Day 1:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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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.
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