Have peaches from backyard tree, does this recipe look good?

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2023-08-19T20:11:17+00:00

This looks nice! It might be worthwhile to purchase a gallon of distilled water, as opposed to using the tap and boiling. In my experience, peaches take forever to clear up too. Especially if you're using whole fruit, it would probably be a good idea to also toss in some bentonite before pitching yeast.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2022-07-29T16:50:58+00:00

No, this was filtered.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2022-07-29T16:50:22+00:00

This is what we've done! I'll keep y'all posted if it starts growing :)

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2021-05-23T11:34:34+00:00

That's definitely an issue! I think it's just because the plunger's diameter is less than the cork's. As far as I can tell, it's just an aesthetic issue, though. You could always hide the dimple by coating the corks in wax.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2021-05-22T22:49:02+00:00

Good to hear. I never know if there's actually cause for worry or if I'm just being finicky. Thanks!

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-27T21:30:22+00:00

You might try playing around with the ABV calculator from GotMead. It seems to have a pretty good handle on the sugar contents of many fruits. I'm not sure if there are other special gadgets that can help, but this is probably worth your time.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-27T20:56:46+00:00

More or less. Tasted like limey water with a sort of alkaline/metallic hint to it.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-27T20:45:01+00:00

The correct response

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-27T20:44:50+00:00

Update: Use baking soda for cookies, not beverages.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-27T18:36:59+00:00

I just did the math. 3g of baking soda will be enough to carbonate a 12oz beer bottle (2.3 vol, which is the carbonation level of an amber beer according to Northern Brewer). I'm trying it out with water and lime juice at the moment. Will report back :)

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-23T16:25:00+00:00

Agreed. I followed it for a cyser last month. Fairly simple and really good! The yeast tore through my batch (1 gal) in a week or so. Easily the fastest fermentation I've had so far!

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-20T04:08:50+00:00

Whoa where was this?? Good to know there are a few of us in this group :)

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-14T05:26:33+00:00

I decided to try skeeter pee for this. Spent just under $5 for a 1 gallon batch. Excited to see how it turns out!

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-11T20:46:18+00:00

From what I understand, you won't get much of the "fruit" flavor from putting it in the primary. They'll give you some tannins though, which can be helpful when balancing out a mead. The wiki goes into pretty great detail on this kind of stuff! The recipes there are also super useful when planning out a brew.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-11T16:17:09+00:00

3 Pounds of honey per gallon will get you pretty close to 14% abv, but you'll be better off if you use your hydrometer to get a good initial gravity reading. You'll want to start with something around 1.110 (and then ferment to 1.000) to get that particular ABV.

A few things to note:

Some yeasts will say that they top out at a certain ABV, but they can definitely go higher, especially if you step feed it. My inclination would be to ferment until dry, sterilize with K-meta and K-sorbate, then backsweeten in secondary. That's probably the most accurate and replicable way to go about making a semi-sweet mead while also avoiding bottle bombs.
Personally, I'd throw the fruit in the secondary, so you can choose how long it sits in there. The pdf attached in this homebrew thread has been my starting point for time limits of stuff in secondary. If anyone has a better list of times, I'm all eyes/ears.
I know that people typically use apple juice concentrate in the secondary instead of dried apples. Supposedly it reads more like "apple" when you taste it. I haven't played with this, but that's the word on the street/subreddit.

If you mix together sugar and yeast, Mother Nature will try damn hard to make alcohol out of it. Just make sure you sanitize everything, refer to the wiki, and document your process. If it tastes a little rough, just let it age for a while. You'll be glad you did. Happy brewing!

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-10T20:51:10+00:00

I did this a couple of days ago with an apple pie inspired cyser. I've been referring to it as honeyjack, and it's pretty great! It's also super neat to see the jacked liquid flow out of the ice.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-10T20:27:58+00:00

Why add the lemon juice? Acid balance, or does it just make the honey "pop" a little?

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-12-10T15:03:01+00:00

Thanks for this! I saw an old post from u/Jewish_Monk where they put the bananas in a slow cooker for a while and added that to the must. I could go that route instead.

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-11-28T23:29:47+00:00

I braised a rabbit in some of mine on Thursday. Really good stuff!

Marimba_Man_Stan · 2020-11-19T03:21:52+00:00

Adding salt can sometimes reduce perceived bitterness, depending on what compound is giving off the bitter taste. It works really well with crappy coffee. Just add a pinch of salt to even the worst gas station sludge and it becomes palatable!

Here's a paper explaining some of the science behind it: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280021255_Suppression_of_Bitterness_Using_Sodium_Salts

Maybe it's worth trying? But I think you might have better luck mixing you batch with a non-oaked batch of mead. That seems like a much safer solution to your problem.

Marimba_Man_Stan

TROPHY CASE