Toggle sidebar

Procedure for high benzoic or sorbic acid berry melomel

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
N

Need for Mead

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 11, 2018
57
0
0
I would like to try some of our Nordic berries for melomels, some of which contain a good amount of benzoic or sorbic acid. I'm wondering how to add it to the primary and still mistreat the yeast as little as possible.

What I'm thinking as an easy solution is to add the berries after there is vigorous fermentation (around 1/3 sugar break). Would the sudden change in environment be likely to shock/stop the yeast?

What I've seen for making berry wines, is that the yeast is started, and must (with berries) is added gradually to the yeast, slowly introducing the conserving acids, before the starter is added to the must. This is requires a bit more work, and success still seems fidgety.

Nordic blueberries (fairly high in benzoic) are said to be ok, lingonberries (higher in benzoic) are said to be almost impossible (though people on this forum has had some success) and Nordic rowanberries (high in sorbic) are said to be ok.
 
It depends on the pH change and the type of yeast.
For example EC-1118 has the strongest tolerance for even the most hostile environment.
You need a pH meter to determine what the pH change is.
I can’t say if adding all at once or gradually is better.
If it was me I would add all of the fruit and honey at once and and check the pH at star and then throughout fermentation. If it gets too low in pH then consider adding potassium carbonate (bicarbonate).
I have had good fermentation’s down to 3.5 pH but I have heard of others who have succeeded at 3.0.
The degree of acidity tolerance is highly dependent on yeast strain..
 
The thing with benzoic and sorbic acids are that they are good at conserving. Sorbic stops yeast from reproducing (as far as I remember), and hence it's part of yeast stop. What action benzoic has, I don't know, but it can slow or stop yeast. So it's not about pH in this case.
 
Sorbate is used as a preservative and very similar to sorbic acid. Sorbate is a salt form of sorbic acid.
1) I don’t know if sorbic acid has the same properties as sorbate
2) even if it does there is a way around that: much higher yeast starter count

Now I only make alcohol I like.
Before I made some for friends that I didn’t necessarily like.
I made a Mountain Dew mead using Mountain Dew which has preservatives.
I used EC-1118 and used 5 x the estimated amount usually needed but it worked.
I knew in advance I would need more than usual and didn’t experiment with lower than 5x the recommended amount.

I hope this helps.
Still get a pH meter
 
Higher yeast count would be helpful, thanks for the tip.

I would've gotten a pH meter a long time ago, if Amazon didn't fail to deliver twice.
 
Caduseus, I decided to do a sort of combination of the approaches. I pitched a bit more yeast than needed to several meads I started now. I have a small batch to top off the other batches when fermentation slows down. When I use that small batch, I’ll leave the lees and add that to the blueberry melomel. Yeast should be well established and plentiful when I add the blueberries.
 
Fortunately the batch has restarted by itself, so the yeast probably just needed some time to adjust.
 
I made a cranberry melomel and it was the fastest ferment I ever had. I know they are high in sorbate but I am not sure how they compare to lingonberries. I think pitching an adequate amount of yeast(I used a 5 gram packet for one gallon) will overcome any issues with the natural preservatives.
 
I’m glad it worked out for you. Your assumption, however, is not supported by thestudies I linked to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom