# March 2015 Wine of the Month Club



## the_rayway (Mar 3, 2015)

Whaaaaa??? It's been 3 WHOLE DAYS and no one has started a WOTM thread for March?



Ah well, better late than never!

Please join us! This thread is for anyone, from newbie to experienced winemaker, who wants to document making a 1 gallon experimental recipe. We like the whole recipe posted (pretty please), pics of the process, notes, questions to others, comments, support, and updates.

After a year (March 2016), we invite you to pop back with some tasting notes as it ages. If the recipe is a keeper, put it in the recipes section! If it's a bust - no worries - one gallon isn't too much of an investment, and it's a great learning experience.

I will update this post at the end of the month with a list of everyone who is participating.

Soooooo???? Who's in?


_________________________________________________________________
4.6.2015

Well, well! It looks like we had 8 participants this month - way to go everyone!
1) Wineforfun: Wild Berry Apple
2) BernardSmith: Elderflower Heather Mead
3) Jericurl: Grapefruit Juniper Mead
4) The_rayway: Blackberry Apricot Mead
5) Phildarby: Banana Wine
6) X_diver: Grapefruit-Blueberry-Banana Wine
7) Homesteader26: Apple Cyser
8) Fabrictodyefor: Cranberry Experiment

It looks like the primary fermentations were successful thus far, and we have some great looking experimental recipes! Please continue to update everyone as your recipes progress, and we will look forward to tasting notes as the batches age. Remember: if the recipe is a keeper, please post it in the Recipes Section of the Forum.


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## wineforfun (Mar 4, 2015)

Atta girl. I knew you would remember.

I just started a Wild Berry Apple wine from the recipe section on WMT. Made some adjustments but here is the gist of it.

2 gal. batch
4-12oz. Old Orchard 100% Apple Juice concentrate
2-12oz. Old Orchard 100% Mixed Berry concentrate
6c sugar
220oz. water
1 1/2tsp nutrient (another 1 1/1tsp around 1.050-1.060)
1/2tsp tannin
3tsp acid blend
1 1/2tsp pectic 
SG 1.092

Going to make this pretty sweet for my wife and her friends as they like the sweet wines. Not sure if I will make both gallons the same or if my A.D.D. will make me "play" with one of them. I am not really interested in this combo so may just make it all sweet and keep some and give away some.

On a side note, going to start a 2 gal. batch of blueberry (using 9lbs. of frozen blueberries from store) in the next week or two. This one I am going to try and experiment with ie: different oaks, tannins, etc.


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## the_rayway (Mar 4, 2015)

Hey D.J.!
Sounds yummy!

I'm thinking it's time for me to get back on the fermenting 'horse' after a little bit of a break. I have two ideas I'm toying with:

1) Grapefruit Wine, 1 gallon (which I was thinking about last month and never got around to), or
2) Blackberry Apricot Mead. Thinking it would be a 3 gallon batch as I've got about 10Lbs of fruit: 5Lbs of each

I'm leaning to the #2 just because I have a decent amount of citrus made, plus a batch of SP on deck for this summer.


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## wineforfun (Mar 4, 2015)

the_rayway said:


> Hey D.J.!
> Sounds yummy!
> 
> I'm thinking it's time for me to get back on the fermenting 'horse' after a little bit of a break. I have two ideas I'm toying with:
> ...



I like the sound of #2 also. That is an interesting combo, curious to hear how it turns out if you go with it.


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## homesteader26 (Mar 4, 2015)

I would like to join in! Can you post the mead recipe? Sounds yummy!


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## BernardSmith (Mar 4, 2015)

Just experimenting here with a mix of heather tips and elderflowers - 2 oz (dried) of each which may be overkill in one gallon. The sugar is coriander honey (2 lbs) and I may add another 4 oz of honey to up the ABV to about 12 percent. Pitched the yeast (71B) yesterday after boiling the heather and the elderflowers in spring water for about 60 minutes and allowing the water to cool down to room temperature. Removed the bag of flowers, and mixed the tea and the honey in a blender to aerate the must. Planning on making this a sparkling metheglin (I think that is what a mead with flowers might be called).

For Homesteader26, a mead is basically, honey, water and yeast. One pound of honey in a gallon carboy will raise the gravity of the water by about 40 points (1.040).

Honey (correction) is deficient in nutrients so you need to add some and you want to use a gentle yeast (IMO) rather than a champagne yeast. I like 71B but others I think prefer D47. Low temperature fermentation beats high and aromatic and flavor rich varietal honeys are better than blends. Some people like buckwheat honey meads but I don't - Orange blossom, Tupelo, acacia, wild flower all make good meads. Heather honey , if you can find it. You use apple juice in place of water and you have a cyser. You use grape juice in place of the water and you have a pyment. You use fruit juices or fruit and you have a melomel. You add spices and you have a metheglin.


