First Try at Blueberry

[Dend78]

I went light on the fruit because well its stupid expensive right now I will back sweeten to bring fruit flavor forward.

6.5lbs frozen blueberries
15lbs clover honey (cheapest I could find)
water up to 5.5 - 6 gal
heated the honey up to make it a little smoother in the water placed frozen blueberries in a strainer bag. Im out of pectic enzyme i will grab some tomorrow.
I will let this sit overnight then add in WYeast 4632 Dry Mead yeast.

thoughts or comments?

 

[Duster]

6.5 lbs of fruit is really on the light side. Blueberry is a strong flavor but for 6 gallon you should use about 30 lbs. If it wouldn't make your sg too high I would recommend some grape concentrate.

 

[Dend78]

yeah i knew it was super light more or less it will be for color in the beginning I will pick up flavoring when i back sweeten. I will check SG in the morning and add grape to it i wont do to much to it i dont believe.

what should i go with for yeast nutrient and energizer? I just realized i didnt add any in. just follow the labels or is it slightly different for mead?

 

[Duster]

some of the others with more mead experience than I should probably chime in for that one but If it was me I would add 1/2 t of energizer and 1 t of nutrient per gallon. I have also heard a second dose of nutrient added to the secondary is good practice for meads.

 

[Runningwolf]

Duster that is a pound of fruit per bottle. That is exactly what I use.

 

[Dend78]

Duster that is a pound of fruit per bottle. That is exactly what I use.

1 pound per bottle wow well its 2.49 per 12oz pack of berries and well i dont wanna spend 75.00 on fruit alone santa was good to me but not that good hahah

i will go with the label for now the rest will fall out if not needed/used, i found 2 cans of concentrate 1 grape one blueberry pomegranate so i tossed those in sg is sitting around 1.110 which is plenty high for me i will check it again before i pitch the yeast

 

[Duster]

i'm thinking like Dan,
I don't know if I should be proud or just poor another glass, Heck why not both
Either way Dend78 still has a question about nutrient and energizer that I'm not 100% on my answer.

 

[fatbloke]

When working out how much fruit I use in a batch, I generally just look up a normal wine recipe for the available fruit and use the same.

A lot of the berry or currant wine recipes suggest IRO 3lb per gallon or thereabouts, so for a 5 gallon batch about the 15lb mark.

Now while the limited fruit will give you a light fruit taste and colour (in theory), it reads like you've got the fruit in primary. Which often has a bleaching effect on colour pigments reducing it during the course of the ferment, as well as a lot of the aromatics being blown out the airlock (unless you happen to use a yeast that is good for retaining colour and flavour from "reds", like RC-212, BDX or something like that.

So, as you mention the price of the fruit at the moment, you could always let the batch finish, then rack and stabilise (sulphites/campden tablets and sorbate), then while that's settling down, purchase the same amount of fruit as you've already used, and get it in the freezer for a couple of day, then either defrost it before adding it too secondary or just put it in frozen - if still frozen give it a couple of hours to thaw, then add some pectic enzyme, which not only helps with any possible pectin hazes, but also seems to help with colour and flavour extraction.

Then just leave it for a month or two to steep. You should end up with something a lot darker than it was when it came out of primary and also with a more fruity taste to it.

Just remember, fermented fruit flavour is completely different from the original taste, and that more often than not, the flavour that we're aiming to impart into the brew is the original flavour of the fruit - hence I prefer to add most of my fruit into secondary.......

 

[dangerdave]

Very interesting, Bloke. Now, when you are saying adding fruit to the secondary, do you mean while the wine is still fermenting (and has been transfered to a secondary fermenter such as a carboy---usually around SG 1.010), or should this be done after the wine has gone dry?

I'm interested in trying this.

 

[fatbloke]

Very interesting, Bloke. Now, when you are saying adding fruit to the secondary, do you mean while the wine is still fermenting (and has been transfered to a secondary fermenter such as a carboy---usually around SG 1.010), or should this be done after the wine has gone dry?

I'm interested in trying this.

Either. The main part of the colour loss of the fruit occurs earlier but if you put the fruit in at 1.010 some, possibly all the fruit sugars could still ferment dry, that's yeast and strength dependant.

