Apricot melomel

[dwhite60]

Second racking. Added sulfite and sorbate. Degassing.

Still pretty rough but time should help. I'll give it some months then bottle.

Time is the mead maker's best friend.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[TandemTails]

I love using apricot in my meads. Hopefully yours turns out great!

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

In my experience takes a while...

 

[Solstice Meadery]

what was your recipe, been thinking of an apricot myself.

 

[dwhite60]

what was your recipe, been thinking of an apricot myself.

4# clover honey
Little over a gallon bottled spring water
1 can Vintner’s Harvest Apricot Puree
½ tsp. gypsum
½ tsp Fermaid K
1 tsp. Diammonium Phosphate
71B-1122 Yeast

You will get a LOT of trub from this. First racking I got a gallon and a 750ml wine bottle full. Poured all the trub into a quart jar and let it settle. Got about half a cup of clear liquid out of it. Probably could have gotten another quarter cup if I'd let it sit longer.

This was clear as glass two weeks after first racking. Don't know why. I certainly didn't expect it.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[AzOr]

Great thread. I’m planning an apricot melomel as well.

Here’s my plan-
3 gallon batch

2 cans Oregon Fruit apricot puree
Enough honey to get to 1.100
SNA regimen
71B yeast
I’ll also add a pound or so of dried apricots as soon as I can find some that are sorbate free.

I’m fermenting in a plastic bucket and as soon as I get close to terminal gravity I will split into 3 1 gallon jugs to age——

1st jug- add .75 oz fresh ginger
2nd jug- add 1/4 split vanilla bean
3rd jug- add 1/2 habanero

**Additional notes
I’ll probably ferment 3.5 gallon to compensate for trub loss.
I’m using plain ol’ Costco honey.
I already have 71B on hand but if I’m compelled to go and buy diff yeast for good reason, I’m open.

Any suggestions?

 

[AzOr]

Update-
I fermented the above with one change. I took approx 2lbs of the honey and carmelized it, Bochet style.
The taste is fantastic for being so young. I did transfer it from plastic bucket to a 3g carboy. In a few weeks I’ll divide into the 3 one gallon jugs and add spices.
It’ll sit in those jugs til at least spring time.
I may leave one jug plain or with just a touch malic acid.

 

[videojunkie1208]

You may want some pectic enzymes in there to clean up any haze.

 

[Dan O]

Damn. I just found this thread. I've been toying with doing an apricot/vanilla, myself. Bochet sounds even better. I've never done any kind of bochet, yet, but this looks like it would be a good challenge for me. Christmas is almost here which means a lot of freed up carboys to start new batches

 

[AzOr]

You may want some pectic enzymes in there to clean up any haze.

Agreed. I did add with yeast pitch. It’s fairly clear now. I’ll send pics when I get home. Soon I’ll split into separate 3 one gallon jugs and add the extra stuff when I do.

 

[AzOr]

Damn. I just found this thread. I've been toying with doing an apricot/vanilla, myself. Bochet sounds even better. I've never done any kind of bochet, yet, but this looks like it would be a good challenge for me. Christmas is almost here which means a lot of freed up carboys to start new batches

About 30% of the honey is “cooked”. I wanted to add just a touch of extra something.
I did the ol crockpot method and let it go too long. So it came out really dark. It added a great color. I didn’t take a gravity reading but I can later.

 

[AzOr]

To the OP- let me know if you’d like me start a separate thread for my updates. I figure since it’s on topic, it’s ok.
Here’s the latest pic. I split my 3g carboy into three separate 1 gallon jugs and added spices to each of them. You’ll see the amounts in the pic. I also topped off w spring water and dosed w campden.