looking for simple recipe - strawberry melomel

SirGlugsalot · Mar 3, 2011

i know such a mead-making endeavor is probably chump-change for the many mead-jedis here, but having made a buncha beers back in the day (and a mead that turned out so-so) i'm looking for a straight-forward recipe to crank out a good strawberry melomel.

so far, i've got 12 lbs of raspberry honey (was planning on doing 5 gallons) and White Labs (liquid) Sweet Mead Wine Yeast (WLP720).

any suggestions for recipes, racking methods for the strawberries (primary, secondary, both?), nutrients/energizers, etc? obviously i'd like it to come out good, but i'm not trying to go overboard and win any awards either. (without sacrificing too much quality), simplicity is my ally. thanks a bunch!

Chevette Girl · Mar 3, 2011

Hi, Sir Glugsalot. Welcome aboard!

A couple things I'll mention before the heavy hitters get on...

1) the search function is your friend. Even when you want to scream at it. A search for "strawberry melomel" gave me two strawberry mel hits on the first page, it's a good start. Someone with better search-fu will be able to help you narrow it down a little better.

2) If you want your fermentation to go smoothly, it's worth spending a couple of bucks on a baggie of yeast nutrient and a container of yeast nutrient. You might also want to get some chemicals to stabilize your mead if you want it to be sweet, potassium metabisulphate or campden tablets, and potassium sorbate.

3) You might want to check your yeast's listings to see whether it'll take this bone dry, if I'm using the mead calculator correctly 12 lb honey will give you around 11% alcohol, and there should be a little more sugar coming from the strawberries especially if you ferment them in primary. I haven't used that yeast myself, I don't know how reliable it is and how likely it is to stop early or keep on trucking past its stated tolerance. In short, you might want more honey, or you might want to hold a a pound or so in reserve, so you can stabilize it and backsweeten later in case it goes too far...

4) Decide whether you want to ferment on the strawberries in primary fermentation or add them in secondary - if you're using a bucket for primary fermentation, putting the strawberries in a mesh bag in a bucket is FAR easier than letting them roam free in your carboy.

wayneb · Mar 3, 2011

Welcome to "Gotmead!" First, an endorsement. Hands down the best strawberry recipe on the site is Yo's Strawberry Pizzazz (put together several years ago by 'Yo Mamma,' one of our semi-regular contributors). But I think that the only way to see the original is if you are a patron, since I think he posted it in the Patron's Recipe section.

There are other strawberry recipes out there, but none that I've tasted in recent memory come close to Yo's for fresh strawberry presence, and it is also relatively easy to put together. So you might consider the price of a Patron's membership to be worth considering.

Next, a caution. I HAVE used that Sweet Mead strain of yeast, and I wholeheartedly recommend not using it. It tends to be a problematic strain, often sticking at a relatively high final gravity and leaving you with a cloyingly sweet result that tastes more like watered down honey than mead. After much trial and error, I've become an advocate of fermenting dry, stabilizing, then backsweetening either with a little more honey or with some super-sweet mead. You'll get much more consistent results that way, and you won't have to worry about whether your yeast will poop out before your mead is done.

wildoates · Mar 3, 2011

And read the newbee guide.

RightHookCook · Mar 4, 2011

also, and this is a thought that i had, is there is one single way to make good mead everytime. wrong.

there is a billion differents methods , recipes etc out there.

the only correct method is if it tastes good to you then who gives a crap! ;D

think thats right isnt it guys?

SirGlugsalot · Mar 4, 2011

first of all - many thanks for the immediate replies. i wouldn't say i'm nervous about putting it all together, but i definitely (without going insane) want it to be as good as possible!

RightHookCook said:
the only correct method is if it tastes good to you then who gives a crap! ;D
think thats right isnt it guys?

heh - i think this kinda sums up my overall philosophy - i want it to be tasty but not lose sleep over tiny details.

Next, a caution. I HAVE used that Sweet Mead strain of yeast, and I wholeheartedly recommend not using it.

gotcha (dang it, now i'm irked i already bought that yeast!) - any suggestions on a yeast? i've got a great little brewshop about a half-hour from here (Jay's Brewing in Clifton, VA) that i'm headed to on Saturday. and while i'm at it, any suggestion on nutrient/energizer? back in the day i just threw water, honey, and yeast together and let it rock. but these days i'm happy to get a bit more detailed if it means a better product.

many thx again - i really appreciate the active/warm nature of the community!

mmclean · Mar 4, 2011

GoFerm Rehydration Nutrient

Fermaid K

DAP

moonie · Mar 4, 2011

I'm new around here and I'm really enjoying the site. In the few batches I've made (4th one I mixed up last night). I've used Lalvin ICV D-47 and Lalvin KIV-1116. They seem to be recommended quite a bit on here.

wayneb · Mar 4, 2011

SirGlugsalot said:
gotcha (dang it, now i'm irked i already bought that yeast!) - any suggestions on a yeast? i've got a great little brewshop about a half-hour from here (Jay's Brewing in Clifton, VA) that i'm headed to on Saturday. and while i'm at it, any suggestion on nutrient/energizer? back in the day i just threw water, honey, and yeast together and let it rock. but these days i'm happy to get a bit more detailed if it means a better product.

