly boiled water, so it will be easy to clean and sterilize before use. I also purchased fittings and tubing (2m) at the site, but not the power supply, since it would not fit Danish […]

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2014 batch 2: Currant mead (11) – pH adjustment

12. januar 2015
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I finally found time to do the pH adjustment of my currant mead. I have measured it earlier to about 3.4 and I want to have pH in my mead within the “sweet spot” of 3.6 to 3.8. To raise pH I use pot ash or potassium carbonate (K2CO3). Potassium has no risk limit in foods because it is considered harmless and just as important, potassium does not impart a salty taste. CO3– is on the other hand a quite strong base, and should be handled with care. So, as titrator I used a 0.10 M K2CO3 solution (Mw 138.2g/mol) by dissolving 0.70 g in 50 ml of tap water […]

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Check-up on the bee hive

4. januar 2015
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It was great weather today (4/1) so time to check up on the bees. After 2 formic acid treatments and a late Oxalic acid treatment I had my fingers crossed the the hive was still alive and well and that I had finally gotten rid of the extreme numbers of varoa mites. A quick look around the hive, there was no dead bees – so far so good. Also, there was not off smells indicating diseases. Putting my ear to the hive I could hear a happy buzzing, so all looks and sounds good. Pulling out the tray in the bottom of the hive also looked great – only 4-5 […]

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