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## wineforfun (Mar 4, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> For Homesteader26, a mead is basically, honey, water and yeast. One pound of honey in a gallon carboy will raise the gravity of the water by about 40 points (1.040).



Bernard,
I could be mistaken, but I think homesteader may be asking for rayway's mead recipe.


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## wineforfun (Mar 4, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> You use apple juice in place of water and you have a cyser. You use grape juice in place of the water and you have a pyment. You use fruit juices or fruit and you have a melomel. You add spices and you have a metheglin.



Good stuff, I didn't realize the juice base was what drove those names.


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## Jericurl (Mar 4, 2015)

I was just coming here to start a thread! Thanks Rayway!

February completely got away from me but I'll be starting grapefruit/juniper berry mead in a couple of hours. 

I'm on the mead forum on Reddit and a couple of people there are using raisins for yeast nutrient instead of the Ferm K, etc. Any thoughts on this before I commit to one or the other?


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## homesteader26 (Mar 4, 2015)

Thank you for the info Bernardsmith - I appreciate the info. I was originally asking for Rayways recipe. The info was interesting though the different names other than melomel I didn't know. Very new to this wine/mead making with probably only 10-15 batches under my belt.


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## BernardSmith (Mar 4, 2015)

I am sure homesteader was asking for the rayway's recipe. I never offered a "recipe" . Don't use them. A recipe is just "paint by numbers" . A recipe without any understanding the underlying principles means that you have a wonderful tool box but you may not know when or how to use what tool.


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## the_rayway (Mar 4, 2015)

Lol! Great start to March 

Here's the proposed "recipe" (i.e. starting point, totally subject to change)

Primary Fermentation
- Canola Honey to S.G. 1.095
- Water to 3 gallons
- FermK split in 2 additions (1/3 & 2/3 sugar breaks)
- D47 (or BA11) yeast
- Go-Ferm added for yeast re-hydration
- 1/4tsp Tannins

Secondary
Complete fermentation and add KMeta. Wait a few months.

Tertiary
- 5 Lbs Apricots (thawed with pectic enzyme)
- 5 Lbs Blackberries (thawed with pectic enzyme), strain through a sieve to remove the seeds
- Funnel the fruit - it will be puree by then - into a 5 gallon carboy, and rack the wine on top. Leave it on the fruit for a couple of months.

We'll see how it goes


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## PhilDarby (Mar 5, 2015)

I started an experimental wine, on 24/2/15, based around bananas, the recipie is below and is for 10 litres (2 gallons)

1 litre apple concentrate.
1/2 litre welchs red grape.
1 lb of frozen squeezed, fresh white grape.

unpeeled bananas. 

3 sliced and 1 mashed.

bananas with peel on.

1 sliced.

375 grams (1 1/2 packets) of dried sweet bananas.

200 mls of tropical fruit juice.

100 mls oaked water.

2 1/2 kg sugar.

1 campden tablet.

2 teaspoons yeast nutrient.

1/4 teaspoon of citric acid and 1/4 teaspoon of wine tannin.

2 teaspoons of pectolase.

The grapes where mashed by hand using a potato masher and a container (once defrosted) to keep the resultant juices and skins, the banana was prepared, as above.

The raw ingredients where placed in a 5 gallon fermenter, loose (ie) not in muslem bag cloths.

1 teaspoon wine yeast post 24 hours, from the campden tablet.

day 4 one half teaspoon of bentonite.

day 7 removed the bulk of the fruit using a cullender then a sieve, into a fresh fermenting vessel.

also, on day 7, added, a further, 50 mls of oaked water and the other half a packet of sweet dried bananas 125 grams.

Day 11, there was a bit of an ominous odour of rotting fruit, starting to develop, so it was put through a cullender then a sieve and then through a 5 micron filter, in an attempt to remove as much fruit as possible, also, added 2 campden tablets and 1/4 level teaspoon of potassium sorbate, to permit back sweetening. (photo 1)

day 11 the sg is 0.992 @ 21 c so its pretty much fermented.

until i took an sg reading I hadn't realised it was fermented so completely, anyway I had a sample in a shot glass, out of curiosity, its quite thick and heavy with some banana hints but, nothing spectacular, in fact its rather bland, although there seems to be plenty of alcohol in there, im going to let it sit for a while until the mud has cleared then, rack and re taste, before proper storage.

