Monday, November 12, 2018

Mead Mead and more Mead

Are you kiddin me! Is it really Nov 12. How did this happen.  Its been a long time since i wrote anything, but then nothing much was going on so i didn't want to bore you with a bunch of "fluff".
We finally got the bee yard cleaned up and the bees put to bed for the winter. Like last year we have made sure we could move them incase this never-ending motel sale goes through. We moved the hives onto 2 stacked pallets so if the bottom one freezes to the ground...we can pick up the top one.  We even wrapped them differently this year. I read a article about how someone from Prince George wraps their bees and did my version of his method. I hope it works. It has 3 layers. Pink fiberglass insulation, then a layer of silver bubble wrap insulation then a thicker plastic over top to keep the insulation dry. I have left them lots of honey, 8lbs of candy board and some fondant and hopefully that will keep them fed for the winter. Once again  i say a little prayer they will make it through our long unpredictable winter, and see them again in the spring.

So what am i up to this winter....... Mead Mead and more Mead
Mead is believed to be 1000's of years old and one of the oldest known alcohols. It is also know as Honey Wine. It is made simply of honey, water and yeast.

Only a couple weeks old.
 The latest project i have been working on is a new batch of Mead. This time i wanted to try a Bochet (pronounced Bow Shay) its made by caramelizing the honey for a long period of time.
The first batch I made i cooked the honey for 20 minutes, then a friend and i made a second batch cooking the honey for 30 minutes this time. We will do a taste test when we rack them off in about 4 weeks.  Earlier this year i had decided to make a gallon of Traditional mead. It has been resting since March so we decided it was time we try it again and holy cow it was good. I was sort of impressed. Not that i am counting or anything.... but only 11 more days until i get to sample the Bochet...yum.
Bye for now