Started a batch of strawberry vanilla melomel just shy of a month ago. Recipe was:
16 lbs fresh strawberries, stemmed
12 lbs Kirkland honey
3 gallons water
8 grams Lalvin DV-10
No heat/boil. Just mixed the honey and water together. Mashed the strawberries with a potato masher. Poured the honey/water mix on top. Pitched yeast (dry... didn't bother making a starter). Ferment took off with no problem. Honey/water mix started at 1.100. According to the calculator at gotmead.com, with the strawberries the SG was around 1.160. Kept covered with a towel for two weeks until fermentation was complete. Now down to 0.995.
Just thieved a sample out today to taste test and check the SG. Good strawberry aroma with hints of honey in the background. Little to dry for my taste for a strawberry mead. Flavor presented with hints of strawberry, slight notes of honey, and hot alcohol (as to be expected with a 1 month old mead).
Planning on racking onto 3-4 vanilla beans (split, but not scraped) and 4 lbs of frozen strawberries (thawed and possibly frozen and thawed again). Trying to get a little more strawberry note on the palate. Plus I still needed to get the vanilla in there as well. Seeing that right now it is a bit dry for how I wanted this to turn out, I'm planning on racking it onto 2 lbs of honey in the tertiary (about another month out).
So far everything is turning out nicely. It has even cleared up quite well in the primary so far. If anyone has any comments, questions, or pointers please send away. I'm still fairly new at mead making and would love to get some feedback.
16 lbs fresh strawberries, stemmed
12 lbs Kirkland honey
3 gallons water
8 grams Lalvin DV-10
No heat/boil. Just mixed the honey and water together. Mashed the strawberries with a potato masher. Poured the honey/water mix on top. Pitched yeast (dry... didn't bother making a starter). Ferment took off with no problem. Honey/water mix started at 1.100. According to the calculator at gotmead.com, with the strawberries the SG was around 1.160. Kept covered with a towel for two weeks until fermentation was complete. Now down to 0.995.
Just thieved a sample out today to taste test and check the SG. Good strawberry aroma with hints of honey in the background. Little to dry for my taste for a strawberry mead. Flavor presented with hints of strawberry, slight notes of honey, and hot alcohol (as to be expected with a 1 month old mead).
Planning on racking onto 3-4 vanilla beans (split, but not scraped) and 4 lbs of frozen strawberries (thawed and possibly frozen and thawed again). Trying to get a little more strawberry note on the palate. Plus I still needed to get the vanilla in there as well. Seeing that right now it is a bit dry for how I wanted this to turn out, I'm planning on racking it onto 2 lbs of honey in the tertiary (about another month out).
So far everything is turning out nicely. It has even cleared up quite well in the primary so far. If anyone has any comments, questions, or pointers please send away. I'm still fairly new at mead making and would love to get some feedback.
