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  • Meads _ How Much Fruit, Honey,spices

    Meads Proportion of ingredients -- Spices, fruits, herbs, flower petals etc.


    HOW MUCH FRUIT TO USE?
    Some say Fresh Fruit is the way to go? I purchase the best fresh fruit that I can afford and find and then I clean, remove pips and blemishes slice label and freeze in zip lock bags. It enables me to purchase fruit at the peak of ripeness and at the best cost and I am then able to make the Melomel when my schedule permits. I mentioned previously my likeness and preference for the freezing process in that it breaks down the skin lining and the cell walls of the fruit allowing the juices and color to move freely to mingle with the sugars and flavors of the honey. I also like the enzymic extraction process for preparing the fruit or berries for the fermentation process (like a cold soak for wine) and pulp fermentation as long as a nylon straining bags are used to contain the fruit-berry pulps. Most of the Melomels that I make are kind of half and half –enzymic-pulp in that I have the cold soak – frozen fruit and then use the thawed fruit in nylon straining bags for the primary fermentation process.
    There is no set standard for the amount of fruit to use for each gallon or liter of Melomel. Your taste preferences have a great deal of importance here. In the table that follows I have outlined five different variations on possible amounts of fruit to use in your Melomels. There are many ways to use the fruit in the process i.e.: during the primary fermentation process, during the secondary fermentation process or during the post secondary stage process. I only use the primary fermentation procedure as I do not have suitable secondary fermentation vessels with large openings and air lock capabilities and I prefer to have the fruit in contact with the strongest part of the ferment. However, I do like the ideas of secondary and post secondary for the fruit but have concerns about leaving the fruit in contact with the secondary alcohol process or young Melomel for any length of time with concern of spoilage. I prefer to remove the fruit and nylon straining bag after 6 or 7 days of primary ferment SG 1.020-1.030, squeeze gently and then discard it; by then the flavors and colors have been extracted.

    Approximate Amount of Fruit for 23 liters Five Imperial Gallons (6US gallons)
    Mild Medium Extra Med Dinner Dessert

    Blueberry 5lbs 7lbs 11lbs 12lbs 20lbs
    Cherries (tart) 3lbs 6lbs 9lbs 20lbs 30lbs
    Currants (black) 2lbs 4lbs 7lbs 10lbs 20lbs
    Peaches 5lbs 8lbs 12lbs 30lbs 50lbs
    Raspberries 2lbs 5lbs 7lbs 17lbs 25lbs
    Strawberries 5lbs 7lbs 11lbs 16lbs 23lbs
    Apples 1.5 L 2.0 L 3.0 L 25lbs 50lbs
    Mulberries 10lbs 12lbs 15lbs 20lbs 30lbs

    I usually use the approximate amounts in the dinner and dessert columns as I like my Melomels to be full of fruit flavor and aroma instead of a lingering color and aroma. The main reasons for the differences in the amount to use for different fruits is the strength and quantity of acids in various fruits. Generally we as wine and mead drinkers like some dryness in a dinner wine with a slight bit more sweetness in a social wine and much sweetness and a hit of acid in a dessert wine or Mead.

    Another area of importance for fruits in Melomels is knowing the types of various malic and citric fruits or berries. Some malic fruits blend well with citric fruits and some citric fruits blend well with some malic fruits. Knowing these malic-citric blend combinations can also add some special flavors to your Mead.

    Here is a link from Spagnoles that has one of the most useful tables for making all kinds of Mead and wine. It is taken from an outstanding book another one of my left arms. The author (now deceassed) was a wine judge, teacher and naturalist - oustanding knowledge of wild berries. Here is the nuts and bolts of malic and citric fruit use and weather the fruits are malic or citric.






