Apricot Melomel
Source: Mike Lindner (mpl@cmprime.att.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #190, 11 August 1993
Ingredients:
9 lbs. wildflower honey
4 oz. grated ginger root
1 1/2 t. gypsum
1 t. citric acid
1 T. yeast nutrient
1/2 t. irish moss
3 lbs. apricots
2 pkgs. Red Star Pasteur champagne yeast
5+ gal. Poland Springs bottled water (my tap water tastes AWFUL)
Procedure:
I basically used Papazian's "Barkshack Ginger Mead" recipe, with some
variations. Heated 2.5 gal. of water, added all ingredients up to the
fruit. Brought slowly to 210 degrees F., skimming off the foam (and
much of the ginger). Washed, pitted, and "juiced" the apricots to
produce 1 1/2 quarts of delicious juice - added to hot must and turned
off the heat for about 1/2 hour. Temperature was 190 degrees after
adding fruit - dropped to about 180 degrees. Ran the must through my
(new, counterflow) wort chiller - in 15 minutes brought the temperature
down to 80 degrees - and into 7 gallon glass carboy. Pitched yeast and
fit the carboy with a fermentation lock.
Comments:
The must looks like raw apple cider at this point - cloudy and
orangy/brown. I drank the must used for the gravity sample, and had a
hard time stopping myself from sampling more - it was sweet, with a
strong tartness of ripe apricots and undercurrents of ginger
complimenting it nicely - tastes much better than beer wort! I was
worried about too little fruit or too much ginger, but it seems very
well balanced at this point - I hope the finished product keeps the same
blend of tastes. Next morning: vigorous fermentation (3-5
bubbles/second) and about 1/2 inch of "kreusen" on the must. The smell
is heavenly - like concentrated apricots, a little bit yeasty. I plan
on racking to a secondary after a week, at which time I'll take another
sample for gravity and tasting.
Since then I have racked it off the fruit pulp and junk (after a week)
and, bottled (I debated letting it age longer in the carboy, but since
there was considerable head room, I didn't want problems with oxidation,
so I figured I'd let it age in the bottle). I primed with 3/4 cup corn
sugar dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water (let it cool before adding to
the mead, or course), and filled and capped 50 12 oz. beer bottles. The
mead at this point smells and tastes rather alcoholic, but if you can
get past that, there is a wonderful bouquet of apricot and ginger. It's
pretty undrinkable right now, but we'll see how it is in six months. I'm
not worried - I'm drinking homebrew.
As of 1/1/94, it smells heavenly, but still tastes a bit mouthwashy. I'm
still waiting for it to age.
Specifics:
O.G. 1.052
F.G. unknown (last estimated at 1.000, a couple of days before bottling.
Since my hydrometer only measures down to 1.004, I didn't bother with
any later readings.)
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Blackberry Mead
Source: Kirk Williams (williams@tsasa.lanl.gov)
Mead Lover's Digest #289, 10 April 1994
Ingredients (1 gallon):
1.5 lbs black honey
1 lb clover honey
1 lb blackberries (frozen)
pectic enzyme
ale yeast
bentonite
Procedure:
I used a black honey, a honey which bees cultivated from I believe
thistle (which grows in abundance in the fall monsoons here in Los
Alamos). Boiled for 20 minutes, skimming the surface. Added 1 lb
blackberries (used frozen), pectic enzyme, let ferment 2 weeks,
strained, let ferment some more, maybe for 2 months or so (high
fermenting temps, roughly 70+), added 1 lb of clover honey and fermented
to completion.
Comments:
I carbonated this, and it has a fantastic effect. The final color is a
reddish-rose tint, clear as a bell. Oh, 2 wks before bottling, I used
bentonite to help settle out the little bit of particulate left, and the
yeast.
It's fantastic now, I can't wait to pour a glass of this after an
ultimate practice this summer, and watch a sunset behind the Jemez... :)
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Blackberry Mead
Source: Chuck Stringer (cstringe@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #289, 10 April 1994
Ingredients (2 gallons):
1 gallon ripe blackberries
4 1/2 lbs clover honey from Kroger (grocery)
acid blend and yeast nutrient according to package directions
Montrache wine yeast
Procedure:
We picked about a gallon of good ripe berries, rinsed and froze them.
Since the patch wasn't huge, we picked some every few days freezing a
pint or two at a time. During this time I started a simple mead with 2
1/2lbs of clover honey from the grocery and enough water to make a
gallon. I used Montrache wine yeast and added yeast nutrient and acid
blend according to the directions on the package. Fermentation stopped
after three weeks. We defrosted the berries in a small wastebasket I
use for a primary, then mashed them with a sterilized wine bottle. The
mead was then added. Two weeks later we racked the liquid off of the
fruit and into a carboy. Another 2 lbs of honey and enough water to
fill it up to 2 gallons. It was bottled a month later and now at eight
months, it's perfect. The only thing I would do differently is leave
out most of the acid blend.
