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lactomel bottle

Brew Log: Lactomel (Milk Mead)

April 30, 2017 by The Mad AlcheMeadist

This was my first experimental mead. I read about a bunch of people attempting this on some forums. It sounded weird enough that I wanted to try it. You hear about milk and honey, like these things are eaten (drank?) together somewhere. So I gave it a shot, in about a two gallon batch.

Ingredients – Primary

  • 6 lbs of Clover honey
  • 1 Gallon Whole Milk
  • Lavlin 71B

 

I did not measure gravity.

 

The Lactomel turned out as weird as I expected it to. Part of the process actually had the milk curdle and produce a cheese like substance that floated on the top. The whey that did not curdle was added lactose to the drink, lending it a smooth, creamy feel and sweet taste. Since the yeast can’t eat lactose, this was safe from fermentation. I was unable to recover the curds, however, as I made this batch split between the two small glass formerly-apple-juice jugs. When removing everything, the curds got mixed with the lees from the fermentation and that was not an appetizing mixture. Some people have been able to make cheese from this, though. And since it’s been soaking in honey, it could be petty tasty.

Notes

The taste was quite odd. It is difficult to describe. I haven’t tried it since then after it completed about 8 months ago, so this was what it tasted like fresh. I’m hoping it has improved a bit through age. But it had a definite old milk flavor to it. The lactomel wasn’t bad, however. The flavor wasn’t off putting like you might have expected leaving milk out at room temperature during the fermentation. It was just strange. It was very silky, which was nice. But had a tangy aftertaste. I saw some people had put fruit flavoring in theirs as well, which might cover up some of that tang. But that is also something that could age out, as well.

I’m hoping it leaves behind a smooth, creamy light wine like flavor. I will have to see when I’m feeling adventurous enough to crack one of the bottles open again.

 

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