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Fussy yeasties!!

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EJM3

Honey Master
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Nov 21, 2013
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The Boozevarian Village of Leavenworth WA
Well I am trying to brew a batch of:

3 gallons of apple cider
2 gallons "Blueberry mix" - Blueberry, Apple, Aronia juices
101 raisins
4 Tbsp yeast hulls
Lalvin 71B

Made a starter for the 71B (smelled good then!)

Aerated like crazy with drill for 10+ mins.

Pitched, aerated again for a few minutes.

12 hours later smells like eggs!

Aerated and added 101 more raisins, 2 Tbsp more yeast hulls.

Smell is gone after 4 hours or so...

12 hours later smells like eggs!

Adding 4 Tbsp MORE yeast hulls, 200 more raisins & Aerating like crazy for the 6th time in 3 days!

Temps are between 61°F & 64°F Night/Day temps

Now about the only thing that this must could be missing is nutrients, and if after adding 202 raisins, and 6 Tbsp yeast hulls, and it is still not enough then this is the most nutrient deficient must I have ever heard or read about so far!!! I keep feeding it more and more raisins and yeast hulls, shaking the thing hourly when I am awake to keep the CO2 down, aerating it twice a day, and this darned 71B insists on smelling like eggs instead of nectar!!!

The D47 was a lot less fussy than this for me. In fact this is the first time a yeast has given me a problem trying to ferment something! Admittedly I only have a few gallons of brewing done, but I would have thought the D47 more finicky then the 71B. ???

I'm open to suggestions, as I don't want 5 gallons of fart cider...

And no preservatives, chemicals, etc in the juices either....
 

mannye

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I've read around here that sulfur smells generally dissipate over time and that there are some specific remedies (I think adding nutrients) that can cure the issue.
 

fatbloke

good egg/snappy dresser.....
GotMead Patron
71B isn't fussy. But many yeast are if not fet properly........

the raisins are not enough obviously, I'd have though you'd likely needs a good couple of handfuls.

the yeast hulls should normally help but if the juices are making the yeasties work like the clappers, then some proper nutrient will likely be needed.

as long as each time you hit sulphur, you add a little bit and then aerate the hell out of it.......

its often a problem of early fermentation so should stop...........should.........

it has to be removed though to prevent the formation of mercaptans.........
 

Bob1016

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Jun 24, 2012
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If there is a slight sulfur (rotten egg) smell, I just aerate anddont worry, but I splash rack with copper in the line. Copper helps remove sulfur, and splashing helps off gas some of those compounds.
 

EJM3

Honey Master
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Nov 21, 2013
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Updates and gravity readings...

71B isn't fussy. But many yeast are if not fet properly........

the raisins are not enough obviously, I'd have though you'd likely needs a good couple of handfuls.

the yeast hulls should normally help but if the juices are making the yeasties work like the clappers, then some proper nutrient will likely be needed.

as long as each time you hit sulphur, you add a little bit and then aerate the hell out of it.......

its often a problem of early fermentation so should stop...........should.........

it has to be removed though to prevent the formation of mercaptans.........


Yeah, each time I smelled the H2S I added a couple Tbs of yeast hulls, and more raisins. So far I have put in 400+ raisins, and 10 Tbsp yeast hulls, and aerated twice a day as well. Finally no more H2S, wonderful berry smells, and a current SG of 1.020. OG was 1.110 (Lots of concentrated juices).

Currently it is bubbling the 3 piece airlock at about 3 blorps per second. I think I will have to add a bit more juice concentrate to get the residual sugars a bit higher. Currently the taste is tart, lots of berry flavors, very little alcohol flavors, and a nice kick! :drunken_smilie:

Next to it is a 1 gallon batch of straight mead that will eventually be made into strawberry and raspberry melomels for a friends wedding present...

OK, now where can you get carboys in bulk??? ;D
 

fatbloke

good egg/snappy dresser.....
GotMead Patron
-----snip-----
OK, now where can you get carboys in bulk??? ;D
If it wasn't for the fact you're on the "wrong" continent, I'd have said here....

If you searched that site for prod no 017.054.8 you'd see some nice large ones......

Though I can say from grim experience, that once filled up and running, to move them you'd likely need either a fork lift or some sort of craneage.......

Cos they're ballbustingly heavy :eek:;D
 

mmclean

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Jul 22, 2010
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I have read that apple juice sometimes will give off sulfur smells early in the ferment. I have never had it happen myself.
 

EJM3

Honey Master
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Updates and gravity readings...

Well the H2S has definitely gone away, the current SG as of 6:30PM was ~1.003. Tart, berries, apple, and still minimal to no alcohol flavors! ACK! 2 batches in a row with different yeasts, and juices, both finish in a week or so, and both are smooth enough to drink right away :D.

