Buck-Flower Mead

[russki]

I'm off work today, and was running a bunch of errands... Decided to stop at the LHFS (local health food store) and see if they had anything interesting... Ended up walking out with 7 pounds of all-natural raw honey... 4 pounds of Cranberry, 2 pounds of Wildflower, and a pound of Buckwheat Honey. Whipped up a quick 1-gallon batch when I got home:

Buck-Flower Mead
by russki

2 lbs. Wildflower Honey
1 lb. Buckwheat Honey
1 tsp yeast nutrient
0.5 tsp yeast energizer
Water to 1 gallon

1 5g pack of Red Star Pasteur Champagne Wine Yeast

Put honey jars in hot water to warm it up a bit and make easier to pour. Sanitize a 1-gallon jug, screw-top, stopper and airlock. Pour the honey into the jug (I added some water to empty jars to get every last bit out), add 1/2 gallon of water, screw the top on, and shake-shake-shake... When all the honey is dissolved, top to 1 gallon, add yeast energizer and nutrient, shake some more, sprinkle yeast into the must, fit stopper with airlock, and wait till it's done.

Measured OG: 1.114

I've used this Wildflower Honey before in a mead, and it's wonderful... I'm hoping that I have not overdone it on Buckwheat Honey - it's potent stuff. We shall see.

Oh, and I still have 4# of Cranberry Honey... I'm thinking of making a semi-sweet or sweet mead and racking it on some cranberries in secondary.... Mmm...

[mashani]

I've never made mead with buckwheat honey. Should be interesting I hope in a good way

[FrozenInTime]

Never had buckwheat honey, what is it going to bring to the mead?

How soon do you start drinking this mead? I have some close to 4 yrs old and still consider it young.

[russki]

Never had buckwheat honey, what is it going to bring to the mead?

How soon do you start drinking this mead? I have some close to 4 yrs old and still consider it young.

I've heard buckwheat honey referred to as "the Guinness of honeys", it's very dark, almost black, and super flavorful with a lot of molasses-like notes.

Edit: and I start drinking my meads after about a year, a bottle every couple months or so - they sure taste better as the time goes by. I don't make crazy high alcohol meads - most of mine are under 14%.

[russki]

Snuck a tiny taste this morning - it's definitely different - honey on the back end, and a strong buckwheat/nutty flavor that somewhat dominates upfront. It's almost completely clear, a very pretty reddish amber. Not completely dry, but I think it needs a bit of backsweetening to bring some balance. It's still extremely young, so I'll just let it be for a while.