We have been making wine and mead at our house since 2015. With over 80 bottles of 3 different varieties bottled the other day I decided it was time to share some of my recipes that have worked. I will try to put the follow-up notes as to what I plan on changing next time and if I make it again if those changes worked.

I hope you like a glance at some of the items we have tried and if you are interested in making some yourself I recommend heading to your local brew shop and having a talk with them. We are lucky here to have an amazing store willing to share their knowledge and with a great community. Going in for a packet of yeast usually leads to a lengthy conversation over current, past, and future projects with those who work there and those in there shopping.

This mead was made in the summer of 2019.

Ingredients

• 1 packet Yeast – Mangrove Jack’s Mead
• 2 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
• 12.5 lbs of Honey (see notes at bottom as this was not enough)
• 3 lbs of Blackberries
• Boiling water (enough to fill primary fermenter to 5.25 gallons)

Basic Steps

1. Sanitize all the items you will be using
2. Boil water adding honey as you go stirring continuously until all the honey is dissolved into the water. I don’t have a pot large enough so I complete this step in batches.
3. Add water honey mixture to the primary fermentation container (I use a bucket designed for this purpose)
4. Place cleaned Blackberries in a must bag and add to the fermentation container
5. Once the water / honey mixture has cooled to about 97 degrees add the yeast nutrient and the yeast and stir
6. Cover & let the mixture sit for one week stirring daily making sure to push down the bag to let all parts of the berries submerge.
7. At one week remove the must bag (I like to squeeze out the juices in the bag) and move the mixture to a sanitized secondary fermenter (usually a carboy).
8. Place an air lock on the carboy and wait..and wait…and wait..
9. Approximately every 2 months rack the carboy to remove the sediment at the bottom
10. When the Specific Gravity is 1.0 and the liquid is clear it is ready to bottle. You can add potassium sorbate at this point to kill the liquid, but I like to add as little chemicals as possible to our drinks.
11. Transfer the the mead to bottles and then…more waiting!
12. I usually open a bottle at month 3 to test if it is ready yet with most meads ready at about 6 months and getting tasty at about 9 months.

Notes & Follow-up

This mead ended up being a little bit sharp for our taste so we back sweetened with a grape juice and white sugar mixture and had to wait for it to go still again before bottling. Next time we make this I will be increasing to closer to 15 lbs of honey for a good 3 to 1 ratio honey to gallon of wine.

It is 2024 and the mead has mellowed nicely and sits a bit on the dry side but the sharpness as expected has reduced over time. I think it is time to make this again.

---