Since there is currently a bad ass Nor'Easter passing through I thought today might be a good day to make mead.
5 Gallon batch
Og: 1.083
Yeast: Us05 (yes it will do the job)
Ingredients:
2 fist size peices of chaga smashed into itty bitty pieces (about 1 lbs dry)
11.5 lbs of unpasturized wild flower honey
135 ml of concentrated lemon juice
325g of raisins (simmer at 180F for 15 min)
Directions:
First smash the chaga into bits, place in a large pot with about 10L of water and simmer (or very very low boil) for as long as you can. The longer the blacker it becomes. I simmer for ~30 hours and even after topping up with water it was black black.
Once simmered dump into sterilized fermentor with the rest of the ingredients and top up to 5 gallon mark with cold water (mine dropped to about 80F)
Pitch US05 and wait. I'll most likely rack to secondary when fermentation slows.
I'm looking for a jet black mead that will hopefully allow the mild flavour of the chaga to come through.