Hey all.
I just wrapped up an Irish ale using WLP004, and have a bunch of washed yeast left over. I'm planning on doing another batch of beer with it (stout of some sort, or a porter maybe... I haven't decided), but I also am planning on making a cyser and a melomel next.
I have a bunch (20lbs?) of kirkland clover honey (not the greatest stuff, but I'm a newbie here, don't wanna shell out for the good stuff yet ) a packet of some D47, some blackberries, strawberries, and apple cider!
Here's my plan for some 1 gallon batches...
- Remove a few (3-4?) cups of cider from glass gallon jug
- Add clover honey to SG ~1.085-1.095 (most of the aeration/agitation may be accomplished here...)
- add 1/2-3/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- pitch ~1/2 cup of washed wlp004 slurry.
- aerate via agitation
- - add 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient every day for first 4 days, and agitate to degass.
- - - bottle when clear and fermentation has stopped (checking via gravity readings... etc)
Melomel Plan:
- Puree ~1lb of blackberries, ~1.5 lbs of strawberries, add to 1gal carboy
- Add ~2.5 lbs of honey (should add ~87.5 gravity points?)
- add 1/2-3/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- add ~1/2 cup washed wlp004 slurry
- top off with water to reach 1 gal.
- aerate via agitation
- - add 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient every day for first 4 days, and agitate to degass.
- - - bottle when clear... etc etc...
Am I completely missing the idea here? Or should these recipes relatively work as I'm planning..? I'm not sure how many gravity points blackberry & strawberry puree would add, though I'm fine with the melomel ending slightly sweeter (1.010-15??). I believe I read somewhere that the WLP004 has between 8-12% alcohol tolerance, so I might end up with much higher gravities than I intended, as I'm shooting for ~11% potential alcohol in the beginning.
I'm perfectly comfortable with messing these up as well, but I just want to make sure I'm not doing something obviously incorrect, and I would love to experiment with an ale yeast in something other than an ale... And save the d47 for a few experiments down the road.
Tips, criticism, high hopes, good wishes, are all accepted!
Much obliged.
I just wrapped up an Irish ale using WLP004, and have a bunch of washed yeast left over. I'm planning on doing another batch of beer with it (stout of some sort, or a porter maybe... I haven't decided), but I also am planning on making a cyser and a melomel next.
I have a bunch (20lbs?) of kirkland clover honey (not the greatest stuff, but I'm a newbie here, don't wanna shell out for the good stuff yet ) a packet of some D47, some blackberries, strawberries, and apple cider!
Here's my plan for some 1 gallon batches...
- Remove a few (3-4?) cups of cider from glass gallon jug
- Add clover honey to SG ~1.085-1.095 (most of the aeration/agitation may be accomplished here...)
- add 1/2-3/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- pitch ~1/2 cup of washed wlp004 slurry.
- aerate via agitation
- - add 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient every day for first 4 days, and agitate to degass.
- - - bottle when clear and fermentation has stopped (checking via gravity readings... etc)
Melomel Plan:
- Puree ~1lb of blackberries, ~1.5 lbs of strawberries, add to 1gal carboy
- Add ~2.5 lbs of honey (should add ~87.5 gravity points?)
- add 1/2-3/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- add ~1/2 cup washed wlp004 slurry
- top off with water to reach 1 gal.
- aerate via agitation
- - add 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient every day for first 4 days, and agitate to degass.
- - - bottle when clear... etc etc...
Am I completely missing the idea here? Or should these recipes relatively work as I'm planning..? I'm not sure how many gravity points blackberry & strawberry puree would add, though I'm fine with the melomel ending slightly sweeter (1.010-15??). I believe I read somewhere that the WLP004 has between 8-12% alcohol tolerance, so I might end up with much higher gravities than I intended, as I'm shooting for ~11% potential alcohol in the beginning.
I'm perfectly comfortable with messing these up as well, but I just want to make sure I'm not doing something obviously incorrect, and I would love to experiment with an ale yeast in something other than an ale... And save the d47 for a few experiments down the road.
Tips, criticism, high hopes, good wishes, are all accepted!
Much obliged.