day 12 decided to source some form of banana flavour, after, reading the label on a commercial banana ale, so in experimental fashion ended up adding 2 mls per gallon, it takes a few days to steep properly even after stirring.

day 16 it was tasting quite nicely of banana, added 85 grams of sugar per gallon to back sweeten and bring out the fruit flavour a bit, plus, a further 35 mls per gallon of oaked water.

day 21 its mostly cleared up with a very slight cloudiness after the 2nd proper racking, it seems to have been dropping very fine powder, which im guessing was banana pulp.

day 21 pictures below although im sorry they aren't very good pictures.

day 21 ive decided to let this age a bit more and see what happens, but, as it stands its quite drinkable, so the small amount extra, in the 2 litre jug, wont be there very long ;-) same goes for the bit in the glasses too ;-) chin chin (in the pictures photo 2 and 3)

sampling :-

At this moment in time I consider this done, apart from aging, it smells of bananas, tastes like bananas, and has definite woody oak undertones, the sweetness for me is about right too, it has an sg of 1.006 which makes it a medium dry I guess, but, with enough sweetness to bring out some fruit flavours and the other ingredients added in small doses, rear their head occasionally for added interest. 

Ive decided to call this `bangin banana` after the flavouring I used ;-)

Comments :-

The fresh white grape I used, was because locally I cant get welchs white grape.

This was a bit sluggish starting, but, after 3 days, it finally got under way.

I stirred it daily for the first 5 days.

up until the point where I removed the fresh bananas, on day 7, the top of the fermenting vessel was covered in a sticky gooey and slimey, mess of banana, which has now gone.

at the moment it looks like a mud coloured mess, which, ive read is normal for banana wine.

ok I had a sly sip, wen I was taking the bulk fruit out, the banana flavour isn't overly noticeable, hence I added the other half packet of sweet dried bananas.

Also, while removing the bulk fruit I noticed I actually have around 12 litres not the 10 intended, so ive added 250 grams of sugar, which wasn't intended originally.

Notes :-

Ive never fermented banana before, during reading up, I found evidence that banana skin contains amylase, which is an enzyme for breaking down starchs, hence, I left the skin on one of the bananas, because bananas have a lot of starch in them, the dried bananas I found very cheap locally, which was my original inspiration for making this wine. The fresh bananas were an addition to hopefully add a bit of fresh banana flavour.

1/4 teaspoon of citric acid = 1/2 teaspoon of tartaric acid (ie) 2:1

Im going to let this complete its ferment as it is and see what transpires when its completed.

The oaked water is from some Mexican oak barrels I have, that still have some woody taste in them.

Im expecting around 18 to 20 % abv and will back sweeten if required after having a bit of a sampler, when finished, before aging.

Yeast notes your yeast must be capable of 18 % abv or more, if not then reduce the sugar content to whatever your yeast can achieve, before alterations.

The 5 litre containers with blue lids on are experimental, temporary storage containers, easily cleaned and clear so I can see whats going on inside, they are stackable and if filled almost to the top I expect should be capable of temporary storage in the bottom of my wardrobe, where its dark and with an ambient temperature of around 20 to 22 degrees c this time of year, at one pound a shot they are my new temporary storage medium before bottling. With an expected potential of up to 3 month maximum before moving them on to the next stage, of bottling, im stuck for space and they seem ideal for my purposes.

Filtering notes :-

Apart from the 5 micron filtering mentioned above, all racking was done using am 8mm bore syphon tube, leaving the sediment behind.

As can be seen from the photographs, the first photograph was taken on day 11 with just banana added, after just removing the bulk fruit, at this stage it looks a horrible muddy mess, on day 16 I racked using a syphon tube of 8mm bore, by day 21 wen I racked again the colour difference is quite pronounced.

The 5 micron filter I used was none other than, some hypo allergenic pillow case covering and a funnel (the kind of covering asthmatics use, im asthmatic) ive been using the same piece washed and rinsed and occasionally washed in my washing machine (allowing to dry in between) for a few years now with good effect. So it is very re usable and very effective, as long as you keep it clean, I tend to use mine then add sodium metabsulphate afterwards to be sure of sterility, it dries very fast and doesn't really retain stains, as such ive found it very effective for small batches, of up to 5 gallons (which is the most I make at any one time) (see photo 4, taken filtering some strawberry wine) the strawberry wine is now a few months old and mostly been drunk because it was very nice ;-) this was its final racking, before bottling, well for what I had left anyways.

