GROUP BREW: Strawberry Mead

Plan to do this mead upcoming weekend.
Two things I want from this mead -want it to be sweet and alcohol potent hence, however, I am new to mead and think that these two requirements contradict each other.

So I have few questions:

1. Once you finish fermenting and cold crush it at 1.015 how sweet this mead is? I am striking for the sweet mead, slightly less sweet than desert wine. If I am trying to reach that sweetness should I use more honey or back sweeten it?

2. To make it more alcohol potent, lets say 14% should I cold crush it at a 1.0? If so wouldn't this make mead more dry and and such controversy my first requirement?

Good to see a fellow brewer so close to where I am! If you're super new JAOM and MAOM are both good recipes to start on. My first batch was a 1 gal of JAOM. I have 3 gal of MAOM going right now that I need to rack and let age as soon as my new 3 gal carboy gets here tomorrow.

In response to your quesitons:
1) If you let it go, it will finish fermenting closer to 1.000 (if not a little lower). If you cold crash it between 1.015-1.020 it will be on the sweet side. I think 1.015 is a hair above "sweet" and a little under "dessert" when it comes to FG.
2) If you use the 1116 as recommended and let it ferment to dryness it will take you to about 18%. Yes it will definately make your mead more dry on the dry side.
In response to the overall question... What I've found a lot of people will do (with meads, wines, and ciders) is to let it ferment to dryness and then backsweeten with whatever will go best with the product. In this case it would be easiest to backsweeten with more honey/water blended together or just straight honey. Make sure ferment doesn't restart and you should be good to go.

I think for what you want it would be best to let it ferment all the way to 18% with the 1116 and then backsweeten with honey to the level of sweetness you want. Also D47 finishes around 14% if I remember correctly, so you could always use that to take it to 14% and it'll finish up there while still leaving some sweetness behind (especially with the OG of 1.130ish).

NiteBeest said:

Good to see a fellow brewer so close to where I am! If you're super new JAOM and MAOM are both good recipes to start on. My first batch was a 1 gal of JAOM. I have 3 gal of MAOM going right now that I need to rack and let age as soon as my new 3 gal carboy gets here tomorrow.

In response to your quesitons:
1) If you let it go, it will finish fermenting closer to 1.000 (if not a little lower). If you cold crash it between 1.015-1.020 it will be on the sweet side. I think 1.015 is a hair above "sweet" and a little under "dessert" when it comes to FG.
2) If you use the 1116 as recommended and let it ferment to dryness it will take you to about 18%. Yes it will definately make your mead more dry on the dry side.
In response to the overall question... What I've found a lot of people will do (with meads, wines, and ciders) is to let it ferment to dryness and then backsweeten with whatever will go best with the product. In this case it would be easiest to backsweeten with more honey/water blended together or just straight honey. Make sure ferment doesn't restart and you should be good to go.

I think for what you want it would be best to let it ferment all the way to 18% with the 1116 and then backsweeten with honey to the level of sweetness you want. Also D47 finishes around 14% if I remember correctly, so you could always use that to take it to 14% and it'll finish up there while still leaving some sweetness behind (especially with the OG of 1.130ish).

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Thank you Nite.

Where do you get your honey in Bay Area? I spotted few posts on the craigslist, but don't know how legit those guys are.

For the JAOM I did last year I just bought the giant yellow tin from Safeway. With the MAOM I picked up 10 lb of local Livermore honey at an art & wine festival there last year. Just moved out to Antioch so I'm trying to find an apiary out here. Antioch and Brentwood both have farmers markets on the weekend so I'm thinking I'll check them out. With any luck there will be someone selling honey and I can see if I can work something out with them. Other than that I haven't really found anything good on Craigslist. If I find someone out this way I'll let you know. Granted an hour is a little bit of a drive, but for good honey at hopefully a good price it could be worth it.

Started another 6 gallons for this year.

This stuff goes fast!

Also trying prickly pear.