Comments:
Up through six months of aging, it wasn't very good, but at eight it was
wonderful. It turned out like a really good red wine with a blackberry
nose and aftertaste.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Blueberry-Jasmine Mead
Source: Alan Derr (aderr@BBN.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #122, 1 May 1993
Ingredients:
10 lb clover honey (basic, grocery store variety)
2-12oz bags of frozen Maine wild blueberries
1/4 c jasmine tea (dry)
3 tsp. pectic enzyme
3 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 pkg. Red Star Champagne yeast
Procedure:
The honey, blueberries, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient were added to
about 2 gal. of water and raised and held at 170F for 25 minutes. I
squished the blueberries and strained them about halfway through the
heating process. This mixture was then poured into a carboy with water
to make a bit less than 5 gal. I then boiled about 2 cups of water,
steeped the tea for several minutes and strained it into the carboy.
When cool, I pitched the dry yeast (I know, I should know better than to
use dry yeast...).
OK. Time passes. Fermentation happens. It stops. I taste the result. The
jasmine was a bit too heavy, but I figure it will probably mellow with
age. The blueberry smell, flavor, and color was kind of underwhelming.
The main problem was, the resulting mead was thin-bodied and dry as a
bone. Now I want a fairly dry mead, but this WAY too much so.
So next, I heated:
2 lb clover honey
12oz of frozen wild blueberries
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 tsp. pectic enzyme
in a quart or so of water, squished and strained, and added this mixture
to the carboy.
Fermentation started again (slowly) and has continued for the past
couple of months. It is now crystal clear, has a beautiful purple color,
nice blueberry and jasmine aromas, and a very nice mouth feel (not to
mention a fairly high alcohol content!).
1st O.G.: 1.067
1st F.G.: 0.990 (before 2nd addition of honey)
2nd O.G.: 1.004 (after 2nd addition of honey)
2nd F.G.: 0.996
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Brew 4: Mead
Source: John E. Abraham (jabraham@acs6.acs.ucalgary.ca)
Mead Lover's Digest #143, 1 June 1993
Ingredients:
7 cloves (cracked)
2 sticks cinnamon (broken)
12 lbs clover honey
2 pckgs champagne yeast (saccharomyces beyanus)
1 L Just Pikt(tm) frozen florida grapefruit juice (NOT from concentrate)
2 tsp Diammonium phosphate (yeast nutrient)
Procedure:
Spices simmered for 20 min, honey and Nutrient added. Much later, full
boil for 15 minutes (partial boil for about 40 min), some scum and
spices skimmed off. Bunch of cups removed to brew vessel to make room
for grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice added, held @ about 90degC for
15 min to pasteurise grapefruit juice. Thrown into brew vessel, water
added to 26L (about 5 gallons). At 75degF, SG 1.073, pitched yeast
Comments:
93 04 19 SG 1.054 man, this stuff is churning
93 04 27 Racked, SG 1.007, cloudy peachy colour, kind of like
honey&/or grapefruit. Lots of CO2. Champagne taste.
93 05 30 SG 0.996 clear, delicious smelling, a little strong
tasting, needs to smooth out a bit in the bottle.
The mead changed significantly (for the better) between 6 months and 8
months after it was first started.
The grapefruit is hardly noticeable at all, but the cinnamon and cloves
can be tasted.
The fermentation speed was very high - the grapefruit probably provided
a good pH and additional nutrients.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Cran of Creation
Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@x.org)
Mead Lover's Digest #244, 12 December 1993
Ingredients (3 gallons):
6 lbs Raw Clover Honey (from Haber Apiary in Troy, NY)
1 tsp water crystals
1 tsp yeast nutrient
3/4 oz Cascade leaf hops
Irish Moss
24 oz crushed cranberries (crushed in blender)
1 pkg red Star Champagne Yeast
Procedure:
This was one of my earlier mead concoctions. I used to boil down the
water
crystals, yeast nutrient, hops and irish moss first, to make a sort of
perservative like base liquid, then add the honey to this and steep at
180F for
45 minutes (along with the fruit). This would get added to enough cold
water to
bring the mixture to 95F or so and I'd add the yeast and let it ferment.
Comments:
This concoction was OK, but strongly on the dry side, and the
cranberries
make it pretty tart.
Specifics:
OG 1.068 FG 0.997
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Cranberry Mead
Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #243, 9 December 1993
Ingredients (2 gallons):
1 gal Oceanspray cranberry juice. (good jug too!)
5 lb vernal honey (clover-alphalpha...)
