Blueberry Mead

[mgayer]

5 lbs Frozen Blueberries
16 lbs Honey
5 tsp Yeast Nutrients
2 tsp Yeast Energizer
3/4 tsp Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden tablets
3 packets of Lalvin D47 Yeast

Mix 13 lbs of honey with about 1 gallon of water. Shake until your arms are tired. I use about a half a gallon of hot water from the tap per half gallon of honey. Pour into fermentor and add one gallon of room temp water. Add nutrients, energizer, pectic enzyme and crushed campden tables. Allow blueberries to completely thaw and mash them with your hands to just crush or split the berries. Add the blueberries to the must and cover for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter with a cup of water and a cup of the must, around 84 degrees. Add the yeast and make sure it is working. Pitch the yeast after 30 minutes and stir to suspend.

Be careful how much water you add at this point as the blueberries will rise to the top start to swell. Not over 3/4 full in the fermentor. Cover with a towel or something that can breath. You need the O2 now. Stir every day for 10-14 days. Rack off into secondary and top off to proper level. Put the Air-lock on the secondary and rack about every 30 days for 4 months. Add 1 lb of honey for the next 3 rackings for a sweeter mead. It should not be in the dry range but it is much better in the semi-sweet range, the yeast should take this to about 14.5% ABV before it is overwhelemed.

You should have it clear and fermentation finished by around 4 months. Age as needed and I recommend bulk aging this one.

 

[mgayer]

The must has turned almost a blood red/purple color now and the blueberries are floating. It is lovely! I am stiring everyday and it seems that the blueberry smell is stronger as the days go by!

 

[mgayer]

In the Secondary and checked the Gravity. 996! Went ahead and added 1.5 lbs of honey. She is bubbling away again this morning.

 

[mgayer]

She finished and has a serious kick! In the end I used 17.5 lbs of the honey. The step adding raised the ABV way up. I should have just added the 1 lb of honey at the end as it is almost at the dessert wine stage. Still wonderful! It went back into a carboy for aging the next few months on 8/25.

 

[wdent]

Can I get an updat on this.
This sounds awesome.

Currently I have a 5 gal batch of blueberry wine that is almost ready to be bottled.

I still have 9 lb of the fresh picked frozen blueberries in the freezer so I may want to try this

 

[mgayer]

Can I get an updat on this.
This sounds awesome.

Currently I have a 5 gal batch of blueberry wine that is almost ready to be bottled.

I still have 9 lb of the fresh picked frozen blueberries in the freezer so I may want to try this

Everything went into bottles this last weekend. It is a very sweet Melomel. Changes I would make are to add more berries. I will go with about 10lbs next time. I would also not add the last pound of honey. I believe this would be a better table Mead or one which more could be drank in one setting. Where now it is almost a dessert drink.

My niece and her friends from college loved it and went through a bunch very quickly. They then became very wild for some reason. Could it be that the 17% ABV was masked by the sweetness!!!! Anyway it was a great bonfire and the Melomel was a hit.

The nose had both the blueberry and honey with a stronger overtone of honey. The flavor gives some great honey tones at the begining with the blueberry in the middle and then the two different honeys give both undertones in the after taste. I used Texas wildflower and cranberry. I am sure different honey would produce some great flavors.

 

[scinerd3000]

did you have any blowoff issues? currently i only have a 5 gal carboy free and im worndering how much head space im gonna need.

 

[mgayer]

Blueberries expand massively! I cover the carboy with a towel for the first 10 days to let the yeast get O2 and if I did not have it tied on it would have pushed the berries out. You will need a lot of headspace and top up when you remove the berries. I usually cook with wine so I buy the gallon jugs (good carboys) and they make a great way to do a whole 5 gallon batch then pour off a gallon and after you remove the berries it can be topped off with the gallon jug.

I would suggest cutting down the honey to about 11 or 12 pounds. Unless you like a very sweet wine. This is wonderful now and is a dessert style wine with a heck of a kick that is not realized until you stand up. It continues to get better with age.

 

[Yooper]

did you have any blowoff issues? currently i only have a 5 gal carboy free and im worndering how much head space im gonna need.

You know, I got several food grade buckets for free at the grocery store's bakery. Frosting came in one, peanut butter in the others. You could see if you could find some buckets, and just cover the primary with a towel, as mgayer says. I almost always use plastic buckets for primary. It makes it much easier to stir, and to clean after!

 

[mgayer]

Great idea YooperBrew. I've been out of the loop for a bit but not slowing on the batches.

 

[Steiner]

I brewed a small batch of this Blueberry Mead in January before I went overseas for a couple months. It's been in the primary this entire time. I sampled a bit and tastes pretty good (I think), but it's got a pretty major alcohol bite and is an immediate stomach warmer. Not sure if the alcohol will soften with aging, or perhaps this is as it is supposed to be. I also don't know if I want it that much sweeter. It's my first mead (or melomel, I guess). At this point, I did not rack into any secondaries or add any additional honey since brewing in January.

What would be the recommended procedure? Rack alone, with honey, or just bottle as is (seems good and it's been sitting over five months in the primary)? Also, any ideas if this would taste good "sparkling"? If not priming, I assume bottling goes on as normal just without the added sugar, right?

