MRM ~ Pat’s Cherry “Melow” Mel

5/13/25 1 Gallon Batch
96 oz Just Black Cherry Juice
32 oz Just Tart Cherry Juice
64 oz Juicy Juice 100% Cherry
1 lbs Great Value Dark Sweet Cherries
2.2 lbs Eucalyptus Honey (from Marshalls)
Lalvin QA23 yeast
1 Tsp Fermaid-O

S.G. = 1.100 (About 12%)

Thawed Cherries.  Added all juices, Fermaid-O and yeast

5/16/25 1 tsp Fermaid-O

5/31/25 S.G. = 1.010

6/4/25
Racked off yeast and berries.
3/4 cup roasted cacao nibs (roasted for 10 min at 350)
Stabilized!

I split this batch in two.  1 Gallon had the nibs and 1 gallon had oak.

6/12/25

Oak flavor not ready yet.  Nib flavor coming through but tastes a little burnt.  It’s kind of thin so some tannin may help with mouth feel.
Needs back sweetened.

6/25/25
Left the oak batch alone.  It needs more time.
The chocolate was racked off nibs and I added honey to back sweeten to 1.038.
The chocolate is ready to bottle>

8/7/25
I combined both gallons.  They taste AMAZING together.  Sometimes you get chocolate and sometimes you get oak.
Bottled and labeled today.  I’d say that after combining the SG is 1.020 so it’s going to have some sweetness to it.