Cherry Berry Mead

Yakima 728
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Slim, thanks for all the recipes you have posted. I started brewing this summer and having a blast! I've brewed your Lemon-Lime Hefe already and now I just made this mead. At my local homebrew store they didnt have the sweat mead yeast but the guy recommended using a wine yeast Cote des Blancs. It took a few days to start fermenting and now it is bubbling away. Do you recommend waiting the two weeks or until the airlock stops bubbling to rack to secondary? Thanks again for your recipes.
 
I would wait until all visible activity stops and then rack...the yeast you used will make a great mead if it's aged right...so expect perfection around 6 months!
 
Just an FYI for those who cant find the white grape cherry juice, at least locally, walmart carries it. The online stock checker actually worked for me locating it around me (about half of the walmarts around me had it in stock according to the site)
 
This is my first attempt at making mead (or anything for that matter) and i am noticing that there is a lot of foam getting into the airlock with small strawberry chunks / seeds that is clogging the airlock.

I started this 2 days ago, and it currently in my basement where the temp tends to range from 72-74* fairly steadily. I have a 6 gallon bucket from a beer kit filled to the 5 gallon mark.

I assume that this is fairly normal, but i just wanted to make 100% sure. I have 2 airlocks so i have just been cleaning and sanitizing the airlocks and swaping them when the lid is significantly bubbled out and there are no bubbles in the airlock showing a substantial clog.
 
The foam is due to a very active fermentation, if it continues you might need to switch from an airlock to a blowoff tube.
 
SD-SLIM said:
The foam is due to a very active fermentation, if it continues you might need to switch from an airlock to a blowoff tube.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it finally calmed down today and the airlock is bubbling but not looking like a strawberry shake anymore. I thought it wasnt out of the normal but just wanted to be 100% sure i didnt do something wrong being the first batch ive done.
 
I bottled mine today and drank the left overs and it tasted amazing. I look forward to letting it age a few more months. The yeast i used fermented it dry and I had to back sweeten to taste.
 
Just started this mead. I must say that I enjoyed drinking my sample that I took my og reading with. I just used the smack pack. Should I still add some more yeast nutrients, if so when and how much?
 
Quesplosive said:
Just started this mead. I must say that I enjoyed drinking my sample that I took my og reading with. I just used the smack pack. Should I still add some more yeast nutrients, if so when and how much?
Click to expand...

About a 1/4 of a tablespoon
 
I just started a batch last night.

I used:
12 lbs. Whole foods Texas wildflower honey
12 lbs. Trader Joe's Frozen Strawberries
96 oz Cherry White grape Juice
2.5 gallons of water
Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead Yeast

I mixed the ingredients Saturday when the strawberries were frozen, and got them to about 75 degrees yesterday when I pitched the yeasties. I have not pitched any yeast nutrients yet as I was waiting to do it in thirds once fermentation starts. I am using a mix-stir aerator and plan on aerating regularly through the 1st 3rd of fermenatation.

I guess my concern was that it's at the 6 gallon mark on my carboy, but including the the honey, it's only about 4.5 gallons of liquid. Should I just add more water later? I measured the OG at 1.090, but honey could be at the bottom and or my wine thief was getting clogged trying to fill it up to measure it. Wanted to do a 6 gallon batch before I realized how much volume the strawberries have.
 
I would get the water lever where you want it to be...since its not too far off...worst case scenario you need to add a alcohol booster later.
 
Gotcha. I will add some more when I get home. I am not seeing any bubbling activity yet after 30 hours and have aerated twice since pitching and added 2/3 tsp of Fermax. Temperature was 65 degrees so I put it in a warm water bath to get the temperature up slightly.

Will see what happens tonight, I wouldn't be able to buy more yeast until Thursday if needed. I do have some D47 in my fridge, but am guessing that would make it finish dry.
 
Ended up waiting around 48 hours with no visible signs of activity on my 4184 yeast, so I pitched some D47 and it was moving along this morning. IT wouldn't be until tomorrow night that I could have bought some more yeast 120 hours after making the must. Was worried about the possibility of mold or infection.

