Racking questions on two similar molemel batches

[Mattzak]

Orange / blackberry Molemels
March 28th, Saturday
I made two simultaneous batches intended for molemels.
** Two separate 1 gal batch **
Actual ingredients(each):
- 2.75 lbs wildflower honey
- ~3-4 grams premier blanc(champagne yeast)
- .8 gal spring water used
- 1/2 T-spoon Fermax yeast nutrient
- 3/4 T-spoon fermaid
Orange molemel has 1.25 orange (no rind/no white)
BlackBerry molemel has 1.5 cup frozen/thawed blackberry.
- SG: 1.110 orange 1.105 blackberry
Smelled delicious!

Process:
*Everything sterilized per directions on Star San.
*must was shaken for three minutes at a time for 4 separate attempts while warming so as to get closer to slurry
*Yeast was hydrated at 100-104* F, as per directions on packet. Temperature was between this throughout the hydration for 25-30 minutes at least.
*slurry contained 3/4 T-spoon of fermaid yeast nutrient as per instructions.
*added must to yeast to acclimate, ~25% of total yeast slurry was from must.
*temperatures were within 15* F of each other (I want to say must was 90ish and slurry was 100ish).
*let sit for another 5 minutes and pitched.
*turned jug over several times, gently, to mix in bubbles on surface and slurry throughout jug.


Jug is filled one inch from lid (wide mouth jug).
The lid is fitted loosely and the opening on the top is plugged to prevent dust from entering. Placed in dark closet(ambient temp is about 70* F in closet) and will check tomorrow morning to stir.

Should go without saying any further, I stir and shake daily or twice daily since pitch to maintain suspension/O2.

March 30th: second portion of yeast nutrient added

April 3rd: last portion of yeast nutrient added

April 6th: fermentation appears to have stopped or dramatically slowed.



Today is the 7th, thinking about checking gravity today or tomorrow (since I'll be off work and the hospital has me runnnniinnngg like crazy)

I'm curious about how I should approach racking, here are my thoughts..

I will cold crash both of them for a couple weeks (maybe 10-12 days) to watch for clarity. At that point I'll want to rack to get rid of the dense lees on the bottom. Try to get rid of most of the blackberry and orange chunks respectively.

I plan on adding k-sorbate and k-meta into the new vessels as well as more blackberries/oranges to each, let sit for 2 weeks and rack off again. My main concern is how to get rid of the debris later on(and now) without much loss.

I have another jug of plain trad, dry as heck, that I could use to top off stuff with. But I would then have to break it up into smaller vessels instead of allowing it to age like I had planned.

Thoughts, suggestions?

 

[Medsen Fey]

That's why small batches are a pain.
I think your plan sounds reasonable, but there really isn't a way to avoid some loss. I try to minimize the number of rackings with small batches.

 

[Mattzak]

Medsen, thank you for the reassurance! I appreciate it.

Would someone like the weigh in on whether it is better to use whole fruit, or crush and squeeze the juice out?

...On a sidenote, is it completely sinful to use a little bit of spring water to top off? And if not, would someone recommend certain kind of additives to the water, maybe tea, to increase a better mouthful? I could turn that plain spring water into something.

Trying to consider some possible alternatives to having to break down my one and only other gallon of mead. Lol

 

[4give]

Thoughts off the top of my head are to taste it after you rack. If it fermented to dry, and you think it could use a little extra honey, then add some a few days after it's stabilized. That may not make up the volume, and the ABV will lower some. I would not add water.

I like using thawed frozen fruit that I crush a little bit, and throw it all in there including any juice in the bag.

Topping up using glass marbles is an option too. Even if you add the Trad you have, you're diluting the fruit aspect a bit. Maybe just a bit of extra honey with the Trad?

 

[Medsen Fey]

I like to add the entire fruit in most cases because a lot of aroma/flavor compounds are in the skin. There are exceptions like star fruit where the pulp adds a lot of bitterness, or mango where the pulp is just a mess to work.

If you search on "Topping up" or "Topping off" you can find many thoughts on that topic.

 

[Skropi]

Isn't paraffin oil the easiest way to avoid headspace?

 

[Medsen Fey]

A layer of oil is easy to pour in. Getting the mead out and leaving oil behind later can be time consuming and messy. I just racked a batch that had been sitting in the back of the closet for a few years under oil. It wasn't oxidized, but it makes a mess and you typically will get some transferred over no matter what you do.

