Going to try my second attempt at mead, help me pick a recipe

[SS4Luck]

So i few months ago I was going to make a lingonberry mead for my first attempt and come DDay i chickened out and made a normal honey mead. It turned out great, is bottled and aging and im moving on to the next attempt, with fruit and more flavor. So here is where I am torn.

I am in Michigan, and have access to amazing and fresh cherries and lingonberry and figure i should run with one of those. My two thoughts are

Cherry/vanilla/cinnamon

or

Lingonberry/oak (a family tradition from Sweden although i do not know the ratios)


I would think fermented with a small ammount of either the cherry or lingonberry, the add everything else in the secondary and hope for a nice rich red mead.

I plan on 3.5-4lbs of clover honey per gallon, and unless someone has a better recomendation withh use lalvin 71B 1122 like i did on my last attempt.

Ive done as much reading on the forum as i can (i think im currently back on page 30) and cant find a good rule of thumb for hoe much fruit per gallon 2-3C seems to be what i find most common, but how close is that?


It will be a 6 gallon brew to give me something to worry about as winter rolls in lol

 

[JJack887]

Don't use a recipe. Do what you want to do. Mead takes too long to follow someone else's recipe.

 

[JJack887]

But I'd dial back the honey to 3lbs a gallon for the sake of money. Use intuition for fruit additions.

 

[CKuhns]

I tend to consider following a detailed recipe pretty important if i want to repeat what i had done in the past. (But it is one I made not someone elses.) Nothing wrong with just running with experience as JJ suggests i just can't personally do it.

Ive done as much reading on the forum as i can (i think im currently back on page 30) and cant find a good rule of thumb for hoe much fruit per gallon 2-3C seems to be what i find most common, but how close is that?

Take a look at this #6 post is where the details are at - Fruit addition I have found to work for me is at the end.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=587928

The important thing is to just do it and develop your own recipe, techniques and practices. Mead is pretty forgiving. Regardless of how you get there some will be good, some will be great and a few will be truly amazing. Have fun and enjoy yourself.

 

[SS4Luck]

I guess recipe wasnt the right word for it, advice and knowledge from people that have made a mead over fruit would be a better way to put it.


i would love to make the lingonberry/oak/apple but im worried about adding to much oak to the flavor, lingonberry and light apple could be easily over powered, and if i wanted to drink wood i would go back to scotch lol.

Ill adjust the honey levels, and thank you for the post on fruit. I just ordered more nutrients and energizers. I hope to get this one fermenting this weekend!