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Sima (Traditional Finnish Lemon Mead)

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ARPF Refugee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 January 2009 at 16:00
OK. I got a 1gal batch of Sima going. I missed the part in your OP where it said 5 quarts. My fermenter is a 1gal jug, so that's all it can hold. My version will not be so traditional.

The raisins went into the primary fermenter. I'll rack to secondary to get it off the yeast and raisins when fermentation is complete. When that clears, I'll bottle it.

The jug will be sealed to keep out wild yeast.

I blasted it with pure Oxygen through a diffuser stone to help the yeast get started.

I took a gravity reading and got 1.020. I was shocked. That means it can never go as far as 3%ABV. I added two more cups of sugar and got 1.050. Not very traditional, but let's be honest, it is about the buzz. If not, we'd just make lemonaide. The higher sugar content should let it get up to around 5%ABV; about like a Bud Lite.

I found 2 more 1gallon jugs in my attic, so I'm going to try 2 more batches with the only difference being the yeast. I'll use some Montrachet and pick up some dry yeast meant for wheat beer. I read that it is great for fruit wines. If you want, I can send a sample of each. Let me know if you want it carbonated or "still". I'm using dry yeast because it is inexpensive, can be shipped through the mail with no worries of it going bad, and it's just easy to use for small batches. The idea is keeping it simple for guys who don't want to invest in a lot of equipment. (another way to get oxygen into the must [unfermented wine] is to put a lid on the jug and shake the s**t out of it. Remove lid, put it back on and shake some more)

BTW- reading on other forums, it looks like fermenting in one of the big 5gallon Culligan jugs is a bad idea. It is fine for storing water, but alcohol may leach chemicals out. Or it may not. Play it safe and use glass.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 March 2014 at 08:39
Alright, my Sima for 2014 is made and bottled. For the first time, I tried bottling the
sima in beer bottles, rather than using the 1-quart canning jars that I've used in the past
- or the 1-litre plastic water bottles that I used last year:



Following the recipe, I made 5 quarts, which amounts to just a little over thirteen 12-
ounce bottles. Departing from the recipe, I took my Finnish friend's advice and used all-
brown sugar, rather than a combination of white and brown. He also suggested using four
lemons rather than two, so I tried that as well.

The little bit left over tasted great, a good balance of sweet, sour and just a little bit
of bitter. But the real proof will be revealed n May First, when I sample the bottles to
see how the fermentation and carbonisation went....

We'll see how they turn out!

Edited by TasunkaWitko
TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2014 at 14:53
I had the time and the materials, so I figured, "Why not?"

TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 April 2014 at 17:01
okay, evidently pre-bottling sima in 12-oz beer bottles
is something that reqires a little extra attention.
monday, while i was at work - 20 miles from home - the
beautiful mrs. tas texted me in order to report that 5
bottles exploded. i was unable to do much about it at the
time, but asked her to carefully put them in the
refrigerator, in order to hopefully lower the potential
for internal pressures.

after doing some quick checking, i learned that i should
have moved them to the refrigerator as soon as the
raisins rose to the top, in order to stop fermentation
and carbonation. this step is clearly spelled out in the
recipe (although the reasy why is not explained), but
i've never really considered this before, because they'd
always been bottled in mason jars or screw-top plastic
"pop" bottles. in these previous cases, some swelling or
bulging pressure became evident, but it was never a
critical thing. another option - in addition to
refrigerating, is to heat the bottles of sima -
pasteurizing them - in order to stop fermentation and
carbonisation. I will definitely keep these options in
mind for the future.

interestingly, i noticed a few days before the blow-ups
that the raisins, which had risen to the top long ago (i
should have refrigerated them then, i see now), were on
the bottom and fully "re-hydrated" - very plump to nearly
bursting. i can only guess that pressure from the
carbonation forced them down?

in any case, when i got home, i opened a couple of
bottles. carbonation was as you can guess dramatic, even
though i opened them very, very slowly. lost a little
down the neck, but the sima tasted great. not too sweet,
not too sour, a hint of bitterness - very good, and i am
looking forward to (carefully) enjoying the rest. very
fizzy, of course, and i found myself thinking once again
that this is nearly the perfect beverage to enjoy on a
hot summer day.
TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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