Raisins

I see a lot of people using raisins to help ferment. My question is there a certain type if raisin or just raisins in general. Also can you still add nutrient and energizer on top of it or does it defeat the purpose.

Raisins are cheap tannins and nutrients. No one type is inherently better over the other if using just to provide more nutrients. If you have the proper yeast nutrients then I would not worry about adding raisins unless you want the flavor. In that case add fresh grapes/grape juice/grape puree from the LHBS instead of raisins.

Zante Currant raisins give a little better flavor than the usual raisins, might be worth trying to make a raisin mead with them. I dont think I have seen grape puree, but wine grape concentrate also works well and wont clog up your racking tube. WVMJ

Ok so you can do both but do not really need to.

I like the raisins flavor I use then in all Mead's

A small handful (per gallon) is good as there is some nutrient value plus they can also help with "body" (viscosity), but if you use too much you can get sherry/port/"raisiny oxidation" sort of notes - which judges of comps mark down for......unless its a batch made to have that as a specific attribute, like a port or sherry with honey notes coming through in the taste......

Thanks y'all. I'm about a week away from starting my second mead. Want this one to be much better.

Scottv...I do not hesitate to use raisins in my mead. They are a great nutrient source for mead, and we know that nutrient deficiency is an issue in mead--unless you tackle it. If I am working on what will be a light colored mead I use golden raisins or a blend of golden/dark. I typically use 8-12oz per gallon. If the mead will be darker then I use plain dark raisins, though zante currants are my favorite dark 'raisin'(though not a raisin, but you know what I mean). I do not worry if the raisins have sulfites, but I do look for oil and avoid those particular ones. The amount of sulfites added to preserve the raisins will not inhibit your yeast, but you can do a few rinses in boiling water if that bothers you.

I will also haunt nuts.com because they have a huge variety of raisins, and sometimes I even find the raisins on the stems--fabulous little dried drops of sugar!

You mentioned you would like to improve your mead. Would you care to share your recipe, start date, bottling date, etc--perhaps we can troubleshoot? The biggest tip, and you may already know is: quality in/quality out, all in good time.
....Sara

Sara, they are made from grapes, what makes the zantes not a raisin? THanks, WVMJ

You can also use craisins and prunes. To ad depth. Or whole cherries with pit to at woodsy flavor.....I like to use apple wood chips.

Mostly it's cosmetic sarmac. My first mead has a long way to go I started it in November 2012, peach melomel. It looks disgusting not much of a honey or peach taste but can smell the alcohol.

I started second fermentation a little over 3 weeks adding in 9 lbs of puree peaches so it looks pretty nasty. Lol.

I'm going to rack again later this week and let it sit and see what time does I will have to bottle it since I have no way to get rid of headspace at this time. But ya. Just gonna take golddiggie advice and hide it away.

When I mean better. Going to use the calc tool at gotmead.com make sure I get my readings etc etc.

scottv said:

When I mean better. Going to use the calc tool at gotmead.com make sure I get my readings etc etc.

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What kind of mead are you looking to make?

IMO/IME, if you don't want the flavors from the raisins, then use nutrients. While I could see wanting those attributes in some meads, I wouldn't use them in a traditional.

I'm going to go for a traditional GD. I love the warm bitter sweet taste of mead you get from like renaissance festivals which is where I got my love for mead.

I did find a meadry in Oklahoma that makes a few meads. I ordered some for my long wait for mine to be ready. A lot of places carry chaucers mead but it's kind of blah. Ok but not the best.

WVMJ said:

Sara, they are made from grapes, what makes the zantes not a raisin? THanks, WVMJ

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I cannot believe I said a Zante was not a raisin. They are not a true ribes, so not a true currant. Usually they are sourced from Black Corinthian grapes, they called it a Champagne grape if I recall correctly. They are in fact raisins, and some of the most flavorful out there. I had ribes on the brain.