Cranberry Orange
2.5 gallons
This was a step feeding experiment for me. The original recipe was a cranberry hibiscus under the recipe name Aztec Blood (it can be found in the Mead Recipe forum). It finished at 16.5% alcohol which I thought was low for K1-V1116, but it’s final gravity was 1.016 which I thought was a nice sweet to tart balance. Even though Aztec Blood became a huge favorite in my family, it had a slight bitterness and yeast taste in my opinion. So I sought to improve upon the Aztec Blood recipe by 1. Reducing stress on the yeast through step feeding and environmental changes in primary; 2. Eliminating the bitterness taste by introducing the hibiscus in a different way; 3. Eliminate the yeast taste through improved nutrient management.
I also don’t sulfite/sorbate since some members of my family are allergic. So I have to wait until the yeast quit until I can back sweeten.
Point 1: I’ve included a chart (attached) that documents my step feeding schedule so I won’t discuss it here. If you have questions you can post here and I’ll answer as best I can. I tried to reduce the acidic environment by reducing the amount of cranberry juice used in primary. The Aztec Blood recipe called for 64 oz per gallon which created a pretty acidic environment in my estimation. So I reduced the juice in primary to 64 oz per 2.5 gallons, added frozen/fresh cranberries in the secondary to bolster the cranberry taste, and doubled my usual potassium carbonate addition.
Point 2: To address the bitterness issue I determined that my process to add hibiscus was flawed. I purchased dried sorrel petals instead of generic hibiscus. I added half the amount to primary, being careful not to boil the tea, only simmer and steep. The remaining addition would occur in the secondary where the alcohol would extract the flavor and color directly from the petals. I kept the primary addition to maintain mouth feel.
Point 3: I estimated the amounts in the SNA schedule to account for the honey additions and the yeast’s restricted ability to incorporate ammonia based nitrogen after 9% ABV is reached. Fermaid O provides amino acid based nitrogen and is better processed after the 9% alcohol threshold. After more research, I believe that I under-feed this batch (even thought I was careful to observe any Rhino-fart (sulfur) smell) so adjust your feedings accordingly. I now use MeadMakr’s BatchBuildr as a reference for SNA.
Primary additives:
64oz of cranberry juice. Avoid additives including other juices and preservatives.
.75oz dried sorrel petals (hibiscus)
Building your Must:
Add ½ a tsp of Pectin Enzyme to 64oz of cranberry juice. Let sit for 1 hour before mixing with honey and water. I used R.W. Knudsen Family Just Cranberry, unsweetened and “Free of GMOs, preservatives and artificial flavors”.
Boil about 2 cups or water, reduce to simmer and add .75oz of sorrel. Keep simmering for 15 min or so then allow to cool to about room temp. You don’t have to be precise with water volume – but enough to healthily cover the sorrel in the pot.
After at least an hour, and when your sorrel tea has cooled, mix the cranberry juice, sorrel, honey, and water in your fermentation bucket. I shot for a volume of 2.5 gallons and an OG of around 1.090. Add your sorrel tea by using a strained funnel, or something similar that will prevent the sorrel petals from falling into the must. Use hot tap water to help dissolve the honey.
Add 2 tsp of potassium carbonate and dissolve thoroughly. You can use a cup of your must to pre-dissolve if you want. Aerate your must by capping and shaking your bucket, with a drill and lees stirrer, or aggressively stirring.
Re-hydration and Pitch of Lalvin K1-V1116:
Rehydration for 10 gm of dry yeast:
12.50 gms of GoFerm
10 gm of Lalvin 1116 yeast
Heat 8 oz of water to 110° add and mix GoFerm
Cool to 104°, stir in the yeast.
Add an equal amount of must at 20 min.
Equalize temp with must. Must temp should be around 80°.
Plan on your pitch 30 min after you add the yeast to the GoFerm. You risk running out of nutrients provided by the GoFerm after 30 min, although the addition of the must will mitigate this problem. The addition of must to your re-hydration mixture will also help acclimate the yeast to your must environment. I try to get within 10°F temp difference, but Scott Labs says you should be ok within 10°C/18°F.
