Taste, SO2, pH and SG Testing for everyone...

I bought a set of SO2 test titrets.  They are expensive!  $2 a pop in a pack of 10...

Here are the results and some commentary:

Tasty Tasty

Strawberry Banana Melomel
-pH = 3.7
-Free SO2 = 40ppm
-Molecular SO2 = 0.51
-Specific Graviyt = 1.008
The molecular SO2 is on the low side.  I would like to bump this up to 0.8ppm so I need to add 23ppm free SO2 (63ppm total).  I am going to assume that 20% of any added SO2 will get bound so that means a final addition of ~29ppm of SO2.  The batch size is ~19L so that means 551mg of SO2.  Since K-Meta is 52% so that means 1.059g of K-Meta all-in-all...

The taste of this batch is very nice.  In fact, I would say this was drinkable right now.  But age will do it better.  At this time the strawberry is not quite up front and lacks a lot of the berry flavor.  The banana is in the background at a very low level. But my wife, who hates bananas, says the banana is very strong and powerful. ???  Anyways, this one will be ready to bottle in a few months.  I plan on starting to sample a bottle here and there around Christmas.

You've got potential kid

Strawberry Melomel
-pH = 3.3
-Free SO2 = 50ppm
-Molecular SO2 = 1.57ppm
-Specific Gravity = 0.998
The molecular SO2 is a bit high for this dry mead.  It really doesn't need above 0.8ppm.  But, that's fine, I expect the level to drop over the aging period.  So I'll just take this as being protected for the long run.

Overall the taste of this one is BONE dry with a big acid bite.  Still showing some bitter/harsh flavors along with a harsh mouth feel.  However, the aroma is very nice strawberry and not a hint of the H2S I had before.  It looks like the copper/splash did the trick.  Overall, I would say this mead has a potential and should really shine in a year or so.  I think I will back sweeten this one to around 1.010-1.012 to offset that acid bite.

Wait and see

Pineapple Coconut Melomel
-pH = 3.9
-Free SO2 = 150ppm
-Molecular SO2 = 1.21ppm
-Specific Gravity - ????
Okay, first the pH... I guess that MOUNTAIN of coconut I added to this mead forced the pH upwards a good deal.  Last I checked this mead was in the 3.4 range.  And because of the higher pH I have missed my desired Molecular SO2 level of 1.8 by a good margin.  I wanted to get it to 1.8 to help keep down any nasty beasts that may have been riding on that dried coconut.  The big problem is that the test kits don't test above 150ppm of free SO2.  So I guess I'm stuck here.  I will go ahead and mix in some K-Sorbate to help stabilize this for the long haul.

The taste is quite unpleasant right now.  The mead is still way too young to event start taking a guess at what this will be like in the end.  I can say this: The Pineapple is present and bold.  The Coconut is already coming out big time.  The honey is lost but I think it may come back after some time.

Further observation is that the coconut oil has risen to the top of the carboy. There isn't a whole bunch of it but it is a very noticeable layer.  I'm going to leave it for now as it is a fully saturated oil and protect by an airlock from oxygen.  I hope this means it won't go rancid in the next few months while I age this on the coconut.

I didn't take a gravity reading because I haven't back sweetened it yet.  That will come after I rack this off of the coconut.

Poison?

Finally we have the Orange Zest Traditional:
-pH = 3.9
-Free SO2 = 28ppm
-Molecular SO2 = 0.23ppm
-Gravity = 1.006
The pH of this combined with the low SO2 is causing a very low Molecular SO2 level.  This isn't good.  I will have to do something about it.  At this pH I'll need almost 100ppm Free SO2 to get my desired Molecular level.  I just might have to add acid as well as SO2 to achieve my goal.  I'll think about it.

The taste of this batch has turned ugly.  It is slightly sweet and there is a lot of honey essence. With the qualities it is a nice mead, but there is this BRUTAL bitterness to it.  I don't think it is the orange zest, I was careful not to add the pith.  Whatever the cause of this flavor, I would only drink a glass if you paid me to.  Perhaps a bit of acid would help to balance the sweetness.  But the bitter flavor is the killer.  I'll add some acid here in the next few weeks and bottle it in a few months.  I don't have much hope but who knows.