I had no excuse, I posted that *before* I racked (and tasted) the JAO and the meadowfoam mead yesterday :tongue3:.
After plowing through tax paperwork today, I'm going to verify that I've enough blueberries, then make Oskaars'
Blueberry Melomel....
I gotta say, since he bugged me into trying the methods he has listed out for his meads in the Patron sections, I have had amazing results. I made an orange blossom traditional and a meadowfoam traditional, and am really impressed with their progress. The orange blossom got pitched mid-January, and is in secondary, and is clean and brilliant with a crisp flavor. The meadowfoam got pitched just after the mead competition in February, and fermented out clean as a whistle, and retained a *lot* of the yummy vanilla character of the meadowfoam. I haven't decided if I'm going to bring that vanilla up some with a bean or two, but both are *seriously* drinkable right now.
I think that the JAO is the most *frustrating* mead I've ever made. God, I *so* wanted to stir it with the rest of my batches!!! I had to hide it so I could just let it sit and not fiddle with it! However, it has dropped clear, and I racked it onto about 3/4 gallon of honey diluted with water (lost some volume to the fruit/etc.) and the pithy nature has gone already, and it has a nice round mouthfeel and is just past medium-sweet. (The guy I'm making it for likes sweet meads).
After that I'm going to make Oskaars'
Cherry Cyser (thank you Trader Joes!!!) and a second batch of the Blueberry Mel. And I'm waiting for strawberry season to do a *big* batch of that fantastic
strawberry melomel that took Gold at the International Mead Competition this year....
Vicky - trudging downstairs to tackle tax paperwork, I've delayed long enough.....