Blueberry Mead

[jakeeroyal]

I want to make my 2nd batch of mead. I rushed my first batch as I was eager to taste it and it has that hot alcohol taste. I'll stomach it and drink that while I wait for my cider to finish (1 more week). I want to make blueberry mead and plan on it sitting till December. I have fresh blueberries as it is impossible for me to find frozen blueberries that are gluten free in the process (wife is Celiac and even though the food may be GF, if its made on shared equipment, she has as reaction). So here is my recopied as I am only making 1 gallon to test:

1 gallon spring water
3lb raw honey
1lb blueberry (fresh, not frozen)
Lavlin D-47 yeast

When should I add the blueberries? Do I need to mask/chop them up? What would be the process for using fresh vs frozen?

 

[DBhomebrew]

I rushed my first batch as I was eager to taste it and it has that hot alcohol taste. I'll stomach it and drink that while I wait for my cider to finish (1 more week).

Don't! Put it away in some dark, cool place and forget about it. Six months from now it'll probably be decent, twelve months possibly delicious. Time is a mead's best friend.

When should I add the blueberries? Do I need to mask/chop them up? What would be the process for using fresh vs frozen?

Some mazers put their fruit in primary, some secondary, some both. Go ahead and freeze your fresh berries, it'll pop cell walls and make extraction easier. After a freeze/thaw cycle or two you might not need any mashing.

 

[jakeeroyal]

I already slapped the bottles in the fridge for well over 24hrs so im pretty sure im stuck unless you think I can remove them and put them in a dark cool place now. As far as the blueberries, I’ll ramp it up and split it. 1.5 lb for the primary, 1.5 for secondary.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'd pull them.

 

[jakeeroyal]

Pulling them now

 

[bwible]

I don’t have Ken Schramms book handy, but I’m not sure if 1lb of blueberries is enough. That might be under what he says “light flavor.” I have never got good fruit flavor using just fruit in either primary or secondary. It provides a little color but not really much flavor. Not sure if the flavor gets scrubbed out by fermentation or whatever.

I have a mixed berry mead going now where I used cranberry and organic blueberry juice in place of about half of the water and dissolved the honey into that. Have to use juice with no preservatives. I plan to sorbate after fermentation and add more bluberry juice and also some mixed berry flavoring from Apex flavors at bottling.

 

[pdhirsch]

> I have never got good fruit flavor using just fruit in either primary or secondary. It provides a little color but not really much flavor.

In a way I'm glad to read that, cause I thought it was just me. I've never gotten as much flavor as I expected when I added fruit or berries. Substituting juice for some of the water works, but using fruit/berries directly doesn't seem to do much.

 

[jakeeroyal]

So in my secondary, should I add blueberry juice? I upped the blueberries and made a mash/purée out of it as well as left I think 6 ounces whole but squished to release the juices. It’s starting to ferment so I have it in my closet where it’s a nice cool 65 degrees and dark.

 

[videojunkie1208]

1 lb of blueberries will give you the faintest whiff of flavor. You probably want between 7-10lbs. The blueberry mead I've made, I used ~12lbs/gallon, but that makes it more like a wine.

If you're using whole fruit, you'll want to pull the berries after about a week or so. Otherwise you will wind up with a very tannic, bitter flavor.

 

[jakeeroyal]

If you're using whole fruit, you'll want to pull the berries after about a week or so. Otherwise you will wind up with a very tannic, bitter flavor.

How would I go about removing them? I did add whole berries and mashed and I know not to rack until at least 2 weeks in fermenting. I'm also going to have to get a screen filter for my racking cane so I don't get the pulp into my secondary.

 

[videojunkie1208]

Usually when I use whole fruit I add it in a mesh bag.

 

[jakeeroyal]

I don’t have one yet. Just started making mead and cider. I’ll have to invest one for my next batch