19 replies to this topic

[EWW]

I plan to get this started in the next few days and would love any feedback you may have.For approx 10 gallons5 lbs dried apricots (in primary and well chopped)8oz Gingerlocal honey free poured to around 1.085no heat methodhightest's SNA schedule71-b15ish lbs fresh/frozen peaches added to secondaryI'm wondering if I have enough peaches in secondary, if I have the right amount of Ginger, and if I need to do anything special to the apricots since they have been treated with SO2.Thanks!

[EWW]

I don't think you have nearly enough peaches for 10 gallons. When strangebrewer and I made Schramm's ginger peach, we used 20 pounds/5-gallons of peaches.Those apricots have been SO₂ treated? I'd reconsider using them in primary. I'd guess you might get a stuck doing that.

I was thinking that the 5 lbs apricots would allow me to cut down on the peaches, but I may need to reassess this.hydrogen peroxide in a small dose can be used to free up SO2 in solution (source: JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE 67 (5): 1631-1635. McFeeters, RF. 1998)...I'm just not sure if it's needed. I wish I could determine the ppm SO2 so I could figure out dillution.

[MtnBrewer]

Believe it or not, 5 lbs. of fruit is an almost inconsequential amount, especially something as mild as apricot. The rule of thumb is to use a lot more fruit than you think you'll need. For 10 gallons, I don't think 40 pounds of fruit (total) would be too much.

[EWW]

Believe it or not, 5 lbs. of fruit is an almost inconsequential amount, especially something as mild as apricot. The rule of thumb is to use a lot more fruit than you think you'll need. For 10 gallons, I don't think 40 pounds of fruit (total) would be too much.

This I realize, but i thought with the fruit being dried and the water wieght removed it was a different story...maybe I'm wrong

[MtnBrewer]

This I realize, but i thought with the fruit being dried and the water wieght removed it was a different story...maybe I'm wrong

That will definitely make a difference but apricot has such a mild flavor that there's no such thing as too much.

[EWW]

Mixed it up just now. I thought I had a bit more honey then I did. Gravity sits around 1.072 without considering the sugar in the fruit. I'll taste at transfer and guage how much more fruit/Ginger is needed. The must has a very nice apricot flavor going into the fermenter...we'll see how much of that carries over.

[EWW]

I figure it's probably a wash. I typically add kmeta to scrub out the chlorine from my tap water. I left it out this time. If it fails to start I'll look to to hydrogen proxide option.

[EWW]

Fermentation is active, no worries about sulfites

[EWW]

I'll be picking up 50 lbs of peaches tomorrow from a fruit guy at pike street market, but my mead isn't ready for them yet. They'll go in the freezer, but I'm not sure I'll have enough room for them unless I purée them or use a few pounds of hops. I know this could create some racking issues, but are there any other cons to verping them?

[MtnBrewer]

I really think that's going to make racking a challenge. You'll definitely get a lot of peach flavor that way. How much freezer space do you have? If you have room to freeze maybe half of them, you could just go ahead and add the overflow to primary now.

[EWW]

I really think that's going to make racking a challenge. You'll definitely get a lot of peach flavor that way. How much freezer space do you have? If you have room to freeze maybe half of them, you could just go ahead and add the overflow to primary now.

Not much freezer space at all. I'm pretty much sure I don't have another option. Peaches will have to be dispatched today.

[MtnBrewer]

Just be careful then. Strangebrewer mentioned to me recently that peach pulp in the bottle is a really good way to make grenades. Not sure how he'd know that, but that's what he said.

[EWW]

So I now have around 4 gallons of amazing peach purée and 11 gallons in primary. I figure I'll split it into 3 carboys in the next weekend or so and top off each carboy with a bit more honey or sugar. Like most my projects this has taken on a life of it's own. With the losses from the fruit and transfers I should end up with around 10 gallons of this.Question: I've hit it with SNA in primary, but I'm wondering if a small shot of nutrients would help things along in secondary....thoughts?

[MtnBrewer]

Question: I've hit it with SNA in primary, but I'm wondering if a small shot of nutrients would help things along in secondary....thoughts?

No, you shouldn't add nutrients after about the halfway point of fermentation. I forget why exactly but I just know that it's a .

[EWW]

No, you shouldn't add nutrients after about the halfway point of fermentation. I forget why exactly but I just know that it's a .

Thanks.

[EWW]

I just realized that I never updated this at transfer. Ginger flavor was minimal to none. Apricot flavor was strong...about the level of magic hat #9. FG was below 1 at transfer. It now sits on the beaches in 3 carboys. I expect the final fruit flavor to be huge based on the apricots at transfer. If anyone wants to do a straight apricot mead, 5lbs dried gives a great flavor and aroma.

[MtnBrewer]

Lack of ginger was the same problem I had in the Peach-only version. How did you treat the ginger? Did you grate it or just slice it? I sliced mine into slivers that looked like gari but next time I will grate it to try to get more flavor from it.

[EWW]

Lack of ginger was the same problem I had in the Peach-only version. How did you treat the ginger? Did you grate it or just slice it? I sliced mine into slivers that looked like gari but next time I will grate it to try to get more flavor from it.

I grated it and tossed it into primary. I think It just needs more. I plan to add some at next racking to see if I can fix it. For future batches I may consider boiling the Ginger in water to see if that produces better extraction of flavor.

[EWW]

Flavor on this is real nice as is but I think I'll add some grated Ginger to one of the kegs to see where it goes from here. How long would you leave it on the Ginger?

[MtnBrewer]

Flavor on this is real nice as is but I think I'll add some grated Ginger to one of the kegs to see where it goes from here. How long would you leave it on the Ginger?

Until it picks up the flavor from the ginger that you're looking for.