Blackberry Mead

[northernlad]

My freezer door got left open and 2.5 gallons of Blackberry juice partially thawed. I don't want to refreeze it so I thought I would use it as an excuse to make my first mead.
I used fresh picked blackberries and cooked them down with a little water in the pan. Then I ran them through a fine chinois and froze the juice.
I see plenty of recipes for blackberry additions but they are always in pounds of whole fruit. If I am guessing I would say roughly 10# of berries per gallon of juice. Thoughts?
I would also like a little feedback of when to introduce the juice to the mead and in what quantity.
Or should I just go for a blackberry wine and boost the OG with the honey?

 

[Arpolis]

Just use the juice and take a gravity reading. Then boost the gravity to 1.070 - 1.100 for a mead (melomel) of 10% - 14% ABV. That is the easiest thing to do.

 

[northernlad]

Thanks for the reply. I may just make a 3 gallon batch, add honey to boost the juice and top off with water if needed.

 

[northernlad]

Turns out after the bags leaked I only had 5.25 quarts of thick blackberry juice.
I combined that with 10lbs honey to make a five gallon batch. OG was only 1.080 but I think that is probably a good thing for my first mead.

 

[Arpolis]

1.080 is not a bad gravity. I honestly prefer my meads in the 1.070 - 1.080 range to start. If I want a higher ABV then I add additional honey after at least half this gravity is dropped down. It is much easier on the yeast this way.

 

[northernlad]

Check of final gravity was 1.000 this morning. Will let it sit for a couple weeks then transfer to secondary. It has a tart finish, I assume from the blackberries. Not too dry and not much alcohol.

 

[Arpolis]

Sounds great. Glad it seems to be working for you.