OK, so after figuring out the pasteurization method of stopping fermentation I figured I would move onto a fully organized and controlled batch of mead. Being new at this whole wine making gig, I kind of mixed things up abit in the cellar (AKA basement bathroom). What was pure mead is now a mixture of Mead and wine made with brown sugar. batches that were let fully ferment are now mixed with the sweeter brown sugar versions of before. All this mixing has resulted in some stellar tasting wines but nothing consistent with a definite known recipe.
All that being said, here is what I did. This will be updated as the batch progresses.
Ingredients:
2 litres of Clover Honey
2 3/4 Litres of Frozen Pressed Blackberry juice
1 3/4 Litres Steam extracted Blackberry juice
1 1/2 Litres of Bottled Spring Water
2 Packs of 1118 Yeast
2 Tsp of Nutrient
I thawed the frozen juice out in a large pot with 1 litre of the bottled water. I kept the extra water aside to cool the must for innoculation.
It turns out I needed a little more juice to make-up the full 2 gallons required so I added in the steam extracted juice. Personally I prefer the Steam extracted juice for winemaking because it requires less straining and results in a clearer end product. In addition, the heat kills any undesirable bacteria. With the increase in fruit content, I am aiming at a fruitier tasting lower alcohol wine. My wife has been complaining about the 17 and 22% versions so this should be more to what she is used to.
measurements:
Specific Gravity is 1.105 which was temperature corrected for 90 F. This would result in wine of about 14% if allowed to ferment to dry.
Innoculation temperature: 90F
Innoculated at 12 Noon PST on October 17, 2007
It i 7AM the following day, so the batch has been fermenting on top of my fridge for 19 hours.
ReplyDeleteThe current temperature is 70 F the Spec Grav it about 1.098 and the alc level per my vinometer is 5%.
I have been constantly stirring the crust in and Yeasty beasy activity is constant and growing.
I just got home and checked it out. The wine is sitting at 74 F with a spec Gravity of 1.078 according to the Vinometre the alc level is 10%, although I am having doubts as to its' accuracy as according the the hydrometer it should be at about 4% now.
ReplyDeleteThe blackberry wine still tastes like blackberry juice and fermentation is still active. I'm thinking it will be ready to stop either tomorrow morning or afternoon.
I will be keeping a close eye (or taste bud) on this batch as there was a point in my first batch where the flavour was optimal somewhere between 36 and 48 hours.
Crap, my entire update was nuked.
ReplyDeleteBasically at 11:30 PM I tsted the Mead and it tasted about right, a nice tingle of alcohol on the toungue but yet some residual sweetness and definate berry flavour. I can tell the difference between the Mead and the brown sugar wine at this stage.
As I mentioned in the other post, there was a little discreptancy between my Vinometer reading and that of my Hydrometer. The culprit being some glass on the bottom ball of the hydrometer breaking off. The first reading was correct, just everything after that was screwed as I had dropped the hydrometer and not noticed the damage until now.
That being said, I am relying on my taste buds and the Vinometer to come up with a Spec gravity of 1.030. The alc level is 10%, the start was 14 so that gave me my reading. Of course the Hydrometer was telling me it was at 1.060... Quite the difference.
So now I stopped the fermentation by putting the Mead in a large stainless steel pot and bringing the temperature up to 150F while skimming off the yeasty beasties that floated to the top. Once it hit that temperature, I transfered the mead back into my glass primary and closed the lid, to keep the alcohol in. As at 150F it is not water that is steaming out, it is pure alcohol.
Quite rapidly I noticed the yeast creatures falling to the bottom, the ocassional critter that came up for air was rapidly killed by the falling pure alcohol.
15 minutes in, there is a definate line of dead yeast at the bottom and fermentation has all but stopped. I will now transfer the Mead into the Secondary jugs.
Ok, what is it now... 18 days since starting this batch of Mead? Well I decided to buck the trend and bottle this puppy. I guess waiting a little longer and racking the batch a few more times would probably have garnered a more rounded Mead (And saved some filters) my impatience won the battle and I went for it.
ReplyDeleteI ran the batch of mead through my pump filter quite a number of times before the foam died down. Once that happened, I bottled it through a finishing filter. In comparison to what I thought was clear before, the clarity was just amazing. The Mead is a glistening red which can be likened to the glitter of pure spring water as you pur it an light refects off it like diamonds.
Taste wise, the end result was a very nice desert wine with a sweet berry aroma a mild flavour with a slight afterburn (just so you know it isn't fruit juice.) There is also a nice smooth feeling of honey. The sugar level is not overbearing but it may be too sweet for those who prefer the dry wines.
The alcohol level is 10%
One additional note. If sweet mead is not your thing, there is still room for fermentation in this recipe. I had let a previous batch of Blackberry wine ferment to a full 17% and the taste was also quite satifying. Fermented to dry, this recipe would result in a 14% Alc level Mead.
ReplyDeleteWARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING
ReplyDeleteOK, now that I got my point across, it sees I made abit of an error in bottling so soon. It turns out yet another bottle of my Mead had the cork fly off. Although the Mead was filtered and was sparkling clear. Bottling at this early stage resulted in yeast production. I find this really strange as the bottles were stored in a very cool and dark place. I closely examined the other older batched and did not notice the sediment. Therefor I am assuming those corks will not fly.
I unbottled the entire batch and moved it back to the secondary. I guess I will take another run at filtering it but this time I will leave it for awhile longer before I bottle.