Blueberry mead.

[usmctemple0311]

Very happy to have bottled my 1st mead. SG 1.114 FG 1.028. I did just the mead to start for 2 weeks then racked it and split it. Half I added 5lbs of blueberries the other half I added one 24oz can of Blueberry concentrate and added nutrients to both. Let it go for another two weeks then racked them again into the same carboys. Got a nice swirl going and bottled it. The taste and aroma are much better than I expected. Next up, Lemon Ginger Buckwheat mead. Any suggestions???

 

[usmctemple0311]

And I used Nottingham yeast. Going with a champagne yeast for the lemon ginger. I'll be doing a short term batch and a long term. To see how the flavor changes.

 

[TitusCooker]

Two thoughts. The first: Champagne yeast dries everything out, and leaves little body or flavor. I am not a fan of the off-tastes thrown by it, either. It'll dry it out to .995, or thereabouts.

Second: Buckwheat is a honey many (mainly judges) do not enjoy. I've seen many suggestions of keeping it down to 10% of the honey. I did a 100% buckwheat/cocoa mead in 07, and it wasn't really drinkable until recently. It's a very earthy taste that goes well with cocoa. Not sure how it would go with lemon and ginger, but it's worth trying!

As an aside, many people love my buckwheat metheglin, but it never scores above 38 in competitions (e.g., many judges don't!). Oh well.

best,
Titus

 

[Athos710]

The FG seems a little high to me for mead, but I may be used to the wine yeasts. Did the Notty just give up when you hit 11% ABV?

 

[ChandlerBang]

I'm new to mead, so forgive maybe an obvious question. Are you bottling this at 4 weeks? Is that normal? I thought meads had to age for months or even a year. Could you post the recipe?

 

[usmctemple0311]

The FG seems a little high to me for mead, but I may be used to the wine yeasts. Did the Notty just give up when you hit 11% ABV?

I believe it did due to the low temp in my garage. I would like to get it in the house to see how much longer I could keep it going. The airlock was bubbling every 20-24 seconds. After it being bottled for almost a week now my wife and I shared a bottle last night and it seems MUCH more potent. It's amazing the changes even after bottling. Still a wonderful melomel.

 

[usmctemple0311]

I'm new to mead, so forgive maybe an obvious question. Are you bottling this at 4 weeks? Is that normal? I thought meads had to age for months or even a year. Could you post the recipe?

This is my 1st batch of home brew and was very excited with the results I got. I believe the yeast gave up and was told that the flavor would continue to mature after bottling. It has! The blueberry still is impressive and the only downfall in my opinion is the sharpness to it. Not competition worthy but I'd like to perfect it after I get a few different batches in. My lemon ginger has been fermenting for 2 days now. Fingers crossed.

 

[Athos710]

How big of a batch was this? I'd like to take a stab at it, but want to make sure I have the right ratio of fruit to gallons.

 

[usmctemple0311]

Two thoughts. The first: Champagne yeast dries everything out, and leaves little body or flavor. I am not a fan of the off-tastes thrown by it, either. It'll dry it out to .995, or thereabouts.

Second: Buckwheat is a honey many (mainly judges) do not enjoy. I've seen many suggestions of keeping it down to 10% of the honey. I did a 100% buckwheat/cocoa mead in 07, and it wasn't really drinkable until recently. It's a very earthy taste that goes well with cocoa. Not sure how it would go with lemon and ginger, but it's worth trying!

As an aside, many people love my buckwheat metheglin, but it never scores above 38 in competitions (e.g., many judges don't!). Oh well.

best,
Titus

I was told that with the champagne yeast so my short batch I used a California ale. I was also told that the buckwheat is very earthy but the lemon ginger mix goes well. I will be changing the honey up and MAYBE cutting a few lbs of it and add surgar. I've only read that in some recipes. It won 2nd place in a competitionback in 94 so I figure its worth a try. Thank you for the advice.

 

[FoundlingOfDollar]

I would love to see your recipe for the first batch. Blueberry mead sounds great and I think your recipe could make a good starting point.

 

[Devo9]

I did a blueberry mead as well! You have me excited about how it'll turn out!! I didn't use quite the same recipie (I used all frozen blueberries ajnd a higher alcohol tollerant yeast), but we'll have to see how it goes!

 

[bubbachunk]

I'm new to mead, so forgive maybe an obvious question. Are you bottling this at 4 weeks? Is that normal? I thought meads had to age for months or even a year. Could you post the recipe?

Normal? That is a loaded question. I personally would never bottle a batch that young. I care about appearance though as far as clarity is concerned and that will not happen within 4 weeks, usually a good 6-8 months in a glass carboy then finish the bulk aging in a keg and finally when I think it is drinkable, to bottles.

That brings up another point, bulk aging versus bottle aging. With bulk aging you have the advantage of uniformity and due to the larger mass in a bulk vessel versus a bottle you have less chance for temperature swings when aging your product. So you can form your own conclusion through research and trying things out yourself, but I would not say there is a hard set correct answer, just a preference thing.

 

[usmctemple0311]

Normal? That is a loaded question. I personally would never bottle a batch that young. I care about appearance though as far as clarity is concerned and that will not happen within 4 weeks, usually a good 6-8 months in a glass carboy then finish the bulk aging in a keg and finally when I think it is drinkable, to bottles.

That brings up another point, bulk aging versus bottle aging. With bulk aging you have the advantage of uniformity and due to the larger mass in a bulk vessel versus a bottle you have less chance for temperature swings when aging your product. So you can form your own conclusion through research and trying things out yourself, but I would not say there is a hard set correct answer, just a preference thing.

You are absolutly right! I WOULD prefer to have aged it much longer and bottled much later. I am active duty and time is something I don't have much of. I will be making a batch when I go on my next deployment. I could have gotten much better clarity with the Blueberry but, alas i am young to making mead. It was my first batch. I hope to make my Blueberry again and be able to taste the difference of time on it. My lemon ginger is started and I am looking to make it another short one. Then when I deploy, I will have two carboys going for 8 months. I can't wait to taste them.

 

[usmctemple0311]

Two thoughts. The first: Champagne yeast dries everything out, and leaves little body or flavor. I am not a fan of the off-tastes thrown by it, either. It'll dry it out to .995, or thereabouts.

Second: Buckwheat is a honey many (mainly judges) do not enjoy. I've seen many suggestions of keeping it down to 10% of the honey. I did a 100% buckwheat/cocoa mead in 07, and it wasn't really drinkable until recently. It's a very earthy taste that goes well with cocoa. Not sure how it would go with lemon and ginger, but it's worth trying!

As an aside, many people love my buckwheat metheglin, but it never scores above 38 in competitions (e.g., many judges don't!). Oh well.

best,
Titus

What yeast do you recommend I use Titus?

 

[huesmann]

For a blueberry mead? Perhaps 71B-1122, or maybe RC 212.

 

[usmctemple0311]

I had a 6.5 gal glass carboy with a #7 airlock rubber stopper. I filled it to just about 6 gal.

 

[TitusCooker]

So sorry that I didn't get back to you on this. I just became a full member, so hope I will be here more often. I've used 71B-1122 on my own blueberry meads, with good results.

Yesterday, I kegged a blueberry mead that was 20 lbs of blueberries and 20 lbs of wildflower organic honey (plus nutrient, energizer over a period of a few days). It is a beautiful rose color. Then in the keg, I added 16 oz of blueberry concentrate. It adds back that blueberryness to the mead.