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I have consolidated all my blogs into one. Please visit the consolidate blog at:

http://michaellozano.info

This blog will no longer be update. See you at the new blog!

Absinthe Kit Revisited

Not being one to leave well enough alone, I decided to re-filter my Absinthe. I'm glad I did.

If you are going to get one of these kits, I recommend using a combination of a wire coffee filter basket and matching coffee filter. You can pick up a basket by itself:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=1&SKU=12959796

Filter first through the basket, then put in a filter and run the batch through again. I would just use the filter basket by itself between the two herb soaks, just to make sure none of the herbs that may have escaped the bag make it into the second soak.

I set my basket down into my big brew funnel. It stays put on its own, so I could do all the filter process without assistance.

Absinthe Kit Review

I just finished bottling my Absinthe that I made from the kit. Here's a pic:

From Mead Room

I wanted to share some thoughts from my experience with the kit.

• The filter from the kit is a joke. I ended up with little black bits and dust in my bottles. The coffee filter I used between herb soaks did a much better job. I'll know for next time.
• It may not seem like it, but the labels are the peel-and-stick type.
• The taste is interesting. I diluted with water and added sugar, per the ritual. It is an acquired taste, licorice and herb with a hint of mint.
• The kit is easy. The hardest part is the filtering. Coffee filters are maddeningly slow but do a good job.
• The glass they provide in the kit isn't glass, it's plastic. The spoon is thin, cheap metal. This is not surprising.
• The instruction pamphlet has numerous grammar and spelling errors.

If you buy the kit, know that you are really buying the herb "recipe". I can nitpick all day, but it does make it easy to make a product as close to real Absinthe as you can get without distilling.

Ack! Comments!

I just noticed I have moderated comments that are several months old!

I am very sorry, I will do my best to answer them soon!

Long Overdue

FINALLY bottled the Beer Yeast Honey experiment. I'll be shipping samples out to Basic Brewing Radio for tasting along with some of this year's Pyments.

I picked up on of Winexperts limited edition New Zealand Merlot wine kits this week. Yup, I'm doing a split batch and making a pyment out of one half. Call me crazy!

I have another limited edition coming in April, which I will also give the pyment treatment. After that, I will make a full traditional batch using beer yeast. I'll likely choose the honey ofter the tasting.

Oy! Too busy...

Sometimes I really don't like my job. There are tomes I get so busy I can't do things I need to do, like, bottling. *sigh*

I finally got around to tasting a few yesterday. The carrot honey mead was a pleasant surprise. What an amazingly complex taste! It's really good now, but in a few months it will be even better. I got 6 bottles out of the batch. One went to tasting at The Brew Hut, and Steve, the guy who asked me to try that honey, is jealously guarding the rest.

The second round of pyments and wines all taste good, none the worse for their extended stay in the carboy. I will be bottling these today, knock wood. I have not tasted the other 6 beer yeast honey experiment batches. I intend to bottle those next weekend, once I'm back from yet another trip.

The ABC batch tastes like liquid Christmas and apple pie. It will bulk age a little longer. I also intend to give the port a little TLC soon, but my forced neglect may have turned it into a lost cause. We will see.

And that's the update. More as it develops.

Welcome BBR Listeners!

Look for updates on my brews soon. In the meantime, check out the links to the left!

And we're off...

We're off! All the one gallon batches are done. Here are the Brix readings:

Orange Blossom - 26.3 (1.112)
Sage - 27.3 (1.116)
Tupelo - 26.6 (1.113)
Raspberry - 27.4 (1.117)
Wildflower - 26.7 (1.114)
Avocado - 26.9 (1.114)
Carrot Blossom - 26.5 (1.113)

All within 5 points of each other, which I think is pretty good. Differences are likely in small variances of water and the moisture content of the honey. All batches were cold mixed, with .8 grams of DAP and Fermaid-K added, along with 1g of Potassium Carbonate. Yeast was pitched and shot with 30 seconds of O2.

The first six batches were pitched with a single Activator pack of Wyeast 1056 American Ale. The Carrot Blossom was pitched with 5 grams of Safale US-05 yeast. This is the Brew Hut batch.

I'm very interested to see how this turns out, because besides the Orange Blossom honey, I haven't made a traditional batch with the any of these honeys before, and they are all mighty tasty.