I started a six gallon batch of mixed berry melomel a couple of weeks ago using 21 pounds of frozen berries I got in the three pound bags sold at Wally Mart (seven of them). The fermentation went great and I hand-squeezed the fruit which was in a mesh bag and ended up with 5 1/2 gallons which I racked into a 5 gallon and another 1/2 gallon carboy. After about two weeks now I noticed quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of both carboys, like about 4" worth on the 5 gallon. I don't know if this will settle further down or not but it hasn't moved any lower in the past couple of days. Assuming it won't, I'm guessing I'll have a total of about 4 1/2 gallons between the two carboys when I rack the next time, leaving the sediment and yeast on the bottom. I'd like to keep the total amount at 5 gallons so I'm thinking about getting a bottle of berry mead to top off during the next racking, which is what I did with a previous batch of mango melomel, but that can get expensive since the store-bought stuff runs around $32 for 750ml. I really don't want to dilute it by adding water to top off because I like it the way it is now, so I'll probably add the additional store-bought mead to top off. My question - has anyone else had a situation where you got that much sediment with a berry melomel? The few previous batches I've made had about an inch or two of sediment but nowhere near what I ended up with this batch. The only thing I did different was made a yeast starter whereas the previous batches I simply rehydrated the yeast and pitched. I liked the results of the yeast starter this go-around because it fermented much more vigorously than the previous batches, and it lasted about three days longer. The previous batches were done in about seven days; this one about 10. I'm speculating the sediment could be due to a higher yeast count from the starter but I don't know for sure. Either way I plan to use a starter from now on but maybe I'll have to make 7 gallons to offset the losses from increased sediment. The only downside to making a seven gallon batch is I'd have to switch to a 15 gallon fermenter (Brute can) since I haven't been able to find any 8-10 gallon food-safe buckets to ferment in. The brew shop's biggest buckets are seven gallons and of course I'll need space for expansion. Of course if it's just sediment from the berries I can continue with making six gallons unless making a berry melomel. If anyone has any thoughts or experience making berry melomels or using yeast starters that resulted in more sediment I'd love to hear.
Thanks, Gene
Thanks, Gene