# blackberry mead



## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi,

I picked enough blackberries this spring to make a 5 gallon batch of mead. There sitting in my freezer till I free up some carboy space. Any suggestions, warnings, or need to knows on the recipe procedure? 

My plan was to just get the right sugar reading and PH, and add some yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme, anything else?

Oh yea, should I puree the berries in a food processor first?


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## AndrewSchwab (Dec 9, 2005)

What Yeast Are You Going To Use?


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

*blackberry*

This is my good friends favorite one to make . I think he went about 10 pd of honey with 5 gallon or so blackberries to 6 gallon carboy, and he just crushed the berries. good stuff


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Wow that seems like a lot of berries. i think I have about 3 gallons

For yeast I have either Lavalin D-47 or KV116 (not sure if thats the right numbers on the KV, but its the standard KV)


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

I do not worry about yeasts much. Maybe check websites of manufacturer or Ken Schramm book if you do.

I'd make a nice straight mead, age it for a bit. Then "secondary" it with the berries. I'd keep the berries whole in a mesh bag (hops bag if you go to a homebrew shop), perhaps keep all of this in a bucket with a lid instead of a glass carboy. In the secondary should help with good odor and taste, which would be lost some if you added them from the start. Even better, do berries at every stage...

I do not worry about the amount much. The more the merrier.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

The D-47 has an alcohol tolerance of about 14%. The more aggressive champagne strain (the K1-V) has about 18% and a very neutral flavor. First decide whether you want a sweeter or drier, table-strength or rocket-fuel mead and formulate the honey amount and yeast strain accordingly. See the Intro to Meadmaking (stuck to the thread page) for more on how to design a recipe. Freezing's great 'cuz it pierces the cell walls, releasing juice. I also like to add to the secondary as nursebee does. I don't really worry about the pH much. Certainly with the K1-V (which would ferment antifreeze given half a chance ) it shouldn't be a problem. If the ferment sticks you could check the pH to see if it was a factor, but it can be tough to adjust pH without "adjusting" flavor as well.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

hmm, thanks. I'll go with berries in both primary and secondary.

I like the dryer stuff.


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