Ok, guys, took me a while to gather all of the ingredients, including big bucket for the initial fermentation, but finally everything aligned.
Yesterday, I used 19lb of various organic no preservatives honey, mixed it in a slightly worm water, than added 17lb of strawberries and added water to what I think approximately 6.5g. After that I added 3 campden tabs and 4 tea spoons of nutrients.
Two questions:
1. I have one pack of 5g KV-1116 yeast, which I ordered earlier and it was sitting in my refrigerator for probably month and a half. Is it still ok to add it to the must? To get a better fermentation can I add more yeas of different type? I have one of those liquid yeasts for sweet honey.

2. The nutrients can reads to add 1tsp for each gallon, since I have total of 6.5 gallons, isn't 4 tsp is not enough? Should I add another two tsp tonight before I pitch in yeast?

WOW...I am so glad this thread is still going! I love this mead, and plan on brewing up another batch this winter at some point. It's SOOOO good!! Glad you guys like it

Dan

I plan to make this again but not make it dry this time. Still tasty though.

daugenet -- you aren't suppose to let it go until dry....crash it at about 1.012-1.015 and It'll be perfect!! I hate dry wines as well.

gonna be starting up another 5 gallon batch of this next week..Anyone else gonna join in??

I could be in, in a couple weeks. Won't be off of work until the last week of the year. I hate it when we get put on mandatory overtime....we will be cranking up after the new year too.

Question...
What is the opinion of adding Potassium Sorbate and Campden when you rack into secondary? Wouldn't that prevent a renewal in fermenting and keep it sweeter?

Also, I don't completely understand the need for campden in the initial mixing? Could someone explain that to me?

Campden Tablets release sulfur dioxide when They are added in small doses directly to fresh fruits and juices 24 hours or so before adding yeast. ... This is to destroy any wild molds and bacteria that may have been on the fruit

I use to use Campden and potassium sorbate to stop my fermentations early when I was fairly new at brewing...but you can taste those items when used too much. I have since gone to cold crashing, and/or taking my brews to dryness, and then backsweetening and keeping cold in kegs (under 40F)

good11s said:

Question...
What is the opinion of adding Potassium Sorbate and Campden when you rack into secondary? Wouldn't that prevent a renewal in fermenting and keep it sweeter?

Also, I don't completely understand the need for campden in the initial mixing? Could someone explain that to me?

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Adding campden initially is to kill off any wild yeast, mold spores, and any other undesireable microorganisms. Be sure to wait at least 24 hours before pitching the yeast, or it might not get started.

Adding Potassium Sorbate and Campden together when you rack into secondary will prevent further reproduction of yeast, and I believe it will reduce the numbers of existing yeast. So this would be done to allow you to sweeten the mead after racking to your secondary. You might still get some fermentation, but it shouldn't ferment much.

I hope that helps

Edit: Bahahaha, Flyweed beat me to the punch! Oh well...

Ok folks, you convinced me to mix up a batch. The bees were good to me this year and made 165lbs of honey. I guess I can spare some for Strawberry Mead!

regards,

robin850

flyweed said:

gonna be starting up another 5 gallon batch of this next week..Anyone else gonna join in??

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Flyweed,

I already have a Triple Berry in tertiary, and a Strawberry in secondary. I'm getting ready to start the Blueberry again.

BTW, thanks for taking mgayer's blueberry recipe and adding all the process description to it. It turned out ridiculously good.

I think I still have some of this stuff! Might have to break it out for Saturday's XMAS party!!!

I have a question about the recipe about the amount of water; is the original recipe for 5 gallons or 6.5 gallons? Are there any updates to the original recipe or has everyone found that it is spot on?

Well reading this thread as convinced me to make this mead, so I'm coming out of lurker status. First off I would like to thank everyone that posted in this thread for the wealth of information it provides. Secondly, this forum is awesome, as it provides even more information.

I've gotten everything together and sitting on campden tablets now, but was only able to get two gallons of water in after the strawberries were added. I saw that Jaxn posted on page 3 that they were only able to get 3.25 gallons in for their 6.5 gallon batch. Oh, and I guess it would help to say I am making a 5 gallon batch, using 14 # of honey and 13 # of strawberries. My SG was 1.160 and my brix was 36. Is this amount of water normal, as well as the readings?

Edit
Well after sitting on the campden for 25 hours, I took another reading before I pitched my yeast. Everything seems to be alright. Following highest nutrient guide. Words cannot describe how good this smells!

