Black Currant & Raspberry Melomels

So I recently got my hands on 5lbs of frozen black currants and would love to make a mead with this. I only have 1 batch of mead under my belt, a 3 month old dry mead that is still clearing/aging. I also want to make a raspberry melomel and had a couple thoughts on how I want to do this.

I shoot for around 3 gallon in my mead batches and when I brew the black currant mead, I also want to do a raspberry melomel. Here are my two thoughts:

A. Brew up 6 gallons of mead. When its done fermenting, rack 3 gallons onto a can of Oregon Raspberry puree. Rack the other 3 gallos onto black currants that I pureed.

B. Brew up an black currant wine at the same time I make the mead, and blend the 2 together. I had a commercial elderberry mead that did it this way and it was fantastic. It would be a lot more work, but i think would make for a great mead.

I would like to go with option A, but because it would be a little less work than making a wine and mead and letting the 2 age. However, I have no idea how much black currant to use. I still want the mead flavor to dominate and have the fruit in the background. I was thinking 3lbs? Also, how much raspberry puree? Is 1 can too much?

If I do go with option B, anyone have suggestions or can point me in the right direction on how to make a wine from black currants?


Thanks!

Anyone have thoughts/guesses on if 3lb is too much or too little for black currants??

/bump.......

I made a 1 gallon batch with fresh berries from my currant plant.. I racked it recently to a secondary after 2 months..It cleared nicely but is real dark, trust me alittle black currant goes along way as far as color .. I'm sure it'll be fine as mine tasted great.. If you leave the skins on it'll get real dark red, very nice looking..

svengoat said:

I made a 1 gallon batch with fresh berries from my currant plant.. I racked it recently to a secondary after 2 months..It cleared nicely but is real dark, trust me alittle black currant goes along way as far as color .. I'm sure it'll be fine as mine tasted great.. If you leave the skins on it'll get real dark red, very nice looking..

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How much did you use for a 1 gallon batch? Did you add it before, during, or after primary fermentation?

I did a 50-50% mix at primary... 2 lbs honey dissolved in 1/2 gallon water and crushed the berries to fill up the other 50%.. My currants weren't very sweet but added color and complexity to the mead..