Blueberry Mead

[Sirthomas42]

I did. Today in fact. It smells and (hydro sample) tastes delicious. Sans blueberries, it went from a 6.5 gal bucket to a 5 gal carboy and fit perfectly. Did t even need to top up. Dark dark purple color.

 

[AugustDerleth]

When I racked, a few berries and berry bits floated over through the cane and are still in my secondary. It'll just add a little more colour and flavour. I've been adding a small amount of honey at each rack, and this quickly became a dessert wine but I will say that it is DELICIOUS. Just be aware of where you want it to finish and adjust how much honey you add at each racking.

 

[Sirthomas42]

We tied up the blueberries really tight in the fruit bag, it was a pain to untie, but no blueberries made it into the 2ndary, and all the fruit bits that made it through the mesh were left at the bottom of the bucket. Still fermenting along, can't wait!

 

[AugustDerleth]

... no blueberries made it into the 2ndary...

If you wanted a pretty strong blueberry taste, you'll want some blueberries to be in your secondary. Fruit in primary is almost completely fuel for the yeast, and you get more flavour and colour from your fruit when they are added after fermentation has ceased.

 

[mgayer]

Hello all! Glad to hear everyone is enjoying this. I have found it a great addition to have berries in the secondary as long as possible. It will impart more flavor to a point and then the tannins in the berries tend to get bitter. No worries until about 90 days however.

I haven't been on for awhile but nice to see it is still being used. I usually have a bottle soon after bottling as it is hard wait. After 2 years it is almost like kool-aid.

 

[burkej]

Hello all! Glad to hear everyone is enjoying this. I have found it a great addition to have berries in the secondary as long as possible. It will impart more flavor to a point and then the tannins in the berries tend to get bitter. No worries until about 90 days however.

I haven't been on for awhile but nice to see it is still being used. I usually have a bottle soon after bottling as it is hard wait. After 2 years it is almost like kool-aid.

Oh no just cleared the berries out when i racked it yesterday! Unbelievable bad luck! Thanks or getting back

 

[Sirthomas42]

If you wanted a pretty strong blueberry taste, you'll want some blueberries to be in your secondary.

Hmmm I'll know that for next time. Going to rack it again on a week or so, I'll give it a taste then, see what I think of the blueberry flavor. Maybe I'll top it up with some blueberry juice. It did amazing things for the blueberry cider we're aging now

 

[jim_reaper1066]

I put a batch of this on back in January 2010 and its still sitting in the carboy. I might have to get around to bottling it at some point.

 

[Sirthomas42]

We racked it again last night, probably for the last time -- there was no sediment at the bottom of the carboy. It's dry as a bone, and the hydro sample was delicious! I like my wines a little sweet (we usually sweeten to about 1.010) but this stuff was amazing even dry. Probably bottle in a couple weeks when our primary/bottling bucket is free

 

[Sirthomas42]

OK, so I couldn't stand waiting any longer... we needed another bucket anyways, so I picked one up and we bottled this. We sweetened the mead to 1.010, just a bit sweet, right where we like it. It turned out AMAZING, with a strong blueberry flavor -- surprising I think, since it only had 10 pounds of blueberries at the start.

At 14.9% abv, it's a little hot, but I have a small mountain of Apfelwein and Skeeter Pee to drink while it ages a little. I... may be buzzed a little, OK fine, a lot. Woo, drunk HBT posting?

 

[Sirthomas42]

Put another 6 gallons of this on today, as we're down to just 6 bottles of our original batch! This time I added a few vanilla beans to the primary -- got a bunch of beans for really cheap. Of the 2 dozen or so batches I've made in my short time making wine, this is far and away my favorite!

 

[huesmann]

3 packets of Lalvin D47 Yeast

Are 3 packets of yeast really necessary, or can one get by with 1 or 2? I thought a single packet was good for 5 gallons?

 

[Sirthomas42]

I only used one both times I've made this. I *do* make a starter for almost every batch I make though.

 

[knotquiteawake]

My uncle brought some of his ten year old blueberry mead to thanksgiving and now I'm totally convinced this is the next thing I want to get brewing.
Question: About how many pounds of honey are in a gallon?

 

[kevokie]

The last time I bought honey, I believe it was 3 pounds per quart jar...so around 12 pounds per gallon roughly.

 

[huesmann]

It's about 11-3/4 lb per gallon.

 

[knotquiteawake]

Thanks! Now I just gotta find gallon and a bit more of honey and I'll be all set.

 

[huesmann]

Do you top off with water to 5 gallons before or after throwing the blueberries in?

 

[huesmann]

So I bottled my blueberry mead this past weekend, and the bluberry flavor isn't very pronounced. I think it would be better to add the blueberries to secondary rather than include them in primary.

