On the rack

Between the "Pioneer Dinner" Zoe "helped" cook and some bouts of guitar hero with Stef I managed to rack 6 gallons of cider to not one but two kegs (one betrayed me with its leakiness under pressure), my Guter Spise mead to a new carboy and a clove and citrus dry mead to a new carboy. The cider needs some chilling and aging, but it's very clear, crisp and tart, like a Granny Smith apple. It's pretty good now, and should be great in a week or so. The Guter Spise mead has mellowed nicely. It's still thick, with an almost oily surface because it has a lot of unfermented honey, but it's not cloying or medicinal. It's like previous batches, much like a modern soda. It has a nice balance of sage and hops- carbonating will improve that balance a bit, but it was hard to not drink more of it even flat and at room temp. I expected the dry mead to need more aging, but right now I'm not so sure. The cloves are bold and spicy, dominating the cinnamon and even a lot of the honey flavors, but I really like the complexity. The cloves might mellow in time to yield a mead with a broader appeal, but I can't help but enjoy the feisty nature of this one just as it is.

I'm going to do a little more modern brewing next, probably a raspberry hefeweisen. With summer essentially here it should be a perfect lawnmower beer for me.