17 replies to this topic

[REM]

I've been meaning to do mead for quite awhile now. I have 2 gallons of blueberries ordered. I can get more if necessary.Does anyone have any recipes handy? In particular exactly how the fruit is handled, which is a complete unknown... I put up several batches of sparkling mead like 20 years ago, but that's the extent of my experience. I lacked temp control from start to finish. I have temp control now, as well as far better general brew skills.Pointers? GOYL? <G>

[The Brew Dude]

What you would be making, essentially, is a melomel. This may come as a shock to you, but opinions vary. I am in the "ferment your mead and rack the result onto the prepared fruit" camp. Basically, you ferment a traditional mead, and just past fermentation, you prepare your fruit in a bucket (mash them, add pectin enzyme), then rack the fresh mead into it. You let it sit until it tastes good/right, rack to a clean carboy to clear/age, and bottle.Variations include type of honey/yeast for the mead, amount of fruit, length of time of mead on fruit.As for a recipe, I'm sure someone has one. I cheat on my melomels and haven't used fresh fruit in a long time. Actually, I don't make many melomels...

[REM]

What you would be making, essentially, is a melomel. This may come as a shock to you, but opinions vary. I am in the "ferment your mead and rack the result onto the prepared fruit" camp. Basically, you ferment a traditional mead, and just past fermentation, you prepare your fruit in a bucket (mash them, add pectin enzyme), then rack the fresh mead into it. You let it sit until it tastes good/right, rack to a clean carboy to clear/age, and bottle.Variations include type of honey/yeast for the mead, amount of fruit, length of time of mead on fruit.As for a recipe, I'm sure someone has one. I cheat on my melomels and haven't used fresh fruit in a long time. Actually, I don't make many melomels...

Why is the fruit not a part of fermentation? Or, does it restart the fermentation?I'm-agonna try for a great mead. I found that while searching melomel...Once I get started I'll probably be putting up 10 gallon batches on a schedule of some sort. Thanks for the info and I'm open for more!Any thoughts on this notion?

I don't boil or even heat any of my meads. I just dump everything in the carboy and stir it with a paint stirrer on a drill. Takes 30min tops.

I'm thinking that a slight boil is necessary to nail any bacteria for both the honey and the fruit.

[The Brew Dude]

Why is the fruit not a part of fermentation? Or, does it restart the fermentation?I'm thinking that a slight boil is necessary to nail any bacteria for both the honey and the fruit.

It can restart, yes. Putting any fruit in the primary can play havoc with fermentation.You can heat the fruit in water before adding to the secondary. One of the advantages to the "add to the secondary"method is the alcohol in the mead help keep the nasties at bay in the secondary.

[ScottS]

I am in the "ferment your mead and rack the result onto the prepared fruit" camp. Basically, you ferment a traditional mead, and just past fermentation, you prepare your fruit in a bucket (mash them, add pectin enzyme), then rack the fresh mead into it. You let it sit until it tastes good/right, rack to a clean carboy to clear/age, and bottle.

+1, except I don't use pectic enzyme. I bulk age long enough that 98% of my meads clear on their own. As he said, opinions vary.

I'm thinking that a slight boil is necessary to nail any bacteria for both the honey and the fruit.

It's really not necessary. In fact, I would highly recommend against it. You greatly degrade the honey flavor with boiling. I've made a ton of melomels without heating, all different kinds of fruit, and I've never had an issue.Use high quality fruit, wash it, pick out anything rotting or moldy, freeze it, thaw it, and then use it without heating.My experience with blueberry meads has been less than stellar. My recommendations are to use lots of fruit, upwards of 3lbs per gal, use only really ripe fruit that tastes sweet when eaten straight, and to smash all of the berries before putting them in the fermenter. If you don't smash them, you end up extracting a lot of color and acidity without extracting any flavor. And plan on sweetening to balance the acidity of the fruit.