Palmful raisins, chopped
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp acid blend
Champagne yeas.
Procedure:
Heat the honey with some water (1:1 is fine) Pasteurize or boil. I
campden treated the juice. Shouldn't really need it though. Add the
rest of the goods, divide the juice between two gallon jugs. Divide
honey mixture. Pitch yeast, bring up to a full gallon. (10/17/92)
I fermented one in a closet upstairs (60's) and one in the basement at
lower 50's. They both fermented forever. In January I transfered to a
secondary- 1.010. Added 2 cups/gallon dissolved corn sugar to top it
up. The upstairs one was bottled 1/31. It was and is still cloudy.
The downstairs one was bottled 7/5. It was clearer, sweet and strong.
It did finally clear. and was significantly better than the first.
Comments:
Some of this broth lasted a full year. The last bottle disappeared with
my folks at x-mas, celebrating their survival of the Pasadena fires. It
is very sweet, and tasty. Nicely balanced. It has become lightly
carbonated- even though it's corked. Nice touch though. Light red/orange
color, clear, fruity nose. It has a full body, almost syrupy, and quite
strong!
I have a bunch of cranberries in the freezer, and have considered
(planned)
on doing a batch again, with fresh cranberries. Chop up 24 oz's frozen
cranberries (cuisinart), and mix in with the honey mixture. Pasteurize.
Substitute for the cranberry juice. Perhaps up the honey by a pound or
2.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Crazy-Good Mead
Source: Dave Polaschek (DaveP@county.lmt.mn.org)
Mead Lover's Digest #230, 26 October 1993
Ingredients:
10 lbs light clover honey
2 lbs blueberries (I used frozen)
1 gallon apple cider (pasteurized)
1/2 oz Saaz hops
yeast nutrient to instructions on package
1 packs champagne yeast (I used WYeast on this one)
Procedure:
Bring 2.5-3 gallons of water to a boil. Add honey, bring to a boil
again. Toss in the yeast nutrient and hops and boil for about a half-
hour, skimming off any scum that forms on the surface during the boil.
Put berries into a hop-boiling bag. Lower heat to a very low simmer,
and toss in the berries, mashing the bag around to break them up some.
Continue to steep the fruit for about 10-15 minutes while you get the
fermenter ready. Put the gallon of apple cider into the fermenter when
the boil is about done, and then add the hot wort. Add water to bring
the total up to 5 gallons. Let cool, and pitch yeast.
When the gravity has dropped below 0.980, bottle and wait. 3 months
wait makes for eminently drinkable stuff, but the longer you can wait,
the better. Final color is a light delicate pink, not unlike some white
zins, so you may want to store bottles on their head and then freeze the
neck to get the sediment out of the bottles, but I've just been very
careful decanting into glasses with pretty good results.
Specifics:
SG: 1.075
FG: 0.965!
Alcohol content: 23 proof
Comments:
This is something I whipped up last winter, and I sure wish more of it
had survived until now (I'm down to my last 3 bottles, and it just keeps
getting better).
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Grapefruit Melomel
Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #214, 24 September 1993
Ingredients:
7 lb Clover Honey
6 (med) grapefruit
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
Dash of acid blend. (Worth doing an acid test. Didn't have a kit then)
1/2 oz cascade hops used as finishing hops in a light ale
Pectic Enzyme (tbsp) and sparkalloid added to secondary
Champagne yeast
Procedure:
Mix honey into a couple gallons heated water. Bring to a boil. Skim
scum. Grate peel from grapefruits and juice them. Add peel, hops and
acid blend to boil. Add juice when heat goes off. Cool by adding cold
water. Pitch yeast. Ferment for a month. Rack to secondary. Rack
again, and bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar.
Comments:
It was a Grapefruit Melomel Mead brewed in Feb, '92. I didn't take
gravity readings, but it was a pretty light mead. It was bottled maybe
2 or 3 months later. After a month or two in the bottle it had
carbonated, but smelled like vomit. Had a sour citrusy aftertaste. Not
pleasant.
I put it away for a LONG time, and a year later it was clear, sparkling,
and smelled nicely citrus. The puky smell had cleared. It did taste
like grapefruit, but more gently so. It may have been a bit too acid.
