GROUP BREW: Strawberry Mead

flyweed said:

yep...don't put a lid on, or airlock at this point...keep a lint free, cotton cloth over the top of it..so you can punch and watch for "overflow"

Dan

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Yeah. After 2 consecutive mornings of waking up to an airlock 5ft from the fermenter and stawberry sludge all over the place, I'm changing to a blow-off tube. :cross:

Poobah58 said:

Holy crap, $42 for 16# of frozen strawberries!!!

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Yeah. It was about the same for me.

Got mine started. Only put 1/2 the honey in for now. Gonna split it up into two 3-gal batches and add Zinfidel juice to one. Will put more honey in other batch during secondary.

I added some more Ferm K and DAP today (day3), then stirred. About 3 seconds into stirring, my carboy turned into Old Faithful. I just stared in awe for a few seconds then grabbed the blow-off tube. It's still going.

Strawberry is everywhere!

LOL...I just pitched my 1116 this morning. SO my batch is now going. My initial readings before pitching yeast are: Temp: 65F S.G. 1.138 or 33 brix.

So now, time to watch and wait for the strawberry blowoff to start.

I pitched my yeast almost 48 hours ago. How long til i should start seeing activity?

jrss13 said:

I pitched my yeast almost 48 hours ago. How long til i should start seeing activity?

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That's about when it started for me.

jrss13 said:

I pitched my yeast almost 48 hours ago. How long til i should start seeing activity?

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Only takes a few hours to see activity.
1) Did you rehydrate with Go-Ferm?
2) Did you use nutrients?
3) Did you aerate at innoculation.
4) Did you aerate the next day?
5. Are you punching the cap down several times a day?

Poobah's Strawberry Pizazz Brew Log:

15.0 lbs Honey (7# Wildflower, 6# Blackberry, 2# Blueberry)
0.5 gals Zinfandel Blush Grape Juice
12.0 lbs Strawberry (Pri)
4.0 lbs Strawberry (Sec)
0.5 lb Coconut Shreds, Dried (Sec)
3.0 Vanilla Beans (Sec)
1 Pkgs Lalvin - K1V-1116

Notes:
As you can see I deviated a bit. Really wanted to use the grape juice up. Also wanted a drier mead. I just bottled a sweeter one last month.

1/24/10: Mixed honey, added strawberries and 5 campden tabs. OG: 24 Brix (1.103).
1/25: Morning: Added 1.5 tsp pectin (all I had). Evening: Rehydrated yeast with Go-Ferm. Added 4.5g Fermaid-K & DAP. Pitched and aerated w/oxygen.
1/26: Aerated with O2. SG = 22 Brix (1.084).
1/27: Added 2.8g Fermaid-K & DAP. 20 Brix (1.070)
1/28: Added 1.8g Ferm-K & DAP. 16 Brix (1.041)
1/29: 14 Brix (1.028)
1/30: 10.5 Brix (1.005)
1/31: 10 Brix (1.002)
2/1: Racked to secondary, 9 Brix (0.995). Added strawberries.
3/10: Racked, added coconut, vanilla and 2# honey w/water.

I used a yeast nutrienr prior to pitching... as well as energizer twice now. I've stored it up multiple times and left a paper towel on top to allow air in. It is in a closet at about 60 degrees... I've had no problem getting my regular mead going down in my basement at 52. Should I pitch more yeast?

What happens when you give it a stir? Does it foam up? What was the OG and what is it now?

18lbs Strawberries (frozen then thawed)
14lbs Micgigan Wildflower honey
Water to 5 gallons
10g DAP
10g Fermaid
10g Kv-1116 Rehydrated in 105F must for 15 min.
OG after fruit 1.129
Pitched 10:00 pm EST 1-24-10
Lag was reached 7am EST 1-25-10 Punched Cap
Added 5g DAP and 5g Fermaid aerated heavily for 2 min.
SG 1.122
Punched Cap 12:00pm and 4:00pm Aerated both times for 1 min.

SG 1.102 1-26-10 @ 6:30am EST Areated 2 min.

Are you guys adding the strawberries to primary? I am going to get it going this weekend, but I think I might add them to secondary. I have read that fruit in the primary can lead to less flavor and aroma. Thoughts?

in this recipe..you are suppose to add all ingredients to the primary.

Mine didn't fit so I will be adding some to secondary.

YoMomma, that's a lot of nutrient and DAP for a 5-gal batch!