Aerate your must 3-4 times before your pitch and then again a few more times through your lag phase until your first nutrient addition. Lag time is the period that the yeast is building it’s population and needs the O2 to build cell walls as it replicates. Don’t add DAP during the lag phase as it can harm the cell walls of the young yeast. Thereafter, degas 2-3 times per day to get rid of the CO2 generated by fermentation. Degassing reduces the acidic environment, reintroduces the yeast back into solution, reduces stratification, and helps your must clear later on.
SNA and Step Feeding:
So here is the SNA schedule that I used complete with the actual dates of the additions. It makes more sense if you match it against the attached Step Feed chart. As I said before, I could have probably done a better job of estimating nutrient amounts (maybe increasing those amounts), so adjust as you see fit. I couldn’t do your standard “add a tsp every 24 hr, 48 hr, 72 hr” scheme or add nutrient on the standard sugar break schedule so I aimed to add the majority of nutrient during the 1st week or so to strengthen an early fermentation and then thereafter to support the step feeds.
Nutrient:......................................Time of addition:
2 gms Fermaid K.....2 gms DAP.......12/4/16 11:15pm – 8hrs after pitch (lag)
1.5 gm Fermaid K...1.5 gm DAP......12/8/16 am
1 gm Fermaid K......1 gm DAP.........12/11/16 pm
1.5 gm Fermaid O.........................12/14/16 pm
0.5 gm Fermaid O.........................12/25/16 noon
See attached for the step feed schedule. For the most part I tried to add honey amounts during the heart of the ferment, trying to maintain a steady rate of fermentation.
Temp Control:
I try to control the temperature so the yeast doesn’t blow off the aromatics and produce unwanted fusels. According to Scott Labs, Lalvin K1-V1116 produces wonderful fruity esters at 61°-62° so that’s the temp I try to maintain when using this yeast. I use a lamp. My basement is 55° at this time of year so even if I blow a bulb it’s not a tragedy. Monitor and adjust regularly especially around nutrient editions. FYI – addition of Fermaid K/DAP induces a higher rate of fermentation (and therefore increased heat) than Fermaid O.
Secondary(s):
Thought I’d just add my notes complete with dates so you can see what I did and when:
Secondary:
1/18/17: Racked to 2 one gal carboys, 1 half gal carboy, and 1 bottle. No sign of fermentation. Waited for it to clear.
Tertiary:
2/6/17: Froze and thawed 60 oz (approx. 3 qts) of cranberries. Dissolved k-meta and ½ tsp pectin enzyme in one cup of water and added to cranberries. Used .23 gms of K-meta. (¼ tsp per 6 gals. ¼ tsp = 1.37 gms. Divide by 6 for 1 gal).
Smashed the cranberries with a meat tenderizer. Covered with a towel and let stand for 24 hours. Added to 3 gal carboy and racked. Had a remainder of 750 ml.
2/7/17: Lost about ¼ cup through the airlock. Cleaned up, stirred down the cranberries, and replaced the airlock. I think this was more a nucleation type reaction – gravity readings showed no sign of fermentation.
Quaternary:
2/18/17: Racked off cranberries to 2 one gal carboys, 1 half gal carboy. Strained the remaining cranberries through a muslin bag to complete the ½ gal carboy (and one glass for me). Scrubbed 2 oranges with iodiphor. Stripped off peel with channel knife and split between carboys. Added .5 gm of sorrel to each one gal carboy, .25 gm to the half gal carboy. Topped off with remainder 750 mls from tertiary.
Quinary:
3/4/17: Racked off sorrel and orange peel to two 1 gal carboys and one ½ gal carboy with ½ marbles. This will produce a background orange taste. If you prefer a more prominent orange taste then add more peal and/or leave in the mead longer. Taste regularly to determine your preference.
Boiled 16 Hungarian Medium Toasted Oak cubes in a plastic bag for 15 min to sterilize and added to one of the 1 gal carboys.
Bottled the other 1 gallon on 3/25/17.
