Has anybody ever made a grapefruit mead?

[Dan O]

Recently a friend had me try some ancient grains spiked drinks from Crook & Marker. I really liked the grapefruit flavor. Has anybody tried to make a grapefruit mead or know of anybody that has? Thoughts and comments are welcome and appreciated as I'm new to mead making & still learning. Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply. Happy meading!

 

[CKuhns]

Hello Dan - Yep I made two 5 gallon batches.
Be careful of the amount of grapefruit used it can quickly be overpowering and way too tart for my liking.
1. A variant of Joes Ancient Orange Mead (JOAM) . Instead of using oranges I used grapefruit. (JAGM) Like JAOM it required a LOT of age. I did a side by-side JAOM and JAGM 5 gallons each following the JAOM recipe to the letter. The JAOM was pretty good at 20 months and really good at 30. The JAGM now at 48 months is pretty darned good but dang near unpalatable at 30 months. The rind and pith from the grapefruit really added a lot of bitter oils and flavor that took a long time to age out.
2. I did a session mead 8% ABV using Omega Hot-head yeast adding just two cans of frozen Grapefruit juice concentrate to primary and enough to taste in secondary. This turned out pretty good rather quickly. (Drinkable in 30 days after primary bottled and real good at 3 months.)

Good luck - Let us know how it turns out if you choose to try one.

 

[Dan O]

I wonder if zesting the fruit would be more beneficial for less of the pithy bitterness, therefore making it drinkable/ palatable sooner? I know JAOM traditionally uses the whole orange, including the peel, but, I can't help but wonder. If anybody else has any thoughts on this, I would be interested in theories and/or details about why this would or wouldn't work. Thanks again, in advance, for anybody's time to reply.

 

[videojunkie1208]

I think you'd need to watch your acidity, too low PH won't make your yeasts happy. Using a tincture of the zest might be the best way to get the flavor without the problems associated with the juice.

 

[Dan O]

Noted. Thank you. Still learning about where the sweet spot is for the ph to be for the yeasties to be happy .

Is there a magic number (ph) & how does one adjust the ph to get the right balance?

 

[videojunkie1208]

I try not to let it get much lower than 4. 4.5 is better, and the closer to 5 I can keep it, the better. I had a strawberry once that was in the 3's and it was undrinkable in any quantity.

 

[Dan O]

So, if the ph is too low or too high, how is it adjusted?

 

[videojunkie1208]

With honey you usually don't have to worry about too high, as honey is slightly acidic. Calcium Carbonate can balance your acid levels. If you have a PH meter that's the most accurate measurement, I just use test strips so I don't have to deal with buffer solutions and such.

 

[Dan O]

I have test strips, but, I didn't realize the ph played such an important role.

 

[videojunkie1208]

Just like in beer brewing where you try to keep your wort at 5.4 PH. Wines and Meads are similar for exactly the same reasons, we're all trying to keep yeasts happy and making clean alcohol without too many undesirable off-flavors.

 

[Redeemer]

So, if the ph is too low or too high, how is it adjusted?

Potassium carbonate or potassium bicarbonate added upfront will serve as a PH buffer. This was learned from @loveofrose in his BOMM thread and has, for me at least, been a standard addition for all meads. It also adds potassium which is beneficial to the yeast. Controlling the impact of your PH is critical to the time to drinkability and you can definitely shave off years and months by following this simple protocol.

 

[Dan O]

Thank you, for replying. Actually, since I posted this, I have made a total of 7 different BOMMs, all using @loveofrose 's BOMM protocol. My Perfect T'ej BOMM, that I thought (very much mistakenly) had a pH of 9, sent me into a panic, until @CKuhns pointed out my pH strips may have an expiration date, (which I was unaware they had one) & they were 23 months expired. I have a pH meter on the way for future pH readings. No more matching colors or expired test strips for me. I love the idea of mead in a month or 3....or like the Fidnemed 6 day short mead of @loveofrose 's, that's on day 3 as I type this. I will say, @loveofrose , my Christmas Spice BOMM smells absolutely AMAZING!!

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't forget, the higher the starting gravity the longer you may need to age the mead before it really develops the best flavors and aromas.

 

[Dan O]

Noted, @bernardsmith . Thank you, again.

 

[ondiferi]

Recently made a mead and then infused skin of a local "giant lemon" which is a citrus quite close to grapefruit, though definitely with a lemony flavor and acidity in the inside (which I didn't use). It turned out to taste like lemonade and the acidity had an acetic mouthfeel to it, not citric as expected. I didn't fall of my chair for that one, but did drank it all.