Sweet Raspberry Mead

This is my second attempt at a mead to try and quench my unending thirst for an elixir fit for the gods.

Brew Date: Nov. 29, 2007
Volume: 2.5 Gallons
Ingredients:

* 12 lb Raspberry Blossom Honey
* 60 oz Raspberries
* 3 Lemons (juiced)
* 3 Oranges (juiced)
* 0.5 Cup English Breakfast Tea

Additives:

* 1 tbsp Yeast Nutrient

Yeast:

* WYeast 4184 - Sweet Mead Yeast

Gravities:

* Original Gravity | 1.167
* Final Gravity | 1.078
* Alcohol By Volume | 14.28 %

This stuff is my favorite. It's a year old now and it just keeps getting better. The Citrus and tea are definitely the key and make a big difference in the overall result.

FG= 1.078?? That sounds very, very sweet to me. The formula below used to determine Alcohol By Weight (ABW) indicates about 11% alcohol.

Alcohol percentage by weight equals 76.08 times Original Gravity minus Final Gravity divided by 1.775 minus Original Gravity. It is easier to scribble this down: ABW = 76.08(OG-FG)/(1.775-OG).

OG-FG=.089(76.08)=6.77
1.775 minus the OG, or 1.167=.608
6.77 divided by .608=11.13%

According to the Wyeast website, that particular yeast is good for 11% and it looks like you got about all out of it.

If it's at 1.078, you've either got to pitch someting else...Premiere Cuve or someting to bring it down, or you've got a nice mead syrup to add to your espresso.

Shouldn't this be a 5 gal batch? 12lbs of honey is an awful lot for 2.5 gals.

juse said:

Shouldn't this be a 5 gal batch? 12lbs of honey is an awful lot for 2.5 gals.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking!
I'm making a 1 gallon batch of raspberry and I'm only adding 3.5 pounds (which is 1/2 pound more than I added to the blueberry version, to make up for using less than 1 pound of raspberries.) :fro:

holy smokes...1.078 for a FG?? that can't be correct. That would pour like pancake syrup. You should take another gravity check...and make sure there are no bubbles, or foam in your test tube..and then give the hydrometer a twirl..so you can get an accurate reading. it's either an inaccurate reading..or you have a stuck fermentation and need to restart it.

meh... if he's at over 11%... and he's using an 11% yeast... then it's probably safe to say that his yeast is dead due to the alcohol content. Some people like thick sweet meads I guess... which is evident in the title of this recipe... I'd like to taste and check it for myself to verify... but obviously that's not happening... maybe I'll throw a smaller batch of this together to see how it turns out... then compare the notes. You still around HopsTat? Have you made this since this post?