Light carbonated grocey store pineapple melomel

For those making mead and related drinks
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Laripu
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Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:24 am
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA

Light carbonated grocey store pineapple melomel

Post by Laripu » Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:23 pm

Made approx 14 litres.
5 lbs of bog-standard grocery store honey.
Two cans of these canned pineapple chunks ... yes that's over 3 kg of pineapple and juice in total. :)

I boiled 11 litres of water with yeast nutrient and half a teaspoon of Marmite (great nutrient), took it off the heat, added the honey and stirred to mix, let it sit 15 minutes, then force cooled.

While it was cooling, I added the first can of pineapple chunks and juice to a sanitized 19 litre glass carboy.

After the honey water had cooled, I added that to the carboy.

I pitched the yeast: two packs of rehydrated Lallemand EC-1118 (Prise de Mousse). Fermentation was at room temperature, 77°F during the day, 73°F at night. (25°C / 23°C. I'm in Florida, after all. I'm grateful for AC.) After primary fermentation was over, I added the second can of chunks/juice and let it restart fermentation.

After that restarted fermentation was over, I siphoned to an 11-litre glass carboy. The remaining sediment and some liquid was poured through a boiled cloth bag into a large pot, to recover liquid trapped in the pulp. I got another 3 + litres, which went into a 1 gal (US) glass demijohn. (The pulp was used as a marinade for beef and pork chunks, which were made into a stew. Tasty. :) )

I allowed it to age and cast sediment for 3.5 months. I bottled with some sugar for carbonation, then let it bottle age and carbonate for a month.

Verdict: WalesAles would say "BLM"! It's about 8%, carbonated, tastes lightly of pineapple, sufficiently acidic (without any added acids) and great both at refigerator temperatures, and also as it warms. Even SWMBO likes it. We're drinking it right now.

For more pineapple flavour, next time I might add some. flavouring concentrate at bottling. Maybe.

Next: Today I pitched K-97 yeast on my Cats and Myces strong blond. In planning are scotch ale, followed eventually by banana melomel.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

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