Strawberry Melomel #2 - Updates

4/29 6:00 PM - Smells like a hobo is using my bathroom as a fart balloon!  Measured the SG @ 1.068, pH=3.4, Temperature = 59F.  The must is too cool so I raised the temperature of the water bath to 16C.  To help with the stinky ass I added 4g of Fermaid-K.  I also added 4/5 of a gallon of the must that I had reserved for later.  This raised the SG to 1.070, pH = 3.5, and lowered the temperature to 58F.

4/30 1:00 PM  - Damn it the stink is back!  I added 2g of Fermaid-K and 2g of DAP. SG=1.056, pH=3.5

4/30 10:00 PM - Checked on the fermentation and the stink is gone.  The temperature is = 64F.

Strawberry Melomel #2 - Update (pH problem...)

Aerated the must with the sanitary filter bubble wand for 20 minutes this afternoon.  Measured the SG @ 1.078.  The problem was the pH.  Its dropping quickly, today it was 3.3.  pH is a problem for the yeast if it drops to 3.2 or lower.  So I added 1 teaspoon of Asian Lye water that had been mixed into an 8oz glass of water.  I stirred it in gently and was surprised to see quite a bit of foam come out of the must.  This was after aeration after all so I didn't think there would be that must dissolved CO2 still...

Anyways, I'll give it a few hours then check the pH again.  I see how much that teaspoon of lye water moved the pH and make a proportional addition if need to bring the pH back to 3.4.

I tasted the pH sample and it was still very clean, still sweet, but quite a bit of acid bite to it.  Tasted like strawberries and honey still.  The alcohol hasn't become much more noticeable but it must be there.  So for it has dropped 34 points and that means about 4.7% abv.

Speaking of points, it occurs to me this is just about to the 1/3 break.  I'm going to add 2.5g of Fermaid-K tonight for the occasion!  Really though, since I over shot the fermaid-k at the last addition I'll cut back on the 1/3 break amount.  I've update the recipe to reflect the nutrient addition schedule changes...


Update: 3:00PM - Measured the pH and it is now at 3.4  So I am going to let it be for now but I'll be checking frequently to ensure this doesn't drop below 3.2.  I also punched the fruit cap.

Strawberry melomel #2 - added nutrients

Started to smell some off odors.  Thought it may be H2S so I  jumped the gun and added the second dose of nutrients ahead of schedule.  Added 6g of DAP, and 9.5g of fermaid-k.  Measured the specific gravity at 1.090.  This has dropped 20 points so far and tastes good as well .  Very clean, nice acid, the alcohol is just becoming noticeable.

Temperature remains stable at 60F.  The airlock is now moving along at a good rate. Much like the last batch this is going fast.  I'm a bit surprised because of the low temperature though... 

Aerated the must with a vigorous stirring.

Update: 1:46am and good news.  The smell is gone now...completely.  Lets see if I got it cut off at the pass.  Unlike last time... pH=3.5

Aerating the strawberry melomel.

Aerated the strawberry melomel tonight.  Measured the specific gravity at 1.108.  Temperature of the must is 60F.  pH is ... I didn't measure it! (Sad panda...)

Bubble Wand Aeration... 20 minutes.

Aeration plus a shot of my temperature controlling rig...

Strawberry Melomel #2 - Update (Lag phase over)

This morning the mead was bubbling every second or more so I decided the lag phase must be over.  I added 8g of Fermaid-K and 6g of DAP to a cup of water then mixed that into the mead.  The mead was right at 64F so I set the water bath temperature controller to 58F.  Things are coming along nicely.


-Update:  This afternoon I checked on the batch at lunch.  The SG is @ 1.110, Temperature of the must is @ 62F.  Bubble rate is picking up to two bubble per second or so.

Pictures of the strawberry mash

Yummy!

Strawberry Melomel #2 - The mead is in the making! Brewlog Started

I made good on my plans and the mead is now truly underway.  Here is the full procedure in case I or you want to follow it some day.

Day 1:
----------------

Ingredients:

• 9 pounds of fresh strawberries
• 8 pounds of frozen strawberries
• 4 teaspoons of Pectic Enzyme
• 2 grams of Potassium Metabisulfite
• 1 Gallon Spring or Tap water

Procedure:

• Wash and hull the fresh strawberries.  Place them into a solution of Star San for a few minutes then rinse with fresh water and drain.
• Crush the frozen strawberries in their bags.
• Sanitize a fermentation bucket along with a large fruit bag.
• Smash the fresh berries and add them to the bag along with the crushed frozen berries.
• Add 1 Gallon of water to the berries.
• Dissolve 2g of K-Meta in a cup of water and add to the berries.
• Dissolve 4 teaspoons of Pectic Enzyme in 2 cups of water and add to the berries.
• Mix the berries well then install the bucket lid.
• Leave this mixture for 24 hours.

