Blueberry Mead - First try

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Klainmeister

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I'm new to making mead, but today i caught a lunker of steelhead and traded it to a honey harvester near the river for 15lbs of wildflower honey. :mug:

So, i looked up mead recipes on gotmead and decided to give this one a try:

12 lbs Wildflower Honey
2 lbs blueberries
2 tspn gypsum or water crystals
3 tspn yeast nutrient
1 oz Hallertauer Leaf hops
1 Tbsp Irish Moss
2 packs Red Star Pastuer Champagne yeast

I was thinking of adding more honey, maybe all 15lbs. Aside from the basics, is there any tips out there for a new mead maker, anything i need to worry about? Thanks guys, i'm real excited!
 
The purpose of this recipe wasn't so much to have a blueberry mead to to impart some good color, aroma and slight sweetness to it. Not necessarily taste like blueberries. Still not enough though?
 
Maybe, but don't add them in the primary. Rack on to them in a secondary or even a tertiary so the sugars in the blueberrys don't get eaten up. You'll lose the flavor and the color if they go in the primary. Maybe consider a can of oregon fruit puree from one of the online supply stores, that'll give you more of the pound per pound of blueberry you need.

mike
 
Here's the instructions found on the site:

Boil hops, yeast nutrient and water crystals for 30 - 45 minutes.

Add Irish Moss in the last 15-30 minutes of the boil.

Turn off the heat and add the honey and the blueberries, steep at 180-190 degrees for 15 minutes minimum (30 minutes is ok too).

Pour the whole mixture to a bucket or carboy and let cool (or use a wort chiller if you have one).

Add the yeast at the temperature recommended on the packet (85-90 degreesI think).

Let it ferment.
 
12lbs of honey in a 5 gallon batch will make for a dry mead when using champagne yeast, and the addition of hops will make it a bit bitter (even though Hallertau is low %AA). I think the blueberries can really enhance this, but definitely more than 2 lbs, and added much later. Freeze the blueberries to sanitize them, and to rupture cell membranes. Place them in a carboy as they are almost thawed, then rack your mead on them(3rd or 4th racking).

The only mead I've ever made with hops is the Perle/Saaz one I made as an experiment, and I only used them for dry hopping. If you added even a cup of malt, you could call it a blueberry braggot. Let us know how it turns out.
 
Thanks for the advice. To me two pounds seemed low but i didn't want a full blow blueberry. My plan is to do primary fermentation then rack onto 4-6lbs blueberries for 2 weeks. Eh?
 
If you want the blueberry flavor more pronounced then use them in the secondary. Your assumption was correct as the receipe imparts a small amount of blueberry smell and some color. This receipe was dry and a bit on the bitter side. Don't forget it will be stout!

If you are planning more blueberry flavor then by all means use the secondary. I would also step add about a pound of honey with at least three rackings. My blueberry mead started with 5 lbs of blueberries in the primary but I will add at least a couple more lbs on the next racking. In the primary it's all about the color depth it will give. If you want to see a picture of what it looks like after racking to the secondary go here. It has since changed to a deeper purple and started clearing. The flash made it a bit more pinkish.
 
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