Cherry Vanilla Recipe Help

[pcao]

So I'm planning on making a 3 gallon batch of cherry and vanilla mead.

10 lbs honey
3 lbs of cherries
4 vanilla beans
Lalvin 71B or D47

I'm planning on putting 2lbs of cherries cut up in the primary fermenter for 14 days. Then when I rack this into the secondary, I'll put the vanilla beans and another pound of cherries in.

My main concern right now is I know people add yeast nutrients into their must. I was thinking of adding orange juice from the store would help balance out the low ph of the honey and add some nutrients for the yeast but wouldn't the preservatives ruin things? Has anyone tried doing this?

 

[RegarRenill]

2 concerns...
1) most melomel recipes call for 3lbs of fruit per gallon, split between primary and secondary, so your mead may end up a bit light on the cherry flavor.

2) OJ is acidic, so it would lower the pH even further, you want a base(like potassium bicarbonate), to raise the pH.

 

[Tinpanharry]

I have found that Almond extract gives a nice cherry flavor. Pick up an eye dropper and test it out in your favorite pint.

Cheers!