(from 2/24/95)

6 lbs. Wildflower Honey ($7.95)
3 lbs. Orange Blossom Honey
2 lbs. Raspberries ($12.00)
2.5 oz. Styrian Goldings Hops; 1.5 for bittering and 1 for finishing ($3.80)
7 g. Red Star Champagne Yeast ($.85)
1 tsp. Acid Blend ($1.25)
1 tsp. Gypsum ($.95)
2 tsp. Yeast Nutrient ($.55)
I c. Dextrose for bottling

Boiled 5 lbs. of honey with 1H gallons of Joffrey’s filtered water: began boiling at 1:02 pm. Reduced heat in increments to setting 3 by 1:15 pm. Began skimming scum (honey smells great!). Added boiling hops at 1:23 pm (20 min. into boil/simmer). Raised heat to 5, then to 7 at 1:44 pm. Added finishing hops at 1:52 pm (50 min into boil), raised heat back to high. Turned heat off at 2:00 pm and added yeast nutrient, gypsum, and acid blend. Removed boiling hops immediately, and then finishing hops ten minutes later (2:10). Wort sat for 2 hours (while I went for the raspberries), then I brought temperature back to 190°. Added freshly-crushed raspberries and the last pound of honey at 4:55 and took off heat. Racked into 2H gallons of cold water. Pitched yeast at 80°. After three weeks added a G lb more honey, orange blossom and a couple of blackberries. After seven days added 2lbs more honey and water.

Green Taste: Wow! Fruity, hoppy, and sweet. This one will be great!

March 5: Beautiful (almost Kool-Aid like) raspberry color. The taste was bitter, like unsweetened raspberries mixed with hops. I think with some age this one will be fine. The fizz is like champagne (natural, I guess, from having used champagne yeast).

Comments: This one was a bit haphazard. I wasn’t expecting to include the raspberries—they only became available when the wort was already finished. I did not rehydrate the yeast, just because I’m lazy, but I am not worried about that at all. I would have liked the original gravity to have been a bit higher—next time I will add less water, or more honey. I remain optimistic.

February 26, 1995: The yeast doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I checked inside and there was a bunch of scum on the top, indicative of yeast labor. Perhaps it just needs a bit longer?

February 27, 1995: There is an acrid smell issuing from the fermenter. I hope this is not a bad sign…. I did use the same water that I used for #1—could be bad water. Perhaps with the addition of the gypsum and the yeast nutrient the harmful effects of the water will be negated? Yea, right.

March 5: Racked to a secondary. The yeast is still slowly working. The CO2 coming off the wort was overpowering. The wort seems fine (no spoilage), so I will let it continue fermenting.

March 14: Hoping to be able to re-rack soon; I need to get another carboy. There is still no activity coming from the airlock, but I know the yeast has done something. Perhaps I’ll take a gravity reading when I re-rack.

March 21: Added about 2 lbs. more honey and 2 cups of water. Pasteurized the honey before adding. This has made the yeast become active again. Everything seems to be going well. The color has changed to a darker red, almost burgundy.

O.G.: 1.050

Ingredients: $27.35

[Note: It was dry and tasty. It also had the raspberry overtones, but had to age longer than an ale. Most of the batch was thrown away by Tara Starr Pyne cause I left it in her storage unit too long.]