Blueberry Mead Recipe

Classification: mead, melomel, blueberry mead

Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu) Issue #643, 5/23/91

This mead had a terrific rose color. It took over 8 months to really age, and was fantastic after 2 years. It had a nice blueberry nose to it, and quite a kick.

Ingredients:

12 pounds, Wildflower Honey
2 pounds, blueberries
2 teaspoons, gypsum or water crystals
3 teaspoons, yeast nutrient
1 ounce, Hallertauer Leaf hops
1 tablespoon, Irish Moss
2 packs, Red Star Pastuer Champagne yeast

Procedure:

Boil hops, yeast nutrient and water crystals for 30 - 45 minutes. Add Irish Moss in the last 15-30 minutes of the boil. Turn off the heat and add the honey and the blueberries, steep at 180-190 degrees for 15 minutes minimum (30 minutes is ok too). Pour the whole mixture to a bucket or carboy and let cool (or use a wort chiller if you have one). Add the yeast at the temperature recommended on the packet (85-90 degreesI think). Let it ferment. Rack the mead off the fruit after 6-7 days (you can actually let it go longer if you like). Let ferment for 4 more weeks in the secondary then bottle. Other people like to rack their meads at 3-4 week intervals and let it keep going in the carboy. I don't think too much fermentation went on after the first 4 weeks (I made this in July so it fermented fast), so if you keep racking you'll basically be doing some of the aging in the carboy, otherwise it will age in the bottles.

Specifics:

Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: 4 weeks