lpsumo

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1776

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I'm thinking of making a batch of this. I'm wondering if i should add the lemon and lime at the beginning of fermentation or after. I'm thinking the acidity might hurt the fermentation in some way. Would this matter?

fun4stuff

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After I added the lemon and lime to the primary, I indeed did read that it can hurt the fermentation by changing the pH. However, I had no problems with fermentation. While I did not measure pH, it must not affect it enough to stop lavlin D47. It went very quickly with daily aerating and adding nutrients as described in the FAQ.

fun4stuff

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#1. I think the nutrient guidelines listed in the FAQ were written with those specific brands in mind. There is no guarantee that it will work with other brands. With that said, I have adapted it in the past to work with different brands of yeast nutrient and yeast energizer and everything turned out fine for me.

#2. I add all ingredients except the yeast. I prepare yeast per instructions on the back of the packaging. Typically something like add a small amount of warm water (~100 degrees) and part of the must and/or sugar to the yeast in small bowl. I then wait ~30 mins until the mixture starts foaming and then add it to the must.

#3. I never boil my honey, as there is no reason to and it can only change the taste. I put the containers of honey in hot water beforehand so that it pours and dissolves more readily. If I add water, I also heat (not boil) the water to help dissolve the honey. However, it is not pertinent that the honey be dissolved in the water before fermentation.

lpsumo

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Thanks for the tips, I have this in secondary now, hope it goes well

I guess it sits in secondary for 60 days now?

Also it's recommended to bottle it with dextrose. I have glucose syrup, same difference?

fun4stuff

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yes, i think it will work. most people seem to use dextrose, but the yeast should eat up the glucose to produce CO2 and carbonate.

my FG today (started in september) was 1.000. we plan to backsweeten to ~1.010, stabilize with k-meta and sorbate, and clear with bentonite. still opaque red. tastes too sour. at this point if i made it again i would probably cut the lemons and lime in half... we'll see how it tastes later on.

lpsumo

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Thanks for the tip. I have been reading recently about D47 producing fusel alcohol when it ferments over 70F, hope mine turns out ok...

Jukas

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Mine is coming up on almost a year old at this point. I think I'm going to give it another taste and think about bottling. Since it went totally dry at .999 I'm debating if I want to bottle still, or highly carb like a champagne to around 4 vol. I have plenty of 375 & 750ml belgian bottles (thx RR & lost abby). I'm kinda bummed that I only made 3 gallons and will probably only do 5+ gal for all future batches of meads.

fun4stuff

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I too have read about that. FWIW- I used to live in an apartment where I could not control the temperature and it would commonly get to 80 degrees during the day in the summers. I remember at least one time where I was using D47 and I did not have any problems with fusel alcohol or off-tastes... but maybe I was just lucky.

fun4stuff

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How'd it taste? I liked mine at 1.000 SG, but the citrus was a little overpowering. The limes I used were really big. The citrus taste was better after sweetening (aside from the sulfite taste). I am also debating adding some raspberries and letting them sit on raspberries for a few weeks. They're out of season now though...