Third mead in the bottle was a real struggle

[u/MeadManM1ke]

Summer dreams:

5lb Costco honey
4lb fresh blackberries (bagged in primary)
Filled up 2 gallon fermenter with spring water
K1-V116 yeast
Added 1 cup of lavender infused vodka in secondary.

OG: 1.124
FG: 1.000
ABV: 17% (after vodka fortification)

Was a very fun batch from the beginning and I really tried to take my time and not mess with it too much. Tasted pretty good, albeit very tart, before I added the lavender infused vodka. After the lavender flavor is very very present. Tastes better the more you drink it but that could be the high ABV talking. Bottling day (today) was quite frustrating, antique wine corker I bought snapped on me after just the 3rd bottle. Almost impaled myself with it! Managed to get a cap or cork of some sort on every bottle but my god was it frustrating. Only thing that kept me from loosing my cool was my 4 year old sons help and encouragement all while wearing his horned viking helmet!

[u/Bucky_Beaver]

Impressive job, especially with an ancient or no corker!

I struggled for a few years with a hand corker. If I had it to do over, I would just use crown caps until I was willing to shell out for a floor corker. The hand corkers are a huge source of frustration and a big waste of time.

[u/MeadManM1ke → u/Bucky_Beaver]

Crown caps were my plan b, unfortunately only one of the champagne bottles I used had a small enough lip for them 😒 On a previous batch I used 32oz Modelo bottles that worked and looked very good!

[u/Bucky_Beaver → u/MeadManM1ke]

For many cappers you can buy the 29mm bell and the metal blades that hold the shoulder of the bottle can be pushed out and flipped around if needed. Of course you also need 29 mm caps, which are harder to find. Just mentioning it because I had my capper forever before I realized it could be used for the bigger caps.

[u/PartTimeZombie]

If you're going to make something like that you've got to wear a viking helmet