Super Berry Melomel

[cooper]

I've been spending a few months watching all the YouTube videos I can find about Mead making; went through all of Brad Smith's podcasts with Michael Fairbrother, Steve Piatz, Ken Schramm, and Curt Stock. Even found some from BrewingTV's videos with Steve Fletty and Curt Stock. Did quite a bit of studying before I decided to drop almost $200 on the ingredients but I've loved every minute of this research project and feel pretty good about tackling one of the big, fruity Melomels that everyone raves about.

So this is my take on a version of Curt Stock's Super Berry Melomel recipe. All the fruit was store-bought from the frozen section (or some I had left over in the freezer from some time ago) as I couldn't get my hands on any fresh that were economically feasible.

Ingredients:

20 lbs Clover honey
12 lbs Mixed Berries (Raspberry/Blackberry/Blueberry)
02 lbs Tart Cherries
12 oz Sweet Cherries
12 oz Blueberries
1 Can (96 oz) Tart Cherry Puree - Vintner's
1 Can (96 oz) Black Currant Puree - Vintner's

Process:

14 April 2018:

From MeadMakr TOSNA 2.0 Site (https://www.meadmakr.com/tosna-2-0/)
Measured out 16 grams of Fermaid O and set aside for nutrient additions; 4 grams per addition
Rehydrated two packs of 71B yeast in 15 grams of GoFerm in 300ml water, covered, and set aside for about 20 minutes to rehydrate

Added honey to 2 gallons filtered water
Added fruit in the mesh bag I use when I do BIAB and tied it off with a sanitized zip tie and left enough room for the fruit to float about freely
Tempered yeast to within 10F to not shock them and pitched
Added 1/4 tsp Pectic Enzyme
Added first yeast nutrient addition, 4 grams
Topped up with water till I was at about 6-6.5 gallons in a 7.5 gallon fermentation bucket and stirred the heck out of it
Placed in the fermentation chamber set to 62F
OG was around 1.142 but I'd have to do some calculations to get the proper OG based on the extra amount the fruit would add. I was mostly worried about getting it close to 1.150 so I could get an FG of somewhere around 1.024-1.040 so I wouldn't have to worry about back-sweetening.

I did all my stirring (once in the morning and once in the evening) and added nutrient additions as required. Pulled the fruit bag out at day 7.

I'll check the gravity again on 5 May to see where it's at and rack to a 5 gallon carboy to start the clearing process and see what it looks like in a month. Then I'll Sulfite it, wait a day, then use Super Kleer, wait at least a week, cold crash, and then keg half and bottle half.

This is my first go around with this so hopefully it'll turn out decent!

Wish me luck!

 

[cooper]

Here’s where it was after a week. Right after I pulled the bag.

 

[bernardsmith]

Good luck! This will be about 16 -17% alcohol given your assumptions and hopes but it could hit higher - or lower - Yeast do not always abide by your best intentions. Making a nicely balanced wine (or mead) with that amount of alcohol can be a real challenge.

 

[cooper]

Thanks Bernard! Hopefully it turns into something tasty. I'm not opposed to aging it for a long time either to allow it to come together.

 

[cooper]

And here’s where it is tonight. Looks like anywhere between 1.018-1.020. But it may go even lower in this next month in the carboy. Smelled great though. I lost a gallon to the sludge at the bottom from using the purée.

 

[fossilcat]

So maybe a little too late for this racking (sorry bout that, just saw this), but I noticed that the precipitate in a melomel with fruit in primary has (at least) two levels: the very bottom is composed of the dead yeast, while everything above that is the spent fruit. When I get as much "leftover" in the bottom of my fermentation bucket as you did I plan on sucking some of that stuff up into a smaller container, put an airlock on it and stick it in the fridge. It usually drops and I get more mead that I can use to top off (or drink ). If you carefully tip the bucket you can siphon without sucking up any lees. Just don't get too greedy.

 

[cooper]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll try that next time. It definitely hurts the heart to toss out a gallon of goodness just because the purée is holding on to it.

