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Any idea what this is going to taste like?

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machalel

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 1, 2012
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Australia
I had a couple of other things fermenting / conditioning, and I realised I didnt have a wine! I grabbed whatever I could find in the cupboard, but could only find enough to do ~1.5L worth, so here goes. Not sure if it counts as a wine, melomel, or cider, but this is the recipe:

333g Muscat Grapes
200g Honey
50g Prunes
50g Dried Apricots
60g Brown Sugar
1ml Vanilla Extract
1L Water
- US-05


O.G. 1.068
Racked after 9 days @ S.G. 1.012


No experience in making anything like this, so no idea what it's going to be like :)
 
If you're using prunes it behooves you to look for the D'Noir or any kind that don't have preservatives (toward which the yeasties may be unfriendly).
 
They were leftover ones from my mead, so I knew that they were ok. I checked two different supermarkets and about 7 different brands before finally finding ones that had nothing added :)
 
Let's face it, the thread title is an impossible question.

Even complete familiarity with all the possible flavour outcomes of the individual ingredients, wouldn't likely tell you. The possible variations of mixing them is hard to comprehend, let alone adding further variables like fermentation.

After all, its hard enough to guess the likely result from a traditional batch fermentation, especially what its like when its young. Given the changes that occur with time.....
 
That is true, I guess I am just interested in how different ingredients impact the flavours etc, and want to find out everything at a faster rate than possible if I attempt it all first hand :)
 
machalel said:
That is true, I guess I am just interested in how different ingredients impact the flavours etc, and want to find out everything at a faster rate than possible if I attempt it all first hand :)
Click to expand...
Patience young Jedi !

Or if you've run out, it's available in half kilo packs at the nearest branch of.......;D

Everyones a smart arse !

Fruit elements ? Well you often need more than you'd think, but equally, to retain a more fruity flavour, you'd be best placed thinking of some in the primary, some in secondary (dunno if there's a recommeded ratio though).

Spices ? A little caution is required. Some of the regularly used spice can have a bit more effect than others i.e. clove. Use correctly, brilliant, used incorrectly and you'll just get a tincture that's only useful for numbing tooth ache. It's easy to add more, but a bit of a bugger to remove too much.
 
Another good way to find out how fruits and spices affect the final product... visit your local meadery, sample what they have and ask questions about what they think too much of XXX would be etc. Or, another good way to learn is to find a local mead competition and see if you can volunteer.
 
But I've got too many ideas that I want to try!!! :P


I've been looking around, but I can't really find any meaderies near unfortunately. I would like to help out with judging down the track, but my palette is nowhere near refined enough yet - I'd like to be able to give some sort of constructive advice rather than just "It's good / bad" ;D
 
machalel said:
I would like to help out with judging down the track, but my palette is nowhere near refined enough yet - I'd like to be able to give some sort of constructive advice rather than just "It's good / bad" ;D
Click to expand...

The only way to build that palette is practice, practice, practice!!! So get drinking :D

There's some good threads on here about competitions so do a quick search. Look at some of the common faults for both smell and taste and learn those. Check out the resources at the BJCP Mead page for judging help http://www.bjcp.org/mead.php
 
Checked this one last night, and racked it to a new container.

SG is now down to 1.000 flat.

I'm planning to step-feed it a bit more sugar to bump it up to 1.020, and get fermentation starting again.
 
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