Cherry Berry Mead

[SD-SLIM]

No, you can go with any berry

 

[wit2003]

About to make this but I can't find the grape cherry juice so I am just going to use the white grape and omit the cherries

 

[wit2003]

Just finished making this.....not sure if it's been said or not but the frozen strawberries should probably be thawed before adding to the water mixture. I didn't think of this and my mixture dropped down into the 40's....a bit too cold to pitch the yeast. I've got the fermenter near my heat to try and warm it up.

 

[wit2003]

Can I leave the mead in the carboy to age for 6 months or should it be in bottles? I am slowly working on getting bottles, but could buy a bunch if needed

 

[TimothyChurch]

As long as you rack it off the lees and eliminate any head space bulk aging should be perfectly fine.

 

[TimothyChurch]

If you don't want to water it down to get rid a head space, I've had good results with sanitized glass marbles

 

[wit2003]

I need to rack it into a clean carboy tomorrow since I did the strawberry puree. I may just buy some bottles and call it a day so I can get my carboy back.

Thanks!

 

[KayBeer]

I'm new to mead making, but have been brewing beer for about 9 months now. I've noticed that in the pictures of this mead, its not very clear. Could you add whirl floc, or Irish moss to this, and would it have the same effect, as it does in beer. I used whirl floc on my last brew and it came out crystal clear.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Time clears mead!

 

[KayBeer]

Has anyone tried carbing this? If so, how did it turn out? I have it going in the primary right now. I'm thinking of carbing half of it and leaving the other half still.

 

[spunxter]

Old thread but i wanted to share anyway. Ive been brewing beer for bout three years but choose this as my first mead. Started it couple days ago and its moving nicely so far. Im a little worried about all that honey that appeared to sit on tbe bottom. Ishook it a while but it didnt really disolve. Also pita getting that fruit in the carboy opening. Fingers crossed 🤞

 

[SD-SLIM]

You can always add more year, noticble sugars often mean you had a deal yeast strain.

 

[spunxter]

So, after rereading thread and hearing about offflavors for leaving on fruit too long; i reracked and despite using wlp 720 my g is at 1.002. All my beers have been finishing really low also and it seems to happen in spring since i dealt with this same thing last year. Maybe my starsan is bad , maybe its the time of year, maybe my starters r all getting infected idk. But anyway the hydro sample tasted good anyway and i now c why its named cherry berry cause its definitely that. A little hot tasting but i could down a few even now. Its in secondary now after 45 days or so and im looking forward to tasting it after a bit. Maybe by thanksgiving. Thx for sharing this and im now going to have a batch of mead going regularly.

 

[spunxter]

Also my strawberries never dropped and i was under the impression that they would, i did however have it at about 60-65 for a while since it was in my cellar. The fermentation was lengthy i think due to the colder tben ideal temps. Could this be why?does the fruit normally drop?

 

[TattooCelt]

With the strawberry wines and strawberry meads I've made, I never had them drop. I also had them in nylon brew bags to keep the mess down and to make it easier to remove when it was time.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Strawberries often will not drop, so i either use a brew bag or just puree them in a blender and add them, either way works great.

 

[evanwiley]

what is your recommended fermenting temp?

 

[SD-SLIM]

Follow instructions for temp from yeast manufacturer, but in general 70 degrees

 

[Jako]

going to make this soon. question. could i use my plastic buckets or will i end up with crazy off flavors? second question is anyone have a good place to buy honey in bulk?

 

[KayBeer]

going to make this soon. question. could i use my plastic buckets or will i end up with crazy off flavors? second question is anyone have a good place to buy honey in bulk?

I’ve used plastic buckets for almost everything I’ve done. I’ve never had any issues as long as the buckets are kept clean and sterilized. As for the Honey, if you find a place let me know. I’m always looking and have been mostly unsuccessful.