 

[BigKahuna]

This should soften with time.
Rack to a good secondary and give it another 2 or 4 months, then bottle.
No carb bottling goes as described.
I wouldn't add more honey at this point....if you want sweet ,stabilize before adding additional sugar.

 

[BigKahuna]

mgayer
What's th update on your version? It's almost a year!

 

[mgayer]

I brewed a small batch of this Blueberry Mead in January before I went overseas for a couple months. It's been in the primary this entire time. I sampled a bit and tastes pretty good (I think), but it's got a pretty major alcohol bite and is an immediate stomach warmer. Not sure if the alcohol will soften with aging, or perhaps this is as it is supposed to be. I also don't know if I want it that much sweeter. It's my first mead (or melomel, I guess). At this point, I did not rack into any secondaries or add any additional honey since brewing in January.

What would be the recommended procedure? Rack alone, with honey, or just bottle as is (seems good and it's been sitting over five months in the primary)? Also, any ideas if this would taste good "sparkling"? If not priming, I assume bottling goes on as normal just without the added sugar, right?

Rack and let it sit a few more months. You didn't say what the ABV is or what kind of yeast you used. The lees should be very compact and if you used D-47 yeast there should be no problem with aging on the fruit. If you like the flavor and the current sweetness then leave it as is. Its true flavor hits at about 9 to 12 months.

The bite should subside with age and stomach warmth is a sign of higher ABV. Mine did that for the first 6 months of aging. Making sparkling melomels is a good thing to try. I would drop a tablespoon of honey in and bottle. It is good but not my favorite way. Just pull off a couple of bottles and see how you like it.

 

[mgayer]

mgayer
What's th update on your version? It's almost a year!

It is better each time. Just popped a cork last weekend and it is almost perfect. The slick sweet has diminished and it is toned down. It is not a dessert wine sweet but close. The blueberry flavor has intensifed and the bite is gone. It still has a nice warming effect on the tummy but anything above the 16% abv range tends to do that.

Got a bit of sediment in the bottle so it should have bulk aged in the carboy a bit longer. She has a nice glow in the light, a nice purple tint and you can watch the legs form and it instantly tries to crawl up the side of the glass.

Will do this one at least once a year. I am waiting for the Strawberry melomel and the traditional mead to finish first. These are only a bit over 30 days and I only have about 6 bottles of the Apple wine left so apple is next the the blueberry again.

 

[Steiner]

I used WL Sweet Mead Yeast. I racked to a secondary. The aroma was amazing. I swear it almost tasted like a brandy, just lighter. If only I had a still. I'll leave it in the secondary for a couple more months and will bottle from there. I'm almost regretting I only made a 1-gallon batch. I'm still not sure how it's going to turn out and if I'll like it, but I'd rather not regret that I had made more and instead have to wait another year before I can have some.

What is the prescribed method for bottle conditioning? How long? Can I use standard beer bottles and caps? What's the benefit of a cork, aside from the fact that it's resealable? Thanks for the help.

 

[Brandx40]

5 lbs Frozen Blueberries
16 lbs Honey
5 tsp Yeast Nutrients
2 tsp Yeast Energizer
3/4 tsp Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden tablets
3 packets of Lalvin D47 Yeast

Mix 13 lbs of honey with about 1 gallon of water. Shake until your arms are tired. I use about a half a gallon of hot water from the tap per half gallon of honey. Pour into fermentor and add one gallon of room temp water. Add nutrients, energizer, pectic enzyme and crushed campden tables. Allow blueberries to completely thaw and mash them with your hands to just crush or split the berries. Add the blueberries to the must and cover for 24 hours.

Make a yeast starter with a cup of water and a cup of the must, around 84 degrees. Add the yeast and make sure it is working. Pitch the yeast after 30 minutes and stir to suspend.

Be careful how much water you add at this point as the blueberries will rise to the top start to swell. Not over 3/4 full in the fermentor. Cover with a towel or something that can breath. You need the O2 now. Stir every day for 10-14 days. Rack off into secondary and top off to proper level. Put the Air-lock on the secondary and rack about every 30 days for 4 months. Add 1 lb of honey for the next 3 rackings for a sweeter mead. It should not be in the dry range but it is much better in the semi-sweet range, the yeast should take this to about 14.5% ABV before it is overwhelemed.

You should have it clear and fermentation finished by around 4 months. Age as needed and I recommend bulk aging this one.

I am excited to get this recipe going today! This will be only the 2nd mead that I have made and it sounds great. I have tried a few mead styles and really like them sparkling. Obviously it will be a while before bottling, but I wanted to know if I want to make it bubbly, what is the best thing to prime with? More honey or just priming sugar? Also for 5 gal, is it the same 3/4 cup?

 

[Brandx40]

Rack and let it sit a few more months. You didn't say what the ABV is or what kind of yeast you used. The lees should be very compact and if you used D-47 yeast there should be no problem with aging on the fruit. If you like the flavor and the current sweetness then leave it as is. Its true flavor hits at about 9 to 12 months.

