Another Mazer Cup and Other Assorted Notes

Hey there everybody,

I found out last week that I won second place for a cyser I entered in the Mazer Cup mead competition and today the little cup was sent to my door. It has taken its place next to the other one I won a couple of years ago.

It’s nice to win these awards but without a score sheet, I feel the achievement is incomplete. I seem to remember getting notes on the raspberry mead that I submitted in 2012 so I am hoping that it will be delivered separate for the cyser.

Interestingly enough, this cyser was a one gallon side experiment – just a pound of honey that I got from the Merrimack Valley Apiaries and enough pressed apple juice from the kind folks at Cider Hill Farm to fill up the gallon jug. It’s a good thing champagne yeast does not foam up or I would have had a big mess on my hands. We’ll see what the notes say but a good showing in a national competition.

Other Notes:

Lo and behold – with almost a month’s worth of time gone by since bottling, the 2013 cider is finally starting to carbonate. I had a bottle this past weekend and it was almost to what one would describe as sparkling. This turn of events was welcome since I did not want to either get used to another batch of still cider or have to inoculate some bottles with yeast later on. I tweeted out my troubles last week and the feedback I received was grim. Well, if the yeast keep on fermenting, then we will have some very bubbly cider soon and a proper tasting session as well.

The mixed berry mead has been sitting on oak for almost a month and it’s time to rack it off. The goal now is to gain as much clarity as I can by racking it a few times to different carboys as the hazy stuff settles to the bottom of each of them. I had good results following this process with the other melomel. It should work for this one.

The dunkelweizen is finished fermenting and it will be bottled once I get my act together. The goal of keeping the fermentation temperature at 62°F was met for the most part. The basement was my friend over the past two weeks. It helped keep things in check. That beer should be ready to drink before the end of April for sure.

Lastly, the next brew session will be the first foray into sour beer making. Wish me luck.