[REM]

My experience with blueberry meads has been less than stellar. My recommendations are to use lots of fruit, upwards of 3lbs per gal, use only really ripe fruit that tastes sweet when eaten straight, and to smash all of the berries before putting them in the fermenter. If you don't smash them, you end up extracting a lot of color and acidity without extracting any flavor. And plan on sweetening to balance the acidity of the fruit.

Damn. 15+ pounds of blueberries per 5 gallons? I'll need to order more. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm not ready for a braggot. I'm going to try to grow some wings with this and regular mead until I get a few batches back under my belt.A co-worker made some blueberry melomel last year and she says that it's very dry. She used 15 pounds of blueberries and was wondering what might be the best way to add a little sweetness to it.This is where she got the idea. Adding honey on after secondary seems to be suggested. Will the yeast expire at that point on into the conditioning phase? https://www.homebrew...rry-mead-34038/Thanks all! <G>

[Wayne B]

Well, since blueberries are a subtle flavored fruit, I'd personally recommend using even more! Minimum 18 lbs in a 5 gallon batch - even 20 lbs is not too much. As Brew Dude noted, opinnions vary, and I'm from the camp that likes most of my fruit in primary. In fact I usually do 2/3 to 3/4 of my fruit in primary and only a third to a quarter of the total in secondary, if I put any in the secondary at all. The key is to determine up front if you want the "fruitiness" of the fruit to predominate, or if you want the complexities of flavor and aroma that you get from subjecting the fruit to full-on primary fermentation as the principal fruit presence in the final result. Then formulate your recipe accordingly. BTW, in that older HBT recipe the honey added after secondary is for backsweetening, not to restart fermentation. Blueberries are one of those fruits that tend to be muted in fermentation unless the result is blended with a little sugar, so backsweetening is often a good idea for blueberry melomels. One thing to keep in mind: Unless you are sure that all of your yeast are completely pooped out (which is almost impossible to know absolutely), it is a good idea to stabilize (using sulfites and sorbate) before backsweetening to prevent unintentional re-starts.

Edited by Wayne B, 08 June 2009 - 03:40 PM.

[REM]

Well, since blueberries are a subtle flavored fruit, I'd personally recommend using even more! Minimum 18 lbs in a 5 gallon batch - even 20 lbs is not too much.

I'll stock up then!

As Brew Dude noted, opinnions vary, and I'm from the camp that likes most of my fruit in primary. In fact I usually do 2/3 to 3/4 of my fruit in primary and only a third to a quarter of the total in secondary, if I put any in the secondary at all. The key is to determine up front if you want the "fruitiness" of the fruit to predominate, or if you want the complexities of flavor and aroma that you get from subjecting the fruit to full-on primary fermentation as the principal fruit presence in the final result. Then formulate your recipe accordingly. BTW, in that older HBT recipe the honey added after secondary is for backsweetening, not to restart fermentation. Blueberries are one of those fruits that tend to be muted in fermentation unless the result is blended with a little sugar, so backsweetening is often a good idea for blueberry melomels. One thing to keep in mind: Unless you are sure that all of your yeast are completely pooped out (which is almost impossible to know absolutely), it is a good idea to stabilize (using sulfites and sorbate) before backsweetening to prevent unintentional re-starts.

I don't understand the bolded portion above. To make sweet mead...To make dry mead...I'd have thought that fruit in the secondary would produce more fruity sweet taste. Is that correct? Or, fruit in the primary equals a fruity sweeter taste?Thanks for the info!

[The Brew Dude]

Fruit = Fruit tasteSugar = Sweet tasteDry mead racked onto fruit will produce a dry melomel. Don't fret, you can always stabilize and back-sweeten with honey.Full Disclosure: I use fruit extracts (from Whole Foods) to make my melomels. Like I said, I cheat.