A nice champagne-like presentation. You could even make raisin
submarines in it. (if you've never tried this, drop a wrinkly raisin in
a glass of clear sparkly mead, and be amazed!!! Fun for the whole
family! Up and Down!) The take home lesson here was- Age is a GOOD
THING. Be patient! Some meads are very harsh young, but can age
beautifully, and become quite enjoyable.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Jamaica Blue Mead
Source: Guy McConnell (guym@exabyte.com)
Ingredients:
6 lb. Cover Honey
1 lb. Orange Blossom Honey
1.5 lb. Corn Sugar
2 oz. Fresh, minced Ginger Root
3 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
3 tsp. Yeast Extract
1 gal. Fresh Blueberries
2 ea. Lemons, halved
WYeast #1214 Belgian Ale Yeast
0.5 cup Orange Blossom Honey (bottling)
Procedure:
Put honey, corn sugar, and yeast extract in brewpot with water. Simmer
for 10 minutes, skimming foam with kitchen strainer. Add ginger root
and simmer for 10 more minutes without skimming. Remove from heat,
squeeze in lemons, and throw into brewpot. Cover and let stand for 15
minutes. Strain out lemon halves and ginger, add blueberries, chill,
pour mixture (blueberries and all) into primary fermenter, and pitch
yeast. After 7 days, rack off of fruit into secondary and age for 1 - 2
months. When fermentation is complete, prepare a "tea" by simmering
cinnamon and honey in water for 15 minutes in a covered pot. Cool, add
to bottling bucket, and quietly siphon in must. Bottle and age for a
couple of months or so.
Comments:
This makes a nice, light, sparkling beverage that is a brilliantly clear
rose-purple color. The flavor is of blueberries kissed with cinnamon.
A wonderful change of pace for a summer drink at about 5% alcohol by
weight.
Specifics:
O.G. 1.050
F.G. 1.005
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
MeadBerry Mead
Source: RON.admin@admin.creol.ucf.edu (RON)
From: Mead Lover's Digest #269 22 February 1994
Ingredients:
1/2 gal Motts apple juice
1/2 gal Fresh Apple Cider
10 lbs Clover Honey
5 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp acid blend
1 - 12 oz pkg frozen Blueberries
1 - 12 oz pkg frozen Raspberries
2- 12 oz pkg frozen Blackberries
1 lb fresh Strawberries
1 lb+ fresh Cherries - pitted
juice of 1 orange
1/4 orange peel (boil)
1/4 orange peel (fin)
Procedure:
Macerated fruit and cider in blender, boiled everything for 45 min,
added yeast nutrient and acid blend last 5 min. Ice bath for around 30
min. Poured the wort (must?) through cheese cloth and ran boiling water
through it and squeezed the remainder out. Used a M&F Ale yeast starter.
4 weeks racked - tasted like cough syrup, acidic. 8 weeks bottled with
1 cup same Clover Honey above to 4.1 gal of secondary - had a dry fruity
port taste. 6 months later - low carbonation, fruity, very tasty. 1
year - carbonation varies from bottle to bottle, very tasty has a
Lindermans Framboise Lambic (sp?) taste and carbonation. 2 years &
2months later had last one. Carbonation was little low for my liking
but a very good after dinner mead with desert. A must to repeat, no pun
intended.
Specifics:
OG: 1.070
FG: 1.000
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Mulberry Mead
Source: Thomas Manteufel (thomas@ct.med.ge.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #148, 6 June 1993
Ingredients (1 gallon):
2# wildflower honey
12 ozs. frozen mulberries
water up to 1 gallon
Red Star Montrachet yeast
Procedure:
Pasturized and skimmed honey at 170F for 1/2 hour. Added frozen
mulberries at end of heating. Pitched with rehydrated Red Star
Montrachet yeast. Used NO nutriment.
Racked to secondary after 9 days, as berries were beginning to bleach.
Bottled when 2 months old.
Comments:
This mead recently (March 20) won a first in the mead/cider category of
the Brewer's Of South Suburbia (south suburban Chicago) regional
homebrew competition. It's a simple recipe that lends itself well to
many different melomels. This was a medium mead. If I want a sweeter
taste, I use 3 pounds of honey, and a pound of fruit, varying according
to the fruit's strength.
Time in bottle when judged: 6 months
Judges comments:
nice honey aroma, with a little solventy (higher alcohol) finish
[may be due to not having aged enough]
beautiful color [a red, deeper than a ros'e] nice honey flavor. metallic
finish [could be due to a rust spot in the
brew kettle or our famous Waukesha mineral water] score 37/50
nice fruit nose
nice appearance
nice honey and fruit balance
score 40/50
Specifics:
IG - 1.082
FG - 1.002
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Mulberry Mead (Morat)
Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Ingredients:
6 lb fresh picked mulberries
5 lb Snowberry honey
3 lb corn sugar
2 cups Raisins- chopped
2 tsp Na-bisulfate
Pris-de-Mouse yeast
Procedure:
Pick through berries, remove leaves, grubs...etc. Process berries. Add
HOT water to honey to dissolve. Add sugar and processed raisins. Mix
processed berries and sugar mix. Add Na-bisulfate (campden), mix well
and leave overnight. Next day, add water to bring up to 5 gallons.
