Blueberry melomel question

[cseifert151]

So I've been working on a blueberry melomel:

1 gal batch

3.5 lb local honey
18 oz blueberries
1 tsp yeast nutrient
WL sweet mead yeast

OG about 1.110 but with a little headspace for water later in carboy



I added the nutrient yesterday because after a week, the gravity had only changed to a little over 1.090 which is much slower than I expected. My question, though, is how long is too long to keep the blueberry skins in the must? The recipe I'm basing this recipe from expects they will be in for 5 days and it could be two weeks before the recommended gravity to remove. Thanks!

 

[Arpolis]

Probably over a month but it may still be fine if you went more. So no rush or worry.

The sweet mead yeasts are hard to get going in high gravity musts. It may be slow going for you. Best of luck with the brew. When the mead is done fermenting think about adding a little lemon juice to the melomel. The added citric acid perks up the flavor of blueberry a good bit.

 

[BrewWNC]

That's awesome advice arpolis. I had no idea about the lemon juice. I did a blueberry melomel a year ago with the sweet mead yeast and it turned out great. I followed the yeast nutrition schedule. Similar to this:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/improve-mead-staggered-nutrient-additions/

I forget my recipe if you want it I can get just pm me. It was a 5 gallon batch though.

In my opinion, you can never have enough blueberries in beer or mead. I would suggest, in addition to real blueberries, adding just berry juice (blueberry flavor) you can buy at ingles. I use it with real berries in meads and beers. It adds sugars and taste without the berry nonsense. Also i chop the blueberries up a little before adding.

 

[cseifert151]

Perfect! Thanks all!