We seem to have some talented brewers here in the forum. Would be nice to see some final results from the community members in this forum! Perhaps it can also inspire some people who are curious about the hobby.
I can start: here is a sparkling mead along with my labeled bottles.
I made 5 gallons of country strawberry wine. Though the alcohol content is on the higher side at 16%, it absolutely delicious.
Beautiful color. How does it stand up to the 16%? Is there sufficient fruit or is it overpowered by the alcohol? I have some strawberry in the cellar, but I made it 11% off-dry.
The alcohol is not overpowering, the flavor is both complex and smooth with a perfect strawberries and sunshine aftertaste. I made 5 gallons with 25lbs of strawberries and 12 pounds of sugar so strawberry essence was really packed in there! I failed at a scuppernong wine before this so was ready for disappointment but I got an acid kit and think that lends a lot to final product. I also was a little OCD every step of the way but I think that’s part of why it actually turned out so well.
I brought some up a friend’s house in the North Carolina Appalachian mountains. His cousins who have been ‘home brewing’ for generations probably paid me the highest compliment when they had some and were like wow, that actually tastes like something you’d but at a store!
Sounds like it all worked out well!
25 lbs of fruit with 12 lbs of sugar all in 5 gallons??? Do you have a picture of this… I only ask because I am having a difficult time visualizing the volume.
Ok well first things first! I fermented the fruit and sugar water in a bucket for about a week, covered with a towel, punching down the musk daily and praying nothing would ruin it. It was in a strainer bag which kept the pulp and seeds back and just left the liquid to add to the 5 gallons carboy.
Here’s it just in the carboy.
This looks fantastic! I’ve never seen a sparkling mead before. Mead is next on my list, or maybe a melomel.
Thanks! Melomels are great. I have found they are perfect intro meads for those who do not “like the taste of mead” as there is additional fruit flavors… Have had good luck with blackberry, blueberry, and 50/50 black/blue blends.
Oh I love mead. Those bubbles in yours look extra fun. Blackberry is what I was interested in making, though I found a recipe for dandelion mead (is that a melomel?) and found that intriguing. Have you tried that?
I have seen recipes for various flowers and reeds — such as dandelion, but have never tasted one. Now that I think of it, I have never seen one lol. Do it!
I made one with chamomile. Delicious after it sat a year to mellow, but it will put you to sleep in a heartbeat. Hibiscus is next on my list. I love floral flavors
EDIT: I’ve switched the image host because it seems catbox.moe was having some issues displaying for people. Hopefully imgbox.com will be a more reliable image host.
Here is 1 of the first meads I ever made, split 3 ways. 1 is a traditional, 2 has blackberry, and 3 has ginger/lemon. Very happy how this batch came out but alas it is long gone.
This is a Westvleteren 12 Clone I made with yeast harvested and propagated from the real Westvleteren 12. It’s been bottle conditioning for around 6 months now and it’s just starting to develop the complexity I’m looking for.
I tend not to bottle too many things I make because I have access to several kegs and that is definitely my preferred method of carbonating and serving. That being said, I still enjoy making labels for some of the beers I make such as this I made (read: shamelessly photoshopped) for a British Brown Ale.
I do not know about other users, but I am unable to see the pictures on this specific post. They sound delicious though.
Out of interest, can you view the images when they aren’t embedded here? Mead 3 ways
I clicked on all three of your links. I still cannot see them.
I might have discovered the cause.
The FAQs on catbox.moe have this to say:
Connectivity Issues Why can’t I access Catbox/access files on Catbox (files.catbox.moe)? Good question! It turns out certain governments in the world hate freedom of information, don’t have net neutrality, don’t see online service providers as legally exempt entities, or a combination of the three!
You will have issues accessing Catbox/files on Catbox if you are connecting from the following countries or providers:
Australia
Why? - The Australian government had a heart attack after the Christchurch shooting, and decided that Catbox was a terrorist propaganda spreading website, and has instructed multiple Australian ISPs to implement DNS blocks of Catbox’s domains. How to resolve? - Changing your DNS servers to a public server (i.e. 8.8.8.8, 76.76.2.0, or 208.67.222.222) or utilizing DoH should mitigate this problem.
Ireland/UK
Why? - Unfortunately the love of footy has overtaken the sensibilites of the British and Irish governments, and they have decided to implement an IP level block on Catbox’s primary IP address, due to clips of games being uploaded to Catbox… How to resolve? - You will need to utilize a VPN in order to evade this traffic hijack.
Iran
Why? - Unknown, but I’m sure you can probably make some pretty accurate guesses. How to resolve? - You will need to use a VPN to bypass the IP-level block.
Afghanistan
Why? - Unknown, but I’m sure you can probably make some pretty accurate guesses. How to resolve? - You will need to use a VPN to bypass the IP-level block.
Comcast/Comcast Business
Why? - Comcast Business’ “SecurityEdge” hijacking attack intecepts traffic going towards Catbox. Residential customers are blocked by “xFi Advanced Security” I have been unable to determine if this is a DNS level block, or an IP level block. How to resolve? - Comcast Residential: Disable the “xFi Advanced Security” hijack on your router. Comcast Business: Disable the “SecurityEdge” hijack on your account. See here.
Quad9
Why? - Quad9 actually pulls an aggregate list of URL blacklists and uses them for their filtered DNS service. Catbox is frequently added to no-name blacklists for various reasons. How to resolve? - Use Quad9’s alternative DNS server 9.9.9.10, or switch to another public DNS server.
Hmm. The pictures are hosted on catbox.moe and should just be embedded here. I’m still trying to find a better image hosting service because most Lemmy instances only allow images up to 100kb.
