Raspberry mead - new member

[nfunk]

Start: 1 gallon mead. Used 2 3/4 pounds orange blossom honey, Lalvin 71B-1122. SG=1.090, pH=3.73. During the first week or so I staggered 1/4 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient for a total of 1 tsp.

At 3/4 break I pasteurize (140-150F for 15 minutes) frozen raspberries (no sugar added), strained to gain 1 1/4 cup puree which was added to fermenting mead.

Now OG= 0.998 pH=3.46. Racked to another carboy. Tasted sample, it was dry which is what I wanted, but very little raspberry flavor and only a hint of fruit. In fact the hint of fruit was so little that it tasted more like strawberry.

I am thinking about adding raspberry flavoring to increase the fruit flavoring? Any suggestions?

 

[growlrr]

You can go back and add raspberries again and let them steep some more to increase the flavor (and pick up additional color if you want). I'd campden them first to be safe and let them sit until you're happy with the flavor, then rack again. For flavoring, I've had good results with Lorann Oils. http://www.lorannoils.com/ Their Raspberry oil is water soluble, so you're good to go there, however not all their oils are so if you want to buy other flavors, just check the web site to make sure.

 

[nfunk]

Thank you! I just ordered the Lorann oil.

 

[bernardsmith]

To make a raspberry wine I might use about 8-10 lbs of raspberries and no water. To make a raspberry "flavored" mead you would want to use less raspberry but I might still use about 2-3 lbs of fruit. Basically, you want about 1 - 2 pints of juice It's not clear from your post how much raspberry you decided to use or how long you allowed the raspberries to sit in the mead to extract their flavor.

 

[nfunk]

It was one pound of frozen raspberries that was pressed to yield 1 1/4 cup of puree that was added to the mead at approximately 3/4 break. Waited several weeks until fermentation stopped and OG was 0.998 when I racked it to another carboy. Mead was nice red in color, yet yielded very small hint of raspberry flavor or aroma. Ordered the Lorann raspberry oil to increase the flavor.

 

[biochemedic]

Our taste buds are primed to experience fruit flavors with some sweetness attached to them...a dry melomel will have little resemblance to the fruit added just the same as a chianti doesn't taste like welch's grape juice or grape jam. You may want to consider stabilizing and backsweetening - even just a little - and that may markedly increase your perception of the fruit flavor.

 

[nfunk]

Very true, I was planning to back sweeten it slight since it is fairly dry at the moment. I believe once I do that and add a little raspberry oil it should improve remarkably.