It has been some time since I have made a mead or melomel. And doing some reading here, it looks like the processes have changed significantly since then.
I have a friend who keeps bees. He has set aside 15# of honey from his recent harvest and contacted me about making a mead or melomel with it. The honey is light in color and body (the bees primarliy fed on winter wheat and wildflowers). It has a light peach/pear flavor and pleasant floral aroma.
That being said, we've decided on an apricot melomel. We're going to make at least part of it sparkling, so I am not sure if that changes the name from melomel to something else. But my friend and our wives are looking for something with some effervesence, so we'll go that route with a portion of it.
I've picked up a lot by reading Hightest's sticky FAQs, but have a couple of questions about the process, as I plan it:
1. I intend to use one of the 3# cans of apricot puree available at the brew shop. My plan is to have the fruit enhance, but not overwhelm, the natural flavors and aromas in the honey. This is for a 5 gallon batch. I intend to follow Hightest's basic mead recipe with the stepped nutrient additions. Then just add the fruit as an additional component. My question here is over timing of the fruit addition. Should I add the fruit in primary? Or should I ferment the mead out, then rack it onto the fruit?
1a. If I use the fruit in primary, will the fermentation scrub all of the flavor and aromatics from the apricots? Will I still have to add fruit later?
2. Still vs. sparkling. My plan here is to bottle a small portion still for myself, then keg, carbonate and bottle the rest for my wife and our friends. Are there any drawbacks to this method vs. trying to naturally carbonate the sparkling portion?
2a. Yeast killing. I'd like the best control over my carbonation level possible, so keg contitioning and bottling with my CP filler seems like the likely way to go. That being the case, what's the best way to kill the yeast. I have used potassium metabisulfate in some of my wine attempts in the past. Is there something better? (this ties into #3 as well)
3. Back sweetening. I figure if I go with the keg carb method in #2 above, back sweetening would be easier if it is needed. I am assuming I can use potassium metabisulfate to kill the yeast prior to back sweetening? I've also seen a wine conditioner in the brew shop that is supposed to be part sweetener, part yeast killer. Would that work here?
4. Acid additions? Hightest's acid blend suggestions mention adding acid blend to taste at bottling. If I am making a melomel with a fruit like apricot, will acid additions be as likely (I've heard that acid will make the fruit flavor stand out better, so perhaps some level of acid adjustment may be necessary)? If so, does the acid blend go in dry? I was thinking I might get more control by mixing the acid blend in water and pulling a small amount of melomel into a measured glass. I could then dose the glass with measured amounts of my water/acid mixture until the taste was to my liking, then extrapolate that portion and dose the full batch.
I have a friend who keeps bees. He has set aside 15# of honey from his recent harvest and contacted me about making a mead or melomel with it. The honey is light in color and body (the bees primarliy fed on winter wheat and wildflowers). It has a light peach/pear flavor and pleasant floral aroma.
That being said, we've decided on an apricot melomel. We're going to make at least part of it sparkling, so I am not sure if that changes the name from melomel to something else. But my friend and our wives are looking for something with some effervesence, so we'll go that route with a portion of it.
I've picked up a lot by reading Hightest's sticky FAQs, but have a couple of questions about the process, as I plan it:
1. I intend to use one of the 3# cans of apricot puree available at the brew shop. My plan is to have the fruit enhance, but not overwhelm, the natural flavors and aromas in the honey. This is for a 5 gallon batch. I intend to follow Hightest's basic mead recipe with the stepped nutrient additions. Then just add the fruit as an additional component. My question here is over timing of the fruit addition. Should I add the fruit in primary? Or should I ferment the mead out, then rack it onto the fruit?
1a. If I use the fruit in primary, will the fermentation scrub all of the flavor and aromatics from the apricots? Will I still have to add fruit later?
2. Still vs. sparkling. My plan here is to bottle a small portion still for myself, then keg, carbonate and bottle the rest for my wife and our friends. Are there any drawbacks to this method vs. trying to naturally carbonate the sparkling portion?
2a. Yeast killing. I'd like the best control over my carbonation level possible, so keg contitioning and bottling with my CP filler seems like the likely way to go. That being the case, what's the best way to kill the yeast. I have used potassium metabisulfate in some of my wine attempts in the past. Is there something better? (this ties into #3 as well)
3. Back sweetening. I figure if I go with the keg carb method in #2 above, back sweetening would be easier if it is needed. I am assuming I can use potassium metabisulfate to kill the yeast prior to back sweetening? I've also seen a wine conditioner in the brew shop that is supposed to be part sweetener, part yeast killer. Would that work here?
4. Acid additions? Hightest's acid blend suggestions mention adding acid blend to taste at bottling. If I am making a melomel with a fruit like apricot, will acid additions be as likely (I've heard that acid will make the fruit flavor stand out better, so perhaps some level of acid adjustment may be necessary)? If so, does the acid blend go in dry? I was thinking I might get more control by mixing the acid blend in water and pulling a small amount of melomel into a measured glass. I could then dose the glass with measured amounts of my water/acid mixture until the taste was to my liking, then extrapolate that portion and dose the full batch.