Fruit Juice

[JDWebb]

OK, I'm an expert now. I have my first gallon of JOMA, or JAMO, what is it?..Wait, JMOA, right? Whatever...its bubbling away after 2 days..

Now my mind is twerking off recipes...what is the thought about using fruit juice, I mean 100% real, unmolested, unmodified, chemical-free, no additional additives like boric acid, or antibacterial betamiacin or stuff?

I want to make a black currant mead (mainly because I have 2 32 oz bottles of the stuff) using just juice and honey and a bit of water to bring it up to a 1 gallon volume.

I have several yeasts on hand, the Fleischman's left over from the JOAN, D-47, and Lalvin 1118.

I am on my way to get a couple hundred pounds of honey tomorrow morning, and looking for suggestions on using fruit juice as a base.

Oh, and I have energizers, nutrients, rehydration stuff, and DAP I guess its called. And raisins...lots of raisins.

 

[nickwoo]

hundreds of pounds of honey! wow that is awesome. Where are you getting it?

 

[JDWebb]

Oh come now, did you really think I had THAT much money? I'm picking up something like 30 or 40 pounds of it from Bennett's Honey Farm in Fillmore, Ca. I've been getting it from there for years, and its good stuff.

 

[fatbloke]

I'd suggest that you used about half of the BC juice in primary (maybe 2/33rds max), about 3lb honey with the juice used and make that up to a gallon and measure it's gravity (maybe use 2lb honey first, then measure. You should be thinking along the lines of 1.100 to 1.110 sort of area for SG).

Yeast ? Meh! 1118 is a good yeast but I'm not a fan. It seems to ferment well but blows a lot of the flavour/aroma compounds straight out the airlock. D47 is good, but is known for fusels if fermented above 70F/21C.

The fleischmanns will work but likely finish a little lower alcohol.

One that works well with fruit is 71b-1122. That or K1-V1116 (it's up to you).........

Once your batch has finished fermenting, rack off the sediment, stabilise it, add the last of the BC juice and taste it so you know where it's at. If it needs a little honey to sweeten, do that.

Then let it sit under air lock to clear. If you make it in a bucket initially and find you have a bit much for a 1 gallon jug/carboy, put the extra bit in a pop/soda bottle in the fridge (squeeze out any excess air).

It's very handy for topping up after any racking to remove sediment/lees.

 

[JDWebb]

Thanks fatbloke, I'm going to give it a go. 1 gallon at a time for now, although I did pick up 32 pounds of honey this morning!

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure how acidic the fruit juice is but you do need to monitor the pH of the fermentation. Honey has no chemical buffers and so when the yeast get to work the pH can drop to levels that in fact stall the fermentation. You want to make sure that the pH stays above about 3.2 - below 3 and you will have problems. No expert in this area but K-carbonate I think is used AFTER you pitch the yeast... if the pH is too low...

 

[JDWebb]

How do you measure the PH? All I can think of is a pool kit...had one when we had a swimming pool when I was a kid...(geez, THAT was a million years ago...).

 

[JDWebb]

http://76.168.33.134:8080/video
Well, that didn't work...if you get bored to death, you can sit and watch my mead, and my cider bubble.
My Website

 

[MindenMan]

The most accurate way to check pH is with a meter, but there are a few strips that are pretty good. Make sure you get the ones mounted on the plastic film, not the paper backed ones.

 

[JDWebb]

Yes, I have read here somewhere that the paper ones could actually introduce bacteria. I guess the best place to start is my brew shop or a pool store.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

You'll definitely want to dilute that black currant juice. Black currants are a high acid fruit, they have something like 256 times the USRDA of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) per serving. How much you dilute is a matter of taste. You'll also want to decide when to add the juice. Do you want to add it to primary, secondary or tertiary? Or perhaps both primary AND tertiary? Do you want more of a fruit flavor or more of a honey flavor; or a nice balance between the two?

You might want to try a taste test with a 1/2 pint of juice & add water to it until the dilution suits your taste. Remember, the acid will be magnified after fermentation removes the sugar. You'll have to do the math to figure out the ratios at the volumes you intend to ferment.
Regards, GF.

 

[JDWebb]

And all I wanted was a nice bottle of liquor. I knew I should have picked up the cherry juice instead.
Thank for the info, being new at this, I am getting close to information overload! Apparently there's a whole science to this other than dropping some yeast in a jar of juice! I think I need a lab coat now! I do appreciate all the info, I just need to sit and digest a bit.

 

[JDWebb]

By the way, the black currant juice? Its back in the fridge...stuff is nasty, just nasty. I'll have to figure out something else to do with it.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

By the way, the black currant juice? Its back in the fridge...stuff is nasty, just nasty. I'll have to figure out something else to do with it.

I'm guessing it's way too tart for your taste? It is for most people. Black currant can be really tasty though. The trick is proper dilution and/or backsweetening. I made a cherry/apple/black currant wine a few years back that turned out really good, despite the fact that black currant flavor dominated the cherry & apple flavor. I used a 1/2 gallon of black currant juice in combination with apple juice & tart cherry juice for a 6 gallon batch. BTW, this is the juice I used:
http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/just-juice/just-black-currant

It started out pretty tart, so tart it wasn't good to drink. But after a year or so of aging, it was pretty darned tasty. Some of that excess tartness aged out, if I'd let it age more, more of that tartness would've aged out. But it was so tasty that it was gone within 2 months of bottling. Of course, maybe you just don't like the taste of black currants, whether they're tart or sweet; I'd imagine there are some folks who just don't like 'em.

Try adding some sugar to a cup of the juice & see if that helps. You could always make a sweet mead & add the juice in secondary/tertiary. The tart fruit flavor would play nicely with the sweet honey flavor. I'd encourage you to try diluting your juice 60:40 or 70:30 water:juice, add your honey (approx. 3lb/gal.), yeast nutrient, DAP & yeast (use the wine yeast) and let nature work her magic for you. When it's clear, bulk age for a year, then bottle. I think you might just change your mind about black currant. Of course, if all else fails, you could make jelly from that juice, black currant jelly is really good on toast. I hope you find a good use for that juice, no matter what that use happens to be.
Regards, GF.

 

[JDWebb]

Thanks for the post, I'll figure something out. I will either go into a mead recipe or I'll figure out a cider and use it. I froze about 2 pounds of fresh blueberries the other night (they disappear quickly around here) and plan on using them also.