Pitch yeast (7/1/93). Racked a couple of times. Bottled on 9/2/93 with
3/4 cup corn and demererra sugar (mixed).
Comments:
My girlfriend has a tree outside her house. Birds eat the fallen
berries, become intoxicated and get hit in the road. So I thought I
should remove some of the berries, save a couple birds. They were deep
purple to red. The mead tasted good at bottling. It slowly became
sparkling, and now is like a light sparkling burgundy. Quite fruity,
but has a wine-like quality. It is fairly dry, but does have a berry-
sweetness I find very enjoyable. It cleared beautifully, and has a deep
red color, but easy to see through. The thing that surprised me was how
good it was young. I rarely have meads taste GOOD young (see grapefruit
recipe!), but this one did!
Specifics:
OG: 1.070
FG: 0.990
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Peach Melomel
Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #214, 24 September 1993
Ingredients:
3/4 bushel of fresh peaches
6 lb. Clover honey
6 lb. corn sugar
2-1/2 tsp. Pectic enzyme
2 0z. Acid blend
1/2 tsp. Tannin
1 oz. yeast nutrient
Epernay yeast
Procedure:
Wash and pit peaches. Remove "bad" fruit. Chop into pieces and freeze
overnight packed in zip lock bags. Thaw. Pasteurize the honey/sugar in
a few gallons of water. Add pectic enzyme, acid blend, tannin,
nutrient. Skim any scum. Turn off heat, and add peaches. Cool and
pour into a bucket primary (ideally w/ a spigot). Pitch yeast starter.
Ferment. Rack off sediment after primary subsides. Smelled very
sulfury. Addition of campden will help stabilize the color of the
peaches. Add a day before pitching yeast. I lost a fair bit of volume
through rackings, but it ended up very clear, and "peachy" in color.
Comments:
I made one of these last year, and it was VERY yummy after 6 months.
There are now 2 bottles left and it IS a year old (peach wine is better
not aged too long, I've heard). I started a new one, but juiced the
peaches. This left me with 2.5 gal nicely fermented peach wine, and 2.5
gal of alcoholic pulp! So I recommend chopping and freezing. Should be
adequate. The first one became very dry, and benefited from sweetening
at bottling. No carbonation resulted. I'm sure the yeast had pooped
out by then. It was pretty strong! Nice peach color, and aroma. Good
dessert wine.
Specifics:
OG: 1.112
FG: 0.990
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Peach Mead
Source: Gordon Olson (glo@lanl.gov)
Mead Lover's Digest #195, 16 August 1993
Ingredients:
12 pounds of blended clover honey
1/2 tsp. Irish moss
11 pounds of pitted, pureed, peaches
2 pkgs. Red Star Pris de Mousse yeast
Procedure:
Boil honey and irish moss with 2.5 gallons of water for 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat, and add the peaches. Soak at 160 F for 15 minutes to
pasteurize. Then I cooled the mead with a counterflow wort chiller. (I
am switchingto the immersion-type of wort chiller.) Because of the high
gravity and the fact that tiny pieces of peach were sucked into the wort
chiller, this took a long time. After the initial run off, I stirred hot
water into the peach mush in my kettle and drained that water through
the wort chiller.
2 Redstar Prise de Mousse yeast packages were rehydrated in hot water
and added to the 69 F mead. With all the nutrients from the peaches, it
fermented fast, I actually had some peach pieces blown out through the
blow-off tube attached to the 5 gallon carboy.
After two weeks I added 2 tsp. of pectic enzymes. Unfortunately, a thick
layer of sediment formed and a thick layer of floating peach pieces
formed. Only a band in the middle was relatively clear. Agitating, by
spinning the carboy didn't seem to help, so, after three weeks, I
siphoned out this middle 3 gallons into a clean carboy (SG=0.994). In
retrospect, what I should have done was finish fermenting this mead in a
3 gallon carboy. Since I didn't have one at the time, I boiled 3 pounds
of honey in 1.5 gallons of water and topped up the 5 gallon carboy.
Two months after starting, I racked the mead into a clean carboy
(SG=0.994, again). I added 5 Stabilizing Tablets to kill off the yeast
and two pounds of boiled honey to sweeten the mead.
Three months after starting, I added 2 tablespoons of polyclar in 1/2
cup of hot water. This clarified the mead and I bottled three days
later. It was bottled straight from the carboy with nothing added.
Comments:
At the AHA's national competition (1993) in Portland, OR, my peach mead
was given first place in the non-traditional mead category. The first
place in the traditional category was from Canada and used a very tasty
and aromatic wild flower honey. The brewer of the traditional mead was
given the Mead Maker of the Year award.
