My First Berry Mead
Mead is one of if not the oldest fermented drinks. What was truly the oldest between wine, beer, and mead I will leave that up to the scholars. Mead at its most basic form is just honey, water, and yeast. Mead does not require any complex processes such as boiling or distilling to make.
Ancient man had water and carried it around in skins, probably regularly foraged for honey once they found a honeycomb and realized it had such a sweet flavor, and the yeast is naturally occurring in the air so it was pretty easy to come by.
In my imagination I see ancient man using the same skin to at one time collect honey and at another time putting water in it. It now has both honey, water, and natural yeast inside. He sets it aside while camped somewhere for a few weeks and it ferments. He is able to replicate the process (after a few trial and errors I am sure) and he and his tribe like the drink and the way it makes them feel and mead is now born unto the world.
In that spirit I decided to try my hand at my first mead. I took my inspiration for this mead from a recipe in the Homestead Kitchen book.
Bottle Of My First Mead
This was my second time brewing anything(beer being my first years ago). I had the equipment required but not a lot of experience. Much to my surprise the mead turned out quite well. I imagine it probably won’t win any awards, but it is very drinkable and quite enjoyable.
For this I sourced most all of the ingredients at Costco with the exception of the yeast which I picked up at a local brew shop. All the ingredients are listed below. Unfortunately being my first attempt at mead I did not document the ingredients or precess so everything is according to my recollection but I cannot be exact.
Ingredients:
- 2 large containers of honey(I believe they were 5 lbs each)
- ~7lbs of berries(a triple berry blend from Costco with Blackberries, Raspberries, and Blueberries)
- 5 gallons of filtered water
- 1 package of Lalvin yeast(Not sure which one specifically but I think it was likely D47)
Brewing Process:
First I sanitized all equipment well with the 1 step oxygen based sanitizer
Hydrate the yeast with some warm water according to the instructions on the packet
I then added the 5 gallons of water a large stainless steal pot over high heat on the stove
Once the water started to get warm I added the honey and made sure to stir it constantly to keep from burning the honey
Next I added the thawed berries straight from the bag. No mashing or anything.
I continued to heat, stirring constantly until the temperature reached 150 degrees. I left it at 150 degrees for about 5 to 10 minutes. This should help to kill any wild yeast or anything that may affect the flavor of the finished mead. I believe it also helped to break down the fruit a bit.
Once the must(that is what the mix is before it is mead) was done cooking I took it off the stove and brought it down to about 75 degrees. I did this by placing the pot with the must into a sink of cold water from the tap and all the ice I had in the freezer. The must cooled probably within 20 or 30 minutes.
Once the must was cooled I transferred(dumped) it into a large plastic fermenting bucket.
At this point it was time to pitch the yeast(add it to the must, don't actually throw it). To do this I took the yeast that had been hydrating in water in a glass and dumped the mixture into the fermenting bucket.
All that was left now to do was to seal up the bucket and let the yeast do their job. I covered the bucket with the lid which has a hole in it for the bubble airlock. I filled the airlock with the water to the mark, put the cap on it and inserted it into the lid of the fermenting bucket.
After the bucket was sealed I put it in a closet where it says relatively cool(around 68 to 72 degrees), dark(most of the time), and where it would not get disturbed.
I left this now for about 4 weeks to let the yeast do its thing, and after a few days I could see from the bubbles that the fermentation was in full effect.
Racking:
After the 4 weeks were up, I decided to transfer the mead to a secondary fermentation. I wanted to get all the berries out of it and then let it sit to hopefully start to clear.
For secondary I used a sanitized 5 gallon carboy and an auto siphon. I placed the fermenting bucket on the counter and the carboy on the floor. Put a sanitized siphon and hose in the bucket being careful to not let it pull from the bottom sediment.
I siphoned it into the carboy and admittedly did not do the best keeping berry bits and sediment from getting into the carboy. But I sealed the carboy with a plug and again a bubble airlock and put it back in the closet and kept it there for about another 3 weeks.
Clearing and Bottling:
At this point the mead was about 7 months old and I felt ready to be bottled. I finally took a hydrometer reading at this point(I didn't take one at the beginning and wish I had). The reading was 1.004 so it appeared the yeast had used up almost all of the sugar in the mix.
I was concerned about the amount of sediment in my mead so I decided to strain it. I grabbed a real fine strainer(sanitized of course) and siphoned the mead from the carboy, through the strainer, and into a sanitized bucket. This helped clear the mead up quite a it.