@rayway there was no mention of oil in the dried banana ingredients on the label, but, as you mention it there does seem to be a thin film on the top, its still muddy but, im guessing I can eliminate the film by syphoning and throwing the film away, when I rack it next.

@cintipam and Bernardsmith the bananas I used where yellow ones just before turning brown (ie) the kind of ripeness u would eat them, im kind of guessing, but, I expect, most of the starch was probably already sugar, Bernard you may well be right, it would be interesting to add some green banana peel to a high starch ferment such as potato or something and see if it reduces hazes.

Feedback (long term) :- post one month, this has mellowed somewhat, initially it had some excess acid and the banana was somewhat indistinct, at the moment it has settled down a little, the acid has reduced a little and the banana flavour is begining to hold its own, not just the overall banana flavour, there is a distinct taste of ripe banana (ie) the flavour you get from bananas eaten at the right time, this wasn't apparent at the time of fermentation or subsequently for several weeks, but, has recently reared its head in the flavour. It is still dropping fine banana particles, in the next week or so I intend to rack again, but, at this moment in time im beginning to suspect the particles dropping are adding flavour, in which case I must say I agree with the notion of mashed banana, which was mentioned in some recipies I read prior to making this, although at this moment in time im a little unsure, personally I suspect this is the case. With hindsight im glad I chose to add bananas of mixed preparation types, its my opinion that the banana with peel on helped to clarify in the early stages and I subsequently believe that mashed banana helps add a proper banana flavouring, although they tend to drop fine sediment over a long period of time, the sediment I suspect adding to the overall flavouring, the current taste is rather like a banana brandy kind of flavour very strongly alcohol tasting, but, with definite banana notes and a hint of brandy kind of undertones and some hints of oak behind the other 2 flavours.

For a wine that only started its life 5 weeks ago, its coming along quite nicely ;-)

Tonight ive made a sample blend of one litre of this, by adding 40mg of white sugar, 20mg of golden granulated brown plus 7.5 mls of glycerine (for smoothness) that's what im supping tonight 10/5/15. Its also very nice and very liquour like.

I`ve actually tried to answer any questions directly on the original post, but, ive learned this about bananas ;-

1). best used, when they are ripe (ie) ready for eating, which maximises sugar content. By this I mean, at the state of maturity you would have eaten them at, ie mostly yellow with not much brown and no green, colour in the skin.

2). the enzyme the skin contains is called amylase.

3). they drop lots of particles in suspension for a few months, producing a slightly brown ish sediment, which drops for along time, ie months.

4). contain approx. 40 % sugar by volume when ripe.

5). produce a quite vigorous ferment.

6). produce a fairly thick consistency drink.

7). the drink it produces is relatively bland.

8). as commercial brewers here in the uk have figured, its best supplimented with a banana flavoured additive, of approx. 2 mls per gallon, then permited to steep. (ie) banana food flavouring, containing no oil, the ones with a propylene glycol base is ideal.
__________________


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## homesteader26 (Mar 5, 2015)

I love reading the recipes people use as it gives me ideas for flavor profiles I may not have considered. Rayways idea intrigued me because I've never had an apricot (you read that right, don't know what they taste like) so would never think to use or know what to add with it. I have yet to follow one recipe but usually take ideas from one and combine with another. Love the creative and science side to this hobby! Learning so much from the great posters here! 

I have never made or drank a cyser so that is what I will make. I need to gather the ingredients this weekend but will post progress when I do.


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## BernardSmith (Mar 5, 2015)

I have four single gallon batches of cyser quietly aging - all made with the same source of pressed apples (a local farm that makes apple juice for cider makers - so a low pH and plenty of sugar and a good blend of tart, tannic and sweet apples) but with orange blossom , autumn wild flower, acacia , and sourwood honey. Hoping to have these ready to drink in the early fall. 
If you do make a cyser, there is no need (quite the opposite) to heat the apple juice - that will only help it gel (like jam), and there is never any need to boil the honey. To help make the honey more viscous and so flow more easily all you need to do is warm a pot with some water and allow the jar of honey (unopened) to sit in the warm water for a few minutes. Raising the temperature a few degrees helps the honey become more viscous. What I do is take a few cups of the apple juice (or whatever liquid I am using) and add that to a blender that I have sanitized and then pour in a cup of the honey and blend them together. This has two benefits - 1) it ensures that the honey is evenly distributed in the fermenter and I don't need to spend any time stirring the must, and 2) it incorporates lots of air into the must. The yeast need oxygen to reproduce and repair their cell walls. If you are adding any fruit you might want to add pectic enzyme to help break down pectins and you may want to add K-meta (24 hours before you pitch the yeast) to inhibit the growth of any spores or yeasts or bacteria that may be on or in the fruit. After 24 hours the sulfur dioxide produced by the K-meta will have evaporated off enough to allow your yeast to rehydrate and reconstitute themselves and begin their work.