Things I would do differently:
1) Next time I will pasteurize rather than boil the honey. (Actually,
this was the last time I boiled honey for a mead.) 2) Use local raw,
unfilterred honey rather than store bought blended clover honey. (to
enhance honey aromas and flavors) 3) Freeze the pureed peaches first to
break up the cells and improve utilitation of the peach sugars and
flavors. 4) Try harder to keep the peach pieces out of the primary. 5)
Use a less attenuative yeast. Prise de Mousse has consistently given me
dry meads. Lalvin's K1V-1116 wine yeast gives me meads with SG > 1.004
that seem less alcholic. So I am switching to it as my primary mead
yeast.
The main comments/criticisms that I received from the judges were that
the mead was alcoholic (higher alcohols present) and that the peach and
honey aromas and flavors were delicate or understated. But it was very
clean, no off flavors. These comments guided, but did not completely
determine my list of changes for next time.
I hope you have enjoyed the saga of this mead. A less detailed summary
should appear in the next Zymurgy.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Pear/ginger melomel/metheglin
Source: Eric Urquhart (eurquhar@sfu.ca)
Mead Lover's Digest #11, 8 October 1992
Ingredients (2 gallons):
5 lbs pears, seeds and flower end removed
5 lbs raw new honey (wildflower/raspberry/blackberrry blend)
3 oz. finely ground fresh young ginger (more lemony than mature ginger)
1 primed package Wyeast belgian #1214
1/2 tsp. pure ascorbic acid (to keep the pears from going brown and
because it tastes like lemons)
1/2 tsp. Difco yeast nitrogen base (yeast nutrient)
16 cups water
Procedure:
Everything but the yeast nitrogen base was put into a big pot and
brought up slowly to 200 F and kept there for 20 minutes to pasteurize
and extract the ginger flavour and allowed to cool down naturally (about
2 - 3 hours). Next time, I'll extract the same ginger pulp repeatedly
with boiling water a few times to get more ginger flavour out and add as
part of the water used (the ginger flavour is only sparingly soluble in
water). YIELD: about 2 gallons in the primary.
...p.s. It was bubbling like crazy 24 hours later and the banana was
evident when I opened the yeast envelope. This weekend ginger beer!
Comments:
It turned out reasonably well. Slight bitter taste but nice
ginger/fruit flavour when finished. It was abused so if racked at the
proper times etc. it likely would have been better. The Belgian yeast
fermented out well with a high % alcohol and likely would taste better
if more residual sugar remained. This formula yields a very good young
mead as when 3 months old (after the second racking). It was very tasty
but quite sweet. Off-flavours seem to be reduced and fruit flavours
maintained when using this yeast if the fermented product is stored at a
cool (below 60 F) temperature once the initial rapid fermentation is
complete.
Specifics:
OG: 1.100
FG: ~1.020
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Plum Melomel
Source: Roger Locniskar (loc@bostech.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #11, 8 October 1992
Ingredients:
7.5lbs Citrus Honey (Orange Blossom is the best or whatever)
25-30lbs Plums (halved and pitted is best, but at least halved)
3-4 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg Pectic Enzyme
1 pkg Champagne Yeast
Acid Blend (you'll need an Acid Testing Kit too)
Procedure:
The Day Before:
Start the yeast the day before you start the mead using a standard yeast
starter of orange juice, water, sugar and yeast nutrient.
The Day of:
Make sure the plums are at room temp. Do not heat them to do this, just
let them come up to room temp naturally. Dissolve the honey in 2
gallons of water, do not let it boil, just get the water hot enough to
dissolve the honey. Combine the plums, honey water, yeast nutrient,
pectic enzyme and 2 more gallons of water in a large open primary
fermenter. Mix well. The original gravity reading should be between
1.080 and 1.090. Add the yeast, stir it up, and cover lightly. Stir
the fruit down twice a day.
Some Days Later:
Check the gravity after about 5 days. When the gravity reaches 1.020,
rack and press the must into a sulfited glass secondary fermenter and
add 1/2 camden tablet per gallon of must to prevent oxidation. Fit a
fermentation lock on the bottle and let it rip.
When the gravity reaches 1.000 rack again into a clean sulfited carboy,
again adding 1/2 camden tablet per gallon for the same reason.
When the fermentation stops, let it sit for a few days to let the lees
settle out. Rack into a clean sulfited carboy adding 1 camden tablet
per gallon of product and fine with a Bentonite mixture. Let this sit
for 10 days. Rack the final product (leaving the lees behind as usual)
into a clean sulfited carboy and let bulk age for three months. Test
the acid level at this point using an acid testing kit and adjust the
acid to a level of .55. The kit will tell you given what your acid
level is at how much to add. If you have a spare frig you can put the
carboy in, the last month of the bulk age put the mead in the frig to
chill proof it.