I tasted the mead and it was dry. Being my first mead I did not know what to expect so I was caught a little off guard. I let my wife taste it and she was unsure about the dry taste. The mead had a great berry aroma and a little berry flavor but was overpowered by the dry flavor. I decided after much research to 'back sweeten' the mead. I added about 1 cup of honey to what was now about a little less than 4 gallons of mead. Stirred it well, put the lid back on the fermenting bucket with and airlock and let it sit in the closet for another week.
After the week I tried the mead again and was happy with the flavor(as was my wife) and it was time to bottle the mead. Using a sanitized siphon and many sanitized bottles I siphoned the mead into the bottles.
Drinking:
So far this mead has become one of our favorite evening drinks. It is mostly dry with a hint of honey sweetness to it. It drinks well being chilled and then left to breath for a few minutes, but it is mead and can be drank warm and straight from the bottle if desired.
As I mentioned this was my first mead and I have been very happy with how well it turned out even with my inexperience. I am already looking at what recipes I may want to do next. I am thinking a Vikings Blood(Cherry Mead). Hopefully there will be time in the next few weeks to get that batch started and I will update on the process and how it turns out.
Until next time, stay adventurous!
Next I added the thawed berries straight from the bag. No mashing or anything.
I continued to heat, stirring constantly until the temperature reached 150 degrees. I left it at 150 degrees for about 5 to 10 minutes. This should help to kill any wild yeast or anything that may affect the flavor of the finished mead. I believe it also helped to break down the fruit a bit.
Once the must(that is what the mix is before it is mead) was done cooking I took it off the stove and brought it down to about 75 degrees. I did this by placing the pot with the must into a sink of cold water from the tap and all the ice I had in the freezer. The must cooled probably within 20 or 30 minutes.
Once the must was cooled I transferred(dumped) it into a large plastic fermenting bucket.
At this point it was time to pitch the yeast(add it to the must, don't actually throw it). To do this I took the yeast that had been hydrating in water in a glass and dumped the mixture into the fermenting bucket.
All that was left now to do was to seal up the bucket and let the yeast do their job. I covered the bucket with the lid which has a hole in it for the bubble airlock. I filled the airlock with the water to the mark, put the cap on it and inserted it into the lid of the fermenting bucket.
After the bucket was sealed I put it in a closet where it says relatively cool(around 68 to 72 degrees), dark(most of the time), and where it would not get disturbed.
I left this now for about 4 weeks to let the yeast do its thing, and after a few days I could see from the bubbles that the fermentation was in full effect.
Racking:
After the 4 weeks were up, I decided to transfer the mead to a secondary fermentation. I wanted to get all the berries out of it and then let it sit to hopefully start to clear.
For secondary I used a sanitized 5 gallon carboy and an auto siphon. I placed the fermenting bucket on the counter and the carboy on the floor. Put a sanitized siphon and hose in the bucket being careful to not let it pull from the bottom sediment.
I siphoned it into the carboy and admittedly did not do the best keeping berry bits and sediment from getting into the carboy. But I sealed the carboy with a plug and again a bubble airlock and put it back in the closet and kept it there for about another 3 weeks.
Clearing and Bottling:
At this point the mead was about 7 months old and I felt ready to be bottled. I finally took a hydrometer reading at this point(I didn't take one at the beginning and wish I had). The reading was 1.004 so it appeared the yeast had used up almost all of the sugar in the mix.
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| Final Gravity |
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| Final Potential Alcohol |
I was concerned about the amount of sediment in my mead so I decided to strain it. I grabbed a real fine strainer(sanitized of course) and siphoned the mead from the carboy, through the strainer, and into a sanitized bucket. This helped clear the mead up quite a it.
I tasted the mead and it was dry. Being my first mead I did not know what to expect so I was caught a little off guard. I let my wife taste it and she was unsure about the dry taste. The mead had a great berry aroma and a little berry flavor but was overpowered by the dry flavor. I decided after much research to 'back sweeten' the mead. I added about 1 cup of honey to what was now about a little less than 4 gallons of mead. Stirred it well, put the lid back on the fermenting bucket with and airlock and let it sit in the closet for another week.
After the week I tried the mead again and was happy with the flavor(as was my wife) and it was time to bottle the mead. Using a sanitized siphon and many sanitized bottles I siphoned the mead into the bottles.
Drinking:
So far this mead has become one of our favorite evening drinks. It is mostly dry with a hint of honey sweetness to it. It drinks well being chilled and then left to breath for a few minutes, but it is mead and can be drank warm and straight from the bottle if desired.
As I mentioned this was my first mead and I have been very happy with how well it turned out even with my inexperience. I am already looking at what recipes I may want to do next. I am thinking a Vikings Blood(Cherry Mead). Hopefully there will be time in the next few weeks to get that batch started and I will update on the process and how it turns out.
Until next time, stay adventurous!
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