First mead

[GreatNorthernLlama]

Alright, here we go FINALLY. My first mead. Well, as of right now it's only ape juice. Against the recommendation of some in other forums I went ahead and just juiced about 40 lbs of my apples. Process was fine but my juice is more of a must. After processing apples through my juicer I also poured the juice through a nylon paint strainer but I'm still left with a crazy amount of pulp (?) in the batch. For now I've sealed the juice off in an initial fermentation bucket hoping it will settle. Plan on using a racking cane tomorrow bro get this into my carboy and mix honey and Camden tablets, with adding yeast and likely just front loading dap the day after that.

Is there any recommendations anyone has to alter this plan? Anything more I shot do about this pulp (bentonite?). Thanks in advance!

 

[Raptor99]

Leave the fruit pulp in the must for primary fermentation. Much of the flavor comes from the pulp. Then when fermentation is almost finished, you can siphon if off the sediment and put it in a carboy to begin clearing.

Be sure to add pectic enzyme, which is necessary for breaking down the cell walls and helping the must to clear.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

Leave the fruit pulp in the must for primary fermentation. Much of the flavor comes from the pulp. Then when fermentation is almost finished, you can siphon if off the sediment and put it in a carboy to begin clearing.

Be sure to add pectic enzyme, which is necessary for breaking down the cell walls and helping the must to clear.

Was literally just picking up enzyme when your message came in. How much to add to one gallon must?

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

Updating to share progress. So far just a few random questions (highlighted bold) but if you have any suggestions or something you would do otherwise please share. Comments and criticism welcome.

After collecting my juice I knew I had more than a gallon but not quite sure how much more. I picked up a few more gallon jugs and Adobe extra apple juice (no preservatives) to top off where needed. I figured if I can get two batches going, why not try two different recipes? I'm going for one mead and one cleaner summer cider.

I'm so glad I decided to do this. The juice I had perfectly fit my two carboys. My mead recipe consisted of half a lemon, 1.25 lbs honey and the remaining ~ 0.9 gallons of my juice. SG reading for this is 0.093. The summer cider is pure juice and half a lemon, with some apple peels in there. One recipe I saw did this to impart a bit extra apple flavor so I thought I'd give it a shot. IG of the cider was 0.051

Both batches have so far been treated with one Camden tablet, 1g wine tannins, 1/2 tsp peptic enzyme. Last night when I mixed my batches together they were quite cloudy with pulp. As this is my first ever brew, I was amazed how fast everything settled for each batch. Looking at the thick layer of lees, I'm assuming when I rack these I'm going to have to top them up. Would I top off with some of the apple juice I bought when this happens? I figure I could top off juice to the cider easy enough and just include stabilisers. The cider I'd like to bottle condition to add a little more effervescence and I imagine adding the juice with added sugars would impact my bottle pressure calculations. Not sure how to deal with that.

In the meantime, tonight after 24 hours I plan on pitching my yeast. Using Lalvin ec-1118 for both batches. Also plan on adding DAP via simple front load method. Add DAP then with my yeast, or add it 12/24 hours after pitching yeast? TIA for all tips and comments. Excited to finally have the inaugural brew underway. Here's to many more.

 

[Raptor99]

I'm assuming when I rack these I'm going to have to top them up. Would I top off with some of the apple juice I bought when this happens?

Yes, you could top off with the same juice. That will add sugar, so it will restart fermentation and increase cloudiness. Another choice would be to top off with a similar cider that is already finished.

After doing my first batch or two that way, I learned to start with an initial volume more than the size of my carboys. For cider, I might start with 1.5 gallons in a food grade bucket, then when I rack it into my 1 gallon carboy for bulk aging I have enough to fill it to the top. It is helpful to have several different sized bottles and carboys, so that you have a place to put the excess when you start aging, and still fill them all to the top. For example, a 1-gallon jug + a 750 ml wine bottle. (You can get a smaller drilled stopper that will fit wine bottles, so that you can add an airlock. Two years ago there was a sale on apple juice in glass 1/2 gallon jugs. I bought a bunch of them, because that is a very useful size.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

One of those learning curves I suppose... Of course I have all kinda of food grade buckets etc, but followed all the recipes etc I see online too literally. Great tip for next time thanks. This time around, topping off with a completed cider like strongbow or something is probably my best guess. Now that I'm thinking about it though, if the loss is pretty great with such a thick layer of sedimant, I've got a bunch of those large 3 litre wine bottles. I could maybe just step down from a gallon to 3 liters?

 

[Raptor99]

@GreatNorthernLlama I think that your 3 liter bottles might be just about right. You'll need to get some #3 drilled stoppers so that you can add airlocks. But I would not rack until fermentation is mostly finished, and the foam settles down.

 

[DrGriz]

My guess is you won't be sorry if you triple the pectinase. Or more.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

First time growing pains continues. You guys will get a kick out of this one.
Woke up this morning to a high-school science fair volcano in my kitchen. Rapid offgassing pushed the pulpy foam right up into my bung valves and clogged them right up, effectively creating a bottle bomb.

Cleaned everything up and I made sure to sanitize before stiring down the must and breaking up the pulp. Since then I've now learned to do a primary with plenty of headroom. I transfered everything out of these single gallon jug to 5 gallon buckets. I had just pitched my yeast last night. According to calculators I used online I planned on doing a single front load of DAP for nutrition tonight but I'm going to split that now into two applications tonight and tomorrow night and give each a good stir each time. Lots of lessons to learn for this first brew lol

 

[winemaker81]

First time growing pains continues. You guys will get a kick out of this one.