I added some honey to a sample to bring it back to a sweetness level that we can both tolerate, and that is ~1.025 to ~1.030 range for this batch.

I think I will just let it ferment dry, and then bottle age them. I don't have a second 5 gallon carboy (yet!!!) to rack it to (or fermentation bucket yet either), so I will let it clear (already starting to stratify itself after one last big swirl), and hopefully by another two to three weeks I'll have my additional carboy to rack into, and finish the clearing process (If it's not done by the end of the month that is!)

Now the question is: Will the remaining Berry-Bury Cider Jack make it to bottling?? Or will it suffer the fate of it's predecessor and be sampled to death first?? ??

Inebriated minds want to know...

(As for the equipment: I am on a VERY low & tight budget so have to acquire my equipment very slowly over a prolonged time. The 5 gallon carboy, carboy cap, bottle caps, and a capper for my bottles took most of my income for the next few weeks. Hopefully after this month is over I can get another carboy and cap with a fermentation bucket too... My partner is gonna have a Double Dutch fit when he finds out just how much "junk" I need to ferment a "few things once in a while"..... ;D )
 
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EJM3

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Me likey lot!!! Want want want!!!

If it wasn't for the fact you're on the "wrong" continent, I'd have said here....

If you searched that site for prod no 017.054.8 you'd see some nice large ones......

Though I can say from grim experience, that once filled up and running, to move them you'd likely need either a fork lift or some sort of craneage.......

Cos they're ballbustingly heavy :eek:;D


OY VEY! I WANT, I WANT, I WANT!!!! Sigh (reality hits), I would need a forklift allright!!!

I had spinal surgery that permanently limits me to no more than 30 lbs maximum lifting, pushing, pulling, etc, plus additional sensory, pain, and other medical issues.. So I was gonna stick to the 3 gallon fermentors, BUT the 5 gallon fermentors were only $3 more!!! So..... Well.... Ummmm.... 50 pounds isn't too much over is it?? ;D

Note to self: Save up for forklift and "few" large demijohns.
 

joemirando

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
OY VEY! I WANT, I WANT, I WANT!!!! Sigh (reality hits), I would need a forklift allright!!!

I had spinal surgery that permanently limits me to no more than 30 lbs maximum lifting, pushing, pulling, etc, plus additional sensory, pain, and other medical issues.. So I was gonna stick to the 3 gallon fermentors, BUT the 5 gallon fermentors were only $3 more!!! So..... Well.... Ummmm.... 50 pounds isn't too much over is it?? ;D

Note to self: Save up for forklift and "few" large demijohns.

Hmmm... I don't suppose you could 'interest' your SO into helping with the lifting, could ya? I mean, hell, lifting in exchange for, oh, first dibs on what mead to make next???
 

GntlKnigt1

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Hey Joe...what about that outlet in Canada for the Madam Rosemerta batch? Do they have stuff for EJM3?

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.
 

EJM3

Honey Master
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Nov 21, 2013
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Hey Joe...what about that outlet in Canada for the Madam Rosemerta batch? Do they have stuff for EJM3?

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.


I looked up a few items related to Madam Rosmerta, and got pumpkin juice, and butter beer recipes, are these what you are referring to ???
 

GntlKnigt1

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Mar 17, 2004
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Nope....Joe made a mead after Harry Potter movie....and Manny or Joe found the bottle in Germany, and then found a distributor in Canada. Will find the link......

Ahh.... here it is. Post #111 here....
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22054&page=6



Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.
 
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joemirando

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
I looked up a few items related to Madam Rosmerta, and got pumpkin juice, and butter beer recipes, are these what you are referring to ???

In the Harry Potter books (and one movie) Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead is supposed to be Dumbledore's drink of choice.

I went through all the books and the one movie where it's mentioned and tried to duplicate it. Basically, I gleaned that it was of moderate alcohol strength, slightly sweet but not cloyingly so, and possesses, according to Dumbledore himself (in the movie), "remarkably subtle hints of liquorice and cherry".

Yes, friends and neighbors, I had too much time on my hands. <G>

As it stands now, there is almost no essence of cherry and more than a subtle hint of licorice. It has been oaked, and I am now waiting for it to mellow a bit to see what I can do with it to get it in line. If I could only find my Olivander's wand. <grin>

Be well,
Joe
 

EJM3

Honey Master
Registered Member
Nov 21, 2013
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The Boozevarian Village of Leavenworth WA
Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead

In the Harry Potter books (and one movie) Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead is supposed to be Dumbledore's drink of choice.

I went through all the books and the one movie where it's mentioned and tried to duplicate it. Basically, I gleaned that it was of moderate alcohol strength, slightly sweet but not cloyingly so, and possesses, according to Dumbledore himself (in the movie), "remarkably subtle hints of liquorice and cherry".