Sure - I'd use a yeast strain known for being good with preserving fruit aromatics, and one that might even add some fruity esters during fermentation, one like Lalvin's K1V-1116 for example. (Yo is probably either snickering or cringing at that suggestion!) ;D

And from personal experience, since I like to add "just enough" nutrient for my yeast to be happy without overdosing, and since only one nutrient manufacturer actually publishes quantitative data on how much of every nutrient is contained in their formulas, I'd recommend Lallemand's GoFerm for rehydration and Fermaid-K (perhaps with a little additional DAP) during the fermentation.

SirGlugsalot · Mar 4, 2011

wayneb said:
I'd recommend Lallemand's GoFerm for rehydration and Fermaid-K (perhaps with a little additional DAP) during the fermentation.

so ... i'd use the Lallemand's GoFerm while rehydrating the dry yeast, and when i actually add the yeast to the water/honey/berries, use the Fermaid-K? would there ever be a need after the initial addition of both to add either again?

*broken record* many MANY thanks!

mmclean · Mar 4, 2011

One way you could do it is rehydrate with GoFerm. Add half of the nutrients at the end of lag and the other half at the one third sugar break.

SirGlugsalot · Mar 4, 2011

excellent!

as for the whole aeration of the must ... do i wanna airlock it right after combining everything, or give it some time "sitting in the open" before airlocking it after it's racked?

Chevette Girl · Mar 4, 2011

Some folks just cover their fermentation bucket with a sanitized towel for the first little while. If you're reasonably sure nothing is going to get into it (hair, dust, pets, fruit flies, construction debris, herds of wildebeest, etc), it should be OK to leave it open for the first bit of primary fermentation, but once you rack it to secondary after most of the fermentation is done, you probably want to limit its exposure to oxygen.

mmclean · Mar 4, 2011

You can just cover it with a cloth or loose lid until the 1/3 break. Just make sure no bugs/cats/dogs or whatever can get to it. Seal it up and install the air lock after the 1/3 sugar break.

After it's sealed up, you can stir up the yeast by gently rocking the bucket/carboy.

Edit: CG beat me to it.

SirGlugsalot · Mar 4, 2011

you guys raaaaawk - when i meet you all in Valhalla, first round is on me!

as for the re-hyd on the dry yeast, is the Go-Ferm sufficient, or will i need to chuck some sugars in there for the yeast?

and speaking of yeast ... i've seen some peeps mention using a couple packets of yeast. i'm planning on making 5 gals of the stuff (using approx 12 lbs of honey and [at least for the primary] around the same weight of strawberries). will one packet do it, or should i double it up to max the results?

thx!

Chevette Girl · Mar 4, 2011

SirGlugsalot said:
as for the re-hyd on the dry yeast, is the Go-Ferm sufficient, or will i need to chuck some sugars in there for the yeast?

and speaking of yeast ... i've seen some peeps mention using a couple packets of yeast. i'm planning on making 5 gals of the stuff (using approx 12 lbs of honey and [at least for the primary] around the same weight of strawberries). will one packet do it, or should i double it up to max the results?

Don't use sugar when rehydrating yeast. If there's too much, it will cause problems with rehydration. Although I think some folks use apple juice, I just use water.

One packet should do it (they ARE designed for 5 gal batches) but two won't hurt.

SirGlugsalot · Mar 4, 2011

i've been doing a good bit of reading of the Compleat Meadmaker, and he only mentions adding fruit to the secondary racking, mentioning that a lot of the character of the fruit is lost if added to the first.

is it better to do fruit in the secondary only? does it hurt to do it in both? i def want a big strawberry flavor to come through (though, without it tasting like strawberry kool-aid and/or completely losing the honey/mead qualities!)

Chevette Girl · Mar 4, 2011

You'll find people who generally only put fruit in primary (like me), those who generally only put fruit in secondary, and some who put fruit in both.

My background is fruit wines so if you don't ferment the fruit or at least its juice, you're sort of defeating the point. ;D But I guess that really depends on whether you're making a mead flavoured with fruit, or a fruit wine with honey as your primary fermentable.

I also find it easier to manage the fruit in a mesh bag in my primary bucket, rather than trying to deal with the mess and racking losses of having loose fruit in my carboys.

But hey, there is no one way.

capoeirista13 · Mar 5, 2011

I'd say look at Yo Momma's Strawberry pizzazz. I've heard only good things about it, and plan on making it myself sometime soon.

SirGlugsalot · Mar 5, 2011

capoeirista13 said:
I'd say look at Yo Momma's Strawberry pizzazz. I've heard only good things about it, and plan on making it myself sometime soon.

i would but (having just joined and NOT having a lot of bucks) i can't view the Recipes area (Patron's only, i think)

looking for simple recipe - strawberry melomel

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