Pinot Rose' Pyment

[seth8530]

Added 23 grams of fermaid O at 1.084 instead of 1.081 since it appeared fermentation was starting to get moving and I did not want to miss my mark.

 

[seth8530]

Got home from late from an American Nuclear Society meeting tonight. Got home checked the mead. The fermentation bags and the oak is all floating at the top. Stirred it up to get some air in, got a nice bunch of CO2 coming out. Fermentation has finally started in full. On seeing this, I turned the temperature down from 58F down to 55F ( min temperature of the yeast).

Gravity was around 1.080.

 

[seth8530]

After reading up on the technical data sheet turns out the yeast is tolerant to 10C.. Thus, I am cranking the temp on down to 51F

 

[seth8530]

Temperature is now at 51F Gravity sitting at 1.072

 

[seth8530]

Fermentation is going on quite nicely. I am considering removing some of the grape skins and putting some fresh skins in to get a little bit more colour.. However, here is a picture of the mead as is.

 

[Deezil]

I'd be inclined to leave it where it is and let it clear

Freeze those skins with some k-meta in a bag with a much air as you can squeeze out though, in case you want to add them post-clearing if theres not enough color

 

[seth8530]

So you are of the line of thought that as of right now the colour is spot on and any extra colour would be a little much? Thus leave the excess skins incase I want more colour later?

 

[Deezil]

I'm of the line of thinking that you can always add more color if you save the skins but it's harder to take it out

It could be spot-on, it could be close, it could be waaay off.. I've never made a Rose, but waiting til it clears would allow you to put the extra skins in a straining bag & remove them when the color is more to your liking, provided you even need to add them at all

Hope that makes sense lol been moving furniture all day & I'm a tad exhausted

 

[seth8530]

Ahh, I see what you are saying. From a colour point of view it makes perfect since. But as this point in time I more along the line of thinking where I do not care way too much about the colour as I do getting whatever kind of flavour I can get out of the skins. However, from a colour perspective your advice makes perfect sense.

 

[fatbloke]

Ahh, I see what you are saying. From a colour point of view it makes perfect since. But as this point in time I more along the line of thinking where I do not care way too much about the colour as I do getting whatever kind of flavour I can get out of the skins. However, from a colour perspective your advice makes perfect sense.

so just keep stirring the batch gently, on a daily basis and then leave them until they sink......

 

[seth8530]

so just keep stirring the batch gently, on a daily basis and then leave them until they sink......

What would be wrong with taking some of the extra skins I have in the freezer and replacing some of the used skins with the " fresh" skins? Are you afraid it will throw my colour off? Or you just kind of saying I should sit and wait and see what happens for now?

 

[seth8530]

Made an addition at 1.050.

 

[SouthernChemist]

I don't really think color is an issue. If you're satisfied, that's all that matters. My question would be how does it taste so far? Are you able to tell how the skins are impacting the flavor (it may be too sweet to tell)? Might be a better question in the last third of fermentation.

 

[seth8530]

Hmm, as far as taste. It is getting a fruitiness from the pinot noir grapes and a lot of chocolate flavour from the honey plus a little bit of chocolate from the noir as well. But all in all, it is a little bit hard to tell at this point. I think I will go ahead and refresh some of the grapes in the mead tonight once I get done writing my essay for Russian Lit.

I am also in the camp where colour is completely secondary to flavour, which is rather misleading since I labeled this thread as a Rose mead.....

 

[seth8530]

Added in a nutrient addition at 1.038 an hour ago. Also, took out a couple bags of grapes and replaced them with "fresh" grapes. I hope that this guy will hit the last nutrient point before I have to leave for Thanksgiving.

 

[seth8530]

Gravity was at 1.026 this morning so I went ahead and made the last additions. Unfortunately, I only had 13 grams of fermaid O left instead of 23... But I made the full addition of booster rouge at 14 grams. My bet is that it will work out just fine since the booster rouge, and opti white both come from yeast hulls... So those guys will no doubt give us a contribution albeit subtle.. Plus, I would not be surprised if those grape skins still had some YAN left in them from the pinot noir ferment.

Now the question is... Should I go ahead and pull the skins since I wont be able to stir them again until Saturday evening? Or do you think they will be able to survive 60 hours of not being stirred if they are inside of semi submerged fermentation bags.

 

[seth8530]

checked the mead today, grapes were still wet. gravity was sitting at 1.010

 

[SouthernChemist]

Almost there then!

 

[seth8530]

Yep, almost! Gonna have to check the gravity tomorrow to make sure it is still moving.. If not I will bump the temp on up to 60 F

 

[seth8530]

Well, seems like this guy is still chuggin on along. Checked the gravity and it was sitting at 1.004. I plan on getting her racked tomorrow!