13# strawberries
9# of wildflower
5# of orange blossom
3 campden tablets
Water to 5 gallons
(put strawberries in a sterilized paint filter bag)

1/13/2013 10:30 pm (pitched yeast)
SG - 1.130
Brix - 31
Added first nutrients, punched cap/aerated for 2 minutes

1/14/2013 1:30pm
SG - 1.128
Brix - 28
Added second set of nutrients, punched cap/aerated for 2 minutes

1/14/2013 4:45 pm
Punched cap/aerated for 2 minutes

Well this has turned out to be a success for me. I cold crashed at 1.025 for a week, racked off of the yeast/trash. Brought back up to room temp and then used pectic enzyme to clear (forgot to add in primary). I have 3 2/3 gal of finished product. And by math indicates 13.8% abv. Tasty, potent and sweet! Thanks to all here, and especially yomamma!

I will be starting this soon because I have 35# of local super sweet berries in the freezer and a huge bucket of raw wildflower honey coming my way. Think I will use 3-5 pounds of orange blossom or tupelo honey too.Though I will likely use D47 instead of K1-V1116, need to think about it. Aim for an OG of 1.120 and if it dies off around 1.015 I would still have an ACV of approx 14%..D47 or Cotes de Blanc(via a cool ferment) would come close . I just have bad experience when cold crashing, stabilizing and later bottling, every batch has always refermented. I could ferment to dry and allow to clear and then stabilize and backsweeten. Decisions, decisions.

I have used D47 and step fed a Blueberry mead until the yeast stopped. Took a number of rackings to get there.

Was the refermentation an ugly/messy scene?

opus345 said:

I have used D47 and step fed a Blueberry mead until the yeast stopped. Took a number of rackings to get there.

Was the refermentation an ugly/messy scene?

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opus345...I have also used D47 to achieve residual sugar by way of alcohol toxicity causing yeast death with great success. As far as cold crash failure it was indeed ugly. Lost at least one gallon in one fell swoop..heard corks popping and glass breaking..sticky mess that smelled great! I super chilled what was left and consumed sooner rather than later. They were at the year mark when they woke back up in the 50F wine cave.

saramc said:

opus345...I have also used D47 to achieve residual sugar by way of alcohol toxicity causing yeast death with great success. As far as cold crash failure it was indeed ugly. Lost at least one gallon in one fell swoop..heard corks popping and glass breaking..sticky mess that smelled great! I super chilled what was left and consumed sooner rather than later. They were at the year mark when they woke back up in the 50F wine cave.

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Thanks for sharing, it is good to know that this could happen and it was interesting to hear that it took a year.

I have all the mats for this and plan on making it this weekend...with only one catch I'd like to use D47 yeast on this because i have several packets of it already. I have read through most of the posts and havent seen anyone really giving a thumbs up on it. Is there any reason not to on this particular recipe? Is it just problems with cold crashing opposed to pitching sorbate?

What are your goals? Dry vs SemiSweet vs Sweet? ABV? < 14% or > 14%

Keep in mind that I'm still learning, but I like to use previous HBT/GotMead posts to help educate myself:

Don't use D47 with a fermentation temp over 68*F
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/lalvin-d47-over-20-c-292239/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/best-lalvin-yeast-show-mead-305096/

GM
Overall experiences
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8633
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20408

Lalvin ICV D47
http://www.lalvinyeast.com/images/library/ICV-D47_Yeast.pdf

Lalvin Strains
http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

opus345 said:

What are your goals? Dry vs SemiSweet vs Sweet? ABV? < 14% or > 14%

Keep in mind that I'm still learning, but I like to use previous HBT/GotMead posts to help educate myself:

Don't use D47 with a fermentation temp over 68*F
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/lalvin-d47-over-20-c-292239/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/best-lalvin-yeast-show-mead-305096/

GM
Overall experiences
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8633
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20408

Lalvin ICV D47
http://www.lalvinyeast.com/images/library/ICV-D47_Yeast.pdf

Lalvin Strains
http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

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Thanks for the reply my man....I'm aiming for semi-sweet. The D47 above 68 degrees shouldnt be a problem this time of year but that has always kinda confused me a bit. The blueberry mead recipe that i have used on this website used 3 packets of D47 and told me to keep it at 72 degrees. For what its worth its hovered around 70 degrees during initial fermentation and since has been holding around 64-62 with no foul notes that i can detect.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/blueberry-mead-34038/

I'm in as well, but going on Vacation to Wisconsin this weekend (going to stock up on New Glarus while there!) so I'll be a little behind.

