# So, What'cha'all Got Fermenting?



## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

Where in PA are you? I used to work sales up there, lived around Hburg, Wmspt, Lwsbg.

Ginger, elderberry, mango, straight, texas brush, orange blossom, muscadine, pear, blueberry, apple-cinnamon, super sweet.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Last night I mixed up some concord grapes and honey.


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2006)

Right now I have:

1. Blueberry Mel (http://davespicks.com/writing/mme/cgmrecipe.html) 5gallons

2. Show Mead from Ken Shramm's book 5 gallons

3. JAO (Joe's Ancient Orange) mead. 1 gallon just for **** and giggles

4. Wild grape mead. 1 gallon. I found a wild grave vine in our back woods and used a few cups of crushed grapes. I'm really not sure how this is going to turn out. It took an hour to make so nothing lost.

I looked through Wild Wines and Mead's a few weeks ago. All the recipe's seemed very complicated. In addition to the normal stuff they all seemed to have acid blend, finnings, etc. I didn't buy it and got Ken Shramm's book instead. I've really liked the book so far, though I haven't tasted any of the mead yet.  He's very light on recipe's, but gives enough detail that you can create your own. I loved the section on yeasts and how to make sure they ferment your honey well.


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## AndrewSchwab (Dec 9, 2005)

simple dry mead, simple sweet mead, mango mead, strawberry mead, purple haze(multi berry 6+ different kinds of berrys) mead.

soon to start, peach, pyment. Grapes will be ready for the picking soon.


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## LMN (Aug 17, 2005)

*Sweet Wine*

8 kegs of Blackberry
3 kegs or Elderberry
1 Keg of Peach
2 1/2 Kegs of Rasin Jack
1 Keg of Red Raspberry
4 Kegs of Grape

About half of what I made last year the late spring Freeze really hurt the Fruit crop.
No Strawberry at all this year.


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## beaglady (Jun 15, 2004)

Nursebee, I'm about 1/2 hour north of Harrisburg.

[email protected], I've got the Ken Schramm book on order and am hoping it will have the rest of the explanations I need on sarting & finishing SG, and how to design my own recipes based on the end result I want. 

I'm expecting to get some peaches on Saturday from one of the vendors at my farmer's market, but I'm waiting til I get the new book before I decide exactly what I'm going to make with them.


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2006)

beaglady,

That's great that you're getting his book, I just finished it and I really enjoyed it. 

Let us know what you do with the peaches, that sounds really interesting. I did a little looking on gotmead and here is a recipe that seems simple enough, I like the fact that he follows it up with tips on how to improve it:

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&recipe_id=49&Itemid=6

Of course, if you want lots of peach flavour, you can just freeze them do a straight mead then add them to the secondary in 3-4 weeks. A million different combinations, so much fun. 

-Andrew


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2006)

Oh, and anyone else with ideas would be great too, I just bought 28lbs of peaches today so I'm open for ideas. We were at the farmers market near closing and they were on special.


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

*fermenting*

I have peach, apple wine going now. I am drinking the pineapple , cherry wine . I am a first year beek, so I dont have enough honey to make mead. Next year I will try. Cinnamon sticks in the second rack of strait apple wine, and using 3 lb of golden raisins with it, my best yet.


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## Jim Williamson (Feb 16, 2006)

5-gallon carboy, traditional mead, started New Years Day (getting there).

5-gallon carboy, scuppernong pyment, started New Years Day (ready for back sweetening)

6 gallons Chilean Cabernet (kit) in primary started 9/16

6 gallons California Chardonay (kit) in primary started 9/15

6 gallons Green Apple Riesling (kit) in primary started 9/15

This weekend, I'll start another scuppernong pyment. I hope to have enough picked for 3 gallons. I may start another traditional batch or two.

Jim


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## Lil' Rhody (Feb 13, 2007)

Hi Everyone,

I have 3 gals hardy kiwi melomel, 6 gals dandelion wine and 3 gal tomato wine.

Carolyn


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## Ruby (Jul 22, 2006)

This season my biggest batch was a 6 gallon batch that I split 6 ways and added 6 different yeasts to. One must, 6 yeasts. I wanted to learn more about how the yeast affects flavor.

Otherwise I have

2 gallons raspberry (added to fruit to secondary--yum!)
2 gallons orange spice
2 gallons very sweet prickly pear
5 gallons traditional semi sweet (just started for making melomels come spring)
1 gallon clover honey
1 gallon starthistle honey
1 gallon eucalyptus honey

Just bottled (from '06):
1 gallon elderflower
2 gallons lavender rosemary
1 gallon rose
1 gallon ginger peach
1 gallon mint
1 gallon starthistle


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I have three 5 gallon batches started. (6.5 gal. fermenters) I'm going to add fruit after I get the right mix for our taste.

1) 15 pounds honey, red star champayne yeast, starting gravity 1.110

2) 18 pounds honey, red star champayne yeast, starting gravity 1.132

3) 18 pounds honey, white labs WLP-720 yeast, starting gravity 1.132

All honey, a medium summertime blend.

Another visit to the brew store on Wednesday for some yeast, and I'll have two more started this weekend. Not sure what recipe.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Have three more 6.5 fermenters started.

1) 12 pounds very water white spring honey, red start champayne yeast, starting gravity 1.092

2) 15 pounds medium blend honey, Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, starting gravity 1.112

3) 18 pounds medium blend honey, WLP-720 yeast, starting gravity 1.130

As a side note.....#2 and #3 from this post are "no heat method". I hope I don't regret it... 

Just trying the different yeasts at different starting points. Went with a dry, medium, and sweet starting base.

The EC-1118 yeast started the earliest and fastest so far. 24 hours from start, it was better than a bubble a second though the lock.

This is Awsome!


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

just started 3 gallon concord grape mead. (pyment)

used 2 gallons (before crushing) of seedless concord grapes.

Has anyone used the seedless ones? I didn't know they where so sweet or I would not have bought them, but figured as long as I bought them I'd try them out.

Added 2 quarts of honey and water. Yep, over ambitious again. That made the hydrometer stand at attention way over 1.1. So I added a little more water to get it down to at least 1.1


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

I make a concord pyment with (gasp!) Welch's concentrate of all things. I love this pyment, and it's won regional awards in national competition more than once. Still tuning it. If your grapes have a good flavor, then good technique should get you a mead you'll enjoy.

BTW Bjorn, way to dive in! You'll enjoy years of fruits from your labors.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Thanks Ben.

Last night I mixed up from the "Compleat Meadmaker", the fall bounty cyzer. Made two 5 gallon batched with apple cider, honey, brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon sticks, and of course the yeast.

Next up...."Mango in your mouth". At least some combination of the fruits thats listed.
This reminds me of my first year in beekeeping when I would walk around the house in a daze, repeating over and over again..."Need more hives...need more honey, Need more hives, need more honey......"


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## beaglady (Jun 15, 2004)

Mike, 

You're cracking me up with the quantity of mead you're making. Will the annual Bjorn Apiaries picnic morph into Bjorn's Drunken Meadhall? As long as I don't have to wear a wench costume... Will we need to bring roasted deer haunches in place of a covered dish?


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