Cranberry Vanilla Melomel

[caffeine211]

Ok... this is my 4th batch of mead. I've been lurking in the background, reading a lot and trying to learn as much as I can. I'm posting this recipe and my methods mostly so I can get feedback on what I've done right/wrong or any other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Cranberry Vanilla Melomel

Batch size: 1gal (approx)

Ingredients:

3.5lbs honey
64oz cranberry juice
2 vanilla beans
10-15 craisins (dried cranberries)
Yeast nutrient (per bottle instructions)
Yeast energizer (per bottle instructions)
Yeast (Lalvin D-47)
64oz water (approx)

OG: 1.100 (4/1/11) (Was trying to get 1.120 but ran out of space)
SG: 1.030 (5/1/11)
SG: 1.030 (5/7/11)
FG:

ABV:

Instructions:

Sanitize equipment and utensils!
Warm honey just enough to make it a liquid
I used raw honey for this mead, which came as a solid block in the jar
Mix the honey and cranberry juice thoroughly
The cranberry juice had only two ingredients: cranberry juice from concentrate, water. It was the tartest thing I have ever tasted and was basically undrinkable by itself. I’m not entirely sure why they sell it in the grocery store...
Re-hydrate the yeast with a bit of the must, nutrient and energizer for approx 15mins
Add yeast to must along with craisins
Top off with water to target gravity
Give a good shake and cap with airlock
Wait for the bubbles to start (*taps foot*)


Notes: (4/1/11) (start date)

Smelled delicious! Strong honey and cranberry aromas
Must had an extremely tart cranberry flavor, slightly sweet
Light-medium body
Color was blood red

Notes: (4/2/11)

Was bubbling furiously by the time I woke up

Notes: (5/1/11)

Still has a very tart cranberry taste and almost no sweetness
No strong alcohol taste
Will be adding some more honey to sweeten it some
Will be adding vanilla beans

Notes: (5/7/11)

It appears that fermentation has stopped
Added 0.8lbs of the same honey to backsweeten
Added 2 vanilla beans, scored diagonally along the length (sanitized in vodka)
Racked off of lees

Notes: (5/24/11)

Did another taste test today - delicious! Sweet, tart. A lot of cranberry flavor and the vanilla is coming through nicely
Aroma had heavy vanilla and cranberry notes
Medium-heavy body.
Very dark red color, not very clear. Hopefully a cold crash will clear it some, however, the original cranberry juice was borderline opaque.
Plan for now:
-Pull the vanilla out in a week
-Cold crash for a week
-Rack off of sediment
-Bulk age for at least four months
-Rack and bottle

Overall I'm extremely happy with how this has turned out so far. I’m very sad that I only made one gallon of this. It was quite expensive but nonetheless. I will be exploring cheaper recipes that produce a similar flavor.

 

[bob1852]

Did you add campden and k-sorbate ~5/7 when you added more honey? If not, the yeast likely gobbled up that honey as you were still well below the alcohol tolerance of D47.

Either way, looks like you have a pretty good process.

Just be aware that a 1.100 finishing at 1.030 is pretty rare for that yeast (that's under 10% ABV). Keep an eye on that gravity before you bottle....I'd hate for you to end up with bottle bombs.

Oh, and welcome to the forum

 

[oldmate]

I agree, watch out for the gravity before you bottle. My cyser did this almost exactly but then bubbled ever so slightly for a few more weeks. Should be fine though, sounds tasty!

Edit: I also noticed that you didn't add nutrients after the first addition. In future you should de-gas and add nutrient until the 1/3rd sugar break. This might be partly to account for the high finishing gravity. If you want, you might like to add some dissolved nutrient in warm water and see if fermentation starts off again.

 

[caffeine211]

AZ IPA,

I did not add any campden tablets or k-sorbate when I added more honey and it looks like you are correct... The gravity on 5/24 was 1.032 (I forgot to take a gravity reading when I added the honey ), only .002 higher than on 5/7. As best as I can calculate the gravity should have been brought up by about .030 by the .8lbs honey. This still only leaves it around 13% ABV.

I'm going to add some nutrients disolved in warm water and see if that extra .032 ferments out.

And thanks for the welcome =)

Oldmate,

No I didn't add any nutrients after the start cause I didn't know about that at the time lol! But I will give that a try. Thank you!


Anyways, thanks for the feedback... still learning but it nonetheless tastes quite delicious, so I'm happy even if I didn't follow the ideal process!