I will be getting in on this again this coming weekend. Just have to see if the local shop has the right yeast or if i need to order it. I am getting pumped.

Hey all-
I know I'm a few years late but I saw this and just had to try it. Here are my notes - I'm new so feel free to help if I did anything wrong. Main thing I noticed is that mine fermented much faster than I expected.

Notes:

5-21-13 Strawberry Mead started at 7pm. Added 18 lb whole fresh strawberries frozen then thawed, in mesh bag. Added 18 lb raw wildflower honey, water to 6 gal (ran out of room in bucket but left a few inches for foaming) and 1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulphite in ferm bucket. Stirred up well and set lid on bucket. Waited 24 hours.

5-22-13 added 1.75 tsp pectic enzyme, 2 tsp energizer, 4 tsp nutrient. Rehydrated 2 packets of K1V1116 and pitched on 69 degree must. Stirred a lot. OG is 1150 on 69 degree must with 66 degree air. Moved bucket to fermentation room which is 65 degrees. I'm doing staggered nutrient additions.

5-23-13 punched cap and added .5 tsp energizer and 2 tsp nutrient. Gravity is 1130 in 65 degree room. Punched cap again before bed, lots of foam.

5-24-13 punched cap in the AM and step fed .5 tsp energizer and 1 tsp nutrient. SG is 1114. Lots more foam, good aroma. Foamed up into towel, replaced towel with a fresh one after punching cap this afternoon.

5-25-13 punched cap and checked gravity of 1060.

5-26-13 punched cap and gravity was 1030 so I put on the lid and airlock.

5-28-13 SG of 1012 so I racked into 6 gallon secondary Carboy on top of a pound of orange blossom honey. Tastes pretty good but wasn't very sweet, which is why I racked on to the honey. Unmistakable strawberry flavor!


Thanks! Will

Started making this about 8 days ago. I am pulling out the strawberries now. I didn't have a container large enough to hold all the fruit and fluids so I just put it all in my 15 gal pot and left the lid on. I made it with about 16 lbs of honey and 18lbs of strawberries.

The strawberries have probably reduced to 1/4 of their original mass and have turned rather grey. The fragrance this stuff gives off is unbelievable. My hands smells like strawberry jam and beer. I will be adding in some pectic enzyme and finings in a couple days and then racking off to a bucket to sit for about a month before I keg it up. Seriously can't wait.

I want to apologize for waking a dormant thread, but this stuff is soooo good I had to post here again.

After opening my last one gallon carboy of this at christmas, I realized that I never should have touched this for a year. Now that strawberry season is in full swing here in florida, I decided to do two 5 gallon batches. One with semi ripe strawberries like I did least year, and another 5 gallon batch with ripe-overripe strawberries. Both brewed with local orange blossom honey and some sourwood honey from NC, strictly following Yomamma's directions on page 6 (double yeast, nutrients and energizer). I did this last year with great results. Anyway here goes my recipe...

12# orange blossom honey
2.5# sourwood honey
5 campden tabs
~ 16# strawberries
10 g dap
10 g fermaid k
10 g k1v 1116

Sg before fruit 1.100 (water still chilly, this will most likely rise as honey fully dissolves). Bagged frozen/thawed strawberries in a 5 gallon painter filter bag. Will take another reading before pitching of yeast.

While I don't expect huge differences in the taste between the berries, I'm hoping for at least subtle differences. Either way, I got ~10 gallons of some great mead!

no problem keeping a dead thread alive, especially one that makes a good mead like this.

I am actually starting a new 5 gal. batch of this today, for my sons graduation party in June. Yeah it'll be young at 4 months, but it'll still be good!!

Speaking of reviving old threads... Racking onto strawberries in the secondary. How long do you leave it with the fruit before racking again and bulk aging? Or do you just bulk age with the fruit...

