Blackberry melomel advice needed, Oregon puree

**greenbirds** · 03-09-2010, 05:48 PM

7 months ago I made 5 gallons of mead using wildflower honey. It went from 1.100 to 1.000 using D-47 yeast, for about 13% ABV. I know this is regarded as a sweet to semi-sweet mead yeast, but I guess my OG was low enough to allow this ferment to dryness. It has been sitting in the secondary at 55 F since it finished. Originally I was not going to fruit or spice this, but I changed my mind.

My plan is to add 2 gallons to a carboy with a 49 oz can of Oregon blackberry puree, stabilizing with sorbate/sulfite/pectic enzyme. According to this site, the puree brix is 12, which, when diluted in 256 oz mead, I calculate should add about 8 gravity points,

49 oz * 1.048 + 256 oz * 1.000 = 307.35 --> 307.35 / (256 + 49) = 1.0077

I have tasted a number of meads and melomels but never made one, so I'm unfamiliar with the connection between specific gravity and residual sweetness/taste. Does my plan seem reasonable? Obviously I can toy with the mead/puree balance, but if anyone else has followed a similar process, please share.

**jezter6** · 03-09-2010, 07:00 PM

I used 2 cans of the Cherry puree from the same company in a 5g batch and was pleased with the results, however it certainly didn't sweeten it back up.

I'd check your gravity after sitting on the puree for a bit and see if it still needs work and then consider putting some honey back in to sweeten it up to where you want it then let it age a few more months to integrate the unfermented honey into the batch.

I backsweetened with cherry concentrate and honey and it's been about a month and a half or so and the unfermented honey character really sticks out yet.

gratus fermentatio · 03-09-2010, 07:13 PM

You seem to have all the bases covered, sounds like a good plan to me. The acids, added/residual sugars & alcohol should balance out well if you're shooting for a sweet/semi-sweet melomel.

I've done similar, but with fresh/frozen fruit (plums) in a melomel. I never used sorbate though, I just waited till it was crystal clear for about 8 months, then racked onto the fruit; turned out to be quite tasty after another 6 months on the fruit & a year in the bottle. Regards, GF.

**greenbirds** · 03-10-2010, 01:49 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I will probably give it a go as is, maybe do a low-level sorbate addition just in case, as I don't think I want the fruit puree to ferment out -- would like to have this turn out somewhat semi-sweet.