Honey Honey Honey Wine

A couple of weeks ago, Angela, Emily and I went out to Adam's Berry Farm and picked some blueberries to make blueberry te'j, which is a kind of Ethiopian honey wine (mead) that uses wild yeast. We brewed it up (honey, water and blueberries in a bucket), put a lot of good vibes on it,

and in a few days, it looked like this:

Bubbles! It was pretty dreamy. We waited until it started smelling yeasty and was foaming and then strained out the blueberries and poured it into bottles to ferment and age.
One of the bottles is a traditional-style glass jug with an airlock. The other is a smallish peach nectar bottle. At first, we tried a balloon over the mouth of the smaller bottle, but it burst after a while, so I switched it to a plastic bag and rubberband. I check them everyday to make sure there are no fruit flies and changed the water in the airlock once in a while.
These two sat side by side for one month, and gradually the bubbling has slowed and the mead has become cloudier. Also, significant amounts of beautiful, grey, chunky yeast has settled to the bottom of both bottles. Today, after some egging on by Meghan, the queen of experimental vinegar, I tried them.

The smaller bottle is very alcoholic and quite strong. It also has a decent bubble to it. The bigger bottle is milder, more honey flavored and a lot less alcoholic. I decided to take the airlock out and try the plastic bag and rubberband method on the big bottle for a couple of days to see if I can capture a little more bubble. Generally, though, decent for the first attempt, and I feel buzzed but not sick and am not going blind right now.
Sweet honey wine. I can't wait for everyone to try it! I even think I might try again. Eventually, I could get good. What should I call my te'j company? I think I'll call it Mandeep's Magical Rotgut.


Peace to all - Mandy