Bottling:
Filter the mead with fine filters and bottle. Let bottle age for at
least 6 months (1 year is better). Enjoy.
Comments:
If you want the end product to be sweeter you can add more honey. But do
not get the original gravity above 1.100 or you will have problems with
stuck fermentation or sluggish fermentation. You can add as much as
50lbs of plums if you want this to be _really_ plummy. The higher the
gravity the longer the product will need to bottle age.
If you can freeze the plums for a couple of weeks before you use them
you'll get a better juice yield because freezing breaks down the cell
walls.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Raspberry Melomel
Source: Mark A Fryling (fryling@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993
Ingredients:
10-12 lbs of light honey
4-5 gal good brewing water
15 lbs of Black Rasberries
1.25tsp yeast nutrient
2 pkgs (10g) Lalvin #71B-1122 S. Cerevisiae Narbonne
Procedure:
Before brewing, pick, wash and freeze the fruit you are going to use.
The freezing makes sugars more accessible. I think 10-15 lbs is a good
amount for 5 gal of mead. Take the fruit out of the freezer the morning
before you brew to thaw. I find it particularly convenient to put the
fruit into large ziploc freezer bags about 1/3 to 1/2 full. That way you
can crush the fruit in the bags after it's thawed and avoid a mess.
Dissolve honey into 2-3 gallons of water and bring to a boil. Boil 20
min or so. Cool to appx. 70 F and pour into primary fermenter. Dilute
to 5gal and add 1.25 tsp yeast energizer (pectic enzyme and acid blend
are optional). Pitch a good wine yeast. I have had very good luck with
Lalvin 71B-1122 S. cerevisiae. It's an epernay type yeast that ferments
quickly and leaves just a bit of residual sweetness.
When the fermentation of the honey must is nearly complete, rack it onto
the thawed and crushed berries in a second bucket type fermenter. Allow
the fermentation to continue to completion and rack the melomel off the
fruit pulp and yeast into a glass carboy (tertiary?).
When the melomel is clear and no longer bubbling, bottle it. If the
S.G. has gone all the way down to 1.000 or below, you probably have not
exceeded the yeast's alcohol tolerance and carbonation is an option. I
primed this batch with 3/4 cup of corn sugar and it is now lightly
carbonated after about 4 months in the bottle.
Comments:
Because the alcohol content of the honey must is already fairly high and
there is an enormous yeast population, I have found that pasteurization
of the fruit is unnecessary. My experience is that this is the most
satisfactory way to make melomels. I think that one preserves more of
the fruit aroma and flavor by fermenting the honey first and then adding
that to the fruit. I'm pretty sure of this because we did two 5 gal
batches of this last year which were identical except one batch had the
fruit added to the hot must just after the boil for pasteurization and
the other was done as above. Even though both are great, side by side
comparison reveals more berry aroma in the batch where the fruit was
added after the honey was fermented.
This is really a pretty generic Melomel recipe. Just substitute your
favorite fruit to make whatever you like. I will say however, that
after trying strawberry, mulberry (Morat), peach, kiwi, apple (Cyser),
and black rasberry melomels, the black rasberry is the favorite of
myself and my friends and family. The resulting drink is an intense
magenta color, with strong rasberry aroma and flavor. Absolutely
wonderful stuff! Would also make a very fine ice-brandy though I would
never do something so dangerous and irresponsible. 8*)
Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Royal Colors Melomel
Source: Dave Suda (suda@vrg.toronto.edu)
Ingredients (7 gal):
19 lbs. alfalfa or other lightly flavored honey
10 pints blueberries
4oz lemon juice
10g Flor Sherry yeast
Procedure:
Heat 5gal of water to 160F (70C), add the honey, mashed blueberries, and
lemon juice. Raise the must to 180F (80C), hold for 15min, and chill.
Rehydrate the yeast in 1 cup of 90F (35C) water for 5 min. Divide the
must into two 4-gallon food grade plastic buckets and pitch half the
yeast in each. Ferment for one week and rack off the fruit into a 5gal
carboy and two 1-gallon jugs. Allow to ferment to completion and clear
(in my case this took 8 months), racking every 4 months. Bottle with
1/2 cup corn sugar per 5 gal.
Comments:
This is a semi-dry blueberry melomel that took a first place at the 1992
Mazer Cup. The mead is a beautiful purple with an intense blueberry
aroma when young. As it ages, the fruit aroma becomes more brandy-like.
Specifics:
OG: 1.099
FG: 1.009
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Strawberry Melomel
Source: Dick Dunn (rcd@raven.eklektix.com)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993
Ingredients:
6 lb clover honey
4 lb alfalfa honey
12 lb strawberries
Red Star Prise de Mousse yeast
4 oz dextrose (bottling)
Procedure:
Start the yeast in about a pint of water with a few tablespoons of
dextrose. Be sure the starter solution and jar are sterile, and at 70-
80F before adding yeast. This yeast should start quickly--a few hours
at most.