 

[Skropi]

So, it seems that with oil we have to contend with some unavoidable losses. I will explore the other methods more diligently.

 

[Mattzak]

Gravity(s) we’re checked, . 998 or so on both. Sealed ‘em up and popped them in the fridge!! Yew! They look good.

Skropi, I love the oil input, I was reading several posts that suggested it throughout the day today. I think I may consider that when I have more experience under my belt. (All or most of the posts today included Medsen’s input at some point also)

I still am unsure of what I will actually do, though using my trad may be the “best” option at this point.

4give, curious why I would add honey to the trad I use to pour into these batches? I imagine it’s for flavor or sweetness...possibly another reason? I’m sure with the orange I could just juice oranges a little(oranges are really easy to get locally). Blackberries not as easily.

Would it really be so bad to use up to 3-5 oz spring water for topping up? I know the alcohol will be diluted at some point from racking, but I imagine considering the sugar content vs the vessels size hasn’t changed other than that... I do get that using my trad, with the same ABV will keep it closer. Generally, they are made almost identically, intentionally.

I don’t mind explanations as if they were being delivered to a toddler lol. That may actually help me.

 

[Medsen Fey]

My approach for oil is to use a turkey baster to gently remove as much of the oil as possible off the surface. Then I rack from underneath leaving a thin layer of mead with oil on top. There are still losses, but it works.

I find that if you just stick you racking cane down through a thick layer of oil, you wind up transferring a significant amount of oil.

If anyone has a better approach, I’m all ears.

 

[Skropi]

I really can't think anything better than the turkey baster... The only other solution would by not to get the mead from the top. Maybe some installed spigot? Just throwing an idea.

 

[4give]

My approach for oil is to use a turkey baster to gently remove as much of the oil as possible off the surface. Then I rack from underneath leaving a thin layer of mead with oil on top. There are still losses, but it works.

I find that if you just stick you racking cane down through a thick layer of oil, you wind up transferring a significant amount of oil.

If anyone has a better approach, I’m all ears.

I have a recipe I'm trying to perfect that I've used frozen acai berry puree (because I can't find whole, forzen, acai berries anywhere). I'm think I may strain the puree next time I try it and just buy a few more packs of puree. Anyway, the acai berry produces a very dark green oil in the must. One thing I've done while managing the fermentation (in a bucket) is take my stir spoon and gently skim the top with it. The oil attaches to it and I wipe it off, then repeat. It helps when it comes to racking, of which, I pretty much have the same experience you do Medsen.

I do lose a bit more mead with this recipe, but so far it's been my favorite (acai, dark cherry, chocolate, vanilla). :cheers:

 

[Medsen Fey]

Using a PET plastic container with a spigot would make things easier. PET plastic is suitable for aging. You’d still need to leave some mead behind, but it would be much easier to work with I think.

 

[Skropi]

I've got a few of those buckets for fermenting, those that come with a spigot installed and a hole on the lid for an airlock. They seal perfectly, and I am inclined to use them exclusively, because they are cheap. 13€ for a 32lt bucket, airlock and spigot included, while for a 20lt glass demijohn the lowest price is 23€. The only downside of using buckets is headspace, but that can be mitigated with paraffin oil or with all the other ways I've found here. Still, strictly for aging, I prefer demijohns, as they take up less space and are.....better looking I guess

 

[Medsen Fey]

If you are talking about a typical fermentation bucket, those are made of HDPE plastic. They may not be suitable for long aging as oxygen can penetrate through that type of plastic regardless of what type of cover is on it. There is a very old thread on “bucket aging” that is worth reading if you do a little searching. There are people who do age in HDPE plastic buckets and do it successfully, but that may be because meads tend to be inherently less prone to oxidation than wines and beers. I personally won’t do lengthy aging (more than a few weeks) in a HDPE bucket.

PET plastic is different. Oxygen penetration is minimal through that type of plastic. It is the stuff used for soda bottles and plastic water bottles. There are fermenters made of PET such as “Better Bottles” and “Big Mouth Bubbler” carboys that you can safely age things in, and some of them have a spigot.

Brouwland has a wide selection of PET carboys.

 

[Skropi]

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know that about HDPE. I'll check my buckets when I get home. I would get 2-3 glass, 20lt demijohns in any case