After fruits added, whats next??

[RIC0]

Well my 1st gallon has begun....

1 gallon glass carboy.

Distilled water.

2.5 lbs of Gunters orange blossum honey.

2.5 grams of Lav. EC-1118 yeast.

Fermenting room is around 68 degrees. I've got 5 gallons of beer that shows 64 degrees according the thermometer sticker on the side of the bucket. It's been in the primary for 7 days now.

Once I add the 1 lb of blueberry's when it's racked to the secondary, how long do I leave it like that?? What are the next steps??


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[bconstant]

Distilled water.

Why not spring water? It's my understanding that spring water has minerals that are helpful to the growth of yeast, whereas distilled water has been stripped of all that stuff.

 

[fatbloke]

Why not spring water? It's my understanding that spring water has minerals that are helpful to the growth of yeast, whereas distilled water has been stripped of all that stuff.

If you relied on the water to provide any nutrient value, spring water, like other "untreated" water is next to useless. The nutrient value is so low, as to be disregarded. There is plenty of evidence, when it comes to chemical analysis, that so called "spring" water, actually contains more pollutants than tap water. Just that tap water usually has chlorine/chloramine (and sometimes fluoride based chems) in it. So that, ideally, needs removing if you wanted to be "belt and braces" with a batch.....

To have enough nutrient value to be of use, you'd probably need something with the nutrient value of raw sewage.

That said, the ingredient list posted by RICO doesn't list any nutrients, so if that is the case, it's gonna make for a very long, slow ferment.

There is also plenty of research and anecdotal evidence that the water used for brewing needs to be "soft" water. You'd have to research the definitions and differences between "soft" and "hard" water - here I tend to use reverse osmosis water, as the tap water has naturally high levels of calcium and magnesium salts, which can give "off flavours". Then I rely on the appropriate additions of nutrients, both the combined type (tan coloured powder usually, like FermaidK, Fermax, Tronozymol or similar) and of DAP/di-ammonium phosphate (white crystals, like cooking salt or table sugar in appearance).

 

[RIC0]

Should I add something to it to speed up the fermentation??

From what I've read mead can take 6 months or longer to "get good". I'm in no hurry but this is all new to me.

I've got posts on this site and gotmead.com asking how long to leave the blueberries in after it's been racked to the secondary but it must be the $64,000 question as I've yet to get an answer..

 

[Yooper]

Should I add something to it to speed up the fermentation??

From what I've read mead can take 6 months or longer to "get good". I'm in no hurry but this is all new to me.

I've got posts on this site and gotmead.com asking how long to leave the blueberries in after it's been racked to the secondary but it must be the $64,000 question as I've yet to get an answer..

They will start to break down and get icky. That's the time to rack off of them. I know it's not a specific amount of time, but it might take a week or longer (maybe three weeks or longer!) depending on the ABV you have, the temperature, the activity of the yeast, etc.

 

[RIC0]

They will start to break down and get icky. That's the time to rack off of them. I know it's not a specific amount of time, but it might take a week or longer (maybe three weeks or longer!) depending on the ABV you have, the temperature, the activity of the yeast, etc.

yooper thanks for the resonse. Not sure if you read that I have NOT put the blueberries in yet.

I'm waiting for fermentation to stop and then I'm adding the blueberries. I figured I'd leave them in for a 2 weeks and rack it again or not sure if I should go to bottle??

 

[Yooper]

yooper thanks for the resonse. Not sure if you read that I have NOT put the blueberries in yet.

I'm waiting for fermentation to stop and then I'm adding the blueberries. I figured I'd leave them in for a 2 weeks and rack it again or not sure if I should go to bottle??

You probably don't want to bottle so soon. You want to wait until it's completely clear, and no longer dropping lees after at least 60 days before bottling.

 

[fatbloke]

Well I haven't made a blueberry batch, they'd be too expensive to buy in quantity here.....

But I've got a batch of banana, that has the fruit chopped into a finished base batch. It's been sitting, with the fruit "steeping" for about 3 or 4 months now. I've been waiting for the fruit to sink, which it finished doing in the last week.

None of the fruit has gone many looking, it still looks like its just been sliced up into the batch, but as its all now sunk, I figure its ready to rack off and taste.

 

[RIC0]

Fatbloke that is what I wanted to hear.

I wasn't sure if I should just let the berries sit in there for weeks or months to be honest. I'll let things sit as they are right now and once fermentation has stopped I'll rack to secondary throw in the berries and let it sit even longer.

I"m guessing only a pint if that will fit in the jug when the time comes.

I"m thinking then I'll rack again and let it clear up and eventually 4- 6 months out I'll bottle once it's cleared up.

Thanks for everyones imput.....