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## the_rayway (Mar 5, 2015)

@PhilDarby Did your dried bananas have oil added? If yes, it may create an oil slick on top of your wine which will need to be dealt with so it doesn't go rancid.

@homesteader26 WHAAAATTTT???? Never tasted an Apricot?? Lol, I totally get it. There are different fruits available depending on where you're located. Just imagine a peach crossed with an orange and that gets you the idea. 

So glad to see new folks joining up this month! I agree that it's a really great way to feel out new taste profiles and ideas you may not come up with on your own. Some people (like @jericurl) have this incredible ability to mix flavours in a completely different way than the rest of us. It constantly amazes me.

My fruit is currently at my parent's place (b/c of lack of freezer space at home), so they will be bringing it by on the weekend. My concern is that Mom will thaw it for me and I'll have to add it earlier. Either way! It will be mead!


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## cintipam (Mar 5, 2015)

Lots of good info already this month. Great breakdown on the variations and names that goes with them. And Phil, I really appreciate your sharing that the banana skin helps break down the starch. I had started adding a couple bananas to each wine about a year ago and I am having the problem of a slight haze that nothing is cutting thru. I bet if I add a skin each time in the beginning it should prevent that problem on future batches. I had read recipes that included the skins and just couldn't figure out why anyone would do that on purpose.

Gearing up for spring Chilean juice here, so all my projects will be fairly experimental anyway. Will do Reisling with frozen Old Orchard apple juice, plus lots of rhubarb and red currants. My Gewurztraminer will have frozen passion fruit and a ton of processed gooseberries from last season. Considering doing a Zinfandel to use up my frozen pie cherries. Also, every batch included raisins of the correct color plus and couple bananas (and one skin) for extra body.

I've been reading how hard rhubarb is to clear, but I think I need the flavor to influence the frozen apple juice to taste more like a tart granny smith would taste.

Love reading all your projects guys.

Pam in cinti


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## BernardSmith (Mar 5, 2015)

If there are any botanists or organic chemists on board they may be able to answer my question about banana peel. Does the peel contain the active enzymes no matter how green or yellow the banana is or is the enzyme only active and activated when the banana is beyond fully ripe and the skin is black? I suspect - but I am not certain - that the increasing sweetness a banana appears to have is due to the breakdown of the starches by the enzymes in the skin because an unripe banana tastes quite bitter and not very sweet at all. So I wonder if there are chemicals in the fruit that leach into the peels that activate the enzymes which then provide the sugars that the seeds need to feed on if they are to sprout...and it is at that sweet spot where really good banana wine seems to occur..


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## wineforfun (Mar 5, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> I never offered a "recipe" . Don't use them.



That's odd, I could have swore you sent me a recipe for orange juice wine once.


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## BernardSmith (Mar 5, 2015)

As the philosopher Wittgenstein wrote "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."


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## sour_grapes (Mar 5, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> As the philosopher Wittgenstein wrote "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."



Ergo, I must remain mum regarding Wittgenstein!


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## x_diver (Mar 7, 2015)

I've done a grapefruit & raisin wine before as per a Jack Keller recipe. It tasted just like grapefruits - and very acidic.

I wanted to try again but with a variation. I'm thinking a gallon of grapefruit juice, 2lbs of blueberries, and 2lbs of bananas. I'm hoping to reduce some of the acid edge with bananas.

Any thoughts before I kick this off?


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## Jericurl (Mar 7, 2015)

Ok...here we go!

This is going to be both a flavor experiment and an experiment in using less ingredients.
I've been on Reddit and some of the other mead sites, as well as blogs and quite a few people are making mead without a lot of additives. This may end up being an epic bomb but I wanted to try it on for size.
This will be a 2 gallon batch


*Juniper Grapefruit Mead*

2 Star Anise
40 juniper berries
6 lbs honey
40 raisins
1 gallon water (plus 1 quart to take care of racking shortage)
1 gallon ruby red grapefruit juice
D47 yeast


Crush juniper berries. Add star anise and juniper to one gallon of water, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for one hour. 
Strain solids.
Add honey and raisins, return to heat. Heat just enough to mix well. Add to carboy along with grapefruit juice.
When cool enough, pitch yeast.

Starting gravity is at 1.09.