The bite should subside with age and stomach warmth is a sign of higher ABV. Mine did that for the first 6 months of aging. Making sparkling melomels is a good thing to try. I would drop a tablespoon of honey in and bottle. It is good but not my favorite way. Just pull off a couple of bottles and see how you like it.

I have a batch of blueberry melo going right now and I want it to be semi sweet and sparkling. Seems like the style would lend itself well to holiday parties and stuff. Anyway, is that a tablespoon of honey per bottle? I am afraid of exploding bottles. Let me know. Thanks
So far it smells fantastic.

 

[668]

I started a gallon of this at the beginning of novemeber. I just cracked it for the second racking since being in secondary and stole a sample. Still doesn't taste or smell like blueberries, or anything else positive. The smell was repellant, and I couldn't finish the ounce that I sampled. Sound like a possible infection? I'm a little concerned since the earlier descriptions of this recipe say how it smelled better each day in primary, while mine only got more harsh and harder to breath as the days went by. I'll keep with it though and and hope that it turns around.

 

[flyweed]

Well I have 5 gallons of this going right now. I just did the second racking of it and added another pound of honey.

I took a sample with my thief. Current S.G. = 1.019

initial smell, very much alcohol scent...no noticable blueberry or honey scent. upon tasting...on the front of my mouth there was a hint of sweet honey, and a very very tiny hint of blueberry. You could notice both. in the back of the mouth was fairly dry. swallowing was actually a pleasant warming..not a high alcohol burn like I was expecting. I think with the next honey additions..this will turn out to be a very very fine blueberry melomel. If there isn't enough blueberry flavor and smell when it's finished I do have a bottle of blueberry concentrate I may add to finish it off. We'll just have to wait and see.

Here's a photo of it in glass:

 

[ruger12pk]

I made 5 gallons of tradtional mead and after a month racked it...then after another two weeks racked it back into the plastic ferementer with 1 teaspoon pectic enzyme and 4 1/2 pounds of blueberries in a muslin bag...and it going happily away..Ill prolly pull it in another 2 -3 weeks...then let it clear....

 

[corexcore]

I've adapted this recipe down to be used in a one gallon format, and I was wondering; when you add the honey at the rackings, do you mix it up? stir or shake the new container, or should you not to avoid aerating the yeast too much/getting oxygen into the mix, which is said to be a bad thing once you're in the primary stage.

 

[mgayer]

don't shake or stir! The yeast is still suspended in the must and will get to the honey. I like to add the honey to the carboy and rack on top of it. It will get it mixed a bit better that way. Wish I had the stuff to make a new batch as it is all gone and since I moved I don't have the berries yet. Bushes are growing however.

 

[corexcore]

Alright, thanks a lot for the advice. I'm racking for the first time tomorrow and probably would have shaken. Very glad to have gotten to this in time!

 

[corexcore]

I'm concerned for my mead. I racked it for the first time today and, lacking an auto siphon or a convenient way to get on in the next few days, I used a sanitized tube and siphoned it the old fashioned way -- sucking the end of the tube and so forth. The flow started and stopped a couple of times, and once I sucked a bit too long and some of the mead got in my mouth. The taste was.. repellent. It was very bitter and sour, almost like bile. It seems to smell fine, like a wine at least, and it looks alright. Has anyone else tasted their mead at this stage? I don't imagine this taste is what is intended, however, I do recognize that the front part of the tongue isn't the best way to judge the taste, and it is fairly low on honey at this stage and quite high on rotting blueberries. I'm going to continue the experiment to the end, at least through the racking process and probably age it a couple of months, but again, I'm curious as to whether anyone else has experienced this or similar problems?

Thanks for the advice or sharing experience!

 

[DuffmanAK]

Can't say I've ever tried mead at that stage, though was the other end of the tube down on the yeast cake? Maybe you just got a mouth full of yeasties.

I've not made many meads (one in fact, about to start on my second) but I can say form making beer you never ever ever want to suck siphon beer. Lots of bacteria in your mouth can sour the beer. Not sure if that's true with mead. Worst case, just age it plenty, and see if the flavors mellow some.

 

[corexcore]

Hmm. Thanks for the heads up. I suppose for my next racking, I'll pick up a siphon pump of some sort. I don't think it was in the yeast cake, but that may have been it. I'll certainly age it plenty and continue the try, we'll see how it comes out. Thanks again!

 

[jezter6]

on rotting blueberries.

ok, so you've racked within the first 2-3 weeks - this stuff is still nowhere NEAR the point of actually attempting to taste it.

but rotting blueberries??? ewwwww

 

[DuffmanAK]

Hmm. Thanks for the heads up. I suppose for my next racking, I'll pick up a siphon pump of some sort. I don't think it was in the yeast cake, but that may have been it. I'll certainly age it plenty and continue the try, we'll see how it comes out. Thanks again!

If you don't have one, look for an "auto siphon" they're awesome on a stick

 

[LightningInABottle]

It is the end of blueberry season here in Michigan so I will attempt this as my first 5 gallon batch. I have ordered blueberry honey and have gotten most of my equipment. I'm shooting for Oct 4 as the start date. I will post up the final recipe after pitching. I can't wait 8)