Raspberry Melamel (Bronze Medal winner at 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition)

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How'd it taste? I liked mine at 1.000 SG, but the citrus was a little overpowering. The limes I used were really big. The citrus taste was better after sweetening (aside from the sulfite taste). I am also debating adding some raspberries and letting them sit on raspberries for a few weeks. They're out of season now though...

Honestly, I have no idea yet as I haven't done anything with it yet and it's still bulk aging. I tasted it at about 4 months old and it was very hot so I decided to leave it alone until it was a year old.
 
How'd it taste? I liked mine at 1.000 SG, but the citrus was a little overpowering. The limes I used were really big. The citrus taste was better after sweetening (aside from the sulfite taste). I am also debating adding some raspberries and letting them sit on raspberries for a few weeks. They're out of season now though...

Yeah, fruit size is important. I made the mistakes of using juice from the bottle instead of the juice from the fruit on my last batch. But, back sweetened to 1.010 and aged, it won't be too bad.
 
Bottled today. Cleared after adding the "super kleer kc" finings. Tastes very good.... ready to drink now. I don't think this will last long. Sulfite taste is gone. The citrus taste seems to have mellowed after backsweetening. I may try force carbonating it....
 
Couple of questions. Some here have been going drier than I want with this. Should I use another yeast, or just let it go and backsweeten? I've only made a couple of meads so this is still new to me.

Also, if I bulk age it and it takes a year to clear, will there be enough yeast in suspension to carb? And does bottle carbed mead have a little lees on the bottom? If so, what are your thoughts on carbtabs for this mead?
 
Couple of questions. Some here have been going drier than I want with this. Should I use another yeast, or just let it go and backsweeten? I've only made a couple of meads so this is still new to me.

Also, if I bulk age it and it takes a year to clear, will there be enough yeast in suspension to carb? And does bottle carbed mead have a little lees on the bottom? If so, what are your thoughts on carbtabs for this mead?

If it finishes dry and you backsweeten, you won't be able to carb without kegging (campden and potassium sorbate inhibit future yeast activity).

Bottled carbed mead will have some lees, whether you use pruning sugar or carb tabs (which are basically pre measured priming sugar).

I keep meaning to experiment with bottle carbing with dry ice, so you could have a sparkling, back sweetened mead, but I'm not that brave. :D
 
Just to be clear, when you say bottle with 3oz. dextrose, that's to backsweeten it, not carb it, right? And that's 3oz per 3 gallon, not per bottle right?
 
Just to be clear, when you say bottle with 3oz. dextrose, that's to backsweeten it, not carb it, right? And that's 3oz per 3 gallon, not per bottle right?

3oz per 3 gallons to carbonate it.

If it finishes too dry for your tastes, and you use campden/sorbate to inhibit yeast so you can backsweeten, you won't be able to bottle carb it.

Backsweetening is best done with honey, and the amount depends on what gravity it finished at and what gravity you want to get it back to.
 
I got a jar with raspberries in syrup (water & sugar), and it says it doesn´t contains any preservative.. can I make this recipe with those? It weights 750gr (26,45oz) & 400gr drained (14,2oz).

If i can make this recipe with those raspberries, do i have to wash it first or use it with the syrup too? I think it would be a good idea to drain it first and save the syrup in the freezer to add it to the second, or third or to back-sweeten or for carbonate, any thoughts?

I live in Argentina and raspberries are really expensives and in the town i live are very difficult to get it fresh.
 
Hi All!

So, it's been about a year since starting this batch. I'm ready to bottle now, but theres this strange white stuff along the top rim of the mead. It's kind of like little granules... For the longest time, there was a very small amount of berry residue from transferring it from the primary carboy, but that seems to have settled... now theres this white stuff.

I want to know - is this ok to bottle? What is the white stuff, and does it mean my mead has gone bad? I'm worried that the airlock may have been too low on water for a little while.. but not too long. Could it have gotten contaminated?

Thoughts? I really want this to turn out, but I don't want to kill anyone!

Thanks for your help,

Nicole

photo.jpg
 
Can anyone tell me if these are blackthorn bushes

Attachment 141726

Photo not the best any advice grateful
 
Made something very similar to this recipe tweaked as follows -
1) Only made a 1 gal batch because I didn't want a large batch of something that I'm just trying out
2) Use Manuka Active 16+ honey instead of clover honey

3 lbs Manuka honey
12 oz. fresh raspberries
2 lemons, juice of + zest of the lemons
2 limes, juice of + zest of the limes
a few raisins
1/4 cup brewed earl grey tea
Wyeast 4632 for a dry mead

+ Poland spring water to get to a gallon

Just transferred to a secondary after 5 weeks in the primary. All the fruit had lost all color, and the mead has a nice pink color. Just not sure how long I should wait before I bottle it, and what effect the honey will have on the flavor.
 
