Spiced Cyser - Brewlog and Recipe

Spiced Cyser

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

Initial SG: 1.106

Initial Volume: 5.33 Gallons

Yeast: K1v-1116 (10g)

Fermaid-O: 82.4g (160ppm YAN)

Go-Ferm: 13g (19ppm YAN)

H2O: 250ml Bottled Drinking Water

Ferm-Cap: 1 Dropper plus 2 drops in Yeast Starter

Honey: ~9 lbs Winco Clover

Juice: 4.5 Gallons of Kroger Brand Apple Juice (SG = 1.050)

Procedure:

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

Heat honey to warm and whip it into the apple juice in a plastic bucket fermenter.

Aerate for 15 minutes using an air stone.

Rehydrate yeast in Go-Ferm per directions.

Pitch yeast and place into a temperature controlled water batch set for 15C.

Day 0 - 9:20PM

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

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

pH: 4.0

Temperature: 78F

Initial SG: 1.106

Initial Volume: 5.33 Gallons

Yeast: K1v-1116 (10g)

Fermaid-O: 82.4g (160ppm YAN)

Go-Ferm: 13g (19ppm YAN)

H2O: 250ml Bottled Drinking Water

Ferm-Cap: 1 Dropper plus 2 drops in Yeast Starter

Honey: ~9 lbs Winco Clover

Juice: 4.5 Gallons of Kroger Brand Apple Juice (SG = 1.050)

Must Temperature @ Pitch: 76F

Yeast Temperature @ Pitch: 80F

Pitched: 7/7/12 9:20PM

Corrected SG @ 60F = 1.108

Day 0 - 11:20 AM (14 Hours)

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

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

Calibrated pH meter - It was off by -0.1 point

Sanitary Aeration for 5 minutes through air stone

SG = 1.104

Temperature = 60F

pH = 4.0

Day 2 - 12:00 AM (27 Hours)

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

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

Sanitary Aeration for 5 minutes through air stone

SG = 1.098

Temperature = 60F

pH = 4.0

Added 3.25g Fermaid-K  - (16ppm YAN) Total YAN = 195ppm 

Day 2 - 12:20PM (39 Hours)

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

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

Sanitary Aeration for 5 minutes through air stone

SG = 1.083

Temperature = 62F

pH = 4.0

Added 4g DAP  - (42ppm YAN) Total YAN = 236ppm 

Day 3 - 9:20 AM (48 Hours)

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

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

H2S Detected - Very Slight

Sanitary Aeration for 5 minutes through air stone

SG = 1.060

Temperature = 64F  (Coolant off for last 6 hours. It is back online now)

pH = 3.9

Added 6.5g Fermaid-K  - (42ppm YAN) Total YAN = 278ppm 

Added 9g Fermaid-O - (18ppm) Total YAN = 296 ppm

Added 1 more dropper of Ferm-Cap to knock down foam...

Day 3 - 10:20 PM (48 Hours)

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

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

H2S Detected - Stronger

SG = 1.042

Temperature = 62F

pH = 3.9

Added 15g Boiled Baker's Yeast  - (30ppm YAN) Total YAN = 327ppm 

Slight Stir

7/11/12 8:20AM

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

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

H2S Detected - Very very slight

SG = 1.032

Temperature = 62F

pH = 3.9

Slight Stir

7/11/12 8:00PM

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

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

SG 1.023

pH 4.1

62F

Slight Stir

7/12/12 9:30AM

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

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

SG 1.016

pH 4.0

62F

Slight Stir

7/12/12 10:30PM

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

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

SG 1.011

pH 4.0

64F

Slight Stir

Turned Off Cooling

7/13/12 10:20PM

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

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

SG 1.008

pH 4.1

66F

Swirled

Moved to Shelf

7/14/12 11:59PM

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

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

SG 1.008

pH 4.1

74F

Swirled

7/23/12 9:18PM

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

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

Racked into 5 gallon BB

pH = 4.1

SG = 1.005

Appearance - Cloudy

Smell - Very much like wine.  Clean. No SO2 odours. Promising

Taste - 

Added 5.3g of K-Meta. The targets are (160ppm Free) (0.80 Molecular)

I am going to wait 3-4 days then check free SO2 using a titret. Based on the ratio that was bound I will calculate the addition to bring the Free SO2 to the target range...

   

Pineapple Coconut Melomel Racking - NOT FUN

So, it was time to rack the melomel off of the coconut as I needed to 6 gallon carboy to brew a Strawberry Wit Beer.

