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Peach Melomel.

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WildPhil

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Sep 1, 2016
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I've found a recipe for a peach Melomel but the quantity of honey seems off, here it is.

9lbs honey
10-15lbs peaches
5tsp yeast nutrient
1 pack wine yeast (doesn't specify!)
5 crushed campden tablets
Juice and Zest of 3 lemons
Water to 5 gallons

Is the quantity of honey due to the sugars in the peaches?
 
It kind of depends on what the intent of the recipe is and what you are looking for in the recipe?

You'll get an ABV of approx. 8.7%, just by the honey alone. The peaches will add another 1% to 1.5%.

Sounds tasty!

Now, you have to decide which yeast you want to use and whether you want some leftover sweetness or if you're happy with it being dry.
 
I'm thinking of upping the honey to 17.5lbs and using 71b, I read it works well with fruits. Thoughts??
 
Do you have a hydrometer? That recipe will leave you with an SG=1.020, which is somewhere on the high end of semi-sweet (1.010-1.025). That's if the yeast works as advertised.

You could always start off with 13lbs of honey and add 4.5 lbs after the fermentation starts and the yeast has had a chance to get going and burn through some of it.

You haven't mentioned anything about feeding your yeast any nutrients?
 
That sounds like a good idea with the staggered honey additions. Should I put the rest in at a certain SG?
The recipe states that the 5tsp of yeast nutrient is to go on at the start with no further additions, sound about right?
 
Also, what about pectic enzymes for clarity? Probs put that in at the start but want to know about ideal quantity.
 
0.5 tsp per gallon, helps to break down the fruit during primary fermentation and will help with clarity later on.

Not sure about a specific gravity, to add your honey, but after 3 days the yeast should be going strong and have eaten through enough of the honey, so that you can add the rest. Let your hydeometer readings guide you.

You could probably front load your nutrient additions as planned, but you should do some reading about staggered nutrient additions (SNA). I think the thinking now is to split them up into 3 (or 4) servings. One serving when you pitch the yeast and the other 2 (or 3) at 24 hour intervals (24 hrs, 48, hrs, 72 hrs).
 
That's great info, cheers for that. One more thing, in your opinion what's the best nutrient(s) to use? I'm on a fairly tight budget so nothing too pricey!
 
Just looked at my LHBS website, they've something called Fermax, this roughly the same thing you think?
 
I would suggest staying away from fermax. The thing you are trying to accomplish here is feeding a very specific amount of nitrogen to your yeast when they need it. The problem with so many rebranded food sources is you don't know what's in it. Or at least not what quantity. One of the things in most of this stuff is DAP. It has been used for a very long time along with Fermaid-K. DAP is inorganic nitrogen and cannot be assimilated once the yeast reach 9% ABV. If you add it after that it doesn't get eaten and leaves a crappy taste behind. Mix some in some water and taste it. It's not something I want in my flavor profile. Some of what is wrong in my estimation is it causes the yeast to enter into a frenzied state. This causes over population of the bio mass early on. It causes temperature spikes. It leaves a salty/chemical taste behind. It is regulated with limits on how much can be used in a professional setting. Many here use it in quantities that exceed the government requirements. At mead competitions that is a common fault found by judges.

There is a large portion of mazers here who are in the camp of feeding their yeast way past the point that the suits that work for the yeast manufacturers say is sufficient. If you feed at pitch, 1/3,2/3 sugar break you are feeding past what the PHD's say you should. In my opinion this is bad practice if you are feeding food with DAP in it. Fermax has DAP in it and you will have left enough behind to flavor your finished profile with it. Fermaid-K has some DAP in it as well I believe. Although I could be wrong here as I haven't used it in over a year.

One of the reasons this was started I believe, was to insure a finished fermentation in hopes of not having a stall on your hands. Many, or most that use dry yeast rehydrate with Go-ferm. Some of us saturate with an O2 stone. Some are finally starting to use the proper amount of PPM of yeast based on their gravity. By doing all these things correctly, also to include temp management, it's pretty hard these days to see a fermentation stall. I personally have not ever had one stall. With these precautions ( or what I see as good fermentation practices) it's pretty much expected that the yeast will finish very strong and go beyond the listed ABV tolorences listed in the manuals. Even when the added nutrient additions are all placed much earlier on than the 1/3,2/3 club.

