Started by making a cardomom methyglyn, then at the first rack added the juice of pricky pear apples (tuna).
Ingredients:
Flor Sherry Yeast was pre-started on June 23 with pasturized, reconstituted apple juice. It bubbled well.
June 24, 1999 - Heated honey with some water to 170 F. Crushed the cardamom and put it in a gauze bag. Added Irish Moss, acid blend, yeast nutrient, gypsum and cardamom. Put the must chiller into the kettle, and kept it at 160 to 170 F for 20 minutes. Cooled, poured into carboy and added water to make 3.5 gallons. Pitched yeast. Stired and stored with a bubble lock.
August 12, 1999 - Lalvin Yeast was rehydrated while must cooked. Yeast energizer was stirred when the yeast was ready to be stirred.
Heated honey with some water. Added tuna juice and heated to 170 F. Added Irish Moss and skimmed scum. Added yeast nutrient, gypsum and the must chiller. Kept at 170 F for 20 minutes. Cooled. Racked the cardomom flavored starter mead into carboy and poured the tuna must in afterwards. It was quite full, so no water was added. Stored with blow off tube. Then found yeast in the kitchen. Said some unprintable things. Pitched the yeast and stirred while in brew box, with minimal loss or mess. Blow off tube was fingered (swabbed with cotton ball soaked in grain alcolhol) and blow off tube was reinserted into carboy.
Racked September 9, 1999 - SG 1.002
February 10, 2000 - SG 1.000 - Bottled still. Good red color, tastes good though young. Potentially better than Maced Tuna Fig.
Copyright ris