Initially I thought that a section of pantyhose would work well as a filter.  Nope.  The small mesh size just clogged up.  So I abandoned that idea and just went for the racking cane tip.... Nope. That clogged up as well.

By then I was getting a little pissed and decided to sanitize a fruit bag and stuff it down the neck of the destination carboy.  I also sanitized a big funnel and performed what I think may have  been a mistake.  I ended up just pouring the melomel into the funnel and letting the fruit bag filter out the coconut that made it into the pour.

Needless to say, this was quite a rough way to handle the mead and I hope I don't pay for it later.  There was a good deal of SO2 in the mead but I'm not sure what impact today will have.

Also, I ended up not being able to get the bag out of the carboy.  Too much coconut made it in.  I ended up tying off the bad and I'm going to let it sit in there until the mead drops clear and I rack it for the last time.  At least it is in a bag so I shouldn't have any problem with the racking later.

****NOTE***** The next time I do coconut (And I will because my sample taste was AWESOME) I must put the coconut in a bag.  DO NOT ADD COCONUT WITHOUT A FRUIT BAG!!!!

Adjusted acid on the Strawberry Banana Melomel

I've been lazy about the mead but today something got done...

The melomel is crystal clear and looking good.  I tasted it and found it to be quite flat.  It really needs some twang to it.  So I drew a 200ml sample and added a 10% w/w solution of acid blend (citric, malic, and tartaric) to it in measured amounts.  I ended up adding 8ml of the solution (8g) and though it was a bit heavy on the acid.

I also didn't want to add THAT much acid all in one go.  My calculation said to add 80g!

0.8g Acid/200ml Wine=0.004g/ml of acid
0.004g/ml=4g/Liter
5g/Liter * 20Liters = 80g Acid Blend

Too much for me to add at once, so I ended up adding 30g of Acid blend.

Here are the rest of the stats:

pH = 3.6
Free SO2 = 50ppm
Molecular SO2 = 0.8 ppm (RIGHT on the money!)
Gravity = 1.014


Taste Observations:  Now I can taste that banana!  Woo its really in front.  The Strawberry flavor is lacking as of yet.  Otherwise it is a nice drink.  The alcohol is fairly strong on the nose and somewhat on the tongue.  Overall this is good and should be a lot better in a few more months.  I'm going to let this acid addition blend for a month and then re-taste.

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.

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Let there be COCONUT!

Cool.  So that addition of Super-Kleer K.C. worked pretty well I would say.  The picture below doesn't really look it but once I shone a flashlight into it I could clearly see the compacted lees on the bottom.  Since most of the major crap fell out I decided to pull the trigger on racking and also add the coconut to the mix.

I found some bulk shredded died coconut at a local Smith's Grocery and bought 5 pounds of it.  It looked like a lot of Coconut in the bags, but in a 6 gallon carboy it looks like a LOT of coconut...

The racking went smooth.  My total volume of mead was just right.  As you can see in the photo below it came right up to the neck just as the racking cane started sucking air.  After this photo I ended up adding a touch of water to bring it up just a bit more...

Along with the mead itself I also added 6g of K-Meta (Potassium Metabisulfite) which works out to the addition of total SO2 = 150ppm.  Considering the rule of thumb that ~50% of added Sulfite gets bound immediately that results in 75ppm of Free SO2.  This mead's pH is 3.4 so that mean the molecular SO2 is 1.84ppm.  For normal bulk aging a molecular SO2 level of 0.8ppm is the target.  But since I put a bunch of very non-sanitized coconut into the mix I wanted to bump it up a good notch.  The nominal sensory threshold for Sulfites lies at a molecular SO2 level of 2ppm.  So my addition of 1.83ppm molecular SO2 should be just fine at this point.  Once I rack off of the coconut into a 5 gallon carboy I'll maintain a 0.8ppm Molecular SO2 level.

Here is what was left in the primary fermenter... YUMMY!

Well, that's it for the next few months.  I'll pop a few pictures here and there to show off its progress but at this point I'm going to be hands off...

Time to think of my next batch.


UPDATE: 5/21/12 12:30PM
After slapping the carboy around a bit along with some swirling and shaking I got most of the coconut to drop.  On further though I'll probably stick a racking cane down there and stir it up a bit once a week for 3-5 months....

