POM juice for a melomel

[hubie]

I think I might try a 1-gal batch of pomegranate melomel using POM juice as the base liquid. I know very little about pomegranates other than I like the taste. From the web site POM claims that the juice is simply 100% juice without preservatives, etc. Anybody ever use this juice in either beer or mead (or wine)? My plan is to add honey to the POM juice until I get up to around 1.120, maybe higher if I think I might want it sweet. Anyone know how acidic this would be, in other words, do I need to worry about measuring and correcting the pH? I haven't set on a yeast yet, but I was thinking of something that keeps a nice fruit character (D47?).

[PseudoChef]

Ha, one of the guys who I brewed the Consecration beer with just did this. I think he made the mead first and then added the POM juice in the keg. It was sitting out at garage temp (so, maybe mid 50s?) so I'm not sure if the juice was fermented or not. It tasted pretty sweet, but again, I have no idea if he started with a sweet or dry mead.

Either way, it turned out a pleasant finished product. If you add it at the onset, the only thing I might be concerned about is lowering of the pH and that effect on the yeast - but meads generally are dosed pretty heavily with nutrient anyway, so I can't see it being a huge issue.

[Ope08]

meads ferment at a lower pH anyhow don't they?

Is POM 100% pomegranite or do they use some other berry?

[salad 419]

D47 would be my first choice, but there's a guy that comes in regularly that said he's been getting some goofy phenols in all of his meads and he uses D47. I'm not sure if it's a yeast issue, honey issue or ferementation temp issue. Just thought I'd throw that out there for ya.

[hubie]

Is POM 100% pomegranite or do they use some other berry?

According to their web site (http://www.pomwonderful.com/products/juice/100-pomegranate/), it is 100% juice with nothing else added. They flash pasteurize for shelf stability. I got to thinking about using the juice when I saw the big bin of pomegranates in the grocery store and saw how much they cost, then got to wondering how much juice you get out of each and it seems that it is much more economical (and less hassle) to just buy the bottled stuff.


D47 would be my first choice, but there's a guy that comes in regularly that said he's been getting some goofy phenols in all of his meads and he uses D47.
I appreciate the comment. Unfortunately for me, with only a couple meads under my belt and none yet in the bottle, if I got funky phenols I wouldn't know whether they are supposed to be there or not for that yeast. I think I'll try the D47 since I have a pack in my fridge.

[hubie]

I was poking around last night and I saw a nice entry in Jack Keller's Wine Blog (http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp) about using POM for making wine (September 27, 2010). Considering he seemed pleased with his result (he actually added a little acid) I'm going to go for it for a mead. Based on his research, I'm going to use the RC212 yeast because not only does he seem to really know his wine yeasts, I happen to also have a sachet of it in my fridge.

[hubie]

I've racked this twice now, once from bucket to jug, then this second time. It looks very nice and it tastes quite good. Tastes a lot like red wine. I added honey to POM juice until the gravity was up around 1.100, then used the RC212 yeast which fermented out to 1.002.

3679

[Lamppa]

yes please, ill have some more!