Day 2:

-----------------

Ingredients:

• 16.5 Pounds of Clover Honey
• 1.5 Gallons of Spring Water
• 250ml of H2O @ 110F\
• 12.5 grams of Go-Ferm
• 10 grams Lalvin 71B Yeast

Procedure:

• Press the fruit bag and express as much as the juice as possible.  Set aside the solids.
• In a small bucket or container add 1 gallon of spring water.
• Using a stick blender whip the honey into the water.  You'll have to do this in two batches or so.
• Using the stick blender whip the honey/water mix into the strawberry juice.  This should ensure a homogeneous mixture as well as a good amount of oxygenation.
• Add water until the Specific gravity is ~1.110 (this batch was 1.112)
• Measure the pH (this batch was 3.7)
• Reserve 1 Gallon of must in a bottle and place in the fridge until needed.
• Heat 250ml of H20 to 110F
• Measure 12.5 grams of Go-Ferm and add to the heated water
• Mix well and wait until the temperature drops to 104F
• Sprinkle 10 grams of Lalvin 71-B Yeast into the Go-Ferm mixture.
• Wait 15 minutes.
• Add 125ml of the prepared must and mix gently
• Wait 20 minutes.
• Add 250ml of prepared must and mix gently
• Wait 30 minuets.
• Measure the temperature of the must and of the yeast starter.  They should be less than 10 degrees different.
• Pitch the yeast into the must and mix well.
• Place into a water bath @ 16C

*Notes:  The must was @ 72F and the yeast was @ 78F at the time of pitching.  The yeast starter was fermenting quite well and producing a good foam cap before pitching.  The water bath is @ 15.8C.

Day 3:

---------------------

Ingredients:

• 8g Fermaid-K
• 6g DAP

Procedure:

• After the lag phase mix the nutrients into a cup of water. 
• Aerate and degas the must.
• Mix the nutrient solution into the mead.

Ongoing:

------------------------

Aerate and degas daily until the SG reaches 1.090. Then add 9.5g of Fermaid-K and 6g of DAP as per the last nutrient addition.

Continue to aerate and degas daily until the SG reaches 1.075.  Then add 2.5g of Fermaid-K as per the nutrient addition procedure.

Swirl and degas daily but do not aerate until the SG reaches 1.055.  At this point remove the strawberries using the fruit bag.  Do not press the berries too much.  Top off the fermenter using the reserved gallon of must.  Add 4g of Fermaid-K as per the nutrient addition procedures.

Swirl daily but do not aerate the fermenter until the fermentation stops.  Once the mead goes dry and the SG stops dropping wait one week then rack into a carboy.  Stabilize with 50ppm of K-Meta and K-Sorbate.

Wait one to two months for it to drop clear.  If it does not drop clear in two months rack it anyway. 71B is not good to age on lees.  At this racking back sweeten to 1.010-1.015 is desired.  Add 25-50ppm K-Meta.

Wait ~3 months and rack again if there is any significant amount of sediment.  If it is crystal clear take three SG measurements, one week apart each.  If the SG doesn't change, bottle it.

Strawberry Melomel #2 Started

So fresh strawberries are coming into season and the smell was awesome in the store.  So I bought 9 pounds, picked up 17lbs of honey and 8 lbs of frozen strawberries.

Tonight I started my preparations and here's how it went down.

Washed the strawberries is fresh water then hulled them removing all of the greens.  Dunked into a solution of StarSan for a few minutes then rinsed with fresh water.  Then I sanitized my fermentation bucket (6.5 gallons) along with a fruit straining bag.  Mushed the strawberries with my hands and crushed the frozen berries.  All this went into the mesh bag along with a gallon of tap water.  

In order to prepare the fruit I added 2.022 grams of K-Meta to kill off the wild bugs.  I also added 4 teaspoons of Pectic Enzyme to start breaking down the cell walls of those berries.  I tied off the bag loosely and put on the lid.

At this point I'm going to wait for a day and let the pectic enzyme do its thing.  The K-Meta should stave off the bugs until I mix in the honey and pitch yeast.

Ingredients:

• 9 lbs of fresh strawberries
• 8 lbs of frozen strawberries
• 1 Gallon water
• 2.022 grams K-Meta
• 4 tsp. of Pectic Enzyme

After the rest period the following will be added.

