Next academic year, I will be traveling abroad to Germany for around 10 months. I intend to make a mead to age during my time away.
I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but using GotMead's calculator to get around a 14% mead, I need about 14-15 lbs of honey, and then I'll secondary onto 3 lbs of pureed blackberry.
Is that in a 5 gallon batch (hope it is)?? You typically use about 2-3# of berries per gallon of must. I used 3# in my 3 gallon batch, during primary, then another 4.5# in secondary, so 7.5# of mashed berries total. I would NOT puree them, since that could cut into the seeds releasing unwanted flavors. Far better to use a potato masher on them. Some people freeze them for a short amount of time, thaw them fully, then mash them since it makes them easier to get into a more fluid state. I didn't do that in my batch.
I would go with 14# of honey to start (or less) and plan on using 2# per gallon of must for the berries (puts you to 10# of mashed berries)... I wouldn't add them all at one time. Split the berries into 2-4 additions, so that you don't have to worry about the cap too much. I would also only leave them in the mead for 5-7 days before racking off of them. So, plan on using at least 6 gallon fermenters while adding the berries (and in primary).
I intend to get honey from a local beekeeper, who two varieties: a sweet "spring" and a stronger-flavored spicy "summer" honey, of which I intend to use 50/50.
I'm considering using Safale s-04, Wyeast 4783 Rudesheimer Yeast or Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead. I'm aiming to get a semi-sweet mead. I would really love some yeast suggestions.
I would use something like Lalvin D47 for a melomel... Actually, I used that in MY blackberry melomel that I started 11/24/10. Chances are, most beer yeasts won't go up to 14% ABV. Also the Wyeast Sweet Mead maxes out at 11%.
I'm hoping to be able to bottle this in 4 months, to let it then condition for a year. Am I being too optimistic?
Very much so IMO... Mine's not ready for bottles yet... It might be after 6 months in bulk, but time will tell. The longer you let it bulk age, the better it will be. It also gives you the opportunity to tweak it as you need until it's ready... Once it's in bottles, you lose that ability.
If you're going to let it age in bottles for a year, then I would make damned sure you don't back sweeten it much, if at all. I would also figure that it could ferment down to .990, so use that to help the calculations. With that in mind, I would start with about 12# of honey until after the blackberries are all done being added, and racked off of. IF it has gone to .990-.998, then start adding a bit of honey until it stops fermenting it... I would stop adding honey once you hit 1.010... Let it bulk age a bit longer, to make sure it's not still dropping, then look to bottle it. That will put it in the 'medium' dryness range. When it ages for the year (or longer) it will actually get sweeter.
IF you can swing it, I would actually bulk age it for the year you're away. Get a corny keg, put it all in there, put a blanket of CO2 on it (get the lid to seal, purge it all, and put 1-2 PSI into it). Leave it where it will be cool for most of the year. If you have friends/family with a basement that doesn't get above the upper 60's see if they'll let you squirrel it away there while you're away. When you get back, bottle it up and let it age some more.
Mead gets better with age. So going that route just means you'll have something even better once you start drinking it. With this method, as long as it's off the berries before you go abroad, just let it age in the corny until you return. Much better than trying to rush it.
