White grape/peach mead, any advice?

[Emerald]

I've got all the ingredients for a white grape/peach mead from juices and wonder if there is any thing else I can add to give it a nice rounded mouth feel flavor? I do have a hydrometer and will be checking it this time around! and plan to put this together either today or tomorrow.

2-1/2 gallons of Welches white grape/peach juice(no sorbates or sulfurs)
2lbs of clover honey
1/4 tsp. citric acid (I did not remember to buy acid blend)
1/4lb non sulfated raisins, not golden just regular
Lavlin EC-1118 (which I like, the apfelwein turned out great with it)

Now I am planning on re-hydrating the yeast before I pitch it and am thinking of giving the raisins a rinse in boiling water and then letting them soak in a bit of the juice over night before putting everything together. I am still at the stage of -boil the honey/not boil the honey as most of the reading I have done has people almost right down the middle divided on this, some do and some don't and I wonder if since this is just cheap store bought honey from probably Canada/USA not the good local stuff that I eat and use. It has probably already been heated and purified to death anyways. I might just put the whole container in some warm water and get it a bit looser and easier to mix with the juice.
Now is there anything that I have left out? or that you fine folks might think to add or adjust? Like maybe a bit of black tea for tannins? Do you leave the raisins in for the whole time or after about 6 weeks do you rack off them and leave them behind? I guess I just have too many questions... I wish I could find a mead club like they have brew clubs! lol

 

[flyweed]

well tannins and if you rack onto some oak chips/cubes it will certainly enhance and round out your meads mouthfeel and complexity. I'd use Wine Tannin. THe raisins SHOULD drop out of your mead as it ferments..once you rack into a secondary you will rack your must off the raisins as they will be at the bottom of your primary at that point. I wouldn't buy that store bought honey..it's been filtered and sterilized to death already, and any bouqet that might be left, you'll not want to boil out.

 

[Emerald]

I think that I wrote out the recipe wrong-- I am making only one gallon of mead, and the recipe should read that I have one gallon of the white grape/peach juice. (two bottles 1/2 gallon sized )
Flyweed- thanks for the tip on raisins, I haven't used them in the first three types of wine that I made (two apple and one cyser) but many different recipes online and in some of the books on country wine call for them but really don't explain what to do with them and if you leave them in or rack off.

The only reason that I didn't buy any of the wine tannin at the LBS was that red wines tend to trigger migraines and the Dr.s think it is the tannins. I can have tea and have used it in the apple wine and so far it has not triggered any migraines, so I think it would be a bit safer for me to do that for now. And there is a bit of difference between the apple wine with it and the one without it.
The only reason that I am using the cheap honey is that I want to brew something but can't afford better for the experimenting urge! lol I will just warm it in a pan of hot water to make it mix a bit better in the bottles with the juice.
I am planning on sweet talking a local bee guy into letting me keep a couple of hives in my yard for my fruit trees and garden and hoping to get a good discount on the honey and bees wax capping(for home beauty ointments ). He has been good about running out and removing rouge swarms when they roost in the wrong place around here, if I wasn't so allergic to bee stings I would try to get them and start my own top bar hives. Maybe having an already done mead to try will persuade him into this fine arrangement!(with the statement that local honey would make a finer mead!) Either that or maybe doing some trading with the fresh eggs or fresh veggies/fruits from the garden... Ahhh mead dreams.....

And yes I am this yappy in person-- good thing I learned to type fast! lol

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Never boil honey, you will lose quite a bit of flavour that way. If you're looking to add body, you could double the amount of raisins you're adding. Be sure to chop those raisins to give the yeast better acces to their raisiny goodness, you could also freeze & thaw those chopped raisins to help break down the cell walls.

I'd also add some pectic enzyme to help work over those raisins. Of course yeast nutrient/yeast energizer for a good, healthy yeast colony. I'd leave out the citric acid & wait to add any acid (prefferably acid blend) until after fermentation is complete, you can add acid any time. You might consider using D-47 yeast, according to Jack Keller it "enhances mouth feel due to complex carbohydrates and high polysaccharide production." Here's a link to his yeast page: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp Regards, GF.

 

[Emerald]

Never boil honey, you will lose quite a bit of flavor that way. If you're looking to add body, you could double the amount of raisins you're adding. Be sure to chop those raisins to give the yeast better acces to their raisiny goodness, you could also freeze & thaw those chopped raisins to help break down the cell walls.

