Raspberry Melamel (Bronze Medal winner at 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition)

[mjcoss]

Made something very similar to this recipe tweaked as follows -
1) Only made a 1 gal batch because I didn't want a large batch of something that I'm just trying out
2) Use Manuka Active 16+ honey instead of clover honey

3 lbs Manuka honey
12 oz. fresh raspberries
2 lemons, juice of + zest of the lemons
2 limes, juice of + zest of the limes
a few raisins
1/4 cup brewed earl grey tea
Wyeast 4632 for a dry mead

+ Poland spring water to get to a gallon

Just transferred to a secondary after 5 weeks in the primary. All the fruit had lost all color, and the mead has a nice pink color. Just not sure how long I should wait before I bottle it, and what effect the honey will have on the flavor.

 

[lpsumo]

Just started a 5 gallon batch today, I remember this one being good...

 

[Bully37]

This scored a 43 at the 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition

7.5 lbs clover honey
24 oz. fresh raspberries
4 lemons, juice of
4 limes, juice of
1/2 cup brewed earl grey tea
Lavlin D47 yeast
staggered nutrient addition (see hightest's FAQs)

Mix everything together in a 3-gallon carboy. Top off with spring water to 3 gallons. Ferment until fruit loses color; rack off of fruit and top off with water; rack when fermentation is complete; rack as needed until clear; bottle with 3 oz. dextrose and age for 1 year

Boquet/Aroma: "good lite honey aroma, massive raspberry nose" "great raspberry up front, slight honey"

Appearance: "perfect color (pink!), clarity, & carbonation" "pink bubbly! lots of carbonation, great clarity, some legs"

Flavor: "good honey to fruit flavor balance. nicely warming alcohol. carbonation great." "good berry flavor, more dry than sweet, very carbonated"

Overall: "very nice mead. I'd like to have a case stashed away! great job!" "this would be a great celebration bubbly - very much like a fruity champagne. thank you!"

 

[Bully37]

How much yeast?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Unless your following a certain protocol like TOSNA (usually for mead), you can add half a packet for up to 3 gallons, whole pack for up to 5-6 gallons. Don’t use less than half a pack. You can fold the leftover yeast pack in half, put it in a ziplock bag, and stick it in the fridge. Just make sure to use it within a few months. You can add more if you want to though, as it’s really hard to actually over pitch yeast, unless your looking for particular esters caused during the growth phase.

 

[Dan O]

This scored a 43 at the 2010 Great Arizona Homebrew Competition

7.5 lbs clover honey
24 oz. fresh raspberries
4 lemons, juice of
4 limes, juice of
1/2 cup brewed earl grey tea
Lavlin D47 yeast
staggered nutrient addition (see hightest's FAQs)

Mix everything together in a 3-gallon carboy. Top off with spring water to 3 gallons. Ferment until fruit loses color; rack off of fruit and top off with water; rack when fermentation is complete; rack as needed until clear; bottle with 3 oz. dextrose and age for 1 year

Boquet/Aroma: "good lite honey aroma, massive raspberry nose" "great raspberry up front, slight honey"

Appearance: "perfect color (pink!), clarity, & carbonation" "pink bubbly! lots of carbonation, great clarity, some legs"

Flavor: "good honey to fruit flavor balance. nicely warming alcohol. carbonation great." "good berry flavor, more dry than sweet, very carbonated"

Overall: "very nice mead. I'd like to have a case stashed away! great job!" "this would be a great celebration bubbly - very much like a fruity champagne. thank you!"

I have a question. I'm new to mead making & want to try this recipe. I have all the ingredients + another 12 oz of fresh organic raspberries for secondary. My question is what was your OG & what was your FG? Trying to figure out my sugars so I can get it to the sweet spot for sweetness. Thanks in advance to anybody who can answer this question. Happy meading!

 

[Naturegoods]

OK...I am new to making mead, but I took the instructions literally "mix all the ingredients together" using the no-boil technique, and threw it all into a 6 1/2 gallon carboy. I shook the ever livin' piss out of the thing, but I have a nice 2 1/2 inch layer of honey on the bottom of the carboy, and all my raspberries on top. Will the yeast eat away at the honey layer on the bottom, or am I screwed? The honey just would not dissolve, which I guess is indicative of 100% pure honey.

As a beekeeper, pure honey WILL dissolve in water. I used 11 pounds of creamed honey yesterday poured into two gallons hot water, slosh that carboy on its side until bottom was clean. No problem. I’m no expert but I’d say no problem trying again to mix that honey from bottom. Pumping oxygen into the must at same time.

 

[SeanC138]

I'm going to try this as my first mead. Aging it in bottles for a year will test my patience

 

[SeanC138]

Rest of the ingredients arrive today so I plan to start this tonight!!!

 

[tcardenjr]

Rest of the ingredients arrive today so I plan to start this tonight!!!

I’m planning on starting this weekend! Hoping to do a 5 gallon batch; we’ll see if I get my conversions right! Will be my first 5 gallon batch and my first carbonated mead

 

[SeanC138]

So far so good. I'm about 3 days in and every time I stir this it smells amazing. I've been adding some nutrient/energize and will for a few more days as needed then it's time to tuck it away for a few weeks. I'm already thinking of what to start next!!! I now know why I see pics of folks with multiple going at once!

 

[SeanC138]

I bottled this one up last year and have shared it with many folks and it's one of the favorites I have made. Thanks again for sharing the recipe.

 

[Jack_0106]

Noob here - I've never topped up a mead with water when going into 2nd ferm. How does it affect ABV? Once my yeast has created my 12% last think I would think of doing is diluting it.