Mixed berry mead how does this sound?

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klcramer

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I did a 1 gallon mixed berry mead last year and tasted 1 of the bottles recently and wished I had more. Another problem is I lost my recipe.I was thinking of putting this together.

10 pounds of clover honey
10 pounds of frozen mixed berries ( Sam's Club )
16 whole cloves
16 cinnamon sticks
Zest of 3 oranges

Water, honey, cloves, zest, and cinnamon simmered until no more scum rises to the top.

Spring water to 5 gal.

When at room temp add energizer and nutrient and pour into carboy then pitch yeast.

Planning on using Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

Comment away....
 
I prefer not to use heat. And I'd add the cinnamon and cloves after fermentation to control the flavor better. Just my $.02.
 
Well I have a couple of gallons of blueberry mead going and I only used 2lbs honey per gallon but I ended up putting more fruit in the secondary and wished I used a bit more...
It seems that I read a "rule of thumb" about fruit for mead somewhere and it recommended a least 3 pounds of fruit per gallon if not 4.
I ended up with about about 5lbs for 2 gallons and half was in primary and the other half was in the secondary for about 1 week(the berries lost all their color and started to sink) and then I racked into two single gallon jars and am waiting for all the sediment to drop. The flavor is very nice and light and should be very refreshing.
But the more fruit you can afford to put in there the richer the flavor will be.

 
All sounds good but I'd also recommend potassium carbonate. See Hightest's faq's on potassium carbonate addition (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/sticky-mead-making-faqs-83030/). I think he recommends 1 gram per gallon right at the start. Helps lower acidity so your yeast won't get stuck, and the potassium keeps the yeast strong.
Oh and don't forget staggered nutrient additions, rather than just pitching all your yeast nutrient from the start. (also in Hightest's faq's)

Have you started yet? Let us know how it goes. :)
 
10 pounds of honey in a 5 gallon batch will give a very low starting gravity (around 1.075) and about 10% ABV. If you are shooting for a light mead, with a light fruity character that may be fine. With a batch like this, you won't need to stagger the nutrients and if the fruit is added to the primary, you probably won't have any pH issues to worry about.

However, 16 cloves in a gallon is going to probably make your tongue go numb after the first sip. I'd say that is at least 15 too many, but your taste may vary. That's also way more cinnamon than a one gallon batch is likely to tolerate. Why not try one. You can always add more cinnamon and clove as it ages if you want more, but if you overdose it like that, it may never age out.

Medsen

P.S. I don't like to heat the honey either (even Sam's).
 
Planning om starting this tomorrow, From the feedback I have gotten I need to up the honey and berries and lower the cinnamon and cloves.

How does it sound if I go:

15 lbs honey
15 lbs berries. 1/2 primary 1/2 secondary
zest of 3 oranges
4 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
staggered nutrients
EC-1118 yeast

Let me know what you think.
 
That sounds like it may be very tasty.
Are you planning to ferment that in a bucket?
 
I was going to start it in a bucket and move it to a glass carboy secondary when fermentation slows.
 
That does sound interesting. I made some strawberry, but I'm waiting for the wild blackberries to come round. I've also got a very small patch of red raspberries. I think you've inspired me!
 
I wouldn't consider 10% abv a light mead, do you remember the ABV or amount of honey you put in your other mead?

By going to 15 lbs instead of 10, you jack the ABV up to 15% which will require much more aging before it's drinkable.


Planning om starting this tomorrow, From the feedback I have gotten I need to up the honey and berries and lower the cinnamon and cloves.

How does it sound if I go:

15 lbs honey
15 lbs berries. 1/2 primary 1/2 secondary
zest of 3 oranges
4 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
staggered nutrients
EC-1118 yeast

Let me know what you think.
 
What ever you decide, just buy a brew bag( I think that is the term) for the fruit!! I had a heck of a time trying to rack with the blueberries sucking up in the cane!! Hindsight is 20/20 ya know! lol
 
so the question is 10 pounds or 15 pounds? The total ABV really isn't an issue for me I want it to be drinkable. The honey I am planning on using I can get in 5 pound containers. Thats the only reason I was going between 10 and 15. my original mixed berry mead I think used 2.5 pounds but was a 1 gallon batch. Therefore 12.5 pounds should be my target amount but I really don't want to buy a 5 pound container just for half of it. Not that it would go to waist I just want to keep thing simple. Will there be a huge difference between 10 and 15 pounds? The ABV as I said doesn't really matter I want something that tastes good and not have to wait 2 to 3 years for it to be drinkable. If ten pounds will get me about 10% and taste good thats fine. If I need more to get the flavor I want then thats fine to. I'm pretty flexible here just wanted opinions from people with more experience. Is the amount of berries the right amount? I brew bag is a great idea thanks. I really appreciate the feedback so far keep it coming. By morning I hope to have a recipe ironed out that will be fruity and refreshing and not overly sweet but also not dry. I'd like to be able to drink this next summer possibly carbonate half the batch but I'm on the fence about that.
 
I can't really give you a definite answer, it's mostly up to taste. 10lbs will be drinkable faster since there won't be as much alcohol.

The yeast you have will ferment up to 17% abv, so it will dry out 10 or 15 lbs easily.

If you want it to stay sweet, you'll have to stop it early or backsweeten with something unfermentable.
 