View attachment Cranberry Orange Step Feed Schedule.pdf
2.5 gallons
This was a step feeding experiment for me. The original recipe was a cranberry hibiscus under the recipe name Aztec Blood (it can be found in the Mead Recipe forum). It finished at 16.5% alcohol which I thought was low for K1-V1116, but it’s final gravity was 1.016 which I thought was a nice sweet to tart balance. Even though Aztec Blood became a huge favorite in my family, it had a slight bitterness and yeast taste in my opinion. So I sought to improve upon the Aztec Blood recipe by 1. Reducing stress on the yeast through step feeding and environmental changes in primary; 2. Eliminating the bitterness taste by introducing the hibiscus in a different way; 3. Eliminate the yeast taste through improved nutrient management.
I also don’t sulfite/sorbate since some members of my family are allergic. So I have to wait until the yeast quit until I can back sweeten.
Point 1: I’ve included a chart (attached) that documents my step feeding schedule so I won’t discuss it here. If you have questions you can post here and I’ll answer as best I can. I tried to reduce the acidic environment by reducing the amount of cranberry juice used in primary. The Aztec Blood recipe called for 64 oz per gallon which created a pretty acidic environment in my estimation. So I reduced the juice in primary to 64 oz per 2.5 gallons, added frozen/fresh cranberries in the secondary to bolster the cranberry taste, and doubled my usual potassium carbonate addition.
Point 2: To address the bitterness issue I determined that my process to add hibiscus was flawed. I purchased dried sorrel petals instead of generic hibiscus. I added half the amount to primary, being careful not to boil the tea, only simmer and steep. The remaining addition would occur in the secondary where the alcohol would extract the flavor and color directly from the petals. I kept the primary addition to maintain mouth feel.
Point 3: I estimated the amounts in the SNA schedule to account for the honey additions and the yeast’s restricted ability to incorporate ammonia based nitrogen after 9% ABV is reached. Fermaid O provides amino acid based nitrogen and is better processed after the 9% alcohol threshold. After more research, I believe that I under-feed this batch (even thought I was careful to observe any Rhino-fart (sulfur) smell) so adjust your feedings accordingly. I now use MeadMakr’s BatchBuildr as a reference for SNA.
Primary additives:
64oz of cranberry juice. Avoid additives including other juices and preservatives.
.75oz dried sorrel petals (hibiscus)
Building your Must:
Add ½ a tsp of Pectin Enzyme to 64oz of cranberry juice. Let sit for 1 hour before mixing with honey and water. I used R.W. Knudsen Family Just Cranberry, unsweetened and “Free of GMOs, preservatives and artificial flavors”.
Boil about 2 cups or water, reduce to simmer and add .75oz of sorrel. Keep simmering for 15 min or so then allow to cool to about room temp. You don’t have to be precise with water volume – but enough to healthily cover the sorrel in the pot.
After at least an hour, and when your sorrel tea has cooled, mix the cranberry juice, sorrel, honey, and water in your fermentation bucket. I shot for a volume of 2.5 gallons and an OG of around 1.090. Add your sorrel tea by using a strained funnel, or something similar that will prevent the sorrel petals from falling into the must. Use hot tap water to help dissolve the honey.
Add 2 tsp of potassium carbonate and dissolve thoroughly. You can use a cup of your must to pre-dissolve if you want. Aerate your must by capping and shaking your bucket, with a drill and lees stirrer, or aggressively stirring.
Re-hydration and Pitch of Lalvin K1-V1116:
Rehydration for 10 gm of dry yeast:
12.50 gms of GoFerm
10 gm of Lalvin 1116 yeast
Heat 8 oz of water to 110° add and mix GoFerm
Cool to 104°, stir in the yeast.
Add an equal amount of must at 20 min.
Equalize temp with must. Must temp should be around 80°.
Plan on your pitch 30 min after you add the yeast to the GoFerm. You risk running out of nutrients provided by the GoFerm after 30 min, although the addition of the must will mitigate this problem. The addition of must to your re-hydration mixture will also help acclimate the yeast to your must environment. I try to get within 10°F temp difference, but Scott Labs says you should be ok within 10°C/18°F.
