TandemTails
Well-Known Member
In an effort to help others who want to experiment with funky meads, I'll be keeping track of the progress of a blueberry lambic experiment I'm running here.
First off, I had a 6.5 gallon glass carboy which previously held a B. Nektar Dwarf Invasion clone (recipe from hbt here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=458654) that was pitched with Wyeast 1388 and 3278 (belgian strong and lambic blend). That fermented for 40 days before racking. I pitched this blueberry experiment onto that yeast cake.
Name: Smurf Smasher
Batch size: 6 gallons
Yeast: 2nd generation cake consisting of Wyeast 1388 and 3278
Ingredients:
I combined all of the above ingredients together (minus the maltodextrin) in a brew bucket and combined with a stirring rod for several minutes until the honey was fully incorporated. I took a gravity reading and then added the maltodextrin and fully combined that before taking another gravity reading.
After it was all thoroughly combined, I racked it onto the old yeast cake in the 6.5 gallon glass carboy.
OG: 1.055 (1.060 after maltodextrin addition)
The plan:
The idea is to let this sit for 6 months untouched before racking onto a few pounds of blueberries for an additional 4 months. Afterwards I'll stabilize and backsweeten to 1.010-1.020 then bottle.
The goal is to let the sacch consume the sugars from the honey and juice and then let all the bugs (pedio, lacto and brett) work on the maltodextrin to give it the funkiness I'm looking for. It doesn't sound like the maltodextrin will add any actual alcohol once it's consumed so I'll be using the pre-maltodextrin SG as the OG.
I pitched the must onto the yeast cake on February 8 and after 12 hours fermentation had already kicked up. 24 hours later fermentation was in full swing and was bubbling my 3 piece airlock like crazy.
The ingredients:
The must (after a lot of stirring):
Racking onto old yeast cake:
Home for the next 6 months with some buddies:
First off, I had a 6.5 gallon glass carboy which previously held a B. Nektar Dwarf Invasion clone (recipe from hbt here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=458654) that was pitched with Wyeast 1388 and 3278 (belgian strong and lambic blend). That fermented for 40 days before racking. I pitched this blueberry experiment onto that yeast cake.
Name: Smurf Smasher
Batch size: 6 gallons
Yeast: 2nd generation cake consisting of Wyeast 1388 and 3278
Ingredients:
- 6 quarts 'Just blueberry juice'
- 6 lbs clover (maybe wildflower?) honey --see pic
- 1 lbs orange blossom honey
- 1 lbs maltodextrin
- water to 6 gallons
I combined all of the above ingredients together (minus the maltodextrin) in a brew bucket and combined with a stirring rod for several minutes until the honey was fully incorporated. I took a gravity reading and then added the maltodextrin and fully combined that before taking another gravity reading.
After it was all thoroughly combined, I racked it onto the old yeast cake in the 6.5 gallon glass carboy.
OG: 1.055 (1.060 after maltodextrin addition)
The plan:
The idea is to let this sit for 6 months untouched before racking onto a few pounds of blueberries for an additional 4 months. Afterwards I'll stabilize and backsweeten to 1.010-1.020 then bottle.
The goal is to let the sacch consume the sugars from the honey and juice and then let all the bugs (pedio, lacto and brett) work on the maltodextrin to give it the funkiness I'm looking for. It doesn't sound like the maltodextrin will add any actual alcohol once it's consumed so I'll be using the pre-maltodextrin SG as the OG.
I pitched the must onto the yeast cake on February 8 and after 12 hours fermentation had already kicked up. 24 hours later fermentation was in full swing and was bubbling my 3 piece airlock like crazy.
The ingredients:
The must (after a lot of stirring):
Racking onto old yeast cake:
Home for the next 6 months with some buddies:
