Raspberry Mead recipe
PER GALLON:
*used 12oz red rasp + 2 cans apple-rasp concentrate
1.5 tsp pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp nutrient
1/4 tsp energizer
1 cup less than 1 gallon water
1 Campden tablet (or equivalent in k-meta)
Approx 3 lb honey
Place frozen/thawed fruit into straining bag, add everything else except the CAMPDEN into the primary and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 12 hours, then add Campden and allow to rest for 12 more hours, then add your honey not to exceed OG of 1.090 (for my batch I had OG of 1.086 and my TA was 0.5). Pitched yeast according to packet directions, Cotes de blanc or 71B works fabulously. Stir must twice a day, gently squeeze straining bag if you opt to use one, remove fruit approximately 3 days after you pitch the yeast--it takes on a WHITE appearance when it has given up all it has to give. When O.G. has dropped by 2/3 or no later than Day#10, transfer to carboy and apply airlock. Rack in approximately 30 days and then approximately every 60 days thereafter until mead is clear and no longer dropping sediment. Dosed again with k-meta at the first 60-day racking & then made sure to dose it once every 90 days thereafter. I typically ferment at 65-68F and then drop the temperature by at least 10 degrees after the first month. Both wedding parties opted to use 1/2# honey or sugar or blend of both to backsweeten after stabilizing the clear mead with k-meta + sorbate, though you can also use thawed apple-raspberry concentrate. If you want to have raspberry concentrate on hand, I keep Brownwood Acres(FruitFast label) in my refrigerator--if you need a smaller volume than what they sell online just call them and tell them what you need and they almost always will custom fill a smaller bottle for you. If you find your final product needs acid balance on the tail end, then adjust according to taste.
This recipe has CONSISTENTLY been ready to bottle within 7 months, and ready to consume if need be.
I have also made it using up to 4# fruit per gallon along with the concentrate for a longer aging time, and have made it with all fruit with a minimum of one year aging using 8# fruit/gallon. Found if I exceeded the 8# per gallon it was off-flavor and you had to really work to balance the acids out. Believe it or not, thelow fruit + concentrate version was preferred by my friends when they picked out which version for their wedding. It was not light on fruit at all, had nice body and simply flowed out of the bottles. Had I more time I would have loved to make a few bottles of sparkling, semisweet mead for the wedding toast. Let me locate what I provided for the history of the honeymoon and the tie to mead & I will post that also. And obviously, to make in quantity greater than 1 gallon simply multiply by the gallons needed, though one 5gm packet of yeast will typically kick off 5 gallons of mead.
The SkeeterPee recipe is at
www.skeeterpee.com -- I simply started the Raspberry Skeeter Pee when I transferred from primary to the carboy, using the fresh lees to kickoff the SkeeterPee, threw in another 12 ounces of raspberries for 6 gallons of Skeeter Pee because it is about the lemon kissed by the berries, in my humble opinion. Read the Skeeter Pee recipe in advance, so you are prepared to start the recipe. If you fall behind, just stash your lees in a mason jar, seal it and store in refrigerator--but do not leave them there too long. You can obviously use a new yeast packet to start the Skeeter Pee, but there was something about using the lees from the wedding mead to start the wedding Skeeter Pee. Call me a romantic at heart!
