black Native Texas Persimmon Mead help?

[badducky]

The wife went foraging while I was at work and came home with about a pound of native Texas Persimmon, and a metric ton of prickly pear tunas.The persimmons are black and soft and taste smoky, a little.

We got plans for the tuna. The persimmon was just bonus.

I want to make a small batch of mead with the Persimmons. Has anyone had any experience with these uncommon fruit? I have pectic enzyme handy, and citric acid. If you have worked with native persimmons before, can you give me some advice?

 

[loveofrose]

I would treat it like any other stone fruit. Peel and remove the seed. Cut it into slices and freeze it.

You can add the fruit to primary, secondary, or both for a fruit bomb effect. Primary additions tend to be wine like while secondary capture more of the fruitiness. The more fruit you add the fruitier it will be.

Do not add acid until the ferment is finished. You will drop the pH too low and the yeast will stall. I add potassium carbonate upfront to buffer the pH to avoid low pH issues. You can add acid after the ferment is finished to taste if it needs it.

As usual add staggered nutrients to keep the yeasties happy and clean fermenting.


Better brewing through science!

 

[badducky]

Awesome, thanks!

I'm off to the store for my ingredients in a few minutes. (I'm out of wine yeast!)

 

[badducky]

I went ahead and did it with a long sanitizing session, and a little bit of the skin for nutrient and tannin instead of a nutrient (this time).

I'm keeping it blood simple just to see, in a small batch, and if I need to get more technical next time, I definitely will. If it looks like it stalls, I will add nutrient, though, for sure.

I posted a blog about my experiment, with pictures, here:

http://badduckybeerblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/black-texas-persimmon-mead.html

 

[WVMJ]

You beermaker guys boil everything. Another approach would be to destone and then add your water and honey to the fruit with sulfites and pectinase and nutrients and use a wine yeast to get more of the taste of the fruit vs cooked fruit and to keep more of the honey taste vs boiled honey. I have never seen these fruits being in the east, it sounds like its going to be good.

What the heck is a catctus tuna?

WVMJ

 

[ncredneck]

It is also known as a prickly pear

 

[WVMJ]

Got that from the first post, but what is the tuna part? WVMJ

It is also known as a prickly pear

 

[ncredneck]

It is what the spanish speaking people call it. The only way I know this is I work with a hispanic guy that loves them.

 

[badducky]

I racked off the Persimmon Mead, and it is so extremely sweet that it tastes more like a grenadine than a wine (except with persimmon notes, not pomegranate ones). I have been experimenting with using it in mixed drinks and have yet found a magic one for it, though results have been tasty.

Next year, if we go foraging in time for them, I'm going to reduce the honey and add citric acid to try and get some balance in the jar!

 

[badducky]

After one year, the mead is fantastic. It is very sweet and fruity, with an amber color in the glass reminiscent of whiskey.

This fruit makes a very tasty mead, despite its black and scary appearance!

 

[WVMJ]

We picked persimmons this week from trees we planted, got 2, hope to get about 4 more, still young trees but hoping to get enough for at least a gall next year. Glad this turned out so well. WVMJ