I'd also add some pectic enzyme to help work over those raisins. Of course yeast nutrient/yeast energizer for a good, healthy yeast colony. I'd leave out the citric acid & wait to add any acid (preferably acid blend) until after fermentation is complete, you can add acid any time. You might consider using D-47 yeast, according to Jack Keller it "enhances mouth feel due to complex carbohydrates and high polysaccharides production." Here's a link to his yeast page: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp Regards, GF.

I can add more raisins than what I put in the first list- I have almost 1/2 lb- I can wait on the acid too. But the BS's are over an hour away from me and I am just in the mood to experiment a bit and have the 1118 yeast on hand.. It is funny that you mention the Jack Keller site as it was the first one I read all the way thru before finding this forum. But there are so many different schools of thought on wines, from grape only to the many different country wines, that when you just start out it is very confusing.
What is your favorite yeasts to work with? Most folks on here have their favorites.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I've 7 strains of yeast in the fridge right now, but mostly I use D-47, EC-1118, K1-V1116, and Premier Cuvee. There are plenty of other yeasts out there and they all have their advantages & disadvantages. Like Keller says: "choose your yeast like you would choose a tool." Regards, GF.

 

[Emerald]

Thanks for your advice Gratus Fermentatio! I tend to really over think things until I feel more comfy doing them.... You should have seen the first few attempts at bread making! lol My bread is great now that I learned to just relax and make it!

 

[flyweed]

LOL...well then don't EVER make your own homemade noodles!!! I've found that if you try and stick to a "recipe" they never come out right, you just gotta relax and "feel" what the dough is doing in order to make it through the noodle cutter and get great noodles....anyway, I also like D-47 and 1118 for alot of my meads as well.

 

[Emerald]

I do make noodles from scratch!! and you're right--PITA but yummy!

Well the final mix of my White grape/peach mead was
2lbs of honey
1/3lb of lightly chopped raisins that had a rinse of boiling water on them
and enuf of the white grape/peach juice to fill the gallon
and about 1/2 a packet of the lavlin EV-1118 that was started in a bit of the juice this morning. Looks like a mad scientist experiment or a weird lava lamp at the moment.
But now that the raisins are starting to move around due to the yeast action I can see that there is a couple of small stems on the raisins-- that is not going to cause any problems is it? From what I can see of the raisins it seems to only be about 3 or 4.

Plus I am skipping any tannin for now and also the acid- I might add it later if needed.

Chopping the raisins is also a big PITA! even with just a bit of sugar sprinkled on them to help keep the sticking to the blade down they are still quite sticky!
The smell of the must was just yummy so I have high hopes for this one.
But I remembered to take a SG reading with my new hydrometer-- but only after I put the yeast in so from what the instructions that I read said-- is that it will not be correct. I must learn to be more careful with reading the whole thing before starting.. lol

 

[flyweed]

Sounds like a good recipe. Make sure your equipment is all sterilized WELL! Keep us posted as this ferments out. What was your S.G.??? I have 18 pounds of blackberry honey I am trying to figure out what to do with, and may either make a large batch of mead with it, or split it up and make several one gallon fruit batches We'll see.

Dan

 

[Emerald]

Sounds like a good recipe. Make sure your equipment is all sterilized WELL! Keep us posted as this ferments out. What was your S.G.??? I have 18 pounds of blackberry honey I am trying to figure out what to do with, and may either make a large batch of mead with it, or split it up and make several one gallon fruit batches We'll see.

Dan

When I remembered to take one, the yeast was already working and it just kept rising out of the must in the tube. I now know why you take the readings before the yeast goes in! So The best I can say is that there is 1151 grams of sugar per gallon.(calculated from the total sugar per the label on the honey and the gallon of juice minus the one cup of juice that didn't fit (yup I did measure it as I didn't want to dirty a cup when I had the measuring cup out anyways!) I will have to see if there is a conversion chart somewhere that will help. I am not good at math due to a little problem with dyscalcula an odd form of dyslexia but only with numbers... I was good at geometry and algebra but can't copy down a phone number with out checking it at least 4 times.. lol

 

[gratus fermentatio]

No worries, just let the yeast do their thing & it should be fine. Regards, GF.

