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Pomegranate Mead
Hello Everyone,
So its that time of year again and pomegranates are in season. They are really expensive at the store, about $2.00 at Safeway, but I happen to have an aunt that has a pomegranate tree in her backyard. This year, the pomegranates were especially large, and having starting my mead making hobby after last years pomes were ready, I decided to give a pomegranate mead a try! Now, I personally love pomegranates, but they can be big pain the rear! Well, not really. I did spent about two hours setting free the seeds and avoiding as much white membrane as possible. I then picking out all of the white stuff I could. All in all I probably I got about 3/4 a gallon of seeds, and about a 1/3 gallon of juice once I crushed them. Since I was working so much with the fruit, I decided to hit the mead with campden tablets to ensure nothing else starts growing in there. Well, the hydro test only tasted like honey, but I believe that once the sweetness diminishes, the pomegranate flavor with shine through, we will see anyways! Here’s the recipe:
8 lbs StarThisle Honey (all I had on hand)
9 large pomegranates
2 teaspoons yeast energizer
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient (DAP)
3 Campden Tablets
2.5 gallons filtered water
OG - 1.090
Yeast- Undecided as of yet, was thinking about the d-47, but after reading that comparison between yeasts (that Dave in Indiana posted), I'm leaning towards the RC 212. Any input or opinions would be great on this aspect.
I believe that the pomegranate contributed an amount of sugar equal to about a half a lb of honey.
Anyone else interested in this brew? I would have preferred to have added the fruit to the secondary, but I didn't think to make this till the last minute and had to go with it since the fruit is ripe! I guess this can be one of those annual brews!
Hey conner,
It’s still aging in bulk. Never did clarify, super hazy. Haven’t tasted it, figure I should go ahead and bottle it now. It definitely took off like a rocket when it fermented, I added the fruit in the primary. I'll bottle and let you know.
Thanks!!
Hello conner,
I haven’t tried it yet, but the pomegranate had a bit more sugar than I thought, I could smell the alcohol when I racked it, but I'm sure it will mellow and be quite good, hopefully...
Best of Luck!!!
It sounds very interesting.
Would any of the health benefits associated with pomegranate survive the alcohol?
i could not get your point ricardo what you want to ask can you explain in some detail ?
and what the health issue ?
oh wow, this sounds so good! I can't wait to hear how it turns out!
I think what Ricardo's asking is whether those health benefits associated with pomegranets, such as antioxidants and vitamins, will still be present in the finished mead.
I'm curious about that myself, especially in light of my plans for elderberry mead. Elderberries are supposed to be really good for you, too.
I think sustained boiling might break down some vitamins, but I don't know for sure.
I'm thinking of making a pomegranate mead myself. Like you, I think the juice would be best. If you don't get a big enough fruit profile in the mead there are lots of pomegranate juices available on the market now. You could punch up the fruitiness with an organic juice.
I wouldn't boil the juice but add it to the hot honey and water mixture to pasturize it. This might keep some of the benefits of the juice (ie. vitamins) intact. Like any fermenting beverage, keep it out of the light, this will also help preserve the antioxidants.
Also, If you decide to add some acid to the mead to you can try ascorbic rather than citric, malic or tartaric. Ascorbic has some antioxidant properties.
Cheers,
MzIce
Hey Conner, I assume the recipe is for 3 gallons? Also, if we use the organic juice, how much would we need for the flavor?
I got my batch going on Nov. 11th. I ended up with a 3 gallon carboy of the good looking must, and 1 gallon of cloudy must. I'm planning to use the 1 gallon to top off the 3 gallon carboy when I rack to another carboy. The 1 gallon carboy has cleared up really nice in the intervening two months. It has about an inch of sediment, where as the 3 gallon only has a quarter inch.
The recipe for those interested:
Pomegranate Mead
3 gal Pomegranate Juice
1 gal Spring Water
3/5 gallon Wildflower Honey
1 oz. Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
3 Campden Tablets
Yeast Starter
1 C boiled Spring Water
1 C Orange Juice
1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient
Yeast: Lalvin Bourgovin RC212
General Instructions:
Use fresh pomegranates. Release the seeds from the rind, then juice. This step took about a week and I froze the first gallon I got juiced. Heat honey and spring water to 170*, pour honey into primary with 3 gallons of pomegranate juice, add yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and Campden tablets. Make the yeast starter, adding the yeast after the liquid has cooled. Aerate the must vigorously. Pitch the yeast starter 24 hours after the Campden tablets were added to the must. Give the must a stir once or twice a day. When the must stops foaming each time it is stirred, let it sit for another day and then rack off the lees to the secondary.
This process took approximately 12 days, after the week of juicing the pomegranates. Pomegranate mead is time and labor intensive.....Not for the faint of heart! The yeast I used is a red wine yeast that sounded interesting. It has a very vigorous fermentation. It makes a very healthy starter and I was seeing initial signs of fermentation within 24 hours of pitching.
I'll post again when I've racked, and let you know what adjustments I make to the flavor.
Cheers,
MzIce
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