Mead Final Gravity vs Fruit for Big Melomels

[BeerSmith]

I've been making some big fruity sweet meads (having fun) and found that the finished balance of acidity/tannins/sweetness is highly dependent on the fruit used.  Highly acidic/tannic fruits need a lot more sweetness to offset them. So I've been working to try to target my FG around the fruits used, though obviously that is challenging as it means really high starting gravities.

So I was wondering if anyone else had practical experience making big melomels with lots of fruit and high starting/finishing gravities and also what FG worked well for a given fruit?

Brad

[TheSnair]

Hey Brad,

I'm just starting out with mead and have been wondering about this myself. Also does Beersmith 2.3 have a calculator that can factor in whole fruits to get your starting gravity and your final gravity? There are calculators for plain mead but nothing for fruit additions. Whole fruits doesn't release their water and sugar until after fermentation starts.

Thanks, Jerry

[BeerSmith]

Actually I'm working on a new addition to support meads/fruits/wines/etc... in the next release.  Hope to have it out this fall.

Having made a lot of mead the best way to measure whole fruit is to crush some into a juice and measure the gravity of the juice, then use that as your input for sugar content/brix levels.

Brad

[mr_beer]

I have reasonable experience in mead making -- not an expert but certainly not a novice. 

I have a fairly extensive spreadsheet process for designing and making meads along with at least two nutrient protocols. 

If you need an alpha or beta tester for your next release with mead and cider as new additions let me know. 

[smoutela]

Hi Brad. Sergio here from Melovino Meadery.
In this update, could you offer an option to account for the amount of honey entered to affect the Total Water Needed?

12 lbs of honey = 1 gallon

[BeerSmith]

Yes those features are in the new version.

Brad

[GigaFemto]

How about the same for liquid and dry malt extract for beer? For partial mashes or for a big beer with a lot of extract added to keep the grain bill manageable (for BIABers with limited lifting capability), the volume of the extract makes a difference. I have my own spreadsheet to calculate this, but I would love to be able to stop using it and do everything in BeerSmith.

--GF

[BeerSmith]

Yes - the new version will show volumes for each ingredient and has different displays for all grain, mead, extract, etc...showing the volumes including the extract.

Brad

[Erosion]

Looking forward to the new software cheers for all of the work Brad

[kimmysawi]

Hey Brad,

I'm just starting out with mead and have been wondering about this myself. Also does Beersmith 2.3 have a calculator that can factor in whole fruits to get your starting gravity and your final gravity? There are calculators for plain mead but nothing for fruit additions. Whole fruits doesn't release their water and sugar until after fermentation starts.


read giannasgrille blog
Thanks, Jerry

This was just like a JERRY well still that melomels can include the big fruits or the final segment yo ^^