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Fermentation is complete

I took a sample Wednesday night and subjected it to quantitative analysis.... I measured it.  At this point the gravity is down at right about 1.002.  But, that is a subject of some debate.  Here's the deal.  Hydrometers aren't exactly precision pieces of measurement equipment. I own three hydrometers and they are all off from each other by around two points.  I have been using the same hydrometer for every measurement for this batch.  That way the relative gravity readings are correct.

This becomes an issue however when trying to see if this is completely dry or not.  For this particular hydrometer, pure water measures at a gravity of about 1.004.  Based on that assumption I need to subtract 4 points from the measured value to get the real gravity.

By that logic, the mead is currently running at a gravity of 0.998.  Leading me to call this dry and finished.  The airlock is producing one blip every minute or so.  I am assuming this is just dissolved CO2 coming out and perhaps a final kicking of the yeast.

SG = 1.002 (Corrected to 0.998)

I also measured the pH @ 3.4.   With this pH it means I won't have to add too much total SO2 to protect this mead.

Update: 5/19/2012 5:00PM
I am trying something different.  I added some SuperKleer K.C. to promote a faster clarification of the mead before I rack onto the coconut.  I just don't want to carry over a lot of yeast and crap as I plan on leaving it on the coconut for a good while...  I didn't take a photo at the time I mixed it all in but here is one that I took about 4 hours after I mixed it up.  From my perspective this looks like it has already clear up quite a bit.  Let's see what happens.

Triple Mead Racking Day

I got off my lazy ass this last weekend and racked the three Meads that were needing it.  The Strawberry Banana Melomel,  Orange Zest Traditional Mead, and the straight Strawberry Melomel.

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Updates Day 7

I've been a bit busy but the mead is making progress on its own.  Yesterday I cam home at lunch and took a gravity and pH reading.  The gravity was at 1.010 and the pH was 3.4.  So, its coming along nicely.

Last Sunday I found some unsweetened finely shredded dried coconut so I bought 5 pounds of it in anticipation of the mead's first racking.

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

This morning I stopped by the bucket and observed the airlock was still moving.  Much more slowly than before.  About one bubble every 5 seconds or so. I'll take a gravity reading tomorrow.

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Maintenance Update Day 5

Fermentation seems to be chugging along at a good pace.  I stirred the must gently tonight and took a sample for Gravity and pH readings.

SG = 1.030

Pineapple coconut melomel (mead) - 1/2 Break is here! Day 4

Popped the fermenter tonight for the usual maintenance work.  Stir, Aerate, Measure, etc...  First the gravity...

SG = 1.052

This is awesome.  So I've reached the 1/2 way point.  (Not exactly but close enough!)  So that means its time for the final nutrient addition.  Cool.

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Added juice! Day 3.5

I've been worrying about the volume of the must.  I was at just a touch over 5 gallons.  That's not going to be enough to fill up a 6 gallon carboy even with the shredded coconut I plan on adding.

So today I bought 1 gallon of pineapple juice at lunch and brought it home.  I drank a glass and made up the volume with honey.  The pre-addition gravity of the must was 1.060.  The additional juice + honey came to a gravity of 1.077.  I mixed the juice/honey into the bucket and stirred it all up.  The must gravity measured at 1.062.  According to my math this all works out to make sense... and my total volume is now ~6 gallons.

Originally I used DOLE in a can, but this stuff should do...

I figure I'll loose about half a gallon or more as sludge after racking.  That should leave enough room in a 6 gallon carboy for the shredded coconut.  Can't wait...

Pineapple coconut mead - Houston...We have lift off. Day 3

Okay, so I started my usual mead maintenance tonight and aerated the must, skimmed a little more of the strange pineapple puke off the top.  But I noticed a very active and visible 'boiling' effect in the fermenting must.  I took a video.  Check it out...

Pineapple Coconut Melomel - Day 2.5

This morning was a bit rushed so I didn't get a chance to take and photos.  The big thing is I guess I hosed up pretty bad when I took my last gravity reading.  There was so much foam I couldn't really get a good read.  Today the foam was quite a bit less and I got a very clear hydrometer read @ 1.082

That make me a bit disappointed as the fermentation kinematics are less than I thought.  Oh well...

pH measured @ 3.4  So it is still dropping but within limits.


Update - 1:00PM I came home for lunch and decided to pull a Gravity reading.  1.080.  So, this is going a lot slower than my other mead's have.  Not a bad thing at all, just not what I normally get.

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Daily Maintenance Day 2

The fermentation is accelerating.  The airlock is starting to chug along now.  Let's see what the numbers will tell us.

