Mead and Fruit Complication

[Obsidian_Goddess]

Hello,

So while Ive done one other batch of Just Honey mead I have started a batch with Raspberries and have come across an issue that I can't seem to trouble shoot.

The mead is aging and clearing at this stage and the flavour I get off it almost has an oil base to it. I used fresh fruit and took it out after two days of steeping in the Must. I had previously stopped the yeast so just to use the fruit for flavouring.
There is almost an Oil like residue in the mead itself. I have racked twice and found it helped only slightly. Am I jumping the gun in thinking Ive lost an entire batch of this stuff? Or do I need to do something else to remove the residue?

Thank you

Sybell

 

[Oskaar]

WELCOME TO GOT MEAD?!

Would you post up your exact recipe and process please. We'll need to see the recipe and steps in granular detail to help you noodle on this one.

At first pass it sounds like your fruit may have had some "sealer" or been sprayed with some waxy/oily coating to "protect" it, but that's sheer conjecture without seeing your recipe and all the ingredients.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Obsidian_Goddess]

So sorry about that.

6Kg Orange Blossom Honey.
Yeast ( Lavalin Champaigne)
Nutrient for Yeast.

( this fermented and aged for aprox 2months) I didn't take the gravity reading, and I added Potasium Sorbate to Kill the yeast cells.

After this time I added In a Hops Bag 3KG of Frozen Raspberries
I allowed this to rest in the must for about two days, Until all the color was drained from the Raspberries.

Aprox five days later I noticed a white film on the top of my carboy. I was almost oily to the touch.

I racked this off into a clean carboy and it seemed to help a little.
I added Bentonite to Clear the mead from the heavy sediment that was floating in it.

This didn't clear at all and the oil residue has been left in my finished product.

I have tasted it and it almost has a cream taste to it. though its not cream colored.

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Posted on another forum...

Oiliness or Ropiness: The wine develops an oily look with rope-like treads or strings appearing within it. It pours slowly and thickly with a consistency similar to egg whites, but neither its smell nor taste are effected. The culprit is a lactic acid bacterium and is only fatal to the wine if left untreated. Pour the wine into an open container with greater volume than required. Use an egg whip to beat the wine into a frothiness. Add two crushed Campden tablets per gallon of wine and stir these in with the egg whip. Cover with a sterile cloth and stir the wine every hour or so for about four hours. Return it to a sterile secondary and fit the airlock. After two days, run the wine through a wine filter and return it to another sterile secondary. Again, this problem, like most, can be prevented by pre-treating the must with Campden and sterilizing your equipment scrupulously.

I wouldn't necessarily use the method they recommend without doing additional research but this might point you at the problem causing what you are experiencing...

Good luck,
Pewter

 

[Oskaar]

So sorry about that.

6Kg Orange Blossom Honey.
Yeast ( Lavalin Champaigne)
Nutrient for Yeast.

( this fermented and aged for aprox 2months) I didn't take the gravity reading, and I added Potasium Sorbate to Kill the yeast cells.

After this time I added In a Hops Bag 3KG of Frozen Raspberries
I allowed this to rest in the must for about two days, Until all the color was drained from the Raspberries.

Aprox five days later I noticed a white film on the top of my carboy. I was almost oily to the touch.

I racked this off into a clean carboy and it seemed to help a little.
I added Bentonite to Clear the mead from the heavy sediment that was floating in it.

This didn't clear at all and the oil residue has been left in my finished product.

I have tasted it and it almost has a cream taste to it. though its not cream colored.

How did you prepare the raspberries for addition to the secondary?

Did you sanitize the grain bag, and if so how did you sanitize the grain bag?

Have you used any sulfite in this yet? When using sorbate it is generally (not always) necessary to use sulfite in conjunction with the sorbate in order for the sorbate to be effective. It is also necessary to take a pH reading and to modify both the sorbate and sulfite addition appropriately based on the pH level and ppm of the sulfite added.

The ropiness referred to in the previous post from Jack Keller's website is a possibility so you may want to do some more research in that direction.

Post up your answers and we'll see what we can do to help.

Cheers,

Oskaar