I added an extra pound of honey to it since the alcohol tolerance will possibly run this dry. I was debating on adding more. I measured 1.092 on my OG. I was thinking to get it above 1.1 at least. This is up in the air, I have 2 pounds of honey I could add.

I am expecting a strawberry mess possibly when I get home, it's around 6.5 gallons in my 7.5 gallon bucket. Also, I accidently added a pint of starsan instead of water to the must. I tried to scoop it out before it was mixed, but some is in there. Oh well.

Some rookie mistakes on my batch, just hoping it turns out okay. It's $85 worth of ingredients or so.
 
I have a question about the yeast. My LHBS was out of the wyeast but I have some red star wine yeast that is alc. tolerant to 13%. Would this be OK to use or should I get the wyeast. This is more an abv question than a question of whether I can use the yeast. The wyeast is 11% tolerant and the mead is 12%. Could I just add more honey to retain the sweetness with a slither higher ABV.
 
graydragon2 said:
I have a question about the yeast. My LHBS was out of the wyeast but I have some red star wine yeast that is alc. tolerant to 13%. Would this be OK to use or should I get the wyeast. This is more an abv question than a question of whether I can use the yeast. The wyeast is 11% tolerant and the mead is 12%. Could I just add more honey to retain the sweetness with a slither higher ABV.
Click to expand...

You can use anything you want...but expect it to be a little dryer than a normal meed...however some mead makers love that yeast, so I say give it a shot!
 
I checked my batch last night and it is now at 1.024 after 10 days in with d47. I added nutrients last night and when it was at 1.060.

I need to calculate my OG, I measured 1.092 the first day, and added 2 pounds of honey the next day and it was 1.094. I am assuming it's somewhere above 1.1, but no clue where. Mine is at 15 lbs of honey, 12 lbs of strawberries and 96 oz of cherry white grape juice. I am debating on bumping up the strawberries equal to the honey and may add 3 more pounds in secondary. Playing that by ear depending on space.

Not certain where the D47 will finish at yet. I have heard 4184 can be a pain sometimes. Mine never did anything.
 
I'm interested in trying this recipe but I have a question:

Why do you put the fruit in the primary? I seen several recipes where people put in fruit in the secondary only whereas to prevent weird flavors from producing due to the fermentation in the primary.

Is there nothing to worry about by putting the fruit in the primary?
 
rowsdower44 said:
I'm interested in trying this recipe but I have a question:

Why do you put the fruit in the primary? I seen several recipes where people put in fruit in the secondary only whereas to prevent weird flavors from producing due to the fermentation in the primary.

Is there nothing to worry about by putting the fruit in the primary?
Click to expand...

You should always place it in the primary during active fermentation, then remove it from the fruit when it stops...in order to prevent nasty off flavors. You can use it in a secondary, but a week later you will need to transfer it again.
 
Finally got all my ingredients together. I will be starting this either tonite or first thing in the morning. This will be my first mead and I am hoping that all goes well. Just to check the viability of the yeast, and to make sure I wouldn't screw up, I made a yeast starter and it seems to be chugging along very good. Ended up having to get 1lb individual packs of the stawberries cause no one had bigger bags of them until two days after I bought what I did. Oh well, may that be my only bad luck.
 
graydragon2 said:
Finally got all my ingredients together. I will be starting this either tonite or first thing in the morning. This will be my first mead and I am hoping that all goes well. Just to check the viability of the yeast, and to make sure I wouldn't screw up, I made a yeast starter and it seems to be chugging along very good. Ended up having to get 1lb individual packs of the stawberries cause no one had bigger bags of them until two days after I bought what I did. Oh well, may that be my only bad luck.
Click to expand...

Happy Brewing!
 
Going good so far. Bubbles have slowed to about one every three seconds now, down from one every second. Gotta wait till tommorow to check gravity since I unfortunately broke my hydrometer while cleaning it. Kinda interested to see where it is now. Haven't been able to check since last friday. I defintely have to agree with everyone about the smell. It smells delicious.
 
I'm excited to start this one, just one question Slim? should I put this one in an 8 gal ferm bucket? I have white carpets :D
 
I just racked mine to secondary with an extra 4 lbs of strawberries. Should be able to pull off 5 gallons with no issues after I rack again. I deviated a bit from the norm and used D47 after having no activity with the sweet mead yeast.

