Elderberry Melomel

[SPAF]

Just racked to secondary the following mead. Any constructive comments for recipe tweaking would be great (note: this was my first mead).

Elder Melomel
14SEP2013
5-gallons

Ingredients:
2Lbs Elderberries, dried
12Lbs. (1 Gal.) Honey, Clover
3 Tablets K-MetaBiSulf
2.5 Tsp. Pectinase
4-Gal. Water
5 Tsp yeast nutrient (DAP) in 1/3 staggered additions during primary ferment.

Data
SG(adj): 1.095 = 12.5% PA
pH:4.5

Soak must 24 hours for pectinase reactions.

Primary Ferment
1st 1/3 yeast nutrient addition.
Make yeast starter: Red Star Montrachet and must/water mixture.
Ferment to dry. (Predicted 12.5% ABV)
Add 2nd 1/3 yeast nutrient on day 3, and final 3rd yeast nutrient addition on day 5.

Day 3:
SG: 1.020
pH: 4.5
Temp (°F): 81

Day 4:
SG: 1.006
Temp: 73°F (cooled using evaporation system)

Day 6: (19Sep2013)
SG: 1.002
Temp: 72.9°F
ABV: 12.2%

Day 8:
SG 1.001

Day 9: 22September2013
SG: 1.001
Rack to Carboy (5-gallons)
1 tablet K-MetaBiSulf (Campden)
1.5 oz. American Oak cubes; Medium toast

 

[Deezil]

The only thing I would have done, would to add more fruit until the pH dropped to 3.2-3.4

4.5 is pretty high for wine

 

[SPAF]

Ya I agree. However, my thought process was that Elderberry isn't very acidic on it's own, so I'd have to add other fruits like blackberry to bring in more acid. I wanted to stay pure Elder though, so the plan is to add acid blend during taste-testing before bottling. Wine will go into bottle aging with corrected pH.

 

[fatbloke]

You can still add more fruit now for a more fruity flavour and a bit more colour. Pectolase would be added at twice the unfermented must suggestion......

And check which is the predominant acid in elderberry, rather than just a straight blend of the usual 3.....

 

[SouthernChemist]

I think the dominant acid in elderberries is citric acid.

 

[fatbloke]

I think the dominant acid in elderberries is citric acid.

Seems its citric then malic.....

I'd likely use 2 parts citric and 1 part malic but I'd be adding in small increments as itd be easy to go over the top and end up with a lemony sort of hint......

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

32 ounces of elderberries in 5 gals of mead is good, more than that and its almost to much flavor, less and it can become just a table wine. I have seen people post that elderberries are acidic, maybe some wild ones are but the different varieties we have growing at our farm are not very acidic at all, tannic yet but not acidic. I wonder if some folks confuse the tannin toungue reaction with acid? I think one of our best ever wines is our dried elderberry so I personally believe you made a fantastic choice to start with. We usually simmer the berries for about 20 minutes gently, cool and add pectinase overnight. You guys are just tossing them into the water? Did you use the berries in another mead, they can easily usually add some color and tannins to the next batch to. The oak goes very good in an elderberry mead. GOOD LUCK WVMJ

 

[SPAF]

Eh, I don't want to add fruit after primary. That would cause a different flavor profile than I'm looking for. I want a dry mead.

 

[SPAF]

I added the dried elderberries in a big mesh bag. The bag went straight into the honeywater must and soaked with pectinase.

Thanks for the comments all.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

hey SPAF, a seconds wine is when you take the remains of the fruit you used in the first wine and make a second weaker wine from it, dried elderberries do this very well, lots of flavor still in those little suckers even after you left them in for a while. We would sometimes add a gallon of water at 1.095, then add the used fermented dried berries complete with their yeasts of course, let them ferment that gallon and remove the berries and get a gallon of seconds wine, useful for topping off. I also sometimes put in a LOT of oak, overoaking that little gallon of seconds wine, makes it useful as a topper to add not only a little color but some oak to. What you have now is going to turn out very well, the seconds is just another way to stretch the elders. WVMJ

 

[fatbloke]

hey SPAF, a seconds wine is when you take the remains of the fruit you used in the first wine and make a second weaker wine from it, dried elderberries do this very well, lots of flavor still in those little suckers even after you left them in for a while. We would sometimes add a gallon of water at 1.095, then add the used fermented dried berries complete with their yeasts of course, let them ferment that gallon and remove the berries and get a gallon of seconds wine, useful for topping off. I also sometimes put in a LOT of oak, overoaking that little gallon of seconds wine, makes it useful as a topper to add not only a little color but some oak to. What you have now is going to turn out very well, the seconds is just another way to stretch the elders. WVMJ

Same applies to fresh 'ens too Jack. If you steam extract them, until there seems to be no more juice coming out, you can then add water and it still makes a perfectly acceptable must. Just start it in a bucket so there's enough room for all the pulp from the steam extractor, and it will happily make a pretty good brew.....

At worse, it will make a base red that's fine for topping up other batches of red, so that you don't dilute down any of the characteristics of other ingredients too much, with either the fruit flavour or a lack of alcohol in the top up liquid.......

 

[SPAF]

1-month notes--

Initial tasting yesterday of both the melomel and the straight wine (5-gallon each):

Elderberry essence really comes out with an awesome, dark hue. Smells pretty young still, as it should, but can tell it'll turn out great in 6 months. Taste of the mead was a bit rough; again rightfully so for being so immature. Definitely can pick up the slight oakiness that's coming through from the medium toast cubes. The wine has a pretty clean flavor, cleaner than any other wine I've made at this 1-month point. Not enough oak yet though, so at least another month on the cubes.

I had my wine-snob wanna-be brother taste test both as well, and he was blown away by the flavor profiles that this little fruit makes. He's definitely converted.

Next update in 30 days.
-Sean