First of all, I cracked the lid and saw this layer of pineapple vomit looking substance floating on top again.  In the end I'm going to be racking it off this crap so I've decided to skim it off.  Perhaps I've just ruined the whole thing... but I don't think so.

Doesn't that look appetizing

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Aeration Day 1.5

This morning the airlock on the pineapple mead was going along at a decent rate.  I guess the lag phase is now truly over.  Anyways, I got my aeration rig put together and started to aerate the must.  The degassing produced an impressive head of foam.  At one point it did overflow just a little bit.  Here's a video and some stills:

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - First night aeration.

So tonight was the first aeration for this batch.  The fermentation is still yet to really take off as the airlock isn't moving very fast at all.  I cracked open the lid to start the aeration with my trusty high volume aquarium pump, sanitary inline filter, and bubble wand...

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Lag phase is over

Today at lunch I came home and saw the air lock giving me a bubble every 10 seconds or so.  From my perspective that means its ready for some junk food!

I added 4g of Fermaid-K and 2g of DAP both mixed into some water then poured into the must.  Gave it a good stir and closed everything back up.  Time to get back to work!

Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead) - Brew day Pictures and Process!

First, some research:

• Here is a link to the GotMead site where one of the resident gurus of mead discusses pineapple mead:  http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8306
• And another...  http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12045
• One more...  http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9398

What did "I" learn from this.  My three gallons of juice in 5 gallons of mead may result in too little pineapple. Then again I plan to help counteract that by doing the fermentation under low temps (58F) and using a neutral yeast (EC-1118).  Overall I'm still full ahead go!

This is how the brew day went down:

I popped my honey into the microwave!  Oh god no!  I know a lot of sources say to gently warm the honey in a water bath and not to use a microwave.  I don't understand why not.  I've always used to microwave and had zero problems.  You mileage may vary.  Anyways, 10 lbs of honey for 4 minutes at high power did the trick and just warmed the honey enough to get it nice and thin.

Here is a shot of the honey water mixture with the stick blender in there whipping the shit out of it.

On to the next! Pineapple Coconut Melomel (Mead)

Alrighty then!

Since my primary fermentation vessel is free I decided to start something.  And what I've chosen is a pineapple coconut melomel.  Yummy! I was inspired by this video.  I don't have their recipe but I'll wing it on my own...

 This is something that my wife is going to enjoy.

Strawberry Melomel #2 - Racked...

Its been a while so here's what when down...

5/3 8:00AM - Started to smell really bad again.  A lot of H2S is being produced.  The big problem is that I don't have time to add any nutrients.

5/3 2:00PM - The smell started to dissipate on its own.  I'm just going to let it go and splash rack/ copper it when its finished...

5/5 9:00PM - The SG measures @ 1.002, pH @ 3.5.  Its dry now so I'm going to rack it off the gross lees.

As it turns out this shit smells... like shit.  That H2S is strong.  So I racked it through 10 feet of 3/8" copper tubing and splashed it into a 6 gallon Better Bottle.  The total yield was low. This didn't even come close to filling the carboy.  A good 5-6" of sludge was left in the bottom of the bucket.

I used a hose clamp to slow the flow through the copper pipe that should have given it enough time to react with the nasty.  I hope it did.

Added 1.5g of K-Meta and 2.5 tsp of Bentonite.  I also added 1/3 gallon of spring water to help make up for the loss...

I'll rack it in one month on 6/5.

Strawberry Mead #2

The smell is still gone.  Awesome!

Punched the fruit cap tonight at around 6:00PM.  Measured the SG @ 1.018, pH @ 3.5, Temperature @ 63F.

The taste is rough and young.  There is a bit of an off medicinal flavor... hopefully this will drop out with the yeast when they go dormant.  At this rate the bulk of the fermentation should be over in the next 3-4 days.  Then I'll let it clear out for a week or two and rack it off the bulk lees.

Strawberry mead #2

Measured SG @ 1.029  pH @ 3.4 Temperature @ 63F.
Taste is better than last time.  Less bitter.  Fruitier...

Strawberry Melomel #2 - The Stink Returns...

This AM the smell was back...  I'm at a loss here.  But since the last couple of time the smell was reduced significantly with a little nutrient addition, I'm going to do it again.  Added 2g of Fermaid-K and 2g of DAP.  Punched the cap and took a sample.

SG=1.042
pH=3.4
Temperature=63F

Sensory:  The taste is becoming noticeably bitter.  I assume this is because of the stressed yeast...  I hope this clears up after some aging.

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.