Everyone I know that uses Go-ferm/Fermaid-O with dry yeast proclaims their meads have never been better. Fermaid -O is all natural and by default has all the things yeast need including the micro nutrients that are found in Fermaid-K. All of the professionals I talk with are also using this method and everyone now thinks that great mead can be packaged in 3 months time. This has been my experience as well although I choose to bulk age for a year or so before I bottle. I can do this because I have 150 gallons worth of carboys sitting around full and many other still empty waiting for the weather to turn towards cooler temps.

If I were not able to have this capacity to age it would be easy to bottle in 3-4 months for most of what I make. Obviously some things take a while longer to integrate and or for the higher alcohol to round out some. I know there are many ways to skin a cat. Mead is so resilient that it seems that time can heal anything. I'm sure lots of great mead gets made using all kinds of processes. I'm all for each his own. But, I feel so strongly about some things I want to say to all to try something new if you haven't. It works. It works fabulously in fact!

I'm constantly trying different things. Always trying to make a better mouse trap. Always open to other things. With that said I doubt we will see the same kinds of advancements in mead making in a very long time like we have seen in the time I have been making mead. I see the past year as the kind of gap that lies between analog and digital. Bronze and iron. Black and white TV.

This may very well be one of the best threads we have in this forum. http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showth...mmon-practice-is-over-feeding-our-little-ones!
 
For the original post/poster. I made a peach melomel a year ago with basically just peaches, yeast and honey. I cut the peaches in half and removed the seeds, then added the pectic enzyme. After 24 hours pitch the yeast. With pure fruit or high fruit ferments I use 1 teaspoon pectic enzyme per gallon. I uses Cotes des Blancs and step fed it until it maxed out at about 18%. It is pretty delightful.
 
Masbustelo said:
For the original post/poster. I made a peach melomel a year ago with basically just peaches, yeast and honey. I cut the peaches in half and removed the seeds, then added the pectic enzyme. After 24 hours pitch the yeast. With pure fruit or high fruit ferments I use 1 teaspoon pectic enzyme per gallon. I uses Cotes des Blancs and step fed it until it maxed out at about 18%. It is pretty delightful.
Click to expand...

Did you leave it bone dry at 18% Masbustelo?
 
Thanks for that masbustelo, considering that my LHBS has DAP, fermax and beer yeast nutrients by Wyeast and no fermaid O or K, I was thinking of going down the "natural" route such as raisins and peas, peas have the highest nitrogen levels in the fruit and veg bracket.
Squatchy, thanks very much for that link, that's a f**k ton of information to take in as a noob!! I'll try to get my head around it all but I feel I'd have to get a few batches under my belt to understand the basics before I can get my head around the complexities that that thread implies!
As before, I do appreciate all the advice, just need to learn how to crawl before I can run marathons!!
 
Also, I've read up on DAP and I gather that a lot of professional and home brewers now swerve DAP. I too don't fancy a mead that tastes salty. The LHBS is more geared towards beer makers, there's not much of a "mead cult" here in Louisiana unfortunately.
 
So you could use yeast hulls for food. Raisins will add a little bit and you can add more than you think before you get the taste of raisin in your finished product. Dates and figs are pretty much the same. If you wanted to but "O and K" go here,,,,,,https://morewinemaking.com/

It's almost not any harder to make a good mead than a bad one. Especially if your new. Learn a few good habits instead of bad habits and then it's all the same.
 
Yeah, yeast hulls!! Now, I was thinking of adding them at 24, 48, 72hrs after pitching the yeasts. Thoughts? My understanding is to mix a packet of bread yeasts with a cup of water and nuke til dead, probs about 45-60secs.
I've actually started this Melomel. I've take a few of the tips, hints and advice doled out here and have kinda come up with something of a plan, it may turn out to be less than perfect but we only learn how to ride a bike by falling off!!
If anyone's interested in following my progress I'll be starting a mead log for it tomorrow.
Thanks again, y'all have been a great help!
 
Masbustelo said:
I added enough honey to bring it up to 1.020. Also balanced the acids,pH and tannins.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that your the master at finishing your meads with acid and TA controls. Could you be as kind to start a new thread and tell us about it. What is your intentions when your tweeking the final profiles of your meads and the process you go through? How far away do they finish up naturally compared to where you finish them off? What improvements do you feel they make? What mistakes have you learned from? Those or any other points would be interesting to hear!
 
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