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## homesteader26 (Mar 8, 2015)

I started my batch of apple cyser - 3 gallons with yellow and dark raisons, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. Hope the yeast take off soon


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## homesteader26 (Mar 8, 2015)

X_diver I like the flavor profile you are thinking about. If you do decide to make it I will follow along


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## fabrictodyefor (Mar 9, 2015)

February got away from me too, so I finally decided it was time to make some time for this experiment! I'm making 6 one gallon batches. I caught the close-out for cranberries after the holidays and began looking at recipes. Then I began reading about different yeasts and was unsure which one I wanted to use. Thus this experiment. For each one gallon batch I added:
3 1/2 lbs cranberries (swirled in food processor)
7 3/4 oz golden raisins (chopped)
1 banana, peeled and cut up
The above ingredients I put into a mesh bag
1 quart Knudsen unsweetened cranberry juice
4 oz orange juice concentrate
2 1/2 quarts water
1/2 tsp nutrient
1/2 tsp energizer
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 campden tablet
1/4 tsp liquid tannin

The above was mixed together, then to each was added 22 oz sugar. (At this time I really thought I got a reading of 1.088) I let this sit for 36 hours, squishing the bags a few times. Then prepared my yeasts. To separate bowls I added 1/3 cup tepid water and sprinkled 4 oz of yeast. The 6 that made the final cut are: RC212, 58W3, BM4x4, Rhone, W15, and RHST. I was as careful as I could be to open one bag and sprinkle into one of the bowls, then bring it to another place in the kitchen so to avoid any cross-contamination. However no sealed rooms were in place! Uncovering the first bucket, I found the sg reading to be only 1.070, so added 5 more oz of sugar to bring the sg up to 1.086. Much to my surprise and relief the other 5 buckets read about the same and 5 more oz of sugar was added to each bucket. Then I pitched the softened yeast into the separate buckets. My plan is to add another 1/2 tsp nutrient in a few days depending on how fermentation is going. As it is winter my work space for the wine is about 68 so I do not expect a fast ferment. I just hope after going through all this, in a years time my pallet will be refined enough to really taste subtle differences! I have taken pictures and if I can figure out how to post them I'll do that!


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## the_rayway (Mar 9, 2015)

Got mine started today too!

*Blackberry-Apricot Melomel*
- 6.75 Lbs Canola Honey
- Water to 10L
- 2 tsp Go-Ferm
- BA 11 Yeast

I got the Go-Ferm/Yeast mixture going, then put the honey into the pail. Added really hot water to about 7L, then mixed to dissolve. Added cold water to 10L.

Added the must to the Go-Ferm/Yeast mixture as indicated in the Go-Ferm instructions. Then pitched the yeast. I've put it into a cool room and will try and get my nutrient additions right.

Pictures to come


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## x_diver (Mar 10, 2015)

Kicked off mine yesterday.

1 gallon of pink grapefruit juice
2lbs of blueberries
1lb of very ripe bananas with skins
1 Camden tablet

Let sit overnight. Added 1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme this morning.

Going to test acidity tonight. If it's too high, I was going to add a bit of calcium carbonate. Never used it before so any suggestions are welcome.

Will test sugar tonight too and adjust to SG 1.085. Then pitch yeast - EC-1118.


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## the_rayway (Mar 10, 2015)

Hey @x_diver, not sure if you have done much with calcium carbonate before? Just in case, here's a little excerpt from morewinemaking.com : 

"Potassium Carbonate or Calcium?
Note: Using potassium carbonate requires that the fermenter be stored cold (below 40 F) for several weeks after the application. During the period of cold stabilization the tartaric acid drops out as potassium bitartarate. Calcium carbonate can be used in a similar manner and does not require cold stabilization. However it can adversely affects flavor if you are trying to make an adjustment of more than 0.3 pH units, and takes a month to precipitate out of solution."

Not sure how much it will affect the flavour, but I just wanted to mention


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## wineforfun (Mar 10, 2015)

Jericurl said:


> Ok...here we go!
> 
> This is going to be both a flavor experiment and an experiment in using less ingredients.
> I've been on Reddit and some of the other mead sites, as well as blogs and quite a few people are making mead without a lot of additives. This may end up being an epic bomb but I wanted to try it on for size.
> ...



Dang Jeri, you and that anise. You have me using it now. Waiting to see how it tastes in my "Jeri's Christmas Cheer". One bottle, I left one of the anise seeds in there.
Do you leave your stars whole? I ended up breaking them up to get the seeds out, thinking that would impart more flavor. Not sure though.


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## wineforfun (Mar 10, 2015)

the_rayway said:


> Got mine started today too!
> 
> *Blackberry-Apricot Melomel*
> - 6.75 Lbs Canola Honey
> ...



