I want to make an apricot-vanilla mead using dried apricots. If you have tried this, what is the weight per gallon of dried apricots that you used? One recipe I found uses 1 lb. of dried apricots per gallon of mead.
Apricot Mead from Dried Apricots
- Thread starter Raptor99
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
If you can't get a recipe, lookup a fresh-to-dried weight ratio, and use a fresh apricots recipe to determine how much dried to add.
Checked my dozens of books. Sorry, no apricot mead recipes. A boatload of apricot wine recipes, though. 1 lb dried was the minimum and most common, one called for 1.5 lbs, another 1 lb dried and 3 lbs fresh. Hope this helps. It sounds great, good luck!
I found two answers here: Here's How to Find out How Many Apricots Are in a Pound
* 6 pounds fresh apricots = 1 pound dried apricots
* 1 pound fresh apricots = 8 to 12 whole fruits
I think that apricots are dried whole, so I can count out 10 dried apricots and see if they weigh 1/6 of a lb. I just like to cross-check things.
I plan to put some dried apricots in primary. If the apricot flavor is too weak, I'll add more in secondary. That way I can adjust if needed. Also, the fruit in primary vs. secondary gives a different flavor profile, so why not do both?
I did some checking also and found a couple mentions that 5.5 lbs fresh = 1 lb dried. I'm sure what each of us found was an approximation so at least we have a good ballpark number.
What I found interesting, though, is that apricots destined to be dried are picked later meaning they're riper with more flavor. I'll keep that in mind when I eventually tackle my apricot wine.
What I found interesting, though, is that apricots destined to be dried are picked later meaning they're riper with more flavor. I'll keep that in mind when I eventually tackle my apricot wine.
It appears that 1 lb dried apricots per gallon is a good amount. I'd chop them for best extraction. Macerating post-fermentation with an additional 1/4 lb per gallons seems like a good guestimate -- well, at least to me.
My dad always had a bottle of apricot brandy in the house, and as an adult I make it from extract. I'm thinking of buying a pound of dried and adding a couple of 1.75 liter bottles of brandy to it with a 3 month maceration. Post-maceration, the fruit should be tasty as well.
My dad always had a bottle of apricot brandy in the house, and as an adult I make it from extract. I'm thinking of buying a pound of dried and adding a couple of 1.75 liter bottles of brandy to it with a 3 month maceration. Post-maceration, the fruit should be tasty as well.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Right now I'm thinking that apricots + vanilla + honey is going to be an awesome flavor combination.
My other question is whether I should do some extra back sweetening and make it a dessert mead. Once it is ready to bottle, I can taste is with various amounts of added honey.
My other question is whether I should do some extra back sweetening and make it a dessert mead. Once it is ready to bottle, I can taste is with various amounts of added honey.
Is drunken fruit ever not tasty?
Colorful dried apricots have sulfites added, brown and ugly do not. Just something to be aware of.
I am aware of that. The ones with sulfites usually taste better. The skeeter pee recipe uses Real Lemon lemon juice, which contains sulfites. So if I use sulfited apricots, I will need to take similar extra measures to get fermentation started:Is drunken fruit ever not tasty?
Colorful dried apricots have sulfites added, brown and ugly do not. Just something to be aware of.
* Cold soak for 24 hours, stirring frequently (just like we do when we add Kmeta before fermentation--we add sulfites too!)
* Make a yeast starter, and add some must a little at a time to acclimate the yeast to a challenging environment
Interesting that you think the sulfited taste better. I may have to do some taste testing. Do you remember the brand? So many seem to be sourced from Turkey.
Yeah, I know, sulfites are no big deal to most of us here.
I was at Kroger this morning and the Mariani brand has vegetable oil and sulphur dioxide and sodium bisulfite and potassium sorbate!
It makes sense. The sulfited fruit will taste fresher since sulfur is a preservative.
Emphasis mine. Those oil and sorbate are the problems.
Yup.
RTFM comes to mind but in this case it's RTFP where "P" is package. You know what the other letters stand for.
Current supply chain has lots of Turkish. The California dried apricot seems sharper with more fruity notes.
Apricots that are not sulfited will have more of a brown color and be drier. The picture on the bag looks like unsufited apricots. Bright orange dried apricots are all sulfited. The sulfites help to prevent oxidation, which gives them a brown color.
I'm wondering if oxidation in the fruit will affect the wine's color. I suspect it will.