So it's brew day.
Here is what I have decided to go with

10 pounds of clover honey
zest of 3 oranges
4 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
9 pounds of mixed berries

I choose to heat the honey to dissolve it in water and get rid of the scum.
Place all the above in a primary when it stops I will transfer it to a secondary on top of 6 more pounds of mixed berries.

I will do staggered nutrients.

Lets see how this goes
 
should've checked this sooner. Well hindsight, right emerald? quick comparison, 13lbs miel, 9 OZ blueberries, 3 peppermint springs,2 sticks cin.,6 rosemary sprigs, 1 rose. tasted great out of the primary but i couldn't find the nose or tongue from the extra ingredients. I racked to secondary on the same sticks of cin. 4 sprigs peppermint and 4 lbs blueberry. the must is crimson right now and i think the extras will be more noticable. Sounds pretty close to what you have so we'll have to compare notes on the clover and zest.

oh and i do not heat the honey, i place it in very warm water before.
 
Mead was put together yesterday and is bubbling away happily. the final recipe is:
10 pounds clover honey
9 pounds mixed berries
4 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
zest of 3 oranges

I will rack on to another 6 pounds of berries when fermentation slows
I took a gravity reading and got 1.40
To my calculations this will be about 10% ABV when done give or take a bit.
As I have said before I'm not real concerned with the ABV just that it is something I would want to serve my friends and family.

Thanks for all your input I will update how things are going when I rack and take the next reading.
 
I so look forward to how your mead will do, my berry plants are starting to form fruits and picking season is just around the corner-- the more Ideas that I check out the more wine I get to make!! If I keep the black raspberries watered well I should have a bumper crop!:D
wild blackcap mead-- sounds yummy don't it!
 
Took a sample taste today as it has been just over 2 months and all I can say is I wish I could just drink this all now. This is wonderful. Fermentation has slowed to almost a stop. Right around the 1.0 gravity reading. Still see some tiny bubble coming to the top of the carboy. Racked to a secondary and now just to wait... and wait.... and wait. Maybe I will forget about his in the back corner of my basement.
 
Agree with Medsen on the clove. My first batch of JAOM I used 3 drops of clove extract in a gallon and even that amount was a little too much. Guess it's all about your tastes but it can be overpowering.
 
Well I have a couple of gallons of blueberry mead going and I only used 2lbs honey per gallon but I ended up putting more fruit in the secondary and wished I used a bit more...
It seems that I read a "rule of thumb" about fruit for mead somewhere and it recommended a least 3 pounds of fruit per gallon if not 4.
I ended up with about about 5lbs for 2 gallons and half was in primary and the other half was in the secondary for about 1 week(the berries lost all their color and started to sink) and then I racked into two single gallon jars and am waiting for all the sediment to drop. The flavor is very nice and light and should be very refreshing.
But the more fruit you can afford to put in there the richer the flavor will be.



Hello Emerald. Have you thought about addind juice to increase the flavor?

http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/just_juice/just_blueberry

The R.W. Knudsen Blueberry Juice suppossedly has the juice of more than three pounds of Blueberries. I have used their juice before to flavor beers and it works quite well for that.

If anyone has experience using these juices in mead I would appreciate hearing about it.
 
k, I said I'd compare notes but i drank those already. haha

-primary ingriedient additions were unnoticible.
- secondary ingriedents should be doubled for texture
- mead was fruity but potent and extremly pleasent to drink
- attacked by hordes and gone by July 4th at the young age of 3 months
-one survivor remaining

wow it seemed so long ago, can it really be so. RIP blueberrymead
 
This does seem a little more than I have tried,
zest of 3 oranges
4 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks

I usually do the zest and juice of one orange, 2 cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks added in secondary. Did any flavours stand out or was overwhelming?
Thanks for posting this thread, I'm still looking for my perfect mead which I think I shall never find.
 
Hello Emerald. Have you thought about addind juice to increase the flavor?

http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/just_juice/just_blueberry

The R.W. Knudsen Blueberry Juice suppossedly has the juice of more than three pounds of Blueberries. I have used their juice before to flavor beers and it works quite well for that.

If anyone has experience using these juices in mead I would appreciate hearing about it.

I used blueberry concentrate on a batch I did last year. It turned out wonderful. The only problem is it hasn't cleared yet and I pitched it in Sept 09. I did use 1tsp of pectic enzyme per gallon. I think the concentrate is the culperate. I just racked it this weekend and the sides of the carboy were heavily stained.

This year I am putting 8lbs in the primary and 10lbs in the secondary (blueberries) if the flavor is too light I will add the concentrate after the second racking. It is still in the primary, but it is going very fast. It should be done before the 2 week mark. It went from 1.116 to 1.036 in 5 days. Very fast ferment.
 
All sounds good but I'd also recommend potassium carbonate. See Hightest's faq's on potassium carbonate addition (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/sticky-mead-making-faqs-83030/). I think he recommends 1 gram per gallon right at the start. Helps lower acidity so your yeast won't get stuck, and the potassium keeps the yeast strong.
Oh and don't forget staggered nutrient additions, rather than just pitching all your yeast nutrient from the start. (also in Hightest's faq's)

Have you started yet? Let us know how it goes. :)
Ec 1118 needs no help at all. You couldn't stop that yeast with anything short of boiling hahaha
 
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