What's up guys, hope all is well. I finally have the space and I'm going to start my first BIG run of melomel. I have dozens of small 5 gallon runs under my belt and honestly, they were all good. This will be my first 20 gallon run and i would like your opinions on my plan. Thoughts, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome and greatly appreciated.
In a 30 gallon food grade barrel:
60 lbs orange blossom honey
20 lbs mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
20 lbs tart cherries
20 lbs black currants
Distilled water to 20 gallons
All fruit is frozen, thawed and crushed in mesh bags.
Adding pectic enzyme prior to pitching and oxygenating with a stone and pure pharmaceutical grade O2 from a tank and again 12 hours after fermentation starts. Standard SNA and punching/degassing 2x daily. I'm not 100% sold on what yeast I'm using yet, I have 50g each of 71B and 1118 on hand pending on OG.
Think my amounts are on track for a win?
In a 30 gallon food grade barrel:
60 lbs orange blossom honey
20 lbs mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
20 lbs tart cherries
20 lbs black currants
Distilled water to 20 gallons
All fruit is frozen, thawed and crushed in mesh bags.
Adding pectic enzyme prior to pitching and oxygenating with a stone and pure pharmaceutical grade O2 from a tank and again 12 hours after fermentation starts. Standard SNA and punching/degassing 2x daily. I'm not 100% sold on what yeast I'm using yet, I have 50g each of 71B and 1118 on hand pending on OG.
Think my amounts are on track for a win?