So maybe a little too late for this racking (sorry bout that, just saw this), but I noticed that the precipitate in a melomel with fruit in primary has (at least) two levels: the very bottom is composed of the dead yeast, while everything above that is the spent fruit. When I get as much "leftover" in the bottom of my fermentation bucket as you did I plan on sucking some of that stuff up into a smaller container, put an airlock on it and stick it in the fridge. It usually drops and I get more mead that I can use to top off (or drink ). If you carefully tip the bucket you can siphon without sucking up any lees. Just don't get too greedy.

 

[cooper]

It’s about a month old now and sitting in the glass carboy still. I added sulfite about two weeks ago and decided to take a gravity reading and taste it.

Kind of acidic, and a little boozy, it’s got a “This is going to give me heartburn” taste if anyone can identify with that, but I think I like it.

May be just a touch too dry but I don’t know.

FG today was 1.015. Haven’t decided if I want to back sweeten or let it ride and see how it goes.

 

[fossilcat]

It looks real good!

1.015 is in the sweet zone so I'm not sure you'll want to backsweeten just yet. It's only a month old, which is very young, and it's at 17%. Give it another month or so in the carboy and then taste again. That'll give it time to blend tastes and age out some of the "burn" or "hotness" you're experiencing. Wait until the taste will be closer to what it will eventually rest at. You've moved this batch along pretty fast, much faster than I move mine, I think it's time to wait for a while and do nothing.

 

[madscientist451]

I've gathered up the ingredients to make a similar mead but I'm using only frozen local tart cherries, frozen raspberries, and Knudsens black currant juice. Based on where your gravity landed, I think I'm going to boost the honey to 22 lbs. I'm also thinking of using the frozen raspberries/cherries in primary but add the black currant juice in secondary.
Thanks for posting.

 

[cooper]

I appreciate the info! I’ll follow your advice and let it rest for at least another month or two. I couldn’t believe how much it cleared up just on its own. I may not even need to add finings to it, unless you guys suggest that it’s just all around better to do it.

It looks real good!

1.015 is in the sweet zone so I'm not sure you'll want to backsweeten just yet. It's only a month old, which is very young, and it's at 17%. Give it another month or so in the carboy and then taste again. That'll give it time to blend tastes and age out some of the "burn" or "hotness" you're experiencing. Wait until the taste will be closer to what it will eventually rest at. You've moved this batch along pretty fast, much faster than I move mine, I think it's time to wait for a while and do nothing.

 

[cooper]

I think I’ll go with about 22 lbs too when I do it again. I also think I was a lot closer to 7 gallons with all the fruit in it so that probably added a bit more water and allowed the gravity to go lower than I was anticipating.

I've gathered up the ingredients to make a similar mead but I'm using only frozen local tart cherries, frozen raspberries, and Knudsens black currant juice. Based on where your gravity landed, I think I'm going to boost the honey to 22 lbs. I'm also thinking of using the frozen raspberries/cherries in primary but add the black currant juice in secondary.
Thanks for posting.

 

[cooper]

It catches the light pretty well too right now.

 

[TGFV]

After a pair of braggots, a cyser and saison mead I have been thinking about doing a fruit mead. May just take this as example and do a more sessionable version, thanks for the inspiration!

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

How’s this taste now? Still have that hot alcohol burn to it? My batch is around 3 years and still tastes harsh. Wondering if I screwed something up or it’s just that high of alcohol content.

 

[cooper]

How’s this taste now? Still have that hot alcohol burn to it? My batch is around 3 years and still tastes harsh. Wondering if I screwed something up or it’s just that high of alcohol content.

This is tasting fantastic now! Absolutely no alcohol burn and I get a ton of berry and honey flavor with it. FG was 1.015 and the acidity and tannin level is right where it should be and the only thing I'd do if I made it again was try not to change anything. It's one of those that makes you want to take another drink to figure out what it is you're tasting as everything seems to be blended really well. I only have a bout eight 12 oz bottles left that I plan on breaking out for special occasions.