• Balance water to ~6 Gallons 
• ~16 lbs Honey to a SG of 1.100
• 10g Lalvin 71B yeast re-hydrated in Go-Ferm
• Lye water to adjust pH to ~3.8

Nutrient Schedule:

The last time I made this I had real problems with Sulfide production due to a lack of nutrients.  At least that's what it appeared to be.  The last run used 16g of Fermaid-K and 14g of DAP for a total YAN of 260ppm.  This time around I am going to alter the balance of Nutrients more towards the Fermaid-K and also increase the total YAN to ~300ppm.

After the lag phase, not at pitch like  before, I will add 1/3 of the Fermaid-K and 1/2 of the DAP.  So that means 8-g Fermaid-K and 6g DAP.

At the 1/3 Break - 8g Fermaid-K and 6g DAP. 

At the 1/2 Break - 8g Fermaid-K and 0g DAP.

Aeration every day until 1/3 Break.  

Fermentation will be carried out @ 64F.  But if the fermentation speed is too fast I will drop it to 60F.  All this will be done with my newly build Water Bath Cooler.  Wait for details on this cool piece of kit.

Racked the Strawberry Banana Melomel

The strawberry melomel got racked.  I sweetened it with 1.5 lbs of honey.  Added 50ppm of K-Meta and 1.25 tsp of K-Sorbate.  As per standard protocol I added 2.5 tsp of Bentonite just like with the Traditional.

Pics:

Just before Racking

Racking underway.  Auto siphons ROCK!

Racking onto the Honey

Racked and racked

Orange Zest Traditional Mead - RACKED (Pictures...)

Okay,

So it turned out to be a few days since I posted and promised these pictures... Well, here goes.

Sanitize... Sanitize

Just before racking... Looking good

Racking Begins

Orange Zest Traditional Mead - RACKED

Last night I went ahead and racked my Orange Zest Traditional mead.  On top of that I setup a mead shelf in my small ass apartment so i can now fit about 6 five gallon carboys.  Sweet!

This one measured a specific gravity (SG) of 1.008.  However, my hydrometers are fucked up a bit.  Tap water reads 1.004.  So, if I take that into account it means this mead is just about bone dry.  The pH measured @ 4.1.  That's a little high and means SO2 won't do shit.  I'll write up an article on SO2 and its relationship with pH at some point in time...

Anyways, I decided to make this  a semi-sweet mead so I racked it onto some honey.  All in all I added the following:

• 1 lb Orange Blossom Honey - This should get me to semi-sweet.
• 2.5 teaspoons on Bentonite mixed into 2 Cups of boiling water then blended for 5 minutes.  The bentonite is added to help the haze of the added honey to drop faster.
• 1.85 grams of K-Meta (~50ppm).  Not sure why I added this since the pH is too high for it to do much good...
• 1.25 teaspoons of K-Sorbate.  This chemically neuters the yeast rendering them unable to reproduce.  Don't imagine that it actually kills the yeast mind you!  The K-Meta works to stun/kill the beasties and the K-Sorbate cuts off their junk!

Pictures to follow shortly...

Strawberry Banana Melomel #1 2012 - PICTURES

So I took a few pictures of the carboy with the melomel on the bananas.  Its been about two weeks since I racked onto the fruit.  Looking good!

Strawberry Banana Melomel #1 2012 Brewlog

Yeast Starter: Finished 3/16 9:00PM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Boiled Clover Honey & Spring Water (1 Qt. Total Volume) in microwave. Sg=1.055. 
• Capped and cooled to 72F.
• Added .6g Fermaid-K to Starter Must
• Boiled 150ml of water and cooled to 110F. 
• Added 6.25g GoFerm and Mixed
• Cooled to 102F then Sprinkled on 5g 71B yeast.
• Waited 15 minutes then added 150ml of Starter must
• Waited 15 minutes then added 150ml of Starter must
• Waited 15 minutes then transferred the Starter must and Yeast slurry to 1 gallon Sanitized Jug
• Bubbled air through inline sanitizing filter for 5 minutes using a bubble wand
• Installed Airlock and stored in a dark place
• Proceeded to prepare the must