Ferment in an open container that is no more then 3/4 full. Just cover it with a towel.

I suspect that now you will be a believer!

 

[Raptor99]

Ferment in an open container that is no more then 3/4 full. Just cover it with a towel.

This is the way.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

Ferment in an open container that is no more then 3/4 full. Just cover it with a towel.

I suspect that now you will be a believer!

I know now never again to question you master yoda.

Everything is moving along nicely now that I've figured this out. Added DAP (1g) 48 hours after pitching yeast and again 72hrs. I didn't check last night but the previous night the SG of each batch had gone down by about 0.1. Primary fermentation of a mead still takes a good few weeks I assume?

My mead smells fine, but the cider has a fairly strong acidic kind of smell is the best I could describe. Not terrible, but something I'll be watching out for as I progress and might have to deal with. I've done a little research on dealing with high levels of hydrogen sulfide and others incase this is the issue. Will keep updated

 

[Rice_Guy]

Added DAP (1g) 48 hours after pitching yeast and again 72hrs. ,,, Primary fermentation of a mead still takes a good few weeks I assume?

I started wines with DAP, after having reductive (sulfur) flavors I learned that organic nitrogen is easier on the yeast (smoother, less like candy with a two year old). Step feeding reduces the fast grow > crash cycle and I try it with everything.
The temperature is the biggest predictor of how long a fermentation takes. I have run 80F and taken three days. Likewise run 50F and taken three weeks. Nutrient can speed the rate. Another complication is that higher temperatures create higher nitrogen requirements.

Some folks run primary in a carboy. The requirement in this case is to mix air in at least twice before reaching 1.040 gravity. , , , , there are as many variables to process as there are winemakers.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

God, every time I learn one thing theres 20 more things. You really don't know what you don't know, till you know.
Hopefully in 30 years it'll be a cool thing to annually make wine from these plum and apple trees with some experiments on the side, and people would actually look forward to getting their hands on one of my bottles.

Side note: I'm going to try to germinate and grow some seeds from my plums. Anyone had experience with this (if I really get into it I'll start a dedicated thread). I've got about 15 acres on the old family farm plot in my name about three hours away. Would be really cool to get some fruit trees going there to harvest annually, and have either a nice orchard to retire to, or hand down to kids etc.

 

[winemaker81]

I know now never again to question you master yoda.

As much as I'd love to believe I'm infallible, it just ain't so!

Always think about the advice you're given, and consider why folks do what they do. The "why" will help you decide what you should do.

 

[winemaker81]

God, every time I learn one thing theres 20 more things. You really don't know what you don't know, till you know.
Hopefully in 30 years it'll be a cool thing to annually make wine from these plum and apple trees with some experiments on the side, and people would actually look forward to getting their hands on one of my bottles.

Winemaking can be as complicated as you want. Each batch you make has the potential to increase your knowledge. Now is a good time to do some reading -- in my sig is the link for the MoreWine! manuals page. Skim the white and red wine manuals -- don't try to read them intently, you'll go insane. Skim them a few times, getting more into detail each time.

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

Winemaking can be as complicated as you want. Each batch you make has the potential to increase your knowledge. Now is a good time to do some reading -- in my sig is the link for the MoreWine! manuals page. Skim the white and red wine manuals -- don't try to read them intently, you'll go insane. Skim them a few times, getting more into detail each time.

RTFM!

 

[winemanden]

No one is perfect. You'll make some good wines and some so-so. Try to keep decent records of what you do, that way you can always check back on what you've done.
You've made the best possible start by asking questions. Mistakes and questions are the best way to learn.

Looking good so far!

 

[Rice_Guy]

Side note: I'm going to try to germinate and grow some seeds from my plums. Anyone had experience with this ? Would be really cool to get some fruit trees going there to harvest annually,

What you are suggesting is extremely easy to do. I pick apples with names like “Moms Compost pile” or “Sprecher Road”. Likewise I have dug sprouts out of my kitchen compost pile and moved them to more protected locations.

Why do this though? The fruit will be unpredictable.
I have four year / 12 foot prunis that I have tried grafting the parent Contender variety on and not seen fruit. I have apple seedlings that I have grafted red flesh cider apple on and varied from 2021 being 70% good to 2023 (a drought year) .5% successful. Grafting scions run $5 or $10 per stick. One can have traits that they are aiming for on the finished fruit.
Again why? This year with one contender peach it produced seven gallons of peaches. Adult size apple started in 2022 with 55 gallons of cider. This year I am giving away cider since I have about 20 current crop gallons and filled all the carboys. Last year I gave away four gallons of cherry. The wine club has greedy fermenters, it works so far.

My answer to why create more trees is I am looking for tannin and looking for red juice. These are not readily available at commercial orchards. , , , , Your answer ____ .

 

[GreatNorthernLlama]

My answer: more just cuz I can lmao. When covid hit I had grand dreams of moving home and doing a homestead. Burocratic BS took years to get a severance and the lot in my name, and return to office canceled any chance of moving from the city. Still, the idea of actually doing something on the land that's been in the family for 3 generations now is appealing. My parents and brother (building now) are also right there on the lots, to free caretakers are built right in lol.