SerifSansSerif
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- Nov 6, 2015
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So I guess this is my first time posting, though I've lurked from time to time here.
This year, I was looking for something a bit more challenging than the typical hard ciders that I've been doing over the years, and decided to go for a blackberry melomel.
Thus far I've got about 12 pounds of blackberry honey on order, and a can of blackberry puree, which I was hoping would work well in lieu of fresh or frozen blackberries (which are difficult enough to find around me, and definitely aren't in season in November (though the spots of 70 degree weather have me wondering if I may be wrong).
So far, I've been able to find some great advice by perusing the previous topics, but I haven't been able to find much info on two things in particular.
1. I was investigating a few different strains of yeast, and stumbled upon the Lalvin BM 4x4, which supposedly works well for white wines as well as reds, and has some nice words in its description indicating that it might really work well with the honey ("floral notes" are supposedly preserved with it in white wines, and it may be expecting a bit much, but perhaps this might work the same?) as well as the blackberries (it has a lovely description of working great with berry wines as well).
I'm not horribly opposed to a more wine like melomel (though I don't want to destroy the honey's nuances completely), and probably would err slightly on the dryer side, but still want it to have some sweetness.
(and yes, the yeast is needy when it comes to nutrients, and honey has none, so I suspect a little bit extra nutrient will be expected. I also read about its "assist" in malo-lactic fermentation, but have also seen some melomel makers that have said it has been a "good" thing for their brews... in particular blackberry melomels have reported this).
Does anyone have any experience making a mead or melomel with this strain (Lalvin BM 4x4)? If so, what do you think I might be able to expect?
2. My experience with cider has been that it's a ***** to arrest the brewing process completely unless you let it run completely dry, or you just happily have a strain that cold crashes well (neither of which I have cared much for or had much success with). This year, I'm hoping to try pasteurizing my bottles.
Has anyone tried this with mead? Anything that you might expect to happen if you were to pasteurize?
(I'd also like this wind up sparkling, and as I said with just enough sweetness and without being absolutely bone dry.)
Thanks in advance for any help you can toss my way!
This year, I was looking for something a bit more challenging than the typical hard ciders that I've been doing over the years, and decided to go for a blackberry melomel.
Thus far I've got about 12 pounds of blackberry honey on order, and a can of blackberry puree, which I was hoping would work well in lieu of fresh or frozen blackberries (which are difficult enough to find around me, and definitely aren't in season in November (though the spots of 70 degree weather have me wondering if I may be wrong).
So far, I've been able to find some great advice by perusing the previous topics, but I haven't been able to find much info on two things in particular.
1. I was investigating a few different strains of yeast, and stumbled upon the Lalvin BM 4x4, which supposedly works well for white wines as well as reds, and has some nice words in its description indicating that it might really work well with the honey ("floral notes" are supposedly preserved with it in white wines, and it may be expecting a bit much, but perhaps this might work the same?) as well as the blackberries (it has a lovely description of working great with berry wines as well).
I'm not horribly opposed to a more wine like melomel (though I don't want to destroy the honey's nuances completely), and probably would err slightly on the dryer side, but still want it to have some sweetness.
(and yes, the yeast is needy when it comes to nutrients, and honey has none, so I suspect a little bit extra nutrient will be expected. I also read about its "assist" in malo-lactic fermentation, but have also seen some melomel makers that have said it has been a "good" thing for their brews... in particular blackberry melomels have reported this).
Does anyone have any experience making a mead or melomel with this strain (Lalvin BM 4x4)? If so, what do you think I might be able to expect?
2. My experience with cider has been that it's a ***** to arrest the brewing process completely unless you let it run completely dry, or you just happily have a strain that cold crashes well (neither of which I have cared much for or had much success with). This year, I'm hoping to try pasteurizing my bottles.
Has anyone tried this with mead? Anything that you might expect to happen if you were to pasteurize?
(I'd also like this wind up sparkling, and as I said with just enough sweetness and without being absolutely bone dry.)
Thanks in advance for any help you can toss my way!