Strawberry Mead

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/critique-my-strawberry-melomel-recipe-166698/

There's a link to my initial idea. I made a few changes. I put it together and it's sitting on kmeta for about a day before I pitch the yeast, but here's what I did.

12 lbs wildflower honey
8lbs strawberries
Water to ~6gals
3 tsp nutrient
1 tsp energizer
6 campden tabs
OG-will check tomorrow. This AM (02-24-10) after berries had some time to soak I took the OG assuming that all sugar is not accounted for in the berries.

1.080

I used the no boil method as stated above and it is sitting on kmeta as we speak. Tomorrow I'm pitching 2 packets of rehydrated 71b on it. I'll continue to add nutrient/energizer/oxygenate per the NAS. When it's done fermenting I plan on putting 1 vanilla bean in secondary along with another 8-10lbs of strawberries. Then more kmeta+sorbate and backsweeten with honey to taste. Then with time...awesomesauce!!

I have given my must a couple of nutrient additions and some stirring. Now I'm just "punching the cap." This is the 6th day I believe. Yesterday the SG was 1.020. So it's moving very nicely. I think I'm going to love 71b.

nice. I used 71B for my cherry melamel, and along with the staggered nutrient additions, I went to FG in a little over a month.

Well I checked another gravity reading. Currently at 1.005. I was rather shocked to see it get that low so quickly. I knew that it was moving along quite well, but I didn't expect to see it go from 1.020 to 1.005 so quickly. My previous two brews slowed WAY down at about 1.010 and took a while to get all the way dry. These yeasties may bring it below 1.000 easily!! Now I just need to buy a corker to bottle my cider to free up the carboy!!

Ok so this went into secondary with a gravity of .998ish. I have a few questions for anybody willing to answer them. It's starting to clear from the top down. At the top I am noticing some string stuff in the drink. Could this be from the strawberries? Is this the pectic haze I hear about? I added some pectic enzyme, but I added it a bit late (a few days into fermentation). I don't think it looks like infection (yet anyways).

Also how well does 71b floc? Maybe I should have let it sit for a bit longer before moving to secondary, and maybe I should have put it in the garage to chill for a bit first. But my first racking didn't go as well as I had hoped and the lees wasn't very compact. I already have another thick lees hanging out and it's in the garage chilling. Hoping to encourage compaction/clearing.

Thanks!!

71B-1122 is a medium flocculating yeast. Don't worry, the same thing happened to me with my cherry melamel. It was finished fermenting, I racked it off the fruit and I've got another 1/2 inch of lees already after a couple weeks.

Melamels need lots and lots of rackings to get rid of all the fruit and lees. I'd give it another couple of weeks, & then rack again.

I wouldn't worry about the "strings" - it's likely from the fruit.