Joe's Quick Grape Mead (drinkable in 5 weeks)

[NeverDie]

Took me a while to locate the original post, so I'm posting a link to it here: http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/6491-Quick-Grape-Mead-(drinkable-in-5-weeks)?p=54875

I had already started an experimental concord pyment using 71B yeast, but when I found this recipe I switched over to it (other than the yeast). Also, I have it on a stir plate, and I'm step feeding it the honey so as to hopefully impart less stress to the yeast and maybe (?) get a faster ferment. The stir plate also helps with mixing in and dissolving the honey step feedings. When it's further along (safely past the Krausen phase), I'll top up with spring water to make it a full 1 gallon, as recommended by the recipe.

Interestingly,
1. it uses 1 ounce of buckwheat honey, which isn't much, but now I finally have a use for the buckwheat honey I had purchased earlier to try.
2. It doesn't require any nutrient additions. Apparently the grape juice has enough as is, even with the extra honey burden.
3. "It should be to SG =1.000 or less in 14- 21 days max."

 

[RPh_Guy]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/joes-quick-grape-mead.57190/

 

[NeverDie]

BTW, for anyone who is curious, the SG on Welsh's Concord Grape Juice (at least the stuff from Sam's club) is 1.060.

 

[NeverDie]

Update: the 71B yeast got a bit unhappy and started getting sulfurous on me, so I threw in some raisins, added 1/8 tsp Fermaid K, and aerated on the stir plate. Then, like magic, they became happy again, with no residual smell. Phew! Dodged a bullet.

Next time I'll try it with the EC-1118, as per the original recipe.

 

[bob1852]

Why raisins?

 

[NeverDie]

Why raisins?

Panic, I suppose. Seems to work as a nutrition source in JAOM.

 

[bob1852]

Raisins aren't a source of nutrients...

Unfortunately, that old info just won't die...

 

[NeverDie]

Raisins aren't a source of nutrients...

Unfortunately, that old info just won't die...

They're not? What are nutrient sources in JAOM then? The orange? The clove? The cinnamon stick? None of the above?

 

[bob1852]

They're not? What are nutrient sources in JAOM then? The orange? The clove? The cinnamon stick? None of the above?

None of the above.

That's part of the reason why that recipe isn't the greatest, and takes a long time to ferment and age.

 

[NeverDie]

None of the above.

That's part of the reason why that recipe isn't the greatest, and takes a long time to ferment and age.

Well, this is good to know, because I was about to start some more of it. Do tell: what would be a better recipe for JAOM that doesn't take so long to ferment or age? Do you have a link?

By the way, for other readers of this post, I just read this, which agrees with AZ_IPA about the raisins: http://gotmead.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Raisins-are-NOT-nutrients.pdf

 

[Blacksmith1]

Raisins can add a bit of body if used properly. Yooper uses them in several of the recipes she has posted for that reason.

 

[NeverDie]

The one change I made to JAOM which does seem to speed up the fermentation is adding 10g of yeast instead of the recommended 3.5g of yeast. At least, that's how it appears. I have 4 separate gallons of it fermenting with 10g each, and one gallon with the recommended 3.5g of yeast, and the 3.5g gallon is moving along much slower.

 

[NeverDie]

That's part of the reason why that recipe isn't the greatest, and takes a long time to ferment and age.

Do you recommend doing a TOSNA on JAOM to get a faster ferment and less aging? Or what?

 

[bob1852]

Or what?

A different recipe.

Not a fan of JAOM...

There's so many better recipes out there that use modern techniques and ingredients.

 

[NeverDie]

Just FYI, from what I'm reading, there are a lot of factors which influence whether even ordinary grape juice needs supplementing with additional yeast nutrients, so the use of grape juice alone may not offer sufficient nutrients (as it wasn't in my case). It may not have been the 71B's fault.

 

[NeverDie]

I launched a variant of the recipe using Welch's Black Cherry and Grape juice, which also had an SG of about 1.060, and I launched a Red Grape variant, and that juice had an SG of 1.066.

I ran out of EC-1118, so for a Welch's White Peach juice variant, I'm using the Fresco yeast, which I'm reasonably certain will ferment dry, based on earlier experiments with it. White Peach juice also had SG 1.060. Despite the name, White Peach is actually a mix of White Grape, Peach, Apple, and Pear juice. Unlike Welch's pure White Grape juice, it does not appear to have metabisulphite in it.

And I launched an L&A black cherry juice variant using 71B yeast.

So, that means I now have 5 different Joe's Grape recipes and variants fermenting in parallel. If there's a pony in there, I would imagine I'll find it.

 

[NeverDie]

There's so many better recipes out there that use modern techniques and ingredients.

What are your current favorites?