6 replies to this topic

[Mya]

I have 15 lbs frozen, not pitted Montmerency Cherries, and some canned 44 oz total cherry weight .Write ,me a recipe if you please, for a semi dry Cherry Mel.

[MtnBrewer]

You fermenting the cherries in primary? I'm probably going to use some of mine for this same recipe or something pretty similar anyway. I also bought some cocoa nibs a while back and I was thinking of doing another one with cherries and the nibs. Any thoughts on how to go about that?

[Howie]

For the nibs, maybe just toss them into secondary for a few weeks to a month?

Listening to the Lagunitas episode of the BN Session, the guys from Lagunitas were talking about cocoa nibs. They said the nibs are absolutely coated in all kinds of bacteria, so you may think of some way to sanitize them. Maybe a vodka soak or something. I forget what they said they did.

[Mya]

I pulled a sample today, and it is a little underwhelming in the aroma and taste. It is also a little flat. I think I will get some mahlab from Penzey's and then I'm going to titrate to see what I can do about the TA.

What'd you come up with on the tartaric issue ? mine is pretty sour, and when sweetened it tastes like ludens cough drops, dammit, what to do.

[MtnBrewer]

Any update on this one? Believe it or not, I still have those frickin cherries in the freezer and I'm bound and determined to make some mead soon. I don't know how many pounds I have left -- there are 3 freezer bags -- but I'm going to use all of it. Would you still recommend adding the fruit to primary? Also do you think it would be possible to crack open the pits and grind up the seeds to make mahlab?

[MtnBrewer]

Is the cyanide in the pits or the seeds? I was going to use only the seeds, crushed with a mortar & pestle.

[MtnBrewer]

Did you use all the pits? If so, then I should be EPA compliant if I only use a quarter of them.