Help save a melomel, please...

[brew42]

Hi all,

So I'm making my first mead/melomel, and managed to make a bomb in my kitchen sink...

I started with 12 lbs honey, and filled my 5 gallon carboy to 4 gallons. I added 1.5 t yeast energizer and nutrients, and it has been fermenting very steady for ~2.5 weeks. Started at 1.106 and it was 1.038 Thursday afternoon. So I decided it was time to add my Blackberries. I took my ~9 lbs fresh berries out of the freezer and thawed over night. Friday I added them to a clean 5 gal carboy, racked on top, and setup a blow off because I was very near the top. I left for the weekend, to return to about half my berries on the ceiling and in the kitchen sink. Stupid move, lesson learned.

So right now I just put a fresh stopper and air lock in since their is plenty of headspace now (about a gallon lost).

I'm worried about balancing between getting enough berry flavor and keeping it from getting infected (already too late to worry about oxidation i think...). Should I A) Stomp down the existing berries to get them in contact with the alcoholic mead or B) Not touch the berries and leave it sit for 2-4 weeks until it ferments out or C) Rack to a new carboy and hope for the existing berry flavor to be enough...

Thanks for the advice!

 

[BigKahuna]

Slosh it about and get those berries where they belong. Don't worry about oxidation...it's still producing co2, and will have a nice blanket to protect the must from air. Clean up with Vodka, and Relax It's likely fine.

 

[Freezeblade]

It'll be fine, I've had one explosion with mead so far, and it's actually one of my better meads. Relax, Don't Worry, Have some Mead.

 

[summersolstice]

Try using a plastic pail for a primary next time. Get one large enough to provide plenty of headspace and put your fruit in a nylon straining bag. Punch down daily.

Among my other plastic primary pails I have a 7-gallon white plastic rectangular trash pail I bought at Target I use for many of my 5-gallon batches and a 10-gallon food grade white plastic trash can for 6 gallon batches of wine and mead (I drilled one-inch holes in both and attached spigots). Place a towel or t-shirt over the top and use a bungee cord to keep it tight and in place. After a couple of weeks (when it gets to 1.000 or below) you can rack to a carboy and fill to within a couple of inches of the top of the neck.

For now, do as BK advises and slosh it around. Keep in mind that, at 1.038 there may be enough fermentation left to blow again. Keep an eye on it.

 

[brew42]

Wow, thanks for the advice guys, I think I'll improve my process a bit next time... Now that my kitchen is all cleaned up and my berries sloshed, I'm feeling better already.

 

[tooomanycolors]

next time take pictures