The main thing I tried to do with this during fermentation was to make sure the fermentation temp never got over 64F. I think that was the major contributor in keeping the alcohol notes at a minimum. I also made sure i stirred it twice a day and added my yeast nutrients at the proper times.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

I’ve dosed mine with a bit of calcium carbonate and that had really seemed to mellow out the harshness. The only thing I can think of is that my fermentation temps might have crept up on me. I brewed this before I had better understanding of ferm temps.

 

[cooper]

I'd say the fermentation temps are likely the culprit. A few of my buddies have made mead where they've let the fermentation temps get out of hand and got the rocket fuel taste that just doesn't mellow out. It's easy for that to happen when you're starting out with on OG of around 1.150 or more.

 

[Tommy89]

Hi there, I made an account specifically to ask this question. I am also making this recipe, although I adhered to the original recipe (https://www.bjcp.org/mead/melomel.pdf, the specific ingredients for super berry melomel are listed somewhere at the bottom) a bit more since it's my first serious attempt to brewing. In his recipe, it seems like Curt suggests to let it stay in primary for a month and keep in the fruit for this whole period, punching it down twice a day along the way. I wonder what motivated you to keep it in primary for only 3 weeks and remove the fruit after only 1 week instead?

You see, punching the cap twice a day for a month seems a bit of a hassle to me and I am afraid it introduces too much oxygen. Also, a previous, less serious, attempt at brewing has left me worried that the seeds will impart an unpleasant bitterness to the drink if I leave the fruit in there for a month. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

Hi there, I made an account specifically to ask this question. I am also making this recipe, although I adhered to the original recipe (https://www.bjcp.org/mead/melomel.pdf, the specific ingredients for super berry melomel are listed somewhere at the bottom) a bit more since it's my first serious attempt to brewing. In his recipe, it seems like Curt suggests to let it stay in primary for a month and keep in the fruit for this whole period, punching it down twice a day along the way. I wonder what motivated you to keep it in primary for only 3 weeks and remove the fruit after only 1 week instead?

You see, punching the cap twice a day for a month seems a bit of a hassle to me and I am afraid it introduces too much oxygen. Also, a previous, less serious, attempt at brewing has left me worried that the seeds will impart an unpleasant bitterness to the drink if I leave the fruit in there for a month. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Read about half way down page 3 of your article with regards to the benefits of punching down the cap. I followed this site but the recipe looks the same. Watch the brewtv link.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/blog...mead-coffee-more/two-melomels-from-curt-stock

 

[Tommy89]

Read about half way down page 3 of your article with regards to the benefits of punching down the cap. I followed this site but the recipe looks the same. Watch the brewtv link.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/blog...mead-coffee-more/two-melomels-from-curt-stock

I have read the article thoroughly multiple times and I had already seen that video (thanks for the suggestion though). It's just that in both of those sources no specific statements are made about how long to keep the fruit in. It does recommend 1 month for primary however. Hence my previous comment.

 

[CKuhns]

I have done a lot of Melomels. Fruit in primary and secondary or both. IMO berries will pretty much give up all their flavor in 12 to 14 days and small seed berries strawberries specifically have added some astringent flavors i don't care for when added for more than a few weeks. No issues with blackberries or raspberries or anything without pits or seeds. I think the seeds are a little more protected in the flesh of the fruit on most berries and allows for some additional time. With that said, most berries are just fine in primary for the duration of the ferment. Yes you should punch the cap or swirl the mead to cover with liquid once in a while so "nasties" don't grow and CO2 can be released. The best option I have found is to use a bucket or wide mouthed fermenter for primary and a paint strainer bag with a good handful or two of those flat glass marbles to sink the fruit. Then no worries about CO2 release and or punching the fruit cap. Makes clean up and racking real easy as well.

 

[cooper]

Hi there, I made an account specifically to ask this question. I am also making this recipe, although I adhered to the original recipe (https://www.bjcp.org/mead/melomel.pdf, the specific ingredients for super berry melomel are listed somewhere at the bottom) a bit more since it's my first serious attempt to brewing. In his recipe, it seems like Curt suggests to let it stay in primary for a month and keep in the fruit for this whole period, punching it down twice a day along the way. I wonder what motivated you to keep it in primary for only 3 weeks and remove the fruit after only 1 week instead?