Yomamma's recipe has changed a bit in the above post, from the original. Including the original said to pitch 5g -1116 after 2 hours of rehydration in must.

Just curious as to why those changes??

Dan

I pitched yeast 72 hours ago and still not seeing activity. I've added 1 tsp of energizer 3 separate times and have stirred and shaken the hell out of it. Og was 1.140. Should I add more yeast at this point?

I forgot to post my log, so here goes...

1/21
18lbs clover honey
17lbs frozen strawberries (mostly thawed)
3.25 gallons filtered tap water (to 6.5 gallons in carboy)
3 campden tablets crushed

OG 1.138

1/22
2 tsp CaCO3 (to get pH from 3.3 to 3.9)
1 tsp (~4g) Fermaid K
1 tsp (~4g) DAP
10g 1116 rehydrated in filtered tap water 15 minutes
mixed well with lees stirrer

1/23
1/2 tsp Fermaid K
1/2 tsp DAP
mixed well with lees stirrer
(airlock blew off overnight, strawberries everywhere)

1/24
1/2 tsp Fermaid K
1/2 tsp DAP
mixed well with lees stirrer
(airlock blew off overnight, again, strawberries everywhere. Then it really exploded when I mixed with the lees stirrer. I finally wised up and started using my blow-off tube.)

1/26
SG 1.064
pH 3.3

Should I be worried about a pH of 3.3 at this point? Or would it be better to just ride it out and see where it goes?

I got mine mixed tonight and sitting on campden tabs. Accidentally made 5 gallons instead of the 4 gallons so it will be a little weaker than planned (OG 1.126).

I put in my biggest bucket but after reading the original thread at Got Mead and this one, I think I will ferment this in my utility sink with the lid loosely sitting on top.

The original recipe is the one that I could recreate and used for 3 batches. I changed it a little due to Bnektars protocol which caused the ferment to go a little faster. A vigorous ferment is the best and thought I would try it out at home. We shall see. Thats why we have a group brew right. Little variations leads to a better mead!

Jaxn...you got your airlock and lid on way too early. You should just have that thing covered with a lint free cloth for now....

flyweed said:

Jaxn...you got your airlock and lid on way too early. You should just have that thing covered with a lint free cloth for now....

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Ok. How long is good to wait until putting on the airlock?

I finally started seeing activity at 96 hours. I think mine started slowly because it was initially in my basement at too cold of a temp for first 48 hours. Anyways... today when I got home it was looking a little different. I gave it a good stir and it began overflowing with foam. I'm keeping just a cloth on it for now... to allow a lot of air in and out.

You'll want to keep the lid off and just covered with a cloth so you can continue to aerate down to 1.100 and then you can put on your lid and airlock when you hit 1.030 or close to that.

flyweed said:

You'll want to keep the lid off and just covered with a cloth so you can continue to aerate down to 1.100 and then you can put on your lid and airlock when you hit 1.030 or close to that.

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Interesting. I've heard of people doing that but never described as a necessity or with such a specific timeline.

I've just been whipping it up for a few minutes once a day for ~3 days with a lees stirrer with good results, but I'll give this a go on my next batch.

What is the logic behind leaving it exposed to ambient air for 3/4 of fermentation? I thought aerating was just intended for the first 1/3 of sugar break. Wouldn't 1.100 be a more appropriate time to add the airlock?

Well for one its ease of enterance for aerating. For 2 imagine living in an enclosed area with just a small hole to breath out of. Hard HUH? There is so much CO coming off your fermentation that its hard for it to push through that little opening. Also being that there is so much CO coming off, nothing can enter, and if it did it wouldn't live long. The next time you open that airlocked bucket stick your head in and get a sniff...........Then add a towel to it for 12 hours and do it again and see which way makes your yeast happier. The ease of airchanges for your yeast makes it easier for them to do there job. It has been said many times that happy yeast makes a happy mead.



I aerate until the 2/3 sugar break. Some do exactly what you do and aerate until 1.100. Both will do fine if it works for you. The reason I dont airlock so early is, I like my ferment to be just about finished before I rack. When you rack you kickstart the ferment again or in your case make it even stronger. Then the CO trying to release is concentrated out that little opening causing it to explode, also known as MEADSPLOSION. You end up with a sticky mess instead of keeping the nectar in your bucket.