    Spice and Herb Preparation: Know before you use that the flower, herb or spices are safe to use. Some flowers and herbs are unsuitable for use and can be poisonous. Metheglins are especially useful in cooking (crock pots and basting). Also note that a Hippocras is a pyment with spices added and a pyment is a mixture of honey and grapes.
    There are many spices and herbs that can be use as Metheglins or Hippocras flavorings and the table below by no means is a compilation of them all. These herbs and spices can be infused in the must in a nylon straining bag or can be boiled and simmered with a small amount of water and the resulting liquid cooled and mixed in with the must. This spice or herb introduction can be undertaken either before the start of fermentation, during the secondary or in some cases post secondary. Below are some of the spices or herbs that can be used and approximate estimate of how much to use. We always remember that the taste rules as the overall control and that some of the spices and herbs are very strong and require a very small amount to provide the flavoring desired. NOTE: Taste as you go (add a little taste a lot add a little taste again until you are satisfied.
    Before using the herbs and spices make sure that you have a plan of what you want to create. Using this skill to good perfection will take some experience and trials and errors. Oh if we were all chefs like our grandmothers and mothers – we seemed to have lost that skill – lost in the frequent travels to the nearby restaurants. We only know that our restaurant chef has used something special to enhance the flavor of our meal? I am not a chef and have just started out along this path. I have used vanilla and licorice root in some of my wines and mead making and other spices they add that something extra? But I think not for all? The small table below is a compilation from various books and recipes. Remember add small portions – taste – add more etc. till it suits your taste requirements. You will also find out that some of the flavors of the spices or herbs may be lost during a primary ferment – makes things complicated. Hope this small table is useful as a reference point of where to start.

    TABEL of SOME SPICES and HERBS USED for Metheglins or Hippocras
    SPICE OR HERB APPROXIMATE AMOUNT TO USE

    NUTS 50 grams per gallon/US GALLON all below
    CARAWAY SEEDS, CUMMIN Could try, how much? Taste as you go, color change?
    CARDAMON 1/8 teaspoon approx ½ oz per gallon
    CINNOMON STICKS 15-20 grams per gallon
    CLOVES – WHOLE 2-3 whole per gallon – very strong
    CLOVES GROUND 2.5 grams per gallon – very strong
    FENNEL ROOT 50-75 grams, seeds also OK 1/8 teaspoon per gallon
    GINGER 85-100 grams per gallon – to your taste
    NUTMEG 2-3 grams per gallon ground
    MINT 25 grams dried per gallon, ¼-1/2 cup loosely packed per gallon - taste as you go
    ROSE PETALS 1-2 liters of fragrant rose petals per gallon
    ROSE HIPS ½ lb per gallon dried taste as you go- not a favorite
    SAGE DRIED 50 grams per gallon
    SAGE FRESH 1 cup per gallon – to taste
    BASIL DRIED 50 grams per gallon dried,—can be over powering –
    Nice aroma
    BASIL FRESH 1.5 cups - can be over powering –
    Nice aroma – be careful with this
    VANILLA BEAN 1-2 fresh vanilla beans split open, flavor in the seeds, into
    Secondary ferment for 10-14 days
    ZEST (PEEL) 2-3 fruits per gallon
    ANISE – STAR FLOWER 2-3 per gallon
    LICORICE ROOT 4-6 inch long split in secondary ferment for 10-14 days
    TEA HERB 2-8 bags per gallon, jasmine stronger- 2bags, hibiscus flower up to 8 bags
    EARL GREY , ORANGE PECO 2-3 bags
    HIBISCUS FLOWERS dry these- 10-15 grams
    BAY LEAVES 2-3 per gallon
    ALL SPICE 2-2.5 grams per gallon
    JUNIPER BERRIES use dried and crushed very strong, 2-4 berries per gallon,
    Not everyone’s taste



    Below is a photo of the pH and acid testing meters and solutions that I use. The pen pH meter cost approximately 50$-125$ and yes the professional labs and wineries use meters that cost 1000$ + but the small pent type work exceptionaly well for us home mead and wine makers. No more struggling to determine when the color change happens with an acid testing - with these pen meters your acid test kit(s) become relics. They are simple to use with some experience and require maintenance and calibrations to give accurate results. I use them for all and it is another one of my left arms.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by StockeyDAW; 02-02-2008, 03:35 AM.
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