watermelon and blackberry...

It's been quite a while since I've been here OR the other forums, and probably just as long since anything but air has been in primary.

Today we have 2 (about 65 lbs) of watermelon in an unknown variety. I believe one is black diamond and the other is the unknown, from a roadside stand out in the sticks and just said watermelon...it kinda looked like an oblong green pumpkin. I'm using pure juice from the melon. I'm using pure melon juice (which came two about 2 gals.) the only added water will be what little I use to invert enough sugar to bring the Potential to 18%. I'll be using (don't you scoff) lalvin 1118. I put two K-meta tabs in the drink tonight, then added 1 quart of black berries from the local fruit farm...they look hazy below 'cuz they's frozen. I saved all the mush from the melons and have that freezing. I'll use that to backsweeten this rocket fuel. I'll drop half a banana in the water/sugar mix while inverting the sugar for yeast nutrient. I had a real nice rhino fart with some strawberry I did a year or so ago...but jacking and time saved the strawberry, it was VERY nice.

No scoffing. 1118 is a great choice for this. Watermelon juice tends to spoil quickly, so you want the fermentation to be done sooner rather than later. The alcohol will help preserve it and prevent that rotten watermelon taste. Also, I don't know how much acid is in watermelon juice, but you'll likely need to add some. Do you have a way to test the acid?

no I don't have acid test equipment, but I did notice quite a few recipes on Jack Keller's site call for zest and juice of lemon...I assume for acid content...I may add some, but I also thought the blackberry might contain a bit more than the melon itself. I could just give it a dose of acid blend for good measure and skip the lemon. As far as spoilage go, I have my primary sitting right in front of an AC unit. Hopefully that will help it keep during the sterilization period. 1118 is my staple yeast, I do a lot of apple wine at the 18% mark and it has never failed, and i rack it a LOT and bulk age it for at least 6 months after the last rack, then bottle for up to another year (if I don't drink it all already lol)

ok, so today i added the sugar and banana. I only added about 3-31/2 cups water and a very large pour from a 25lb bag of sugar, I was just kinda guessing. I'd guess 3-5 lbs and inverted. Anyway, OG is 1.104. the must was around 65F before adding the invert, that brought the temps up to 90F!!!...ACK!!! Ahhh well, back in front of the AC. As soon as all these dang kids get out of my spacially challenged kitchen...I'll add some lemon zest and juice, and a dose of tannin. Then pitch the yeast...1118 will handle the high temp and kick off fermentation guickly.
Its calculated to hit 14.1 ABV I think I'll leave it right there instead of going all the way to 18. I added 1 tsp pectic enzyme and 1 tsp tannin and pitched the yeasties.....hang on!

well, here we are...oooohhhh just a few more weeks!!!! Can hardly wait, October will be 1 year in the bottle, hope all is well