Elderflower/Orange Blossom

My son helping with the formulation:

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Aerated the crap out of it with a diffusion stone and a bottle of O2...developed quite a bit of foam.  So, I fitted the opening with a blow-off tube instead of an airlock in case the Kräusen really gets going.

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Recipe (6 gal) -
Strong tea of elderflowers (Bring 2 gal water to boil, remove from heat, stir in 5.5 oz of dried flowerbuds, and let steep until room temp.)
18 pounds of orange blossom honey (Bought a pail of OB honey from Dutch Gold when it was on sale last year)
Yeast nutrient

Pitched a 500mL starter of D47 and GoFerm after sanitizing the must for 24 hours.

OG 1.110

I'm hoping for an off-dry mead, and really hoping the D47 preserves/accentuates to floral notes of both the honey and the flowers.

That much darker than I would have imagined it.

I wish I could like mead, haven't found any I could appreciate.

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I gotta rack my latest batch

Nice!

Quick update.  Added a bit of bentonite to the primary, and racked after a few days.  That mead is now beautifully clear and aging in the 5 gal carboy.

Made another batch about a month ago, same basic recipe but without the elderflower.  Used a 10 ounce bottle of Montmorency cherry concentrate, and pitched 71B.  Just racked it today.  71B takes freaking forever to ferment to completion.

Initial impressions of the first mead: light, but a bit tannic.  Probably going to have the same mouthfeel as a pinot gris, once the esters are subdued a bit.

The second one is potentially very delicious.  A tiny bit tart from the cherries, loooooong finish, and then a honey back end that lasts forever.  In fact, I'm drinking a Founders Dirty Bastard right now, and I can still taste the mead.  This one is going to be an all-star.  Only criticism I have is that it's a bit thin...probably can fix that with the addition of a bit of tannin the next time I make it.

My next batch might be a repeat of the cherry, but will probably triple the amount of fruit.  Worried about the acid, however.