Blueberry Mead

Source: Mark Stevens
Recipe added: 08/05/98
Email: stevens@burp.org

This is a sweet mead with a strong blueberry component. It's intended as a fairly big mead to be consumed as a dessert wine or sipping drink. The key, as with all meads, is to get the balance right---blending in some acid to balance the sweetness, and to age it for a while. Although many mead makers tell you to wait a year or so before drinking it, I would recommend trying it sooner---maybe after aging only a couple months, and see what you think. A lot of meads are actually ready to drink much younger than some people think.

Specifics

Recipe type: Other
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Starting Gravity:
Finishing Gravity:
Time in Boil: 20 minutes
Primary Fermentation: 1 week at 65-70 degrees in plastic
Secondary Fermentation: 2 weeks at 65-70 degrees in glass
Additional Fermentation: 2 months at 65-70 degrees in glass

Ingredients:

10 pounds clover honey
7-1/2 pounds fresh blueberries
small amount acid blend (to taste)
yeast nutrient
Wyeast sweet mead yeast

Procedure:

Heat two gallons of water to boil. Turn off heat and stir in honey. Return to boil and stir often, skimming off scum as it forms on top of liquid (must). Turn off heat and wait a few minutes for temperature to drop a little bit (to about 185 or so). Add blueberries and stir in. Cover and allow to sit for 20 minutes or so to sanitize berries (you could alternatively pre-soak in sodium metabisulfite solution a day ahead of time). Add some acid blend to balance, but be conservative. Mash berries, transfer to primary fermenter, add water to top off to 5 gallons and add yeast nutrient and yeast. Allow to ferment a week or so, or until initial fermentation slows down. Transfer to secondary, leaving behind settled fruit and other material. Ferment for a couple weeks in secondary. Transfer again to third (tertiary) fermenter for 2 or more months. Balance for acid again, either adding small amounts of acid blend solution, or blending with other mead batches, to suit your tastes (balance sweetness with tartness). Bottle and age until you deem ready.

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