We take mead to the next level with this mixed berry mead. Making mead is fairly straightforward and easy once the basic techniques are mastered. Despite the simplicity in process, the flavor profiles achievable can be tremendous and complex. John’s mixed berry mead is is just that. Rivaling some of the better red wines I have had.

John employ the staggered nutrient addition method of mead making. This technique focuses on supplementing the yeast with nutrients otherwise not found in the mead must. Doing it this way produces a fermentation character from a very healthy yeast population. As we know and appreciate from beer brewing fermentation is everything. In mead making, helping the yeast along with the nutrients creates a cleaner more complete fermentation profile in a shorter period of time. This also means that the mead does not need to age for 12 months or more to really shine.

In this example, the mead was fermented with 10 pounds of mixed frozen berries. Along side a healthy dose of freshly harvested blackberries. The complexity of the fruit flavors in this mead recipe is amazing. It is jammy and full of dark fruit character. The acidity is well balanced against that fruit character. Notes of strawberry are in the background, but it really helps to support the fuller flavors of the raspberries and the blackberries.

The addition of oak is also subtle but provided a tannin like quality that makes the mead seem very red wine like. The oak works really well to help balance the fruity nature of the berries. The base mead is still very dry however. The acidity, fruit flavor and oak make the mead very complex while that dryness makes it very very drinkable.

Have you tried mead making yet?
Do you use fruits and or staggered nutrient additions?
We want to hear about it in the comment section!

Cheers