[Wayne B]

And to further clarify (or maybe to confuse you more), the "fruity" flavor I was referring to from fruit added in secondary is the taste and aroma of the actual fresh fruit. For a brew that everyone will instantly recognize as "blueberry," you'll want your fruit in the secondary, added after primary fermentation has finished, and to be even more sure that you maximixe the fruit presence, add fruit only after your yeast have reached their nominal ethanol tolerance in the must. That way the flavor profile that is extracted will be very much like the fresh fruit. The "complexity" I was referring to earlier is the different variety of flavors and aromas that are produced when the yeast acts on the fruit during the robust fermentation in primary. Using blueberries again as an example, the characteristic that most folks observe when blueberries are included in primary is that the result tastes more or less "vinous," meaning "wine-like," and it refers to the fact that fermented blueberries provide characteristics that remind some folks of fermented grapes - notably pinot noir grapes, in my opinion. But the subtle blueberry aroma is often lost when the fruit is fermented completely in primary.Hope that helps to clear things up a bit.

[ScottS]

A co-worker made some blueberry melomel last year and she says that it's very dry. She used 15 pounds of blueberries and was wondering what might be the best way to add a little sweetness to it.

My preferred method for every mead is to ferment to dryness and backsweeten with honey until it tastes right. This is particularly important with melomels, as you generally don't get a pleasant result without some sweetness to balance the acidity of the fruit.I don't stabilize before I sweeten, but I bulk age for over a year and then keg.My opinion - if your goal is sweet and fruity, put the fruit in the secondary, ferment to dry, age for a year, then add honey until it tastes right. Don't aim for sweet right out of fermentation.

[Jeff]

Blueberries are hard to get flavor out of! Been stepping the berries up each year for 7 years. We are in the 20 lb range, and just getting something with blueberry flavor. Actually, our current test is blueberry juice in the primary and a quart of blueberry syrup at bottling time. It's still fermenting.Add the blueberries as late as you can so they can retain the flavor.

[REM]

Blueberries are hard to get flavor out of! Been stepping the berries up each year for 7 years. We are in the 20 lb range, and just getting something with blueberry flavor. Actually, our current test is blueberry juice in the primary and a quart of blueberry syrup at bottling time. It's still fermenting.Add the blueberries as late as you can so they can retain the flavor.

Well, it looks like my catalyst to make mead isn't going to pan out as I'd hoped. I weighed them. The odd chance that one of our facilities has a blueberry farm that MR patients maintain and sell for activity funds seemed a message -> make mead! <G> There is 5 pounds per 1 gallon baggie, so I have 10 pounds. I just told my wife to go ahead and cook with them.But, I'm still going to try a few batches of mead. Straight up mead prolly to start with. I am interested in melomel recipes for the future. Pure apple juice maybe?Youse guys saved me a lot of time and frustration. Thanks!

[ScottS]

I am interested in melomel recipes for the future. Pure apple juice maybe?

Cyser = heavenly. Check back in for advice before you get started on that one.

[BeesNBrews]

+1 on the cyser. That has become my standard--3 gallons slightly sweet plus two with oak. Age for two to four+ years and it is mighty fine!

[HarvInSTL]

My preferred method for every mead is to ferment to dryness and backsweeten with honey until it tastes right.

I'm interested in your opinion here. I do the opposite. I choose a yeast before I formulate my recipe (normally D47 as with SNA it regularly poops out at 14-14.5%) and make sure that I have enough honey to keep it within the sweet/semi-sweet guidelines I'm shooting for.Does one method have an advantage over the other?

[ScottS]

I'm interested in your opinion here. I do the opposite. I choose a yeast before I formulate my recipe (normally D47 as with SNA it regularly poops out at 14-14.5%) and make sure that I have enough honey to keep it within the sweet/semi-sweet guidelines I'm shooting for.Does one method have an advantage over the other?

The advantage of my method is that when you are working with fruit or something else of unknown sugar content, it's harder to overshoot on the sweetness by my method.For plain meads, I do your method. I just don't make many plain meads.

[Hightest]

FWIW, with all the meads I make, I also allow the yeast to ferment out and then backsweeten (if needed) to whatever taste I desire. Overall, it has proven to be a much easier method. Yet, I also design my recipes for specific original volumes & OGs based on the yeast's typical alcohol tolerance - it's sort of a mathemathtical balancing act with a little biology mixed in...