You see, punching the cap twice a day for a month seems a bit of a hassle to me and I am afraid it introduces too much oxygen. Also, a previous, less serious, attempt at brewing has left me worried that the seeds will impart an unpleasant bitterness to the drink if I leave the fruit in there for a month. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

I think it was in a beersmith podcast that I was watching where Steve Piatz mentioned that he only keeps the fruit in primary for a week and then racks it to a secondary after three weeks to minimize head space and let it condition more.

Also the fruit was looking pretty rough after a week of getting punched down after the degassing and it seemed like a week was planet long enough for it to give up its goodness.

I do remember that he also said he sometimes takes it right out of the primary in one batch of mead and moves it directly to another batch with great success.

I’m going to be mixing up another batch of this some time in the next couple of months and I’m hoping I can recreate this as it’s still very tasty. I only have about eight 12 oz bottles left at this point and it’s delicious.

 

[NeverDie]

It looks real good!

1.015 is in the sweet zone so I'm not sure you'll want to backsweeten just yet. It's only a month old, which is very young, and it's at 17%. Give it another month or so in the carboy and then taste again. That'll give it time to blend tastes and age out some of the "burn" or "hotness" you're experiencing. Wait until the taste will be closer to what it will eventually rest at. You've moved this batch along pretty fast, much faster than I move mine, I think it's time to wait for a while and do nothing.

It’s about a month old now and sitting in the glass carboy still. I added sulfite about two weeks ago and decided to take a gravity reading and taste it.

Kind of acidic, and a little boozy, it’s got a “This is going to give me heartburn” taste if anyone can identify with that, but I think I like it.

May be just a touch too dry but I don’t know.

FG today was 1.015. Haven’t decided if I want to back sweeten or let it ride and see how it goes.

Don't you guys feel as though your mead loses a lot of its desirable taste and aroma by fermenting to such high ABV's (17% in this case)? At least that's the conclusion I've reached. In fact, when it comes to mead, I've taken to avoiding wine yeast altogether.

 

[Tommy89]

Thank you for your replies, that was exactly the information I was looking for. One more follow-up question though, and then I will try to stop hijacking your post, cooper . My mead has been going (at an insane speed) for a couple of days now. I'm afraid my fruit bag had a very course mesh, so most of the seeds and pulp has escaped from the fruit bag and is now swimming about freely in my fermentation bucket. To follow CKuhns' and coopers advice, I wish to remove the fruit (mostly to get rid of the seeds) after 1-2 weeks counting from the start of the fermentation. However, since many seeds escaped from the fruit bag, the only way to do this would be to already rack to secundary. But then primary only lasted 1-2 weeks instead of 3-4 weeks. Do you know if this causes any issues?

 

[CKuhns]

Tommy - What fruit did you use? If Strawberries then yes rack from them, but that is only my opinion as i personally do not care for the tannens or astringent flavors they provide. (Others on this forum may have a different opinion) If pretty much any other fruit (Excluding Citris with the rind - JAOM being the exception to that rule) then you are OK for an extended period of time. The 14 days as mentioned above really is just in relation to fruit flavor. Fruit pretty much is done giving up its fruit flavor after 2 weeks. But IMO you must manage the fruit cap and as mentioned just be sure to punch the cap or swirl the car boy a bit if one forms.

The disclaimer that must be made is we all have our own personal preferences, practices, protocols and likes when it comes to mead. I have found that some folks are performing what I would consider some very questionable practices but in-fact produce a very nice mead. In essence none are "wrong" just "different" we all must find our own path.

One of the best lessons I have learned with Melomels is to not over think it. Short of an infection or bacteria when you add fruit to primary most mead will get significantly better with age. If you did not follow the best OR your best protocol then chalk it up to experience and let it age for 12 - 24 months. Check it every 4 months or so you may be pleasantly surprised. My 1st mead was just barely good at 18 months and very good at 24 to 30, the two i have going now that I racked from the fruit in secondary two weeks ago are surprisingly "drinkable" and currently cold crashing. (21-30 days primary and 30 days secondary with the last two weeks on fruit). I will be cold crashing for 5 days and clarifying via settling for 60 days, then bottle and will not touch them for 4 - 6 months.