Really interested in this one Rae. Are you waiting to add your fruit or is it already bagged and in primary?


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## the_rayway (Mar 10, 2015)

wineforfun said:


> Really interested in this one Rae. Are you waiting to add your fruit or is it already bagged and in primary?



Hey D.J.!
I'm planning to put the fruit into secondary, as I really want to keep that fresh flavour and not have it blown out the airlock per se.

Also, the darn fruit is still with my parents, so I need to plan a drive to their place to pick it up, then thaw it.


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## Jericurl (Mar 10, 2015)

> Dang Jeri, you and that anise. You have me using it now.


Lol....er...sorry about that. I think 2015 might be the year of the anise.

I usually just leave them whole and toss them in. I figure the alcohol will do a good job of extracting what needs to come out.
With this batch, I didn't want it to end up as a predominant flavor, so I boiled the juniper berries and whole anise, let it steep for an hour, then strained and used the water only.
I'm probably going to cover some anise pods in a half pint jar and cover with vodka for a few weeks as well. If the anise doesn't come through in the mead, I'd add a little of the vodka until I get the taste I'm looking for.


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## x_diver (Mar 11, 2015)

the_rayway said:


> Hey @x_diver, not sure if you have done much with calcium carbonate before? Just in case, here's a little excerpt from morewinemaking.com :
> 
> "Potassium Carbonate or Calcium?
> Note: Using potassium carbonate requires that the fermenter be stored cold (below 40 F) for several weeks after the application. During the period of cold stabilization the tartaric acid drops out as potassium bitartarate. Calcium carbonate can be used in a similar manner and does not require cold stabilization. However it can adversely affects flavor if you are trying to make an adjustment of more than 0.3 pH units, and takes a month to precipitate out of solution."
> ...




Didn't need to adjust acid at all. PH is 3.47. Interesting. Only had to adjust sugar and pitch yeast.


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## x_diver (Mar 11, 2015)

Didn't need to adjust acid at all. pH was 3.47. Only added sugar and pitched yeast.


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## fabrictodyefor (Mar 13, 2015)

I had pitched the yeast on all 6 buckets on Monday, and as of Thursday morning there was no activity in 3 of the buckets. So I added another 1/2 tsp of GoFerm to all 6 buckets and finally by last night the 3 stragglers got going! I'll post a chart of the progress, but the fastest fermenter so far is the BM4x4 with an sg this morning of 1.024. The slowest is the 58W3 at only 1.081, but the Rhone and W15 are the other straggles! But at least I "see" activity! I ended up leaving them in my kitchen as my work room plunges to about 55 overnight and I wanted a little better control of the ambient temperature. This is really the first time my husband has seen the wine in progress! He didn't realize I mess with the buckets twice a day. He thought I just started the wine and let it go! I'm loving the smell in my house, especially when I've been out and come back into a house smelling of ferment.


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## Arne (Mar 13, 2015)

I'm loving the smell in my house, especially when I've been out and come back into a house smelling of ferment.[/QUOTE]

lol, makes you wonder if someone has been in there mixing up a big batch of bread. Arne.


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## homesteader26 (Mar 15, 2015)

Its been a week and my cyser has come along nicely! It is at 1.012 right now and the cup of raisons added have fermented down to a few tablespoons. I took out the cloves (hubby is not the biggest fan of cloves) and am planning on racking to secondary sometime this week.

How is everyone else's March batch coming along?


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## the_rayway (Mar 15, 2015)

Mine is fermenting _very_ slowly. Which is what I was hoping for! It's only down to 1.080 after 5 days of fermentation. Trying to nail these additions!

Smells wonderful. This BA11 has one of the nicest fermenting smells I've come across yet.


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## Jericurl (Mar 15, 2015)

*How is everyone else's March batch coming along?*

S.G. at 1.01 so I racked today.

I've got two gallons. So far, so good. Definitely have the puckering grapefruit taste. Neither the anise or juniper is coming through, but I'm not concerned. If there has to be another addition at tertiary then so be it.


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## x_diver (Mar 17, 2015)

Put mine into secondary this past weekend. SG was 1.000. Going to have to rack soon since there is a lot of sediment.


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## wineforfun (Mar 17, 2015)

My Wild Berry Apple is just finishing up going dry in secondary. Another week or so I will be racking and clearing.


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## fabrictodyefor (Mar 17, 2015)

Racked mine to gallon jugs on Sunday. The sg was from 1.004 to 1.010. It was interesting that 3 of the yeasts didn't get going for 3 days, but then they "caught up"! Ended up with a gallon, plus a 750 ml wine bottle of each. But it has a lot of lees so after it sets a couple of weeks I'm hoping to have that gallon of each I had hoped to end up with.


