Psychonought

Recipes 

Hey all,
I am trying to figure out how to make 5 1-gallon batches of different types of mead by starting with the same 5-gallon must. I want to keep the mead together for as long as possible, so I am going to ferment all 5 gallons for a few weeks, and then separate into 5 1-gallon containers while adding the flavors. I need some help with the logistics of it all. Here is the breakdown:

--> I want to make 5 different types of mead:
1) Old-style mead (has spices and raisins)
2) Citrus Melomel (has juice of grapefruit and kiwi)
3) Berry Melomel (3 pounds of assorted berries)
4) Cocoa Metheglin (a few ounces cocoa)
5) Chipotle Capsicumel (chiles)

--> I also want to keep the mead together for as long as possible, so I am trying to brew all 5 gallons at once, ferment it all together in the primary, and then add the flavoring to the secondary fermenters (where I will separate into the 5 batches)

--> What is the best way to extract the flavors for the different types of meads? Any ideas, no matter how wild, are appreciated!

Psychonought

Recipes 

Meads 2, 4, and 5 should be easy. I'm thinking for the citrus melomel I'm going to just pour the juice in, for the Cocoa Metheglin pour the cocoa and cinnamon in, and for the chipotle capsicumel throw some chiles in the 1-gallon jug.
That leaves meads 1 and 3. The actual old-style mead recipe wants me to brew the must with the spices and raisins in there and later strain them out. This won't work as I am going to brew all 5 gallons at once. I am willing to try to put the spices in the 1-gallon jug and leave them in there, but I don't think that will work with the raisins.
As for mead #3, this recipe calls for 3 pounds of berries, which comes out to 8 cups of berries. I don't think I can throw them in the 1-gallon jug, and if I did I doubt much flavor would be extracted.
Any ideas?

keesh

Recipes 

Well most mead makers say its best to not heat your must too high, just warm it up enough to dissolve your honey into solution. If you are going to boil your must then I can't really comment. If you are following prevailing wisdom then it won't make a difference when you do the flavor additions, as far as how much will be extracted, because you aren't heating it enough to make an extraction. Why not do extracts? Crush your ingredients and put them all into separate containers and add some grain alcohol. Then add them to your individual secondaries.

__________________
Primary - Alpine Nelson Clone
Bottled - SMaSH pale v.2, Kolsch, Pliny the Younger clone, Centennial Blonde
On deck - EdWort's Haus Pale, Uber Insane Mocha Oatmeal Bourbon Oaked Stout

Psychonought

Recipes 

I did not think of that. Extracting I'm sure will work very well with the spices, but I'm not sure about the berries. Have you tried making an extract with berries before?
4 down, 1 to go...

starrfish

Recipes 

I made a kiwi mead many years ago, and 5lbs of fresh kiwi wasn't enough for my taste in 5 gallons, so make sure you have room to add about 2lbs of fruit in a gallon. Mead came out good, but I did doctor the tartness up with a bit of acidic blend. (lost my brewing notes for some of these early brews but a little acidic blend goes a long way.)

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keesh

Recipes 

For berries most people say crush or freeze them to burst the cell walls so the flavor can more readily absorb once it hits the liquid. I would do that and then put it in a muslin or mesh bag with a weight, which helps keep the fruit in solution which increases the surface area contacting the mead. More importantly, it doesn't allow the fruit to be exposed to the air which can increase the risk of mold or other contamination.

__________________
Primary - Alpine Nelson Clone
Bottled - SMaSH pale v.2, Kolsch, Pliny the Younger clone, Centennial Blonde
On deck - EdWort's Haus Pale, Uber Insane Mocha Oatmeal Bourbon Oaked Stout