Raspberry/black currant melomel

Alcoholic beverages which are not classified as spirits.

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Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Raspberry/black currant melomel

Post by Shine0n »

This is one that Ive just finished racking and is crystal clear now aging on med toast American white oak.

Small batch 1.5 gal

4lbs red raspberry
2 lbs black currant
5 lb honey
6g fermaid o (front load)
1tsp pectic enzyme
3g 71B yeast
1/2 tsp bentonite in primary
Hot mix sparkaloid in secondary
10 oak cubes (primary)

Put fruit in a pyrex bowl and sprinkle enzyme overnight

Start rehydrating 71B with 97°f h20 for 15 minutes, then add 1 tsp honey and stir. Continue the honey addition every 2 hours for 8 hours to get a good starter. Leave for 12 hours after to build strong yeast colony.

Mix honey and water to 1.5 gal and oxygenate it good. Whipping, o2 stone etc. etc

Take fruit and place in a small med coarse brew bag and add to fermenter, dump juice right on in!!! I put the oak in the bag as well

Give a good stir and add nutrients and then add the yeast starter.

Should take off within a few hours.

Ferment at 72-74°f until finished --》(consistent readings for a week)

Make sure to degas daily for 3-5 days and punch the fruit down daily (multiple times) until 10 days and remove fruit and oak cubes

Should be really close to finishing at this point and getting ready for racking soon

Once you're in secondary, dose it with sparkaloid hot mix and let it settle until clear. Add another 8 oak cubes now at the beginning of secondary.

After a week or so check to see clarity and how much sediment is there. Rack as needed leaving oak in there.

At the end you will only have oak and mead ready to sit for a month before removing the cubes and letting the mead rest until you either want to backsweeten or bottle as is.

I backsweeten to 1.020 as this is very tart if not but is good that way too if you like dry wines.

Hope you enjoy,
Shine0n
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