 

[Jako]

I’ve used plastic buckets for almost everything I’ve done. I’ve never had any issues as long as the buckets are kept clean and sterilized. As for the Honey, if you find a place let me know. I’m always looking and have been mostly unsuccessful.

i found some on amazon its $55 for 12 pounds so it would be perfect for this. its Texas wild flower honey i think someone in this thread used it before.

i was thinking for my yeast starter just dumping the yeast into the juice for a day or so then dump that in to my bucket. i have a few coworkers who want to make this with me so we plan to split the cost. just worried i will run out super fast splitting it up.

thinking about final cost it looks like this will run me about 100$ or so that sounds high?

 

[OpenSights]

I too have chosen this recipe for my first mead and have a few newbie questions. My supply house recommended white labs WLP720, my wife prefers dry wines so I hope it’s the right one.

I found a fairly local guy who sells honey year round at decent prices from little bear squeeze bottles up to a 5 gallon bucket. According to google one gallon of honey weighs twelve pounds, which he charges $40 which is less than Walmart, I checked.

Now this honey is raw, unpasteurized. Do I need to treat the initial honey/water with campden tablets to get rid of any wild yeast? Or is using raw honey not advisable or just run with it.

I’m planning on picking it up tomorrow morning even if I can’t use it for mead.

I plan on aging it in bottles, are beer bottles ok or should I look into wine bottles?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[OpenSights]

Picked up some stuff locally tonight. My buddy says he does mead all the time from raw all the time without campden tabs.

 

[bernardsmith]

Imo, any wild yeast and bacteria will quickly be dominated by the lab cultured yeast (in their billions) but allowing the indigenous cultures a few hours to work on the sugars will only add desirable complexity. I don't see the advantage of purging those cultures when I am making a mead at home. If I was making 1000 gallons and consistency was a requirement that might be a different story... (though in truth, as a card carrying contrarian I am not certain it would be)...

 

[OpenSights]

That’s about what my buddy said. Plus the guy I bought the honey from said it pasteurizes at 117 degrees f, not sure if it would get that high before in the fermenter.

I’m thinking of starting this next weekend, second racking of a blueberry cider should be Friday or Saturday. Guessing.

 

[Brewing for Brigid]

Imo, any wild yeast and bacteria will quickly be dominated by the lab cultured yeast (in their billions) but allowing the indigenous cultures a few hours to work on the sugars will only add desirable complexity. I don't see the advantage of purging those cultures when I am making a mead at home. If I was making 1000 gallons and consistency was a requirement that might be a different story... (though in truth, as a card carrying contrarian I am not certain it would be)...

Do you find that to be so when brewing a melowmel with raw fruit as well? Or just a straight up mead? Id really like to avoid the tablets. So far I have not had an issue with my 1 gallon batches but I'm going for a much larger batch and am wondering if I'm taking a foolish risk.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[mattbeer]

So I just made it, but I only had 2lbs of frozen strawberries. I also used white grape juice, with a splash of grenadine. Thoughts?

 

[Brewing for Brigid]

Well mine appear to be doing well.

I made my base mead as a simple traditioinalish ( touch of blackberry leaves, earl grey tea, lime, cinamonn, vanilla)

But now iI have split 5 gallons into 1 gallon jugs and added fresh kiwi, dried elderberry, dried chillie peppers, fresh rosehips. Those seem to be fine.

I made a cider with unpasterized juice and honey as well.

I also have a 5 gallon of fresh crushed apple and sour cherry cider that is doing well.

None of these have campden, though I have added it in others just before I bottle.

So yeah for wild yeasties in the beginning!!

 

[spunxter]

So my cherry berry has been sitting for a year i think racked once still some debris floating. Not wortied about it but im wondering if i should bottle now or wait, cold crash it maybe? Taste pretty good btw and a little stronger than i expected.

 

[Brewing for Brigid]

I'm very new to all this, bit I have learned that even if it looks clear as glass.... If you bottle it too early you will find sediment on the bottom of your bottles in a month or two. Not the end of the world, bit it seems time is the only sure sullution to dropping all sediment.
I usually rack 3 or 4 times before bottling to remove sediment, which really improves the taste and look.
I cold crash my 1 gallons in the freezer for an hour before doing a final racking as well, it does help.

So my cherry berry has been sitting for a year i think racked once still some debris floating. Not wortied about it but im wondering if i should bottle now or wait, cold crash it maybe? Taste pretty good btw and a little stronger than i expected.