Must Prep - Finished 3/16 11:00PM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Sanitized Blender and all parts
• Used blender with bottled spring Water to rough chop all of the frozen strawberries.
• Poured strawberries into a strainer bag inside a sanitized plastic bucket primary fermenter
• Add 96oz can of Strawberry wine base to the bag.
• Poured in Spring Water to 4.5 Gallons.
• Strain out the fruit very well using sanitized hands and set bag in a sanitized metal bowl for later.
• Added 4 tsp. Pectic Enzyme
• Added 6 tsp. K-Meta Sulfite Solution (equivalent to 6 camden Tabs)
• Heated ~15 lbs. Clover/Blackberry Honey and poured into a sanitized 2 Gallon Bucket.
• Brought 1 Liter of tap water to a boil and poured into the bucket
• Using a sanitized stick blender combined the honey and hot water
• Use the stick again when pouring the honey mixture into the fermenter on top of the strawberry juice
• Adjusted Total Liquid Volume to 5 Gallons
• Measured the SG = 1.106 @ 58F & pH @ 3.8
• Added 1 Tablespoon Lye Water and mixed well
• Measured pH @ 4.3
• Placed three large handfuls of sanitized marbles into the fruit bag.
• Tied the bag closely closed and put into the fermenter massaging the bag to mix must into the pulp
• Installed Lid and plug the airlock port.
• Stored in a cool place. 

3/17 11:00AM
---------------------------------------------
Acclimate starter to the must:

• Must Temperature = 63F, SG=1.104
• Added 1 Cup of must to the starter
• Waited 20 minutes
• Added 1 Cup of must to starter
• Waited 20 Minutes
• Added 2 Cups of must to starter
• Waited 40 Minutes
• Added Starter to must
• Added 4.5g Fermaid-K & 4.5g DAP, disolved in 150ml Spring Water, according to HighTest's SNA Schedule
• Aerated with Sanitized Air filter and bubble wand for 20 minutes.
• Installed Airlock

3/17 12:37PM Placed in a 18C (65F) Water Bath in the bathtub.


Added more yeast - 3/17 4:40PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One bubble every 30 seconds...
Got nervous regarding the starter as this is not what I would normally have done so I went to the
HBS and purchased more 71B yeast.


Heated 250ml of Spring Water to 110F in a sanitized glass 2 cup measuring cup
Added 12.5g of GoFerm and waited for it to cool to 104F
Gentley stirred in 10g of 71B Yeast
Waited 15 minutes then added 120ml of Must
Waited 15 minutes then added 170ml of Must
Waited 15 minutes, Yeast temperature = 78F, Must temperature=64F
3/17 4:40PM Pitched Yeast slurry
Aerated 15 minutes with santized air filter and bubble wand




Nutrient Addition - 3/18 10:00AM 
-------------------------------------------------------
Wow the fermentation is going crazy. I can not count the bubbles they are going so fast.


Measured SG = 1.090 @ 65F
Water bath @ 64F
Added 2.8g DAP & 2.8g Fermaid-K to 150ml of Spring Water
Mixed must to release gas
Started Areation with Santized Air and bubble wand.
Added nutrient mixture
Aeration for 15-20 minutes


3/18 - 8:40PM
-----------------------------------------------
Noticed Sulfur Smell. The fermentation rate is still going super strong. It is going so fast I will be at 1/3 break before morning. 
So I will plan on adding the last nutrient dose in the AM. Hopefully it will not be too far past it. If SG is below 1/2 sugar then I will add the nutrients but not aerate any more.


Measured SG = 1.078 @ 66F, pH=3.7
Water Bath @ 65F
Stirred and Sanitized aeration for 20 minutes to drive out the Sulfur Smell...


3/18 - 10:40PM 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sulfur Smell still present so I am going to add some nutrients... As of this addition I will have added 188ppm of Nitrogen to the must. I am still planning on adding the 1.8g of Fermaid-K and DAP just before 50% sugar. This will yield a total added nitrogen content of 217.6ppm. I estimate the Honey to have ~15ppm nitrogen but I do not have an estimate for the strawberries... I hope they are adding enough to get the must to a total of 300ppm as recommended for this brix.


-Mixed 2g Fermaid-K and 2.8g DAP to 150ml of spring water.
-Stirred the must to release CO2 then mixed in the nutirents.




3/18 11:50PM
------------------------------------
Sulfur smell is mostly gone now. Much better. Air lock is still going nuts with about 10 bubbles per second (estimate becuase I can't count them!)


Measured must temperature @ 66F, Water Bath @ 65F


3/19 7:30AM
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sulfur smell is very slight. This will be the last aeration I do.


-Measured SG=1.066 @ 66F
-Started Sterile Filtered Aeration through bubble wand (20 minutes)
-Added 1.3g DAP and 1.3g Fermaid-K in the normal spring water mix
-Used Rum instead of sanitizer in the air lock due to bubble formation and loss of liquids...




