Blackberry Mead

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mkw87

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
54
Reaction score
0
Location
Big Stone Gap, VA
I brewed up a one gallon batch of blackberry mead a few weeks ago and just got around to bottling it last night. It tasted quite strong at bottling, but not too sweet which is what I was going for. The blackberries seem to have a natural bittering effect.

Here is the ingredient list:

1.33 lb Honey
1.5 lb Blackberries that had been frozen
1 oz Ginger Root
1.5 lb Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 pckt Montrachet Yeast

I brewed it on 9/3/2008, the OG was 1.054, and I bottled it last night on 10/5/2008, and the FG was 1.002. I'll be sure to put my thoughts on the taste here in about 3 weeks when it is carbonated and I am back from my business trip.

Anyone else ever make anything similar?
 
That FG seems kind of high to me- are you 100% certain it's done? I would expect that it would take about 2 months to finish, but I know that sugar is fully fermentable so maybe it would go quicker.

I'm just concerned that montrachet will generally go to 14% ABV, and you're only at a little under 7% ABV.

I make blackberry wine, but haven't used honey in it. I use 3 # per gallon, though, and make the SG around 1.085 or so, for a dry table wine. Honey really sounds like it would smooth it out nicely. I usually bottle it about a year after making it, because it tends to drop lees for several months.
 
I'd suggest having a little more patience next time. I realize you started with a low OG, but 4 1/2 weeks from brewing to bottle is awfully quick. I'd be afraid of bottle bombs, since I would also expect it to go below 1.002. Even if it was done fermenting, did it have a chance to clarify?

I've only used ginger a few times, but an ounce in a gallon seems high. I'd like to hear how it comes out. Good luck.
 
Something's gonna give.

That FG is WAY high...The Montrachet should take that little 1.054 down to 0.996 or lower. I'm sure thinking this could take off again...and if you're expecting to carbonate...you've added more sugar? Please tell me you are not just expecting the final 2 points to carb.

I'm thinking 2 possibilities...neither of them good...1. Bottle Bombs...2. Flat mead with potential for bottle bombs.

Also, I'd not expect anything too wonderful from this for another 3 to 6 months. Sounds like it could be good this coming spring / summer.
 
Sounds like I should store the bottles in my garage in a sealed tote then. I wasn't sure how far down the FG would go, I'd had two consistent readings 3 days apart at that gravity so I figured it was finished; who knows. I did add more sugar to it to carbonate, I used different size bottles and just added the priming sugar to the bottles (~1/3 tsp or less for 8 oz bottle, 1/2 tsp for 12 oz bottle).

I knew I was going to be out of town for 2 weeks starting next week so I wanted to get this and a pumpkin ale I had sitting around since the beginning of sept bottled. I figured the mead wouldn't be ready by the time I got back but at the same time I brewed it for fun and will probably try one after only 3 weeks in the bottle anyways. I'll post back to let you know how many, if any, of the bottles get launched. Thanks for the input.
 
I'd had two consistent readings 3 days apart at that gravity so I figured it was finished QUOTE]

Mead is completely different than beer. In the future, I would suggest not bottling till you have consistent readings for three months, not three days. Mead also takes a lot longer to clarify than beer...months vs weeks.
 
Sounds like I should store the bottles in my garage in a sealed tote then. I wasn't sure how far down the FG would go, I'd had two consistent readings 3 days apart at that gravity so I figured it was finished; who knows. I did add more sugar to it to carbonate, I used different size bottles and just added the priming sugar to the bottles (~1/3 tsp or less for 8 oz bottle, 1/2 tsp for 12 oz bottle).

I knew I was going to be out of town for 2 weeks starting next week so I wanted to get this and a pumpkin ale I had sitting around since the beginning of sept bottled. I figured the mead wouldn't be ready by the time I got back but at the same time I brewed it for fun and will probably try one after only 3 weeks in the bottle anyways. I'll post back to let you know how many, if any, of the bottles get launched. Thanks for the input.

Definitely in a sealed container, and be very careful when you open it. 1/2 tsp of sugar isn't much, but you might have had 10 more SG points to go before it finished, so you're in serious danger of bottle bombs. I would have waited at least a year to bottle this, even if the FG was .990.
 
My last blackberry melomel ended up at 0.992, but it was close to 13%. I was going to make something close to what you have this year, but there weren't enough blackberries to bother picking.

You might consider loosening the tops and waiting 3 months. Then add carb drops and re-cap.
 
I think you bottled too early, however the suggestions of waiting a year for this mead are a little excessive. The original recipe was not your normal 1.100 OG but only 1.054. This will make a light refreshing beverage and should be ready to drink in much less time.
I still would have given it a couple months before bottling. Mead usually takes longer to ferment than beer even with a lower gravity. I would be careful with these bottles because you may have some fermentable sugars left. However I do not think this mead will drop much below .998 so your carbonation may be within tolerances of the bottles any ways. Chill them all once you reach the desired carbonation and be careful when opening.

Craig
 
I came up with recipe based on Charlie Papazian's Barshack Gingermead recipe in the Joy of Home Brewing 3 (page 343). He recommended 7 days in an open fermenter and then 1-1.5 months in a secondary fermenter. I used an old 1 gallon glass container that I got from SWMBO's mom and used saran warp with a hole in it for a week then put the airlock to it.

I brewed the mead on 9/3/08, and bottled on 10/5/08. So that is 1 week with saran wrap with tiny hole, then 3 weeks 4 days after that. He notes that it will probably take 3 months in the bottle to condition to an acceptable flavor, which I am fine with. I know I could have left it for another 3 weeks and it would have been fine, but this mead does not have your traditional 'loading' of honey. Therefore, I figured it would ferment fine for 4 weeks and 4 days. If I would have used A TON of honey, a more traditional mead, then yeah I understand waiting 3 months or more before bottling.

I'll be curious to try it around Christmas and see how it tastes by then; I'll let you guys know.
 
I have made this mead twice, and each time found that I need to tweak the recipe. As written, it results in a harsh mead that requires lengthy aging to soften its harshness - unless you really like that ginger bite... ;)
 
So after sitting for months in a bucket (you guys had me scared that they might explode) it turns out this stuff is actually really tasty. I would highly recommend it to any people out there who like mead, the blackberry flavor has worked well for me in both beer and this mead. I can't wait to harvest some blackberries soon this summer and make some more blackberry beer.

I don't think that this is overly gingery, but I didn't use a ton of strong ginger to begin with bc I didn't want the ginger to be overbearing.
 
I would use champagne yeast next time, like some lavlin 1118. Major mead makers like falcon and red rock all use champagne yeast to make their mead. Reason being they ferment really clean, if you like the montrachet you might like the champagne even better.
 
I bottled some blackberry mead last night. I wasn't too impressed with how it tastes right now. It has an odd aftertaste (kinda medicinal), but it's only 3 months old. I backsweetened it and will let it bottle age for at least another 3 months before trying it again.
 
Sampled my 11 month old Blackberry mead tonight.

Yum.
Kinda sad I only made a gallon of it. However.. these few bottles will sit for another year at least.

Call it special reserve. :tank:
 
I just bottled mine that I made back in January, I gotta say it tasted excellent going into the bottle:

3lbs honey
water to 1 gallon
staggered nutrient addition

Let that ferment for a month or so, then racked onto 2 lbs of blackberries. I now wish I had made more than a 1G batch as well :(

Neal
 
Back
Top