First crack at a Mead. Recipe ?s

[hopjedi]

Ok so I went to all grain and am having decent success. Now to try something else.
My first mead I am shooting for a not too sweet five gallon batch of Dark Berry Mead in the 12-13%abv range. I have 11lbs of clover honey, 5lbs of fresh blackberries and am thinking I will need 5Lbs of blueberries. The blackberries are not ripe yet so I am going to attempt to ripen using a slice of apple in the tupperware with them for a day(read that on the web), then freeze them until i rack to secondary. I plan to use K1-1116 for fermentation. I have Yeast nutrient, energizer, gypsum, and acid blend so I think i am covered.
Any tips on if I should bump up the honey or fruit, or change the yeast. This batch will sit as long as it tales.

 

[RJS]

Mead starts getting good at ten years. The yeast we use is Lalvin 71B-1122 but im sure others are good. I probably wouldn't add gypsum. A handful of lemons are nice, with 3 cinnamon sticks. We also use almost 15 pounds of honey for 6 gallons. 18 years later its still getting better.

 

[regulatedhobbyist]

From The Got mead yeast chart:

Lalvin KIV-1116 Dry 1016-02 Stuck Fermentations, Cider 59-86° 16% Low Expresses freshness of white varieties

What I find from my research is if your shooting for a little less ABV than the target ABV of the yeast, maybe consider using a different yeast. I've been looking into D47. I've been thinking about using that for my 12-13% meads. Then again, I'm not as knowledgeable as a lot of people on here. IF I'm wrong I will admit it.

I'm working on a 1 gallon batch of blackberry melomel, I used 4 pounds honey and just about 36 oz. of blackberries. 18 oz in primary, and 18 in secondary. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out. I also used EC-1118 for my yeast, but that is so I can have just a touch higher ABV than most commercial meads I can find.

Might I suggest 3+ lbs of honey per gallon? Any reason for the 11lbs?

Check out the got mead calculator - here. According to that 13lbs honey, 5lbs blackberries and 5lbs blueberries should come to about 13.3% ABV.

11lbs comes to about 11.6% ABV

Might I also suggest pectic enzyme? Blackberries do cause a bit of haze.

 

[hopjedi]

Thanks for responses.
I have the 11lbs of honey on hand so was gonna start with that. Had read a few recipes and 2lbs of honey per gallon seemed common. I can bump it up easily enough. I will check out that calculator link to try to dial it in better.
Had considered doing a few gallon batches as tests but need some vessels in that size. Carlo Rossi here I come!!
Also I see you are placing half the berries in primary. Is that common or do most just add flavoring adjuncts to secondary?

 

[RJS]

Depends on the character you want in the finished product. Since primary should be at least a month or two, you have to decide how much flavor adjuncts will contribute by sitting longer. Theres probably more control in secondary. Theres no hurry though, mead takes patience. For good mead were talking years, IMO.

 

[regulatedhobbyist]

Thanks for responses.
I have the 11lbs of honey on hand so was gonna start with that. Had read a few recipes and 2lbs of honey per gallon seemed common. I can bump it up easily enough. I will check out that calculator link to try to dial it in better.
Had considered doing a few gallon batches as tests but need some vessels in that size. Carlo Rossi here I come!!
Also I see you are placing half the berries in primary. Is that common or do most just add flavoring adjuncts to secondary?

Fruit in primary adds to fermentable sugars, color, etc. I added fruit in secondary to have a more pronounced blackberry flavor. I am still experimenting with mead, and still finding what may or may not work for me. Keep in mind, there are many more people on here that know so much more than I do.