Nerro's Sour Citrus Melomel

[Nerro]

Recipe Type: Dry citrus melomel
Yeast: Kitzinger Reinhefe "Burgund"
Yeast Starter: no
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: no
Batch Size (liters): 8 (2.112 gallons)
Original Gravity: 1.090
Final Gravity: 0.995
ABV: ~12.5%
Boiling Time (Minutes): 10
Color: straw gold
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 68F (20C) (28 days)
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): no secondary used
Bottle conditioning: intended to condition and ripen for 6 months or upward

Starting materials:

• 2400g flower honey
• 2 oranges (only the zest and the strained juice)
• 3 Lemons (only the zest and the strained juice)
• 3 cloves
• Kitzinger Reinhefe "Burgund" (rehydrated dry yeast)
• 2 tsp DAP

Process:

1. Take the zest of the oranges and its juice and strain the juice to remove the bits of pulp. You should have the clear juice and the zest only. The rest of the orange is discarded. Do the same with the lemons.
2. Add 3 cloves
3. Add 2 teaspoons of DAP
4. Add 2400g of honey (2400g = ~85 ounces or 5.3 lbs)
5. Add enough water to make 8L (2.112 gallons)
6. Heat to boiling and keep it at a slow rolling boil for 10 minutes. Remove the scum.
7. leave the must to cool down on it's own with a lid on it for half an hour. This serves to infuse the must with the flavours of the spices and the oranges and the lemons.
8. Chill the must in the pan in a big tub of cold water to ~70 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Pitch the rehydrated yeast and stir well.
10. put the must into the carboy through a strainer and shake it like it's 1984 all over again.
11. stopper with an airlock and leave it alone for the next month.
12. After a month it should be flat and the hydrometer should show you a steady value somewhere just below 1.000. This means you can bottle it.
13. Leave it to bulk-condition for 6 months to a year before consumption.

I hope you like it

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[MasterJeem]

This exactly like what i'm considering doing tonight. I do have a few questions, though. Do you think that the citric acid effects the yeast and fermentation process at all? I was thinking that i may add whole fruit to the primary and then add the fruit juice to a secondary. Your thoughts?