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Raspberry Melomel - Super Fast Fermentation

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nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
So I started this batch yesterday. I started in a one gallon carboy. The recipe was:

- 3 lbs of honey (2 Orange Blossom and 1 Clover)
- Probably 3/4 a Gallon of water
- One tsp of pectic enzyme, one tsp of yeast nutrient and one half teaspoon of acid blend

Took a gravity reading and it was very high around 1.16:

dqPMcm6.jpg


So I added 12 oz of frozen raspberries and pitched my yeast (full packet of Lavlin D47) and let it sit:

g7bHjA4.jpg


I didn't leave enough head room and only some timely intervention with a sanitized turkey baster prevented an airlock blow out.

So fast forward to today at 1:30, 21 hours after pitching my yeast I degassed the mead and took a new gravity:

GrFr5XT.jpg


Yeah, that just below the 1.00 line. Um, what?
 

58limited

Premium Patron
Premium Patron
May 25, 2015
273
5
18
SE Texas
www.1958buickforum.net
Took a gravity reading and it was very high around 1.16:

...today at 1:30...Yeah, that just below the 1.00 line. Um, what?





Did you mean the original gravity was 1.116 and todays gravity was 1.100? Hard to tell exactly, but the first picture looks like 1.116 and the second looks like 1.098 or so.

Did you take a gravity reading after adding the raspberries? Fruit juice is often well under 1.100 and lowers the gravity when added at the beginning of the ferment. My olallieberry melomel was 1.106 when I mixed the honey and water but dropped to 1.090 as soon as I added the berries, which was before I pitched the yeast.
 

randall

NewBee
Registered Member
Jul 21, 2015
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42
I'm thinking this is a misreading or the hydrometer was stuck to the side of the tube. I'm sure 3 lbs of honey won't take 1 gallon up to 1.16

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
Original I took was 1.16. My mistake was not taking a reading after adding the berries, something I will correct when I do this again. After degassing today it was 1.086.

Impressive! Which yeast?

One full packet of Lavlin D47.

UIoI90Z.jpg
 

58limited

Premium Patron
Premium Patron
May 25, 2015
273
5
18
SE Texas
www.1958buickforum.net
I'm thinking this is a misreading or the hydrometer was stuck to the side of the tube. I'm sure 3 lbs of honey won't take 1 gallon up to 1.16

I agree. 3lbs/gallon gives a gravity in the 1.100 - 1.115 range, variables that affect this are the accuracy of the honey weight and water volume. I generally take multiple gravity readings and add water until the gravity is close to my target. I like most of my meads to start around 1.100.

Nyquil,

Your mead is doing fine. Again, you do get a gravity drop when juice/fruit is added and in my experience fruit meads do tend to ferment fast. Some of mine have fermented below 1.000 in a week to two weeks.

Back to your original gravity: Your first photo looks to show a gravity of about 1.116, not 1.16. I'm basing this on your photo: the scale of the hydrometer is mostly visible, starting from the top at 50 and going down past 100 to about 116. Unless you bought a specialty hydrometer such as an All-Grain type or Proof type (for whiskey), most of the hydrometers sold at home brew supply stores do not go to 1.160 - some triple scale hydrometers stop at 1.160 but many do not go that high.
 
Last edited:

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
Thanks, for some reason its not letting me edit my earlier posts. Can't find the Edit button.

1.076 today.

lDr1OeUl.jpg
 

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
1.068 today.

pvLYcu7l.jpg


Can't wait for 1.050 (1/3 sugar breakish) so I can stop degassing every day. I took a sip of it today and its definitely starting to taste like a raspberry flavored fermented beverage.
 

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
1.053

Looks like tomorrow will be the 1/3 sugar break and the end of degassing.

fKBNZtAl.jpg


I've found the 1 gallon degasser I got from the home brew shop to not be nearly as effective as my own hands.
 

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
Looking like 1.047.

dGKcknJl.jpg


So I added more yeast nutrient for the 1/3 break. A lot of the literature I have read has said to stop degassing after the last nutrient addition. How do you guys feel about that?
 

nyquil

NewBee
Registered Member
May 18, 2015
15
0
0
So I racked it today and I may have killed it.

So I was getting a bubble through the airlock every 7-8 seconds today before I racked. I racked it, took a SG (1.020).

AKDREdWl.jpg


Then I added some spring water to prevent oxidation.

EKwi0hGl.jpg


I threw an airlock on it (with vodka, not sanitized water) and put it back to ferment. I watched for two minutes and the level on the airlock didn't change at all. So I figured maybe it had something to do with adding water after the must so I gently agitated the mead to hopefully mix some of the spring water. I'll check on it in a few hours but I really hope I didn't kill this batch.

Has anyone experienced this before, an immediate stop to fermentation after racking?
 

JewishMonk

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 25, 2015
40
0
0
Be careful adding water to your finished product. That does slightly lower the gravity and ABV of the must and may cause the remaining yeast to get back to work. If you're not careful you could end up with a much drier, more alcoholic mead than you intended.
 

Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Nov 3, 2014
5,542
261
83
Denver
Did you just pitch your dry yeast into your must? If you did you killed half of your yeast up front and the remainder were wounded badly.
 
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