It was at 1.002 yesterday. I will consider back sweetening later on, but letting it clear and possibly filtering on the next racking is the next steps. Not sure if my gravity will drop any more.
 
Slim, did you let this clear on its own or did you use a clearing agent like qwikclear or betonite.
 
graydragon2 said:
Slim, did you let this clear on its own or did you use a clearing agent like qwikclear or betonite.
Click to expand...

No it will clear on its own as long as you transfer off the fruit.
 
I made the mistake of trying to primary a scaled down version (with strawberry puree instead of whole berries) in a 1-gal carboy. Purée kept clogging the airlock. I woke up this morning and it looked like someone had been murdered on the ceiling of my pantry. I will definitely use a larger ferm bucket next time.
 
Hi, I'll be brewing my first mead with this recipe. I'm going to be making 1 gallon of it, but just wanted to ask some questions to make sure I've got everything (and the process) correct:

Since I'm brewing 1 gallon, I'm going to use:
2.4 pounds of light amber honey....Is any honey OK? Or do I need light amber specifically?

2.4 pounds of frozen strawberries

0.4 quarts of Welch's White Grape Cherry 100% Juice

0.4 teaspoons of yeast nutrients

Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead....Since this is only 1 gallon, should I just pitch the entire package? I don't want to do a starter if I can help it.

0.2 gallons of water

So I'm going to heat the 0.2 gallons of water in a pot to a boil and in another pot, add all of my honey. Then I'm going to take the hot/boiling water and use it to get the last remaining honey out of the container, and dump it all into the other pot with the honey in it, right? I'm assuming I want the honey to be dissolved into the hot water?

From this point I add the Welsch's Juice and yeast nutrients? Do I let the honey/water cool completely? Or is it OK if it's still hot?

I'm going to pour everything into a 2 gallon fermenter (bucket), but fill to 1 gallon so I'll have headspace for the fermentation. I'm also planning on putting my pureed strawberries into a muslin bag so I can pull them out when I rack after the fermentation is over.

Does this plan sound good? Please advise if I've got this right. Most appreciated!
 
Slim, excuse my entire lack of experience of mead making but I've got a few questions. The first and only mead I made turned out tasting like acetone cough medicine. I kept it around for 2 years hoping it would improve but it only got worse. No idea what I did wrong first go around.....I'm guessing I stressed the hell out of my yeast by underpitching and didn't add enough nutrient but I really have no idea. I want to use canned berries because I've not had any luck using fresh. Do you see any problems arising from using canned? I've always added canned fruit to beers after primary fermentation has stopped (rack on top of secondary). As far as adding additional yeast nutrient, when, how much, and how often is necessary? This looks amazing to me but I'm going to flip if I ruin another batch (especially as much as this will cost).
 
BWRIGHT said:
Slim, excuse my entire lack of experience of mead making but I've got a few questions. The first and only mead I made turned out tasting like acetone cough medicine. I kept it around for 2 years hoping it would improve but it only got worse. No idea what I did wrong first go around.....I'm guessing I stressed the hell out of my yeast by underpitching and didn't add enough nutrient but I really have no idea. I want to use canned berries because I've not had any luck using fresh. Do you see any problems arising from using canned? I've always added canned fruit to beers after primary fermentation has stopped (rack on top of secondary). As far as adding additional yeast nutrient, when, how much, and how often is necessary? This looks amazing to me but I'm going to flip if I ruin another batch (especially as much as this will cost).
Click to expand...

So anytime you get a mead that has a high acetone/alcohol flavor, chances are that your fermentation process went wrong, your yeast was over worked....or you left it on fruit! Give this a try and let me know what you think!
 
JeffoC6 said:
Hi, I'll be brewing my first mead with this recipe. I'm going to be making 1 gallon of it, but just wanted to ask some questions to make sure I've got everything (and the process) correct:

Since I'm brewing 1 gallon, I'm going to use:
2.4 pounds of light amber honey....Is any honey OK? Or do I need light amber specifically?

