Raspberry Lime Mead

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BrewStache

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I'm looking to make something along the lines of a Raspberry Lime Rickey but in mead form. I got a good base recipe for the raspberry mead but I am having trouble finding a good way to add the lime. The biggest problem other people seem to be running into is the citric acid coming from the limes. Is that an actual problem for mead?

I was just going to squeeze a couple limes into the carboy and rack the mead on top of that and the raspberries. I don't think zesting alone will give me the flavor that I want. Any thoughts about Simply Limeade or Rose's Lime Juice?

Just for reference I am doing a 1gallon batch with 3 pounds of Blueberry Honey, a pound of Frozen Raspberries and Côte des Blancs yeast.
 
Wow, with your yeast choice you must be going for a very dry mead. That is a champaign yeast if I am not mistaken and goes to, what 20% ABV tolorance.

That said. I think you best bet would be to put both the raspberries and lime juice in the secondary after you rack it. I also recomend upping the raspberries to 3 pounds for a better flavor. Unless they are fresh picked, then you prob can get away with 1 1/2 pounds. Otherwise the raspberry flavor will be light.

I would use a teaspoon of lime zest in the primary and put in about 1/2 cup of fresh squezed lime juice in the secondary. Should be fine. I made a lime mead and it turned out great. I didn't do any zest but I did use 2 cups in the primary and 3 cups of juice in the secondary. This was for a 5 gal batch though. So that equated to about 1 cup a gallon. I ended up with a nice flavor. Some said it was perfect amount of lime and others said that they thought it was great but wanted more lime. If I do another Lime, I will use zest too. About 2 tablespoons in the primary should be good for a 5-6 gal batch.

Hope this helps.

Matrix
 
It says its a Dry Wine Yeast, so I guess champagne as well. It's the first mead I am doing so I thought it would be a safe bet. I don't really like the sweet meads and with the added flavors I thought that it might balance it out a bit.

The combination of zest and juice sounds good. You really think as much raspberries as honey is a necessary?
 
I used this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/great-raspberry-mead-88288/
it's rolling in the (1gal) primary right now, can't vouch for the taste yet but it sure looks tempting!

I wonder if stealing the sugar content off the nutrition facts label on the frozen raspberries would give you a pretty decent idea of the potential ABV? Like, a 12oz bag of raspberries contains (x)g of sugar, add that in as (x)g sucrose and try to work it out via mathing?
 
Hmm, it may not be needed to use that many raspberries but I tend to like bold flavors. Also, Beware that the yeasties love raspberries. I had a Raspberry Thyme that I did and it went really dry. I used like 14 pounds of honey, and in the secondary I used 14 pounds of raspberries, rendered to juice before I put it in. I put it in the blender then sifted that through a screen to remove the seeds. Worked well and the pulp was easier to deal with. The Raspberry produced a lot of sediment but that was hardly unexpected given my method. Oh, this was for a 6 gallon batch. And it went dry, so I needed to back sweeten it a bit. I think that I backsweetened it with 5 pounds of honey. It ended up super sweet but then again, I used a lot. It should taste dry when you first bottle but the sweetness should come back.

So over all I think that you should be ok. Give it a try and see, but bear in mind the raspberries even in the secondary will please the yeasties and they will gobble up the sugars. I personally would go with a Lavin 71B or a Lavin D47 yeast for a more cleaner finish but your yeast choice should be fine.

Hope it turns out the way you wish. I am interested in hearing how lime and raspberry taste together.

Matrix
 
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