Blasphemy168 said:

Speaking of reviving old threads... Racking onto strawberries in the secondary. How long do you leave it with the fruit before racking again and bulk aging? Or do you just bulk age with the fruit...

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I would say a couple of weeks on the strawberries should be good. You’ll see when it’s time. They’ll lose their color. Take a sanitized spoon and try one of them.
If they are absolutely flavorless, they’ve done their job and it’s time to rack off.

AzOr said:

I would say a couple of weeks on the strawberries should be good. You’ll see when it’s time. They’ll lose their color. Take a sanitized spoon and try one of them.
If they are absolutely flavorless, they’ve done their job and it’s time to rack off.

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Interestingly enough the recipe from this thread is pretty much what i do when doing Melomels. I would not go longer than 10 to 14 days with the fruit in secondary. My expierence has been fruit of any kind will pretty much give up all its flavor after about 14 days. Strawberries have small seeds on the outside of the fruit and if left too long give off some very sharp and for me unpleasant flavors.

Just started a batch. Fermentation is going strong. If the foam rises too high, is there any negative consequences to scooping out some of the foam? I feel like it's no different than spilling out the sides a little...

shouldn't hurt, next time use a bucket bigger than the batch so you have room for the foam. I would think that it contains a bit of your flavor and color, but not enough to worry about. and yeah spilled or scooped it's still gone. scooped should save on the mess.

Blacksmith1 said:

shouldn't hurt, next time use a bucket bigger than the batch so you have room for the foam. I would think that it contains a bit of your flavor and color, but not enough to worry about. and yeah spilled or scooped it's still gone. scooped should save on the mess.

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You were spot on. I scooped a little foam off the top that would have spilled out. I let it sit in a bowl and when the foam subsided, there was a little liquid with a strong honey and strawberry taste. I'm sure it's a negligible amount, but the OC side of me wishes that liquid was back in the primary. I was planning on leaving more head space but 12 lbs of strawberries ended up being more volume than I anticipated.

I'd been planning this mead for awhile and as a lurker, saw this dead thread about a rather legendary mead. I then saw people adding to it this year and realized it wasn't really dead after all. Started a batch myself. This will be my second mead after a successful peach mead.

24 hours before
18lb Round Rock wildflower honey
17lb Walmart quick frozen strawberries in a nylon cheese cloth bag (thawed, normal frozen and thawed again)
5 campden tablets
~3.5g spring water (up to 6.5g)
7.9g bucket
S.G. ~1.140 (without strawberries)
Ferment Temp 70F

Day 0 6PM.
5g k1v-1116 re-hydrated with 50ml water and 10g go-ferm for 30 minutes
10g pectic enzyme
4.5g fermaid k
2g dap
Aerate
Airlock and top installed (temporarily. Wanting to see the ferment progress)

Day 1
6AM - Punched top and aerated.
12PM - Began seeing bubbling airlock. Bubbles at ~15 a minute.
6PM - Punched top and aerated.

Day 2
6AM - Punched top and aerated.
12PM - Bubbles increased to about 45 a minute.
6PM - Added 4.5g of fermaid k and 2g of dap. Punched top and aerated. Bubbling was up to 60+ a minute. Removed airlock and have cover lightly on top.
S.G. 1.095

Day 3
Aerated every 12 hours.
S.G. 1.070

Will add to this with my full notes when I rack and/or cold crash.

1. What are the chances of the foam overflowing in such a large bucket? I've got about 2 inches of headroom in the bucket for around 1.4 gallons of headroom.
A. Strawberries reach the bottom of the lid, but even at its most vigorous, it didn't shoot through the airlock. Removed it mostly to avoid CO2 buildup.
2. Would you recommend Fermaid k and DAP each SNA or does fermaid k have enough DAP for the rest of the ferment?
A. Never found a good answer other than that yeast can't use dap after a certain alcohol level and it can produce off flavors after that point. Went with 4.5g of fermaid k and 2g of dap for the first and second nutrient addition, then just did fermaid k after that point.
3. Would you do every other day nutrient additions or every day nutrient additions?
A. Been doing it every other day.