Violets brewed on the second full moon in March. This may or may not have been a Blue Moon depending on your definition. Either way, violet meads are always good.
Ingredients:
March 31, 1999 - Five pounds of honey heated with 2 quarts water. Seven cups flowers rinsed and steeped in boiling water. Irish moss, 1t yeast nutient, and acid blend added to honey. Cooked 15 minutes at 180 F. Poured violet tea through sanitized strainer, into must. Must chiller added.
Marcia says the tea smells like spinach and Lou says it smells like cabbage. It's a blue-green color and the flowers are partly bleached.
Pitched yeast when must cooled to 80 F. Yeast energizer (1 t) added, along with enough water to make 2 gallons.
April 7, 1999 - Eight+ cups of violets picked, rinsed and steeped in 1.5 quarts boiling water for 1/2 hour. Tea was cooled and poured through sanitized strainer and funnel, into carboy.
April 21, 1999 - Another 3.25 cups of violets picked, rinsed and steeped for about 1/2 hour. Six pounds of honey was started with some water. This came to a boil, briefly, as we got distracted while preparing to bottle Cryser. After the must cooled to 170 F the tea was strained into the must and 1.5 t yeast nutrient and 1 t yeast energizer added. This cooked for 20 minutes, then the kettle was put into the refrigerator to cool while we bottled Cryser.
When the must had cooled to 90 F we poured it into the carboy. The dead yeast from the bottom came to the top in an interesting display. More water was added to make 5 gallons. Stirred and stored with a blow-off tube.
Racked September 9, 1999 - SG 0.996
December 2, 1999 - Corn sugar boiled in water. Mead racked onto cooled sugar water. Bottled.
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