YoMomma said:

Well for one its ease of enterance for aerating. For 2 imagine living in an enclosed area with just a small hole to breath out of. Hard HUH? There is so much CO coming off your fermentation that its hard for it to push through that little opening. Also being that there is so much CO coming off, nothing can enter, and if it did it wouldn't live long. The next time you open that airlocked bucket stick your head in and get a sniff...........Then add a towel to it for 12 hours and do it again and see which way makes your yeast happier. The ease of airchanges for your yeast makes it easier for them to do there job. It has been said many times that happy yeast makes a happy mead.

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I struggle to put myself in the yeast's shoes since I wouldn't survive completely immersed in juice and honey anyway.

But you guys definitely know more about this than I do, so I'll certainly give it a whirl on my next batch.

Yep..what yomamma said..I LOVE the smell of a good mead "fermenting" away with just a towel over it..you can tell those yeasties are happy by how much activity you see up on your fruit. (lots of bubbling and movement) and it smells really nice too. when you close off that air with a lid...it really starts smelling like alcohol and NOT the nice honey and fruit aroma's you get now..and you also will start a co2 buildup in your must.

I will keep my lid and airlock off until I hit 1.030, and then I'll rack off the fruit into secondary and then airlock it, and let it finish down to about 1.015.

Dan

When I get to 1.030 and rack off the strawberries... should I top off with water to leave as little headspace as possible?

Yes sir.... You should leaveas little space as possible. That stops the space for spoilage organisms to grow. Less room the less chance.

Since I'm doing primary in glass anyway, should I just keep mine in there until it hits 1.015?

Well, first I would go to your local donut shop and get a frosting bucket. Usually they give them out for free and use that for your primary.

Your glass will be fine until 1.015 if you want. I have never brewed fruit in a glass jug, other than JAO. So I really cant help with experience, however through thought..........you probably wanna rack off your lees at around 1.020 due to the taste of yeastiness. You also have a sludge with tons of seeds that with over tanin your mead. IMHO

1-27-10 broke my hydrometer

YoMomma said:

Well, first I would go to your local donut shop and get a frosting bucket. Usually they give them out for free and use that for your primary.

Your glass will be fine until 1.015 if you want. I have never brewed fruit in a glass jug, other than JAO. So I really cant help with experience, however through thought..........you probably wanna rack off your lees at around 1.020 due to the taste of yeastiness. You also have a sludge with tons of seeds that with over tanin your mead. IMHO

1-27-10 broke my hydrometer

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Thanks for the tips. I wouldn't have thought of a frosting bucket. But I have lots (too many according to SWMBO ) of buckets already that I can use. It wasn't a matter of not having the equipment, it was more that I hadn't realized how vital a bucket was for a mead primary.

How are you planning to rack? This strawberry sludge has me anxious. I was thinking of tying a hop sock around my auto-siphon.

I only did a 1 gallon batch... so I am using a 1 gallon carboy. I know once I take out the 3 lbs of strawberries (and sludge)... I am going to have a lot of headspace. There isn't any problem topping off with water is there?

Just an update on my batch of Strawberry Pizazz......I am following Hightests standard Nutrient additions. I am punching the cap twice daily and aerating for 2 minutes. My strawberries have all but disappeared and turned into a foamy sludge "cap" now. Foam has died down some during aeration.

1/28/10: Temp: 70F and S.G. 1.080 (light pink color, great strawberry smell)

2/01/10: Temp 70F and S.G. 1.020 (light pink color, pleasing strawberry/honey smell, strong, HOT taste right now.

Tomorrow I'll be racking off the sludge into secondary and airlocking.

Dan

Racked mine to secondary. What a fight. Shoulda used a grain bag!

HOLY BEJEEBERS...I racked this to secondary and topped off with water, and the renewed activity is sending foam up through my airlock!! Got it in the kitchen sink for the night!! I am getting about 4 or 5 bubbles per second right now!!!

Dan

flyweed said:

HOLY BEJEEBERS...I racked this to secondary and topped off with water, and the renewed activity is sending foam up through my airlock!! Got it in the kitchen sink for the night!! I am getting about 4 or 5 bubbles per second right now!!!
Dan

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What was the SG when you racked?

my SG last night before racking was 1.020 at 70F..this was a measurement taken after punching the cap again , and aerating and then letting settle a bit. taken off the bottom of my fermentation vessel..so only liquid, no chunks, seeds or nothing.

Is it too late to join this brew session?