Clean and hull the strawberries; chop into a few pieces. (Don't crush
them or you'll have an impossible mess at racking.) Put them into a
sanitized plastic-pail primary.
Bring 4 gallons of water to a full boil. Remove from heat and
immediately add the honey; stir thoroughly. (This will sterilize the
honey without cooking the flavor out of it.) Cool to about 150-160F,
pour over the berries in the primary fermenter. Cool to pitching
temperature (below 80F) and add yeast starter. Stir thoroughly to mix
and aerate.
Every day or two, push the floating mass of strawberries down into the
fermenting mead (the equivalent of a winemaker's "punching down the
cap").
After the strawberries have become very pale--probably ten days or more-
- strain out as much of the strawberry mass as possible, then rack into
a glass carboy. Be prepared for the racking tube to clog. (A stainless
"Chore Boy" over the bottom end of the tube will help.)
Ferment to completion. If necessary, fine with gelatin. Prime with the
4 oz (by weight) of dextrose dissolved in water; bottle using crown
caps.
Comments:
12 lb strawberries in a 5-gallon batch seemed like a lot at first, but
it has worked out right. This gives a pronounced strawberry nose and
taste, nothing subtle about it. You could use as much as 15 lb (3
lb/gallon) fruit. I used frozen strawberries...naturally, these are
mushier and more likely to create pulp that's hard to manage in the
primary, but they also release juice more readily.
The blend of honey was intended to be such as not to mask the strawberry
flavor. This turned out not to be an issue; you could shift the balance
more toward the alfalfa or other stronger honey.
Keep in mind that strawberries don't have a lot of sugar in them. They
contribute flavor but not much fermentable.
The mead fermented out in about 8 weeks. I have no real idea what the
true starting gravity was; it's just not possible to get a useful number
with the fruit in it. It finished at 0.991.
We were serving the mead and getting good reviews at 16 weeks from the
start of fermentation (8 weeks after bottling). After almost a year
from start, the strawberry character is still holding true.
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Strawberry Melomel
Source: Robert Crawford (betel@camelot.bradley.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #2, 27 September 1992
Ingredients: (for one gallon)
2.5 lbs Clover Honey
1 lb frozen strawberries
acid blend (dosage as per the package's instructions)
grape tannin
1 Campden tablet
pectic enzyme
Montrachet yeast
Procedure:
I boiled and skimmed the honey with nine pints of water, put the
strawberries in a must bag, then poured the hot honey water over the
strawberries, Campden, tannin, and acid blend. A day later I added the
pectic enzyme, and a day later the yeast.
After a week in the primary, I removed the horribly changed strawberries
and siphoned into a secondary. Three weeks later the fermentation had
stopped, and it had cleared. (Honestly -- I've never had the year-long
ferments that others have mentioned.) I stabilized it with potassium
sorbate, sweetened it with table sugar, and bottled it.
Comments:
It's only been two months, but it's already very nice. In fact, it's
half gone :-)
I'm planning another batch, this one with three pounds of honey and two
pounds of strawberries. Needless to say, this one will have more
strawberry flavor and more alcohol...
Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit
Strawberry Spiced Mead
Source: Scott James (scojam@scojam.Auto-trol.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #18, 16 October 1992
Ingredients:
10 lbs honey (clover honey, processed. From local super market chain)
5 lbs frozen strawberries
2 oz. grated ginger root.
5 gal. water
5 grams dry "Pasteur Champagne yeast"
Procedure:
I let it ferment for 3 months in primary (with fruit) at about 70F, then
bottled, priming with 1 lb honey disolved in about 3 cups boiling water.
Comments:
Now, (6 months later), I'm a half case shy of the nectar and it's
betting better. I had the last bottle after 19 months of aging. Pure
and clear, a slight diacetyl aftertaste. The strawberry was almost
gone, but the ginger apparent and subtle. It had a slight honey
aftertaste. Way over carb. like champagne, use 1/2 lb next time.
I'm thinking of using a Wyeast ale yeast next time. Maybe more honey.
Both have been extremely dry, and I would like to try a sweeter version.
postscript:
I tried the Belgian wyeast strain with lots of success! I used raw
honey from a local supplier, and didn't boil. Add 1/2 tsp. acid blend.
Rack after 1 month at about 65F (Colorado basement), bottle with 2 Cups
honey. Quite sweet, subtle banana aroma (great!). 6 months: has young
'listerine' taste.
next time:
use energizer for faster ferment. Monitor temp to keep below 60F, try
to ferment faster and rack of trub, bottle with 2 Cups honey.
