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zorbman
blarrr



Registered: 06/04/04
Posts: 5,952
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Re: so I'm interested in makin some welches concentrate wine [Re: deformedreality]
#7642597 - 11/16/07 12:32 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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That sounds pretty good. Raspberries go very well in mead. A couple of things to consider: raspberries are pretty acidic on their own so I would not consider adding the extra acid until after fermentation is complete. (High acid levels can slow or halt a fermentation. Honey has gluconic acid in it as well). Taste it just before bottling time before adding any additional acid..otherwise, if your acid levels are too high your mead could take years to mellow out.
Also raspberries have tannins as well so I would only add those to taste after the fermentation is complete.
Btw, here is a table for you showing common fruit with their individual levels of sugar, acidity, and tannins.
http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/FruitDat.htm
I have no experience with the yeast you mentioned but it should be fine and leave some residual sweetness.
Also, if you want to retain more fruit character you should add at least half of the raspberries after primary fermentation is almost complete. Many people make the mistake of dumping all the fruit in at once and are dissapointed to end up with a dry mead lacking much of the taste and aroma of the underlying fruit.
-------------------- “The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought.” -- Rudiger Dornbusch
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deformedreality
Stranger




Registered: 06/16/07
Posts: 2,190
Last seen: 4 years, 7 months
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Re: so I'm interested in makin some welches concentrate wine [Re: zorbman]
#7643487 - 11/16/07 09:47 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Ok so add half of the raspberries before fermentation, then after that add the other half of the raspberries and the tea to taste. Should i first boil the tea and raspberries to make sure they wont contaminate the batch? Then before bottling make sure to filter/siphon away the final stuff away from the gunk then add 3/4 cup sugar per 5 gallons of final mead and then bottle?
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zorbman
blarrr



Registered: 06/04/04
Posts: 5,952
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Re: so I'm interested in makin some welches concentrate wine [Re: deformedreality]
#7643610 - 11/16/07 10:38 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Should i first boil the tea and raspberries to make sure they wont contaminate the batch?
I don't boil any of my ingredients and have never had a problem with contamination. Mead is a bit different in that respect in that honey is naturally antibiotic.
Boiling also drives off much of the flavor and aroma. You want all that in your mead, not floating in the air. Boiling the fruit can also cause the pectin in the fruit to set, leaving your mead cloudy and requiring endless rackings.
I recommend freezing the berries. This accomplishes two things: 1) It kills off any wild yeast and nasties on the skin of the fruit eliminating competition with your selected yeast. 2) Ice cystals will punture the fruit like a million tiny knives, releasing the juice and allowing the yeasties to get in there and do their thing.
If you freeze them, do make sure your must comes back up to room temperature before pitching your yeast.
The tea can be boiled, cooled, and added to taste at any time.
As for carbonation I have never done that so maybe someone else can help with that. I do know that you will need to bottle into champagne-style bottles which are stronger and can withstand the pressure. Otherwise you may have dangerous glass grenades on your hands.
-------------------- “The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought.” -- Rudiger Dornbusch
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