3/19 2:20PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sulfide smell coming back!!! 


-Measured SG=1.057 @ 67F
-Added 1g Fermaid-K and 1g DAP in 150ml spring water
-NO AERATION




3/19 8:45PM
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sulfide smell is much stronger... I'm adding some more nutrient as that seems to help. The rum as airlock fluid is doing quite well. The bubble rate is still goings crazy ~5 bubbles per second since the change to rum.


-Measured SG=1.050 @ 68F, pH=3.6
-Added 1.5g Fermaid-K and 1.5g DAP mixed in 150ml of spring water.
-No Aeration as it is past the 1/2 sugar mark.
-The taste is still nice strawberry, honey, yeasty, and a little bit of bitterness is starting to show up. Assume this is the yeast and 


Alcohol flavors comming into play as the sugar is eaten up.


3/21/10 8:00PM 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Swirled the bucket and took a gravity reading. SG = 1.014 @ 67F




3/22/10 8:30PM
--------------------------------------------------------------
 Swirled the bucket and took a gravity reading. SG = 1.008 @ 66F. pH= 3.6 
Fermentation is slowing down. Airlock is ~2 seconds per bubble.


3/31 8:00PM
---------------------------------------------------------------
 Took a reading: SG=1.004. Took nine days to drop 4 points. I figure this is pretty much done. So I racked it into a 6 Gallon Better Bottle along with 10 pounds of bananas and 35ppm of SO2.  Planning on letting this sit on the bananas for a month then racking off the fruit and back sweetening as needed.

Strawberry Banana Melomel Recipe

Strawberry Banana Melomel Mead #1 2012

Volume: 5 Gallons
Starting Gravity: 1.106
Estimated a.b.v - 14%

Ingredients

• Primary
•  ~15 lbs of Clover/Blackberry honey blend 
• ~4 Gallons of spring water
•  96 oz. Can of Strawberry Fruit Base (Vinter's Harvest) 
• 8 lbs of Frozen Strawberries
•  4 tsp. Pectic Enzyme 
• 6 camden tablets (or equivalent for 70ppm SO2) 
•  Fermaid-K 
•  DAP
•  18.75g GoFerm 
• 15g Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast 
•  Potassium Carbonate/Sodium Bicarbonate mixture (Asian Lye Water) to adjust pH upwards
• Secondary
• 10 lbs of peeled fresh whole bananas
• 3 Camden Tables (or equivalent of 35ppm SO2)

Equipment

• 6.5 Gallon Plastic Bucket Fermenter with a lid and airlock
• Fine Mesh Large Fruit Bag / Grain Bag
• 6 gallon better bottle plastic Carboy

Calculating Nitrogen/YAN/FAN in a batch of Mead/Beer/Wine

Okay, so as an extension to calculating PPM (my explanation of calculating PPM, Read it first if you don't already know about PPM) I wanted to explain how to calculate nitrogen additions to your brew.

I only talk about the Lallemand products here because they are just about the only guys out there who will tell us what's in their shit!  Seriously people, if they won't tell us what's in there we are going on FAITH and that's just as bad as grabbing a handful, walking 10 feet away then throwing it at the fermenter.  Whatever goes in is how much you add.  Does that sound right?  NO!

How to calculate PPM as it pertains to mead/beer/wine

So, the question about PPM always seems to come up so I decided to write down my thoughts on the matter. I hope this helps everyone reading...

An old friend: Cherry Cyser Adventure

Re-posting this here as it turned out well!  It been aging for about 17 months now.  Originality posted:  11/21/2010

So, here is my recipe.  I was inspired and mostly copied the recipe from a very talented guy that goes by the handle "oskarr" on www.gotmead.com.  I ponied up the bones and purchased a patron membership so I can have access to the seasoned veterans of mead making.  Given that fact, I can not share the exact recipe.  The specific honey, the variety of cherries, and his specific nutrient additions and procedures will remain shrouded in secrecy until you too go and sign up...

Here is the exact version I made.  I did fuck with it so...it may turn out to be Shiza instead of Cyser.

Direction Change = HOLY SHIT!!! (Cherry Killer)

A Blast from the past

Repost from my original blog...

First a preface of what the hell I'm taking about here.
I do a huge variety of hobbies.  And for the purposed of this blog, one of those hobbies is brewing mead and pretending to be a right proper mazer.  In fact, I don't consider myself to be a mazer or to have actually created any mead yet.  Being such a beginner, so impatient, and a constant tinkerer/tweaker of all things I am sure that I've destroyed my first attempts at the art of making mead.