2.4 pounds of frozen strawberries

0.4 quarts of Welch's White Grape Cherry 100% Juice

0.4 teaspoons of yeast nutrients

Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead....Since this is only 1 gallon, should I just pitch the entire package? I don't want to do a starter if I can help it.

0.2 gallons of water

So I'm going to heat the 0.2 gallons of water in a pot to a boil and in another pot, add all of my honey. Then I'm going to take the hot/boiling water and use it to get the last remaining honey out of the container, and dump it all into the other pot with the honey in it, right? I'm assuming I want the honey to be dissolved into the hot water?

From this point I add the Welsch's Juice and yeast nutrients? Do I let the honey/water cool completely? Or is it OK if it's still hot?

I'm going to pour everything into a 2 gallon fermenter (bucket), but fill to 1 gallon so I'll have headspace for the fermentation. I'm also planning on putting my pureed strawberries into a muslin bag so I can pull them out when I rack after the fermentation is over.

Does this plan sound good? Please advise if I've got this right. Most appreciated!
Click to expand...

Hey Slim, not sure if you saw this, but could really use some assurance. Thanks...
 
JeffoC6 said:
Hey Slim, not sure if you saw this, but could really use some assurance. Thanks...
Click to expand...

You can use whatever honey you like...but my advice is to taste it first, if it's taste harsh raw, it will be harsh as mead.
I wouldn't add the yeast or the yeast nutrients until its down to 70 degrees.
Everything else sounds good!
 
One last question? so I have everything I need for this my only questions are- I work in a resturant and got the frozen straw in the big white tubs, it says there just straw and sugar. there about half gallon 6lb tubs. should I thaw them out and drain the juice? and should I pitch 2 yeast being it's gonna be about 6 gallons if I keep the sugar juice?
 
kellysrepairs said:
One last question? so I have everything I need for this my only questions are- I work in a resturant and got the frozen straw in the big white tubs, it says there just straw and sugar. there about half gallon 6lb tubs. should I thaw them out and drain the juice? and should I pitch 2 yeast being it's gonna be about 6 gallons if I keep the sugar juice?
Click to expand...

You can just throw them in the mix....but your mix must be 70 for the yeast to start eating.
 
I have a question for Slim or any others who have already bottled their mead already. I am in no hurry to bottle but I had a question about clarity. I have seen the picture of the bottled mead but was wondering how clear the mead will get in the carboy. This is where I am now as far as clarity. I know it is probably not the best picture but it was they best I was able to take. I just racked it a second time to take it off about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of lees. Also I am wondering about any chemicals that anyone added such as stabilising agents and if any added them. I took another reading after racking and I am at 1.016 and have been there for over 4 weeks.

mead1.jpg
 
graydragon2 said:
I have a question for Slim or any others who have already bottled their mead already. I am in no hurry to bottle but I had a question about clarity. I have seen the picture of the bottled mead but was wondering how clear the mead will get in the carboy. This is where I am now as far as clarity. I know it is probably not the best picture but it was they best I was able to take. I just racked it a second time to take it off about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of lees. Also I am wondering about any chemicals that anyone added such as stabilising agents and if any added them. I took another reading after racking and I am at 1.016 and have been there for over 4 weeks.
Click to expand...

It will continue to clear up, just make sure when you bottle that you remove additional sediment
 
I am about to rack my mead to its 3rd vessel. I would say that my mead will be completely different and more potent since I used D47 yeast. It has now fermented to around .997 and I am debating on what to do next. I want it to finish sweet and can't decide whether to add more honey and let the d47 max out in alcohol tolerance or just add the combo to kill fermentation. I am leaning towards adding more honey, but I will only be able to guess what the alcohol level is at and I don't know how much further the D47 can go.

I never measured gravity higher than 1.094 I think, but it has 17 lbs of honey added at various times, and 12 lbs in primary was the 1.094 reading. It started off with 12 lbs of frozen strawberries and 96 oz of cherry white grape juice and added 4 lbs of strawberries in secondary. I am done with strawberries and need to rack it off the fruit, just debating on which step next.

During primary it tasted and smelled super yeasty from the d47, but now that part has mellowed and it has super alcohol burn and is very dry. The strawberry flavor is good though and I expect this to keep improving. Just want it sweeter.
 

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