4th mead - Pineapple/Mango

This one has been in the planning stages for a while. It is made with 6 1/2 pounds of local Texas unfiltered or processed honey to a two gallon volume.

3/12/2012 - I dropped about a cup of frozen cut up pineapple and a cup of frozen cut up mango and a half organic orange slices into boiling water and increased the temp to 160F. I then added the honey and brought it up to 180F for about 15 min. In the carboy I added cool sterile spring water and added enough yeast nutrient, energizer, acid mix and pectinase for the volume. When the must honey fruit mix had cooled to 120F I added it all to the carboy and brought the volume to just over two gallons. The yeast, D47, was rehydrated in a small volume of sterile warm water for 15 minutes and added to the must which I had aerated with thorough shaking several times. I pitched the yeast at 80F.

The plan is to pasteurize the remaining fruit, about a cup of each, treat with pectinase and rack onto this at about two to three weeks fermentation.

The honey was a dark honey with a rather strong fruity flavor but a little musky too. I'm hoping I dont end up wishing I'd used orange blossom honey. We'll see.

Suggestions?

This must either be a flop or too good to believe. No suggestions?

I'm too green to make any suggestions but I say to for at least a 1 gal batch and see what happens. Sounds like it should be good.

Sounds like a plan. I am not sure if a cup of each fruit is enough to give you the flavor you are looking for (but adding it late in ferment might do the trick) I have never added fruit late in the fermentation like that but have read it is the way to go if you are trying for a more fruit foward mead or wine. Also, try and keep it cool if you can. That d47 likes it 70 degrees or below. The first mead I made a year ago was with d47. Opened a bottle a couple months ago and it was still pretty harsh. My house temp is always around 75. I have since switched to 71b-1122 or kv-1116 and 3 to 6 month old bottles are already starting to get fairly good. (sure they will be fantastic in a year or so)

By the way I just started a batch of mango/pineapple/peach melomel from juice I found at costco. Basicaly add two pounds of honey to 1 gal juice s.g around 1.095 and a little tannin. I did this with some mango nectar juice they had there and at 4 months in the bottle it is getting nice.

good luck

Orange blossom, prob would help but if ur racking on it as well for the up front taste, Idk. I have been reading about adding flavor in the secondary as well, I hope for updates!.

Yeah, I have read that fruit in the primary doesn't give quite the fruit flavor as the secondary. I have about two cups each of the pineapples and mangos frozen. I'll toss some boiling water on'em, blanch'em a bit, cool'em down and hit'em with pectinase prior to racking onto them. Then let it all sit in the secondary for a few weeks if not a few months.

I racked this on onto two more cups of pinapple and mango (pasteurized) with a dash of pectinase, nutriet and energizer. The bubbles were at about 3/minute and now are back up to about 7/minute. It smells great indeed.

This thing is really chugging away again. Looks like I woke it up.

Awesome i hope to hear about taste soon since I hear many people find adding pineapple juice is more potent in flavor

Looking forward to it also. Unfortunately, it'll be a few months before I try it. But its purdy and it smells great!

Forgot about this thread. Looked at this thing today and it is crystal clear. Bottling soon. Can't wait to taste it.

Pictures!

Now why didn't I think of that. Soon.