 

[1776]

Going to be making this in a few hours... still waiting for my blueberries to freeze.

As soon as they are I will proceed to mix 13lbs of honey with water in my carboy. I then will mash my 7 lbs of blueberries and throw them in as well as the energizer, the nutrient, and some camden pills. Tomorrow I throw in the 3 packets of D-47.

The sooner I do this, the sooner I drink. I don't plan on bottling for 4 months which will be really hard.

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[Theshorey]

I gonna have to try and make a batch of this ASAP... Everyone in my family likes the "sweeter" wines and I'm trying to turn them onto mead, any suggestion for a smaller batch in the sweet/ semi-sweet range with around 11% ABV (A few lightweights in the family)

 

[huesmann]

Suggestion: use the blueberries in secondary rather than primary for more blueberry flavor.

 

[mgayer]

I gonna have to try and make a batch of this ASAP... Everyone in my family likes the "sweeter" wines and I'm trying to turn them onto mead, any suggestion for a smaller batch in the sweet/ semi-sweet range with around 11% ABV (A few lightweights in the family)

Try a cyser. You don't need the large amount of honey to get a nice sweet flavor. Use a Lalvin D-47 yeast, as it works well. I am at work but you will need to add a bit of nutrients and a bit of pectic enzyme, I believe I put a 1/4 tsp of each in the last 1 gal batch. You can always back sweeten! You can also leave this without racking for a few months and it develops nice esters. I have left it without racking for 6 months and no off flavors.

 

[opus345]

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.

Jeez, I thought this was going to turn into a Penthouse letter there for a second.

Going to start this mead this weekend while remembering all those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thanks mgayer!

 

[knotquiteawake]

Ok, I finally bought the honey for this. Have blueberries in the freezer. And I have yeast, nutrients, energizer, and pectic enzyme en route from AHS. Finally I can start my first mead!

So what was the final verdict on the blueberries? Add all of them at first in the primary? Add 1/2 at primary and then other 1/2 at secondary? All all 5lbs at primary and then an additional few lbs at secondary? Blend them? Crush them?

 

[Sirthomas42]

I've made this twice now. Turned out silly good both times. I would add most of the blueberries in primary. Save maybe 1 lb and add them in 2ndary. More than that, and theres so many in the carboy, they just sit on top and don't steep in the wine.

Oh, and I froze my blueberries, thawed them, and smashed them in a plastic bag before dumping them in a mesh fruit bag for primary. For 2ndary, just dump a pound right into the carboy and rack the mead over them. Leave a little space as the berries tend to expand and blow up your airlock.

I usually start with a 5.5-6 gallon batch, so after primary, I have an extra half-gallon jug I use to top up the carboy after racking out of 2ndary. I hate topping up with water. Just my two gold pieces, from a seasoned winemaker of 18 months :-D

 

[knotquiteawake]

I appreciate it. You have more wine/mead making experience than I. Been doing beer for 4 years, but never tried a wine/mead.

So you've been making wine for 18 months, and you've already made two batches of blueberry mead? And tried both which were both delicious? So how long did you let the mead sit in secondary before you bottled and tried it?

 

[opus345]

Quick update. I used a 7.9 gal plastic pail without the lid to ferment. I used 10 lbs of honey, 9 lbs of blueberries, and D-47 in the primary. I went two weeks in primary and punched down and stirred the must everyday. 1st racking into a glass 5 gal carboy on top of 1 lb of honey with an airlock. It started bubbling right away and after a week has started to slow. During each fermentation period, I'm using a swamp cooler with a wet tshirt on the carboy. On the second racking, I will add another 1 lb of honey. On the 3rd and 4th rackings, I will add 2 oz of Blueberry extract. Will taste test during 3rd and 4th racking to see if I want to add any additional honey.

Now that the plastic primary is free, looking to do either a triple berry variation of this recipe or do a Strawberry melomel. From my reading/research, it looks like the best approach is to put the strawberries in the secondary.

 

[knotquiteawake]

What are you guys shooting for with temp? Here in Texas were about to have a week plus of 100 degree weather. The best I can do is keep my home office at 74 (because it has its own window AC unit) and the rest of the house on the central AC at 75-78.
For beers I usually put it in a big bucket with ice bottles for the first week (around 67 degrees) and then (since the majority of the fermentation is done) just let it be at whatever temp it wants to be at (under 75 usually).

 

[Sirthomas42]

Yeah, I was impatient and rushed my first few batches. My first mead was in 2ndary maybe 2 months. I bottled it when it was clear. Still came out really tasty. It's a year old now, we cracked a bottle the other day and it was insane.

Here in western WA, it's not too warm most of the year, so I use a space heater to keep my primary room at 75. Some yeasts might like it a little warmer, others cooler, but they all like 75.