Yes, friends and neighbors, I had too much time on my hands. <G>

As it stands now, there is almost no essence of cherry and more than a subtle hint of licorice. It has been oaked, and I am now waiting for it to mellow a bit to see what I can do with it to get it in line. If I could only find my Olivander's wand. <grin>

Be well,
Joe



I've got a full arsenal of herbs and spices, and access to a LOT more. Licorice root I've got an ounce, ounce and a half, or for star anise I have about 20 whole ones, and we have cherries frozen in our freezers from last year, we harvested about 150 pounds of fresh organic cherries off the 2 trees in the back yard.

As for oak, it looks like I will just have to go downtown, smash a couple of planters, shake off some of the dirt and steal the staves, making a mad dash for home trying not to leave a trail of plants, dirt, and staves right to my door......

--OR--

......a more likely scenario is that I just grab a few chunks of the white oak we have sitting around the shop, carve some bits off (hacksaw, jigsaw, chainsaw, C4, etc...) wrap in foil, toast in the oven to ~medium, seal in an airtight jar until use...

So then I just need to steal the recipe, get my delivery the first week of March, and it's off to the fermentarium for another episode of "The Mad Fermentationist Pitches Again!!!" ;D

I think I will be able to rack my latest one gallon batch of straight mead by the first week of March, have my Berry-Bury Cider Jack cold crashed and out of the carboy by then as well, and have 6 gallons of fermenting capacity and a bucket of honey... :rolleyes: A one gallon batch of this sounds extremely yummy, and the other half loves the sound of the flavor combo to boot! So I will begin laying plans for a batch of Joe Mirando presents: Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead! Recipe and tweaks to be presented at a later date...
 

GntlKnigt1

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Wow !!! So very cool !!!! Perhaps an ongoing thread akin to the JAOM variants thread, that goes on and on as people present variations on the recipes.... Another "Joe" going to be famous here on GotMead.
 

EJM3

Honey Master
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Nov 21, 2013
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Jmpmromm

Wow !!! So very cool !!!! Perhaps an ongoing thread akin to the JAOM variants thread, that goes on and on as people present variations on the recipes.... Another "Joe" going to be famous here on GotMead.



So the title JMPMROMM translates as: Joe Mirando Presents Madame Rosmerta's Oak Matured Mead!!! (Panting to gather the dexterity to type again......) Hack, hack, hawk, HaWK, HACK, PTooie... OK!!! So, here are the plans so far:

1) Steal recipe.
2) Implement recipe.
2.5) With slight changes.
3) Record lab notes on everything.

Did I miss anything?? ??

Oh yeah!! The Recipe!!!!!

Ingredients:

4 Pounds of local raw honey (step fed, schedule below)
Fill to 1 gallon with Artesian water
25 organic raisins, mooshed
1 Tbsp lysed yeast hulls
1 small chip of pink sea salt
1 sachet K1V made into 300ml starter culture
1 star anise (add to secondary, monitor daily)
6 cherries (add to primary, frozen, pitted, and mooshed)
4 cherries (add to secondary, frozen, pitted, and mooshed)
~1/4 oz medium toasted white oak chips (add to secondary, monitor daily)

Procedures:

Dissolve 3 pounds honey in Artesian water, add water up to 4 gallons, minus a bit over a pint, moosh raisins, grind salt, boil yeast hulls, make starter culture with K1V, dump it all together, aerate the frell out of it, cork it, airlock it, fill with vodka (the airlock not me!!!), aerate for 3 days 2x/day @ 5 minutes each time with electric drill, add 6 cherries at 1.050 SG. At 1.010 SG I will start adding the additional honey at the rate of 4oz, 4oz, 2oz, 2oz, 1oz, 1oz, 1oz, 1oz, approximately every few days or until it stops and holds about 1.020 to 1.025 for a couple weeks to a month (lightly sweet to both myself and my partner), rack onto 4 more cherries and a star anise in a bag on a string with marbles for weight, taste daily with partner, adjust flavorings as I go along, let it clear, rack onto K-Meta, taste one last time, then bulk age 6 months or so, taste, check SG, etc, if it's good, bottle some, and sip the rest, otherwise let it age, let it age, let it age...

Now then, who wants to help shift an entire kitchen around to make this easier?? Especially when I start that collection of carboys I've been wanting, panting, and drooling over??

OK, nice simple, probably overdoing the cherries in primary and secondary, but Joe Mirando said his cherry flavoring did not really come out very well, so a little stronger cherry infusion from the beginning for me, star anise in secondary checked daily to NOT overdo the licorice flavors, and my own homemade toasted oak. Nice being able to toast my own oak chips and chunks too!!!

After day 3 I will be sure to swirl the fermentor several times a day to off gas the CO2 to prevent buildup and acidification of the must.

Ummm, that's about all I can think of for now..

Guess I better start a new thread in the mead log...
 
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