 

[CKuhns]

Never Die (I like the name by the way.) And do apologize to Cooper for continuing the derailment of your thread.

IMO "Big" Mead 14 - 18% ABV if fermented relatively slowly (30 days or more primary) balanced just right with your choice of honey, yeast and if you prefer tannens, fruit, spices and acidity, when the flavors are paired together and balanced well while using good practices and protocols are amazingly complex if aged. The challenge is in getting the balance "just right" and waiting for it to age. IMO 12 months or more will add an amazing amount of complexity to your mead. Big Mead often is just OK but can be good to very good "young" (<12 months) but excellent and occasionally "amazing" at 24.

Last night I drank a 15.1% bakers honey, Cotes des Blanc wine yeast, Hibiscus Tea in Primary and 4 Pounds of Blackberries in secondary (5 Gallon batch) that has been in the bottle for 13 months. It was good. Tannens, Honey and fruit balanced just about right on the front and middle but I missed on adding enough acidity and it did not finish well. (A little "flat") and although good, could have been very good with a little more acidity to "brighten it up".

With all that said - Quick and lower ABV mead using Wine yeasts by many production facilities (Groennfell as an example) and on this forum using Ale yeasts and or Wine yeasts perfected by folks like BernardSmith, LoveofRose and others make some very good and i suspect fairly complex mead in 30 - 60 days. (Again i suspect a little age may help these as well.) In-fact based upon the BOMM recipe and protocol and some notes from Bernards posts along with some direction from Groennfell meadery, I am planning on running a quick mead 6% ABV 5 Gallon experiment. (Still trying to decide on the yeast to use.) It will be the Second of its kind - First one did not go well using an Ale yeast produced a mead that tasted like licking a dirty plastic bucket. I kind of "saved" it by adding an additional 8 pounds of honey and pitching EC-1118 with oranges and cranberries in secondary. (Ended up just under 18% and is now just "OK" after 30 months in the bottle.)

 

[Tommy89]

Tommy - What fruit did you use? If Strawberries then yes rack from them, but that is only my opinion as i personally do not care for the tannens or astringent flavors they provide. (Others on this forum may have a different opinion) If pretty much any other fruit (Excluding Citris with the rind - JAOM being the exception to that rule) then you are OK for an extended period of time. The 14 days as mentioned above really is just in relation to fruit flavor. Fruit pretty much is done giving up its fruit flavor after 2 weeks. But IMO you must manage the fruit cap and as mentioned just be sure to punch the cap or swirl the car boy a bit if one forms.

The disclaimer that must be made is we all have our own personal preferences, practices, protocols and likes when it comes to mead. I have found that some folks are performing what I would consider some very questionable practices but in-fact produce a very nice mead. In essence none are "wrong" just "different" we all must find our own path.

One of the best lessons I have learned with Melomels is to not over think it. Short of an infection or bacteria when you add fruit to primary most mead will get significantly better with age. If you did not follow the best OR your best protocol then chalk it up to experience and let it age for 12 - 24 months. Check it every 4 months or so you may be pleasantly surprised. My 1st mead was just barely good at 18 months and very good at 24 to 30, the two i have going now that I racked from the fruit in secondary two weeks ago are surprisingly "drinkable" and currently cold crashing. (21-30 days primary and 30 days secondary with the last two weeks on fruit). I will be cold crashing for 5 days and clarifying via settling for 60 days, then bottle and will not touch them for 4 - 6 months.

I used 1 kg each of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries in a 2.5 gallon batch. So since there are indeed strawberries in there, I think I'll follow your personal advise and rack to secundary after 2 weeks. Next time I just have to use a finer mesh bag. Then I will remove the fruit bag after 2 weeks and let the rest ride for a total 3-4 weeks in primary. Thank you for your thoughts, Ckuhns. I will now stop hijacking your thread, cooper. Am interested in follow-ups on how it ages.

 

[cooper]

Not hijacking the thread at all!! We’re all here to learn something new or refine our processes and it’s all good information that will benefit everyone whether it’s this thread or another. Keep the info rolling!