Blackberry Melomel


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Posted by Nate

Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Last Update: February 12, 2012




Second mead recipe for my first mead making day. This is actually a melomel, which is a mead with fruit added to it. I had some frozen blackberries from last summer which I had planned to use in another batch of beer, but I never got around to it. So, I decided they could be added to some mead, as I will be picking fresh blackberries in a couple months anyway. Here is a simple recipe for blackberry melomel I put together from different online sources. It will have to age quite a while from what I hear.

Blackberry Melomel

2 Gallons
OG:1.106FG:0.998%ABV:14.4
Fermentables
5 lbHoney (used Haggen 100% Pure Honey Blend)
4 lbBlackberries (previously frozen)
Yeast
2/3 packageCote des Blancs Wine Yeast
Additives
2.00 tspPectic Enzyme
2.00 tspYeast Nutrient

Process:

I pulled my blackberries out of the freezer and thawed and crushed them. I then added 2 pounds of the thawed, crushed blackberries to each 1-gallon carboy I was using. I placed my honey in a warm water bath for about 10 minutes to help it flow better. I then dissolved 5 pounds of honey in about half a gallon of water. I poured half of this honey water into each carboy. I added 1 teaspoon of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient to each carboy, then topped up to about 3 inches from the top with water. To aerate the mead I put a lid on each carboy and shook it for about a minute. I then added one-third of a packet of Cote des Blancs wine yeast to each carboy, attached an airlock, and set it to ferment in my brew room.

6-5-11: Put into primary carboys. OG measured at 1.106, giving it an alcohol potential of 15.9 %ABV. About 6 hours after attaching the airlocks, they had filled with mead and were slowly oozing. I had a feeling this might happen. The crushed blackberries formed a cap in the carboy and were holding in the CO2, as can happen with fruit wines. So I transferred this mead to a 5-gallon bucket for its primary, where it will have more than enough room for the fruit cap. I will rack and strain the mead after about a week to a secondary carboy.

6-14-11: Activity in the primary bucket airlock has mostly stopped, so I racked the mead off of the blackberries into 2 1-gallon carboys, and topped them up with water.

2-12-12: FG measured at 0.998, giving a strength of 14.4 %ABV. Bottled into 20 12-ounce bottles.

 

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