Just started a 5 gallon batch today, I remember this one being good...
 
This scored a 43 at the 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition

7.5 lbs clover honey
24 oz. fresh raspberries
4 lemons, juice of
4 limes, juice of
1/2 cup brewed earl grey tea
Lavlin D47 yeast
staggered nutrient addition (see hightest's FAQs)

Mix everything together in a 3-gallon carboy. Top off with spring water to 3 gallons. Ferment until fruit loses color; rack off of fruit and top off with water; rack when fermentation is complete; rack as needed until clear; bottle with 3 oz. dextrose and age for 1 year

:tank:

IMG_10491.jpg


Boquet/Aroma: "good lite honey aroma, massive raspberry nose" "great raspberry up front, slight honey"

Appearance: "perfect color (pink!), clarity, & carbonation" "pink bubbly! lots of carbonation, great clarity, some legs"

Flavor: "good honey to fruit flavor balance. nicely warming alcohol. carbonation great." "good berry flavor, more dry than sweet, very carbonated"

Overall: "very nice mead. I'd like to have a case stashed away! great job!" "this would be a great celebration bubbly - very much like a fruity champagne. thank you!"
 
Unless your following a certain protocol like TOSNA (usually for mead), you can add half a packet for up to 3 gallons, whole pack for up to 5-6 gallons. Don’t use less than half a pack. You can fold the leftover yeast pack in half, put it in a ziplock bag, and stick it in the fridge. Just make sure to use it within a few months. You can add more if you want to though, as it’s really hard to actually over pitch yeast, unless your looking for particular esters caused during the growth phase.
 
This scored a 43 at the 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition

7.5 lbs clover honey
24 oz. fresh raspberries
4 lemons, juice of
4 limes, juice of
1/2 cup brewed earl grey tea
Lavlin D47 yeast
staggered nutrient addition (see hightest's FAQs)

Mix everything together in a 3-gallon carboy. Top off with spring water to 3 gallons. Ferment until fruit loses color; rack off of fruit and top off with water; rack when fermentation is complete; rack as needed until clear; bottle with 3 oz. dextrose and age for 1 year

:tank:

IMG_10491.jpg


Boquet/Aroma: "good lite honey aroma, massive raspberry nose" "great raspberry up front, slight honey"

Appearance: "perfect color (pink!), clarity, & carbonation" "pink bubbly! lots of carbonation, great clarity, some legs"

Flavor: "good honey to fruit flavor balance. nicely warming alcohol. carbonation great." "good berry flavor, more dry than sweet, very carbonated"

Overall: "very nice mead. I'd like to have a case stashed away! great job!" "this would be a great celebration bubbly - very much like a fruity champagne. thank you!"
I have a question. I'm new to mead making & want to try this recipe. I have all the ingredients + another 12 oz of fresh organic raspberries for secondary. My question is what was your OG & what was your FG? Trying to figure out my sugars so I can get it to the sweet spot for sweetness. Thanks in advance to anybody who can answer this question. Happy meading!
 
OK...I am new to making mead, but I took the instructions literally "mix all the ingredients together" using the no-boil technique, and threw it all into a 6 1/2 gallon carboy. I shook the ever livin' piss out of the thing, but I have a nice 2 1/2 inch layer of honey on the bottom of the carboy, and all my raspberries on top. Will the yeast eat away at the honey layer on the bottom, or am I screwed? The honey just would not dissolve, which I guess is indicative of 100% pure honey.
As a beekeeper, pure honey WILL dissolve in water. I used 11 pounds of creamed honey yesterday poured into two gallons hot water, slosh that carboy on its side until bottom was clean. No problem. I’m no expert but I’d say no problem trying again to mix that honey from bottom. Pumping oxygen into the must at same time.
 
So far so good. I'm about 3 days in and every time I stir this it smells amazing. I've been adding some nutrient/energize and will for a few more days as needed then it's time to tuck it away for a few weeks. I'm already thinking of what to start next!!! I now know why I see pics of folks with multiple going at once!
 
Noob here - I've never topped up a mead with water when going into 2nd ferm. How does it affect ABV? Once my yeast has created my 12% last think I would think of doing is diluting it.
 
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