Howmany raisins

Welcome!

There are a couple things to consider as to how many raisins you'll need.

1. Nutrient requirements of the yeast strain you'll be using.
Some yeasts will do fine with very little added nutrient KIV-1116 for example. Some others will be very sensitive to nutrient requirements.

2. The honey you plan to use. If you are using buckwheat honey entirely or as part of your honey, you may not need additional nutrients at all, or at least fewer additional nutrients.

3. Your desired end product.
Raisins add more than just nutrients. The tannins etc. in the raisins will add to the flavor and mouthfeel of your end product.


So as you see so far I haven't given you much quantifiable help.

If I may suggest, give us an idea of what you want to see in your favorite drinking vessel 6 months to a year from now and we can brainstorm from there! ;D


David

Bob,

With 71B-1122 yeast, I have been using 1/2 cup each time I start or do a secondary ferment. It seems to be working well...

Oskaar suggests chopping the raisins prior to adding. I just allow them to swell and then power stir the batch with my drill to aerate it, which also shreads the raisins.

Siobahn suggested to me that I use white raisins, in order not to inherit the "brownness" from the regular raisins in the final color of the meads. This also seems to be a good idea.

I started a batch of plain mead for my raspberry mead. It had water, honey, some citrus, the raisins, and the yeast. In tasting it before I racked it onto the fruit, I was really pleased with the taste and believe the raisins help. I am not an educated enough pallate to know whether it was tannins or something else that was making it good.

Welcome to Gotmead and good luck in your brewing.
Pewter

Well, I'm no expert, and haven't any experience with that yeast but I'd think that 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raisins should be plenty for a 2 gallon batch.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I'd highly recommend Ken Schram's book. "The Compleat Meadmaker" is a must have for any meadmakers library.

I'd stick with about 4 ounces of raisins. I chop my raisins to make the nutrients (mostly the nitrogen) available to the yeast immediately.

Oskaar