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Recipe For Persimon Mead???

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beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
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Port Orange, Florida, USA
Has anybody tried to make a mead with persimons, I have just discovered a large tree nearby that is dropping a bunch of fruit and am wondering if anyone has a recipe. I know that persimons can be real bitter if picked green so I'll have to be selective on the fruit I gather. I'm hoping to make a 5 gallon batch using the standard plastic bucket. Thanks, Beeboy and his bees
 

ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
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For a starting point on recipes i am unfamiliar with i usually start by consulting a very experienced wild wine maker by the name of Jack keller.
He has extensive web archives.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelion2.asp
with dandelions persimons and bananna ...

or

a straight persimon wine he says won a third place in a competition --
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques19.asp
Persimmons make a fine, slightly fruity wine, but it will be ruined if any unripened fruit are utilized. The large, red domesticated Oriental persimmons make the best wine with a delicate, amber color, but the wild natives also make a good-tasting, although somewhat unsightly brown wine. Try as I have, I was unable to find a recipe for a persimmon sherry.

PERSIMMON WINE
3 lbs ripe persimmons
2 1/2 lbs finely granulated sugar
1 tblsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
7 pts water
1 crushed Campden tablet
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
1 packet Montrachet, Pasteur Red or Champagne yeast
Wash the persimmons, cut into quarters and mash the seeds out with your hands. Mash the pulp well, put into primary, and add half the sugar, the acid blend, yeast nutrient and crushed Campden tablet. Add water to total one gallon. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover, and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After another 12 hours, add yeast. Ferment 5-7 days, stirring daily. Strain through nylon sieve. Do not be concerned if a lot of fine pulp gets through; it will precipitate out. Add remaining sugar, stir very well, then transfer to secondary while leaving about three inches headroom. Fit air lock and set aside. Rack every 30 days until wine clears and no additional lees are laid down (4-6 months). Stabilize only if you feel the need to sweeten the wine before bottling. This wine should age in the bottle a year. [Adapted recipe from Dorothy Alatorre's Home Wines of North America]



My thanks to Howard Symons, for the request.

For a mead probably 2-3 pounds of your honey(s) of choice and 5-6 pts of water... recipe is for 1 gallon... Obviously this guy is aiming for a very wine like presentation... i might not use all his additives personally, though many meadmakers use them as a standard basis to be more winelike.

As always you are well advised to use a hydrometer to target the OG according to expected yeast productivity and desired finish.
 

beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
1
0
70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
Thanks for the recipe, I was able to gather about six pounds over the weekend, wash them and put them in the freezer. It's interesting that the recipe call for removing the pits, I sampled some persimons and noticed that a lot of the bitterness comes from the pits. The flavor is simular to a very ripe peach but not as juicy. Tried an unripe one much to my dismay, soft is good, hard is very bad, ick. Thanks again for the recipe, I'll keep everybody informed on how it works out.
Beeboy
 

ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
529
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0
in case i wasn't clear... the honey would replace the sugar in his recipe. not add to it :) Sure you didn't really need that caveat, but thought i'd clarify before someone else busted me on it.
 

beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
1
0
70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
No problem, if I used sugar instead of honey then it wouldn't be a mead it would become a wine. I think 2 lbs/ gallon should be about right, a dash of cinammon and the persimons. I'm hoping for a final gravity of around 1.02 and will use Red star champange yeast. I'm waiting for my first batch to settle out, it's been at 1.06 for the last week and the air trap has slowed down to less than one bubble a minute. It's a little sweet but already has a nice flavor developing. Next time I'm at the HBS I'll pick up something to stop the fermentation and clarify batch #1. Looks like it is time to start batch #2 with the persimons. The next problem I'll have is what to do with all this mead I'm brewing. Humm, I wish all my problems were like this one.
 

ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
529
0
0
Ah make a few blueberry batches and bottle in splits, then you can drink one a night with dinner for "health purposes" that consumes a couple gallons a month. got to get those antioxidents in your system :)


They make really nice christmass labels to put on
bottles as gifts....

if you get really good at mead making... a friends wedding :)

Host a local mead tasting with others you find online. Though this tends to result in you getting as many bottles from others as you give away.

Pack up a couple cases and go to an SCA event... make lots of new friends :)
 
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