Mead similar to big reds...

[farmdog]

I'm a (very) new meadmaker. But since I have honeybees and fruit trees I need to do something with all that.

My preference is for dry red wines...cabernets, Pinots, etc. I know that mead is not wine (grapes). Still, I'd like to produce something that hits the characteristics I like.

I went to a local meadery today to try their only red. It was okay, but too thick/syrupy for my liking.

I have my first 5-gallon mead in the primary now, started 7 days ago. It's a fruit bomb melomel.

- 21 lbs (9.5 kg) | My own Wildflower Honey
- 12 lbs (5.4 kg) | Triple Berry Mix (Blackberries/Raspberries/Blueberries)
- 6 lbs (2.7) | Strawberries
- 96 oz (2.72 kg) | Black Currant Juice
- Water to equal 4.5 gallons (Before fruit)
- 3 tsp Yeast Energizer/Nutrient Blend (1tsp Fermaid-K and 2tsp DAP for 5-gallon batch)
- 10 g (0.35 oz) | Lalvin 71B-1122
- Fermentation began in 6 hours, so I continued the SNA schedule.
- On day 4, gravity was 1.070, so I added last of SNA
- Today (day 8) gravity is 1.030

Any chance I can make this type of melomel hit the characteristics I'm looking for?

Also, if you were trying to appeal to someone who preferred the style of Cabernet Sauvignon, what type of mead would you make?

 

[Blacksmith1]

A dry one which requires a high abv yeast and an SG that doesn't leave residual sugars.
I'm only guessing since you don't state your OG but I think this is going to finish sweet.

 

[bob1852]

Oak and tannins (opti-red, rogue FT) and an FG of <1.015 should help get a cabernet-like mead

 

[farmdog]

A dry one which requires a high abv yeast and an SG that doesn't leave residual sugars.
I'm only guessing since you don't state your OG but I think this is going to finish sweet.

Sorry about that! My OG was 1.120

 

[farmdog]

Oak and tannins (opti-red, rogue FT) and an FG of <1.015 should help get a cabernet-like mead

Thanks!

 

[Blacksmith1]

Sorry about that! My OG was 1.120

So as of day 8 you are at about 11% ABV. if your yeast has stopped you can pitch another yeast. If your SG is still dropping then your yeast is still working. Both will remove sugar.

 

[farmdog]

So as of day 8 you are at about 11% ABV. if your yeast has stopped you can pitch another yeast. If your SG is still dropping then your yeast is still working. Both will remove sugar.

Hi. Yeast hasn't stopped at all. Bubbling once every 3 seconds or so, so I'll let it keep going until it stops.

 

[FatDragon]

Are you sure your OG was only 1.120? Over four pounds of honey per gallon plus all that fruit and juice seems like it should be significantly higher than that.

 

[Shine0n]

Fruit has a boat load of water in it, i believe most are at or above 85%water.

Some mead makers use fruit and honey without any water additions.

 

[NeverDie]

"the style of Cabernet Sauvignon" is the target.

So, maybe these two as additions?
https://www.amazon.com/BSG-Tannin-L...brewing&qid=1552244087&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

and

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064H0YR2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The first one even says "enhances ripe berry flavor".

Sounds delicious!

 

[FatDragon]

Fruit has a boat load of water in it, i believe most are at or above 85%water.

Some mead makers use fruit and honey without any water additions.

Four pounds of honey should be around 1.140 when mixed with water to one gallon. Water, of course, has a SG of 1.000. If you add 1.050 juice (or fruit) instead of some or all of the water to reach that same volume you're adding more gravity points, so your OG will end up higher than it would have with just honey and water. A juice and honey mead without water added is likely to have only half the honey per gallon that OP's recipe includes, since the resulting 1.160+ OG of 4 lbs of honey topped up to a gallon with juice would be excessive and really hard on the yeast.

Then again, OP added water to 4.5 gallons before adding the fruit (and juice?), so maybe those additions diluted the OG down to 1.120. With 3/4 gallon of juice (?) and 18 lbs. of berries, the total volume in the fermenter was certainly over 5 gallons.

 

[NeverDie]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064H0YR2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well, having just tried this experiment yesterday and the day before, I can say that merely adding enough oak tannins (above) to a traditional mead will make the mead taste like a cross between a cabernet savignon and a mead. Not sure how that will age, but at least in the very short term, the effect in real.