New batch - Pineapple/Ginger Mead

Started a new test batch that I expect to be relatively quick.

1 Pineapple - cleaned, cubed, and frozen
1 can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
Ginger - (started with 2 golfball sized lobes. After cleaning and slicing, I ended up with 55 grams)
1 gallon(US) water, +24oz to clean the honey jar
3# clover honey
1 pkg Lalvin 71B yeast

- Brought water to a boil, then removed from heat and let cool to 160F
- Dissolved honey in hot water
- poured 24oz of hot water into honey jar to dissolve residue, then added to must
- Poured must into a 2 gallon fermentation bucket
- added ginger, frozen pineapple, and juice concentrate
- stirred must for 5 minutes
- put bucket into ice-bath
- rehydrated yeast per package instructions
- must dropped to 85F before the ice-bath lost the battle (had no more ice for reinforcements, and it was already past my bedtime)
- OG approximately 1.090 (if I compensated properly for temp)
- aerated must by stirring vigorously for 10 minutes
- pitched yeast
- put lid and airlock on bucket

If my math is correct, (looks around nervously), this is going to go very dry. Since I was planning for this to be a quick mead, that won't hurt any. I thought I'd ask for recommendations, though, on how to finish it. I figure I can either stabilize and back-sweeten it, or I can try making it sparkling since the yeast should have plenty of potential activity left.

Has anybody done something similar that came out well for them?

You might not want to try a sparkling batch with 71B. It can produce some off odor/flavor when sitting on lees (which is what you'd be doing with it unless you plan to force carbonate). YMMV.

Medsen

Good to know. Thanks for the information, Medsen. I do have both D-47 and EC 1118 in the fridge. If I decided to make another test batch of this sparkling, do you think either of those would work, or would you recommend something completely different?

D-47 is supposed to produce tropical/pineapple notes when left on lees...sounds like a win.

WheresOurFish said:

If I decided to make another test batch of this sparkling, do you think either of those would work, or would you recommend something completely different?

Click to expand...

You can still make this batch sparkling if you like. You can just let this finish and clear completely (maybe even in the fridge for a few weeks). Allow as much of the 71B to precipitate out as possible - maybe even a little fining to help it. Then when it is crystal clear, rehydrate the EC-1118 (and acclimate it to the must), then pitch that in, add priming honey and bottle. You should easily get it to sparkle.

Opened it up to do a bit of aeration, and here's how it's looking so far -




It smells even better than it looks.


:cross:

Racked my test batch to secondary over the weekend. Here's a pic -



Had a little left over that I didn't want to just pour down the drain, so I bottled the murky stuff at the bottom of the bucket for temporary storage, and to let the yeast settle back down. Took a taste tonight and was already pretty happy with it. It has similar qualities to a dry white wine, but there's a bit of bitterness in the finish. I tried a little when I racked it, and it was more bitter then, so it's already mellowing out pretty quickly. Plus, since it's started clarifying, I wasn't getting a mouthful of yeast. :rockin:

Anyway, I made enough extra to play with before making a final finishing decision, and thought I might try oaking some. I haven't experimented with oak yet, so I thought I'd ask for recommendations. Anybody have any thoughts on what kind of oak might be complimentary?