 

[Emerald]

OH NO! My first blow out! Who knew that raisins would rise up almost 2 1/2 inches and spurt my must out the airlock! I just poured a bit out and cleaned and sterilized everything again and it is just a-perking along! Not smelling as sweet as yesterday but still good! At least it was only just a bit in the airlock and not all over the wall like some of the post pictures I have seen on here!

 

[Emerald]

Ok I have another question on this batch-- After cleaning up the blow out and removing just a bit of the must- it has been just a perking along and doing fine but I noticed that the raisins have a white buildup on them-- Is this just a yeast colony? They don't look moldy and I did sterilize a knife and push them down once as the top raisins were drying out a bit. Everything smells fine and looks ok but I figured that I would just ask. TIA Em

 

[PJford15]

I have a one gallon mead fermenting that I put in with 1/2 lb. of raisins in October. Within the first few days I had a blowout and put the whole thing on a blow off tube. I racked it off the raisins and topped it off after about 40 days. The white residue on the raisins was just yeast poop (as SWMBO calls it). No biggie.

I will probably rack it again after Christmas (another 40 or so days since the last racking). I'm also planning on making a 1 gallon blueberry mead here soon.

 

[Emerald]

I have a one gallon mead fermenting that I put in with 1/2 lb. of raisins in October. Within the first few days I had a blowout and put the whole thing on a blow off tube. I racked it off the raisins and topped it off after about 40 days. The white residue on the raisins was just yeast poop (as SWMBO calls it). No biggie.

I will probably rack it again after Christmas (another 40 or so days since the last racking). I'm also planning on making a 1 gallon blueberry mead here soon.

Thanks! I kinda figured as much, but it never hurts to ask.
Let me know how the blueberry mead ends up- I have blueberries in the freezer that I picked this summer, and was thinking of doing another one gallon batch of mead.

 

[Emerald]

Just an update on the white grape/ peach mead--I just took a reading and racked off the raisins and the lees (they were about a hair over 1/8 of inch deep) the raisins were sinking and the reading that I took with my hydrometer was about 1/8th of an inch over the 0.0 on it! Is this normal or did I buy the wrong hydrometer? The lady at the BS said that it would be fine for wine or beer and it has three scales on it. Why the whole thing was almost under the wine in the tube.
But flavor wise, I hope it keeps that wonderful peach aroma and after taste- it was a bit tart and hot but if it ages out well, it will be my favorite! It almost smells like peach candy(if soaked in vodka that is!) I did end up topping it off with a bit of apple juice concentrate as the white grape peach concentrate now has some kind of preservative in it.
Now if my memory serves me, I should let it age in the gallon jug until there are about 1/4 inch of lees and then I can rack it again and let it age farther. I do want to bottle this but it is still a bit cloudy, so it is back to the waiting game.
Any other advice that I missed?

 

[Texron]

Hi Emerald. I started a batch Dec 22nd using a wine expert Okanogan Peach Ice Wine kit and six pounds of honey-with enough water to make five gallons. Its been fermenting nicely and when I checked the gravity a couple nights ago I tasted it and it was awsome-and this is without out the "peach flavored" F-pack added. When I rack to secondary I plan to rack on top of a three-pound can or Peach Puree mainly to infuse some aromatics as well as add to the Peach flavor. The F-pack will be used as needed. But having said all that, like you I am looking forward to this one finishing. I think it is going to be an awsome combination.

If this works I want to try Apricot next.

 

[Emerald]

Hi Texron- I have two peach trees in the yard and didn't know how to even start with wine last summer and while my family and I can scarf down peaches I still had way too many to know what to do with- many were given to other family members and the neighbors,, Well this next summer if I get an overabundance of peaches they are going smack dab into a wine! I think I will try to freeze as many as possible to use for racking over in the winter also. Along with all the black raspberries and mulberries and apples that I have growing (the red and yellow raspberries all go into pie! or jam) This hobby is turning out to be an obsession!
Why I might even get enuf tomatoes to even try making a tomato wine!
I hope that your wine when it ages out brings back some of that nice peach aroma. I can't wait for this to age out a bit as the family will love it-- it should be great this summer--now I wish I would have made more than just one gallon!

 

[Texron]

I think I am gonna look for fruit on sale and watch it carefull as it ages to perfection on a window sill. Once its ripe enough that its getting soft I'll wash, slice and freeze until I have enough and ready to make wine with it. I love Apricots and think a white wine melomel would be really good if I had enough fruit to pull the flavor and smell out.

