[erockrph]

I thought I'd start up a thread because I'm getting some good results while I'm trying to dial in this recipe, and there may be useful info for others here.

I'm started to get back into meadmaking with some small (1-gallon) batches of some meads using various tropical fruits. I'm shooting for something in the ballpark of an off-dry white wine in the 9-10% ABV range. Something refreshing to drink a glass or two of with lunch or dinner, but still be able to get stuff done around the house afterwards. I'm admittedly too lazy to be bothered with gravity readings, but my target SG is in the 1.070ish range, for a ballpark of 9-10% ABV.

I'm using dry Lutra as my yeast (about 1/3 pack for a 1-gallon batch). I used it the first time out of curiosity, but I am so happy with the results I've been getting that I decided to stick with it for all of these batches. The finished mead still has some residual sweetness and body, the fermentation character is great, and it ferments quick at room temp. The only thing I'm noting is that I find myself wanting a little more acidity, but this is easily adjusted post-fermentation. Turnaround is quite quick, about 30 days from pitch to bottling.

For fruit, I've been using frozen Goya fruit pulp so far. These are in 14oz packs in the freezer of many supermarkets that carry a decent selection of Hispanic foods. I'm trying to talk myself into biting the bullet on shipping costs, and ordering some Aseptic Fruit Purees for future batches. I've been adding this in primary after about 5-7 days, once the peak of fermentation has slowed down a bit. My goal is to try to ferment out the fruit sugars without blowing off too much of the fruit aromatics.

Here are my batches so far:

#1 - Passionfruit
One 14 oz pack of Passionfruit pulp
2 lb Orange Blossom Honey
7 pints filtered tap water (I have a relatively soft well, YMMV)
After primary - rack, sulfite, sorbate, backsweetened with ~1/3 lb honey, fine with Sparkolloid, bottle

Tasting notes: Has some fruit character, but hard to pick up as "Passionfruit". A bit sweeter than I anticipated, and could use more acidity for balance. That was surprising to me seeing how tart passionfruit can be. Taste and appearance very reminiscent of a glass of Riesling. For German wine drinkers, I was shooting for Kabinett, but this was more Auslese. Otherwise, this is still really good and very encouraging that I'm in the right ballpark already.

#2 - Passionfruit/Mango
One 14 oz pack of Mango pulp
One 14 oz pack of Passionfruit pulp
2 lb Orange Blossom Honey
7 pints filtered tap water
After primary - rack, sulfite, sorbate, backsweetened with ~2 oz honey, adjusted acidity with 2 ice cubes of lime juice, fine with Sparkolloid, wait, fine with Sparkolloid again, bottle

Tasting notes: It is fruitier than batch #1, but still not as fruit-forward as I was looking for. Mango is mostly there on the nose, flavor is more generic winy/fruity/tropical. You don't get a lot of flavor on the palate that specifically says "Mango!" or "Passionfruit!". Despite using less honey to backsweeten and adding lime juice for acidity, I'm still finding the sweetness/acidity balance closer to the sweet side than what I'm shooting for. Still, it's dangerously drinkable, and getting closer to my target.

#3 - Guava
Two 14 oz pack of Guava pulp (5 days after pitch)
One 14 oz pack of Guava pulp (to backsweeten after stabilizing in primary)
2 lb Orange Blossom Honey
7 pints filtered tap water
Since I'm backsweetening with more pulp, I hit it in primary with sulfite/sorbate, then added more pulp to primary to minimize need for multiple rackings.

I haven't tasted this one yet to see if it needs more acidity. I just racked to secondary and I'm letting the fruit and yeast settle a bit before I take a sample.

#4 - Soursop (aka guanabana)
Three 14 oz packs of Soursop pulp
2 lb Orange Blossom Honey
8 pints filtered tap water (extra pint of water to account for volume loss and extra gravity from increased fruit pulp amount)

I just started this one last night. Fruit pulp will be added next week.

[pete b]

I will be following this. I am about to order a few 1.5 gallon beverage containers for experimental batches and side by sides. I will be experimenting with Kviek Voss in meads this summer although it’s hard to imagine being happier than I am with 71b.
I am not into tropical fruits but my general experience with fruits that don’t have strong flavors and aren’t tart s that large amounts are needed, like 2 or 3 pounds per gallon.
I have been using kietesol and chitosan along with betonite for finings lately togood effect. I posted a couple pics in pics of recent brews.

[erockrph]

I will be following this. I am about to order a few 1.5 gallon beverage containers for experimental batches and side by sides. I will be experimenting with Kviek Voss in meads this summer although it’s hard to imagine being happier than I am with 71b.
I am not into tropical fruits but my general experience with fruits that don’t have strong flavors and aren’t tart s that large amounts are needed, like 2 or 3 pounds per gallon.
I have been using kietesol and chitosan along with betonite for finings lately togood effect. I posted a couple pics in pics of recent brews.

I've been using a 2 gallon bucket with a spigot for my primary and 1 gallon jugs for secondary. It's a pretty convenient setup for no-fuss mini batches.

I had never used sparkolloid before, but I'm a believer. It's been taking multiple doses because of the large amount of fruit pulp in these meads, but I just might need to increase my dosage rate. The first time I used it my mead went from murky to clear overnight.

[erockrph]

I just added the soursop to batch #4 tonight. I've never tasted/smelled soursop before, and it is quite interesting. It has elements of mango, tangerine, overripe peaches, and tangerine. There is a bit of a funky/woody/earthy smell that caught me off guard. It is much more pronounced in the aroma than the flavor. It will be interesting to see how this turns out after fermentation.