Braggot Tasting and JAOV Problem

[Kelvin]

So, my first braggot, the one without hops (bottled the one with hops just today), has been only aging for a few weeks but I could wait and me and the girl friend gave it a try. We split one of the 500ml bottles. To her it just tasted like a Hefe Weissen as it it did to me as well (I used light DME) but I tasted the honey as well... she was smoking so it might have stunted her honey taste. However, we both felt is was a bit watery. I did put a bit of water in it during secondary racking to reduce the headspace but not a whole lot. I added no water except for the honey water for carbonation to the braggot with hops. My question about the braggot is is a watery taste usual and something that might go away with age or is it just because I added water to secondary? We decided that we will give them both about 2 months (they are about 8-9% abv) and try them both one Friday night and compare the two.

Now to the JAOV.

I did a basic 3 gallon batch with 10lbs of honey and about 4 lbs. fresh but frozen peaches. And used Fleischmann's rapid rise yeast (that's all I found at Walmart) It just will NOT stop foaming. This is the second day. Here are some pics.

After letting it sit with the overflow system 2 days it slowed down some but I realized that it was not quite ready for the airlock. It filled up within 5 minutes.


So, I went back to my overflow system. I really wanted to do another JAO so I could have a big batch I could just let sit and not bother with for a while.


I know it's SHOULD slow down in another day or so, although my strawberry mead made with Lalvin 71B foamed and foamed and foamed forever, until I removed the strawberries. In any case, my real question is this. What the heck am I gonna do about this, yellow yeast, peach chunks or WHATEVER it is that is all around the top of my carboy? I fear it will either mold or cause bad things. I already out SOME water in it and I don't think I will be able to put water all the way up to that point to keep it moist.
That's not foam it's some sort of sediment.


I almost want to just transfer it to my bottling bucket then clean the carboy out and put it back in without the fruit. Any ideas or suggestions? BTW I spent the last few weeks making a nice fermentation/wine storage cabinet.
This carboy is in the bottom left portion. It's 4 feet by 4 feet. With the top holding supplies and bottles and filled bottles at 1 1/2 feet and the bottom at 2 1/2 feet. I'm still waiting for a cheap mini-fridge deal to add to the side. But here is wider pic.


So, anyway, what should I do about that fruit gunk, or whatever it is? It's taking up my good carboy so I want it to turn out well. Thanks guys.

[illuveatar]

I've had carboys with fruit gunk all over the shoulder like that, it's annoying but it should clean out ok when you are finished with it. I wouldn't disturb the mead aging inside until you know it's done. It should be quite sanitary so I wouldn't worry about mold or bacteria.

I had a 5 gal carboy which I let sit for 2 years in the garage after racking beer out of it. The crud on the side of the glass was rock solid and I was pretty sure I had ruined the carboy. I filled it with warm water and a scoop or two of OxyClean and let it sit for a day and then scrubbed it out with one of those long bottle brushes you find at brew stores. It cleaned up very easily and I've got my Cherry Melomel going in it now.

[Kelvin]

I'm not really worried about the cleaning part though. I'm more worried about the fermenting stage and what is going on with it sitting there above my must line. There is a little bit on my smaller JAO that has been going about a month but that is almost all yeast I can tell. This 3 gallon one looks like it is all peach residue. I dunno, It just seems sketchy to me.

[Soyala_Amaya]

When it all calms down and won't mead splosion, give it all a good shake/swirl to dislodge the gunk. The little bit of air won't hurt your mead that badly and it will take down most of the gunk. If there is still too much and it's bothering you, sanitize a carboy brush and brush it all down.

[Chevette Girl]

Currently it's probably producing so much CO2 that you shouldn't have to worry about spoilage unless you're opening it a lot. A gentle swirl a few times a day to resubmerge the peach gunk might be a plan, probably the fibrous nature of the fruit is letting all kinds of gas get trapped in it, hence the mess. Live and learn! I suspect plums and strawberries will give you the same kind of problems

This is why I advocate the use of buckets and fruit bags for primary fermentation Far less mess! Although for JAO's I will do a 3 gal batch in a 5 gal bucket and just leave it till the fruit sinks...

That's a cool JAO variation too, I haven't tried peaches yet myself! Dang to-brew list... and I'm never gonna get to it either, so you'll have to tell us how it works out, if you can taste the peaches at all!

[Kelvin]

So, I took some suggestions. I took my carboy brush and sanitized it very well and rubbed it around the fruit pulp gunk that was there. Tipped it a bit to get the rest of teh sediment down into the must and left it go. It was still foaming a bit today and I was getting tired of the overflow and I was ready to put the airlock on it an leave it. I went to Brewstock and asked about anti-foam. I bought some got home and put to drops in and OMG!



I LOVE this crap! Please tell me there are no drawbacks to this because I see myself using this all the time with fruit ferments. It is amazing. I mean it took all the foam down on 1 second flat and it has not returned. I Love it! Look at how clear it is now.... <3

[Kelvin]

Oh, and I'll definitely let you know how it turns out, CG.