Blueberry Mead - Looking for input

[eman676]

3# Wildflower Honey
1# frozen blueberries
zest of one lemon
2 cups brewed black tea (1 bag)
2 grams ferm O
1 packet lalvin EC-118

Started 11/23/23 at 1.092 grav. Racked 12/17/23, tasted okay albeit green. Came in at 0.998 at racking—bottled on 3/30/25. Sometime in the last 2-3 months the airlock liquid evaporated (got two kids, things are busy).

Color looked great, but the flavor was very meh, borderline bland, almost like a cleaning solution (best way to describe it, haven't actually consumed cleaning solution, so couldn't tell you). I chalk it up to needing more time, and/or lingering Star San from cleaning. But, I bow before the collective consciousness for input and feedback.

Thank you.

 

[Dan O]

3# Wildflower Honey
1# frozen blueberries
zest of one lemon
2 cups brewed black tea (1 bag)
2 grams ferm O
1 packet lalvin EC-118

Started 11/23/23 at 1.092 grav. Racked 12/17/23, tasted okay albeit green. Came in at 0.998 at racking—bottled on 3/30/25. Sometime in the last 2-3 months the airlock liquid evaporated (got two kids, things are busy).

Color looked great, but the flavor was very meh, borderline bland, almost like a cleaning solution (best way to describe it, haven't actually consumed cleaning solution, so couldn't tell you). I chalk it up to needing more time, and/or lingering Star San from cleaning. But, I bow before the collective consciousness for input and feedback.

Thank you.

I would recommend @ least 3 lbs of fruit/gallon in secondary for almost all melomels (fruit meads). Once you rack off of the gross lees, you may want to use a 2 gallon brew bucket with a brew bag for the fruit. Be sure to push the fruit down twice a day to keep it wet, otherwise mold will want to set in on any dry fruit. Also, blueberries have more tannic value than you may think, so check it for flavor & tannins every day after 7-10 days. I wouldn't recommend leaving the fruit in for more than 2 weeks.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[eman676]

It'll certainly help me for the future brews. Most of these tips would have been helpful for 2023 me. Mostly looking to suss out if this batch is toast or if it's worth trying to age it further.

 

[DBhomebrew]

There's not much that can help it now, other than ignore it for another 12 months. Unless you need the bottles, might as well leave them be while you get the next batch going.

I've had great success with no preservative, not from concentrate bottled fruit juice. One 32oz bottle claims the juice of 3# of fruit. One bottle per 1.125gal of must. Then I rack 1gal into a gallon jug with very little headroom for bulk conditioning. I've made both blueberry and tart cherry, yum.

Control fermentation temp at the cool end of the given yeast's range.

Use a yeast hydration and nutrition protocol such as TOSNA 3.0. Be sure to use the correct amount of yeast, especially if you're going to hydrate with GoFerm according to directions.

Hold any acid (lemon) and tannin (tea) additions until bottling. Dose as needed.

 

[Dan O]

It'll certainly help me for the future brews. Most of these tips would have been helpful for 2023 me. Mostly looking to suss out if this batch is toast or if it's worth trying to age it further.

Mead is pretty forgiving. Flavors will change in 6 months (about), so be patient. Honey flavor will make a comeback most times, fruit flavors will either stay prominent or take a backseat (depending on how much you've used). Point is, with mead, patience is key.

 

[eman676]

There's not much that can help it now, other than ignore it for another 12 months. Unless you need the bottles, might as well leave them be while you get the next batch going.

I've had great success with no preservative, not from concentrate bottled fruit juice. One 32oz bottle claims the juice of 3# of fruit. One bottle per 1.125gal of must. Then I rack 1gal into a gallon jug with very little headroom for bulk conditioning. I've made both blueberry and tart cherry, yum.

Control fermentation temp at the cool end of the given yeast's range.

Use a yeast hydration and nutrition protocol such as TOSNA 3.0. Be sure to use the correct amount of yeast, especially if you're going to hydrate with GoFerm according to directions.

Hold any acid (lemon) and tannin (tea) additions until bottling. Dose as needed.

Appreciate the insight! I will give some of these a try.

 

[eman676]

Mead is pretty forgiving. Flavors will change in 6 months (about), so be patient. Honey flavor will make a comeback most times, fruit flavors will either stay prominent or take a backseat (depending on how much you've used). Point is, with mead, patience is key.

Excellent. Will take your advice and proceed with waiting. Thanks!