Aerate your must 3-4 times before your pitch and then again a few more times through your lag phase until your first nutrient addition. Lag time is the period that the yeast is building it’s population and needs the O2 to build cell walls as it replicates. Don’t add DAP during the lag phase as it can harm the cell walls of the young yeast. Thereafter, degas 2-3 times per day to get rid of the CO2 generated by fermentation. Degassing reduces the acidic environment, reintroduces the yeast back into solution, reduces stratification, and helps your must clear later on.
SNA and Step Feeding:
So here is the SNA schedule that I used complete with the actual dates of the additions. It makes more sense if you match it against the attached Step Feed chart. As I said before, I could have probably done a better job of estimating nutrient amounts (maybe increasing those amounts), so adjust as you see fit. I couldn’t do your standard “add a tsp every 24 hr, 48 hr, 72 hr” scheme or add nutrient on the standard sugar break schedule so I aimed to add the majority of nutrient during the 1st week or so to strengthen an early fermentation and then thereafter to support the step feeds.
Nutrient:......................................Time of addition:
2 gms Fermaid K.....2 gms DAP.......12/4/16 11:15pm – 8hrs after pitch (lag)
1.5 gm Fermaid K...1.5 gm DAP......12/8/16 am
1 gm Fermaid K......1 gm DAP.........12/11/16 pm
1.5 gm Fermaid O.........................12/14/16 pm
0.5 gm Fermaid O.........................12/25/16 noon
See attached for the step feed schedule. For the most part I tried to add honey amounts during the heart of the ferment, trying to maintain a steady rate of fermentation.
Temp Control:
I try to control the temperature so the yeast doesn’t blow off the aromatics and produce unwanted fusels. According to Scott Labs, Lalvin K1-V1116 produces wonderful fruity esters at 61°-62° so that’s the temp I try to maintain when using this yeast. I use a lamp. My basement is 55° at this time of year so even if I blow a bulb it’s not a tragedy. Monitor and adjust regularly especially around nutrient editions. FYI – addition of Fermaid K/DAP induces a higher rate of fermentation (and therefore increased heat) than Fermaid O.
Secondary(s):
Thought I’d just add my notes complete with dates so you can see what I did and when:
Secondary:
1/18/17: Racked to 2 one gal carboys, 1 half gal carboy, and 1 bottle. No sign of fermentation. Waited for it to clear.
Tertiary:
2/6/17: Froze and thawed 60 oz (approx. 3 qts) of cranberries. Dissolved k-meta and ½ tsp pectin enzyme in one cup of water and added to cranberries. Used .23 gms of K-meta. (¼ tsp per 6 gals. ¼ tsp = 1.37 gms. Divide by 6 for 1 gal).
Smashed the cranberries with a meat tenderizer. Covered with a towel and let stand for 24 hours. Added to 3 gal carboy and racked. Had a remainder of 750 ml.
2/7/17: Lost about ¼ cup through the airlock. Cleaned up, stirred down the cranberries, and replaced the airlock. I think this was more a nucleation type reaction – gravity readings showed no sign of fermentation.
Quaternary:
2/18/17: Racked off cranberries to 2 one gal carboys, 1 half gal carboy. Strained the remaining cranberries through a muslin bag to complete the ½ gal carboy (and one glass for me). Scrubbed 2 oranges with iodiphor. Stripped off peel with channel knife and split between carboys. Added .5 gm of sorrel to each one gal carboy, .25 gm to the half gal carboy. Topped off with remainder 750 mls from tertiary.
Quinary:
3/4/17: Racked off sorrel and orange peel to two 1 gal carboys and one ½ gal carboy with ½ marbles. This will produce a background orange taste. If you prefer a more prominent orange taste then add more peal and/or leave in the mead longer. Taste regularly to determine your preference.
Boiled 16 Hungarian Medium Toasted Oak cubes in a plastic bag for 15 min to sterilize and added to one of the 1 gal carboys.
Bottled the other 1 gallon on 3/25/17.
View attachment Cranberry Orange Step Feed Schedule.pdf
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