I like making mead in the winter. It’s probably because I don’t have to go outside to make it.

This recipe is for a mixed berry mead based on Ken Schramm’s Mambo in your Mouth melomel. I adjusted it for a 4 gallon batch.

Ingredients:

9.5 pounds of orange blossom honey
2.5 gallons of water
2.4 pounds or 38 ounces of strawberries
2.8 pounds or 45 ounces of blackberries
1.2 pounds or 19 ounces of raspberries
1.6 pounds or 26 ounces of blueberries
2 pounds of cherries

2 packets of Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast

You will need 1 teaspoon of yeast energizer and 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient and you’ll follow a staggered addition schedule.

Instructions:

First, add .25 teaspoon yeast energizer and .5 teaspoon of the yeast nutrient once all the above ingredients are combined.

And then –

Add .25 teaspoon yeast energizer and .5 teaspoon of the yeast nutrient 24 hours after fermentation begins
Add .25 teaspoon yeast energizer and .5 teaspoon of the yeast nutrient 48 hours after fermentation begins
Add .25 teaspoon yeast energizer and .5 teaspoon of the yeast nutrient after 30% of the sugar has been depleted

I bought some large nylon mesh bags to put all the berries in when they are in the fermentor. I use a bucket for primary and I am hoping the mesh bag makes it easy to remove the seeds from the finished mead.

With the raspberry mead that I made, I had to rack it 5 or 6 times to clarify it.  With the bag, maybe I will only have to rack it 2 or 3 times.

I use frozen fruit for my meads but if you can get your hands on some fresh fruit, go for it.

The mead will ferment for a few weeks but will condition for a good 2 months before it’s ready to drink.  This mead will probably be very “hot” tasting right after the primary fermentation but it will mellow out over time.  The more time you let it condition, the better off you will be.

Target original gravity should be 1.092.

 Check out the steps I took to get ready to make this mead.

Take a look at the details of my mead making day.