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## PhilDarby (Mar 17, 2015)

added some updates to mine, ive tried to keep them on the one post @fabric mine took 3 days to get going and ended up very very fast fermenting too.


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## the_rayway (Apr 6, 2015)

Because I'm super on the ball... 

I added the fruit to mine once it was down to 1.030, which was last weekend. 5Lbs of Apricots, and the puree from 5Lbs of strained blackberries. It kicked the ferment up a little bit with the extra sugars and nutrients from the fruit. I will check the S.G. again hopefully tonight, then rack to secondary. I'm hoping to keep the apricots in there for longer, so may have to squish 'em up a little bit.

Also, I'm going to update the Original Post momentarily...


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## homesteader26 (Apr 12, 2015)

My cyser has been racked and is bulk aging - plan to rack again in June. From there I may backsweeten or just wait another 3 months and rack again.


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## the_rayway (Jul 5, 2015)

Had a bit of an interesting turn with this today. I racked to 1 gallon carboys, and ended up with 1 and 2/3rds of a gallon. I airlocked the first gallon (S.G. 1.000) and then stared and stared at the 2/3 one...

What am I going to do with this?? I can't top up with water because I really wanted a good, strong flavour with lots of juice. I don't want to top up with finished wine, again, it would be too strong. Sooooo...my first Franken-Mead!

I added the stuff I've had in the fridge as top-up saves for other batches that are no longer needed: 
1) 2 cups of Pear Wine, 
2) 2 cups of Brown Sugar Apple Wine
3) 3 cups of Banana Bochet Port

This brought that second gallon up to where I needed it! S.G. 1.000.


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## PhilDarby (Jul 5, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> If there are any botanists or organic chemists on board they may be able to answer my question about banana peel. Does the peel contain the active enzymes no matter how green or yellow the banana is or is the enzyme only active and activated when the banana is beyond fully ripe and the skin is black? I suspect - but I am not certain - that the increasing sweetness a banana appears to have is due to the breakdown of the starches by the enzymes in the skin because an unripe banana tastes quite bitter and not very sweet at all. So I wonder if there are chemicals in the fruit that leach into the peels that activate the enzymes which then provide the sugars that the seeds need to feed on if they are to sprout...and it is at that sweet spot where really good banana wine seems to occur..





I`ve actually tried to answer any questions directly on the original post, but, ive learned this about bananas ;-

1). best used, when they are ripe (ie) ready for eating, which maximises sugar content. By this I mean, at the state of maturity you would have eaten them at, ie mostly yellow with not much brown and no green, colour in the skin.

2). the enzyme the skin contains is called amylase.

3). they drop lots of particles in suspension for a few months, producing a slightly brown ish sediment, which drops for along time, ie months.

4). contain approx. 40 % sugar by volume when ripe.

5). produce a quite vigorous ferment.

6). produce a fairly thick consistency drink.

7). the drink it produces is relatively bland.

8). as commercial brewers here in the uk have figured, its best supplimented with a banana flavoured additive.


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## fabrictodyefor (Jul 7, 2015)

I looked at all my cranberry jugs and realize I need to do another racking, there seems to be another build up of lees....Hoping to get to it this week. Summers are just soooo busy!


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## fabrictodyefor (Dec 14, 2015)

So, I first posted in April 2014 and realized I was in the wrong place! I did rack my cranberry wines to clean carboys the other day. My siphon thing is too large for the openings of the gallon jugs, so have to siphon the old fashion way! In doing so I get just a wee taste of the wines....didn't think too much about them till I did the cranberry made with the Rhone yeast...it was sooooo smooth! I may have to do just a little taste testing before my one year mark to see if some a are ready and some are not ready!


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## Jericurl (Oct 8, 2016)

See update here:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=624290&postcount=53




The moral of the story?
Don't throw it out! Play with it a little bit!


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## the_rayway (Feb 15, 2017)

Racked the Blackberry Apricot Mead today. Surprisingly - it's still very gassy! Holy Moses!

I thought this would have a significant amount of fruit flavour, but really it's very light. Thinking back I should have fermented to dry, kmeta'd it and sorbated it...then put the fruit in. I think most of the flavour blew out the airlock during the last part of the fermentation. 

I've added a touch of vanilla extract, orange oil, and some sugar. And will let it degas in the warmth a bit more. Also to see if my sorbate is working.  Then I'll have another taste to see where it's at.


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