I'm with you on the obsession thing. This time last year I had my first two batches going. Now they are long gone and I have more than 60 gallons of various batches of beer, wine, and mead going.

My friends love me now!

 

[Matrix4b]

When you rack this, I recomend topping up with the same juice you used. This way you are not loosing volume and makes it that much more yummy.

 

[Emerald]

When you rack this, I recomend topping up with the same juice you used. This way you are not loosing volume and makes it that much more yummy.

The only reason I put apple juice concentrate in is due to the fact that the frozen white grape peach now has sorbates/sulfur added(the first batch did not, so it must be a recent change) and I didn't want it to stall out any further fermentation that needs to happen. Besides, so far any wine that had apple juice added seems to still retain the main flavor of the first juice used. Apple juice tends to be a bit neutral for me.
I think that the next time I go to the store I will remember to write down exactly which additive it is and see if letting it "air out" will let the sulfur dissipate like when you use campden tablets.

 

[195877]

Never boil honey, you will lose quite a bit of flavour that way. If you're looking to add body, you could double the amount of raisins you're adding. Be sure to chop those raisins to give the yeast better acces to their raisiny goodness, you could also freeze & thaw those chopped raisins to help break down the cell walls.

I'd also add some pectic enzyme to help work over those raisins. Of course yeast nutrient/yeast energizer for a good, healthy yeast colony. I'd leave out the citric acid & wait to add any acid (prefferably acid blend) until after fermentation is complete, you can add acid any time. You might consider using D-47 yeast, according to Jack Keller it "enhances mouth feel due to complex carbohydrates and high polysaccharide production." Here's a link to his yeast page: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp Regards, GF.

My traditional (no fruit or spices etc.) D-47 (OG 1.087 SG 1.003) has had a stable gravity for 3 days and has acquired a strong citrus note. After reading Jack Kellers info on yeast he says that leaving the must on the lees with d-47 can cause "ripe spicy aromas with tropical and citrus notes to develop"
This early in fermentation' finishing is it too early to assume this could be happening? Or is he referring to leaving it on the lees for more extended periods of time?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

My traditional (no fruit or spices etc.) D-47 (OG 1.087 SG 1.003) has had a stable gravity for 3 days and has acquired a strong citrus note. After reading Jack Kellers info on yeast he says that leaving the must on the lees with d-47 can cause "ripe spicy aromas with tropical and citrus notes to develop"
This early in fermentation' finishing is it too early to assume this could be happening? Or is he referring to leaving it on the lees for more extended periods of time?

WOW! This is an ANCIENT thread! As to your question, I think Keller meant to leave the mead on the lees longer than just to the end of primary, I'm guessing he meant to leave it on the lees in secondary till the mead clears, but not much longer. I think if he'd meant to age on the lees, he'd have said "Sur Lie" which is a method of aging wine (or mead) on the lees for an extended period of time.
http://winemakersacademy.com/sur-lie-aging-explained/

I'd say if you're pleased with the SG & citrus notes you've got rack & wait for it to clear, then bulk age for a year, then bottle. I've left plum melomel on D-47 lees for 6 months (tertiary) & had a good product, but I couldn't detect any citrus-like flavors over the plums.
Hope that helps. Regards, GF.

 

[195877]

WOW! This is an ANCIENT thread! As to your question, I think Keller meant to leave the mead on the lees longer than just to the end of primary, I'm guessing he meant to leave it on the lees in secondary till the mead clears, but not much longer. I think if he'd meant to age on the lees, he'd have said "Sur Lie" which is a method of aging wine (or mead) on the lees for an extended period of time.
http://winemakersacademy.com/sur-lie-aging-explained/

I'd say if you're pleased with the SG & citrus notes you've got rack & wait for it to clear, then bulk age for a year, then bottle. I've left plum melomel on D-47 lees for 6 months (tertiary) & had a good product, but I couldn't detect any citrus-like flavors over the plums.
Hope that helps. Regards, GF.

Great info! I might let it sit for a week or 10 days then rack (assuring gravity is stable). I am not trying to achieve the citrus note, I was just concerned, I don't know what it might or should smell like .. 1st mead (brew) and all! Hopefully it will age out?
Thanks for your reply