I usually ferment dry, then stabilise, then steep the fruit which I will have previously frozen then thawed. That way you get all the fruit sugars flavour and colour with enhances fruitiness and even back sweetens slightly.

 

[RegionRat]

Extract?

I have been following the thread. I have yet to make a mead and it is on my bucket list.

Have you considered back sweetening with a blueberry extract? I didnt go crazy Google searching but a quick search came up with lots of option for the budget minded.

If you do decide to go this route be careful not to order 'blueberry flavor' get one that says 'blueberry extract'

My 2¢

RR

 

[dangerdave]

Either. The main part of the colour loss of the fruit occurs earlier but if you put the fruit in at 1.010 some, possibly all the fruit sugars could still ferment dry, that's yeast and strength dependant.

I usually ferment dry, then stabilise, then steep the fruit which I will have previously frozen then thawed. That way you get all the fruit sugars flavour and colour with enhances fruitiness and even back sweetens slightly.

That's what I thought. Thank you, my man!

 

[Dend78]

i will possibly go the steep route that sounds like a pretty good idea, my initial thought was to try out the artificial flavoring, so i must ask why do you disagree with that RegionRat? I have no experience with it but I already bought a bottle.

I must say my favorite batch to sit around and smell thus far, I have this stuff sitting on the kitchen counter and wow its freaking phenomenal.

anyway I pitched the yeast and had no action for the first 12hrs not totally sure when it took off but I left for 2 days and came back and shes on a roll now. went from 1.106 down to 1.065 today. color is looking good and it seems to be fermenting like it should.

 

[ColdClimateWines]

Dend 78,
I am new to this site. Just picked up the threads, but i am confused. What is your end game. A blueberry wine sweetened by honey or a blueberry Melomel? Blueberries are fairly acidic and in my past experience can tolerate more dilution than almost another fruit except maybe cranberries.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dend78, a more cost effective route for you might be using a Vintners Harvest type blueberry wine base, the 96 oz can is around 25-30 dollars depending on where you can get it.
I really think that you will be shortchanging your wine/melomel be using only 1 lb per gallon and back sweetening with blueberry.

 

[dangerdave]

I don't know, Tom. Isn't that what we use in the Red Dragon Melomel...one pound of fruit per gallon? I'm interested in the outcome, particularly if he is steeping the fruit.

Drend, I have used natural extracts in a few of my fines with excellent results. If you go that route, start by adding a small amount and work up. In my peach mango, I ended up adding an ounce of both extracts (peach & mango) to a six gallon batch. It was very good, but I would have liked to have tried it first with maybe half that much.

Good lcuk, my friend!

 

[RegionRat]

i will possibly go the steep route that sounds like a pretty good idea, my initial thought was to try out the artificial flavoring, so i must ask why do you disagree with that RegionRat? I have no experience with it but I already bought a bottle.

I must say my favorite batch to sit around and smell thus far, I have this stuff sitting on the kitchen counter and wow its freaking phenomenal.

anyway I pitched the yeast and had no action for the first 12hrs not totally sure when it took off but I left for 2 days and came back and shes on a roll now. went from 1.106 down to 1.065 today. color is looking good and it seems to be fermenting like it should.

The only thing I would disagree with is the use of Artificial Flavoring. The use of fresh/frozen fruit is always my first choice. I have been using extracts from naturesflavors.com in some of the Hard Ciders I have made when I back sweeten to boost the flavor. They are pricey on the $ per ounce side but you only need to use a small amount.

RR

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dave,
You are correct, I did use 6 lbs for 6 gallons, and it turned out fantastic!!
Lately I've been using 2-2.5 per gallon with the Red Dragon.
Thanks for reminding me!

Tom

 

[mixmasterroz]

Im green so im Not sure if im under the right forum. I used a 6 gallon carbouy as my primary fermenter for my first batch of mead. Is this going to be ok? Its been 2 weeks and it still looks to be very active.

 

[Dend78]

Dend 78,
I am new to this site. Just picked up the threads, but i am confused. What is your end game. A blueberry wine sweetened by honey or a blueberry Melomel? Blueberries are fairly acidic and in my past experience can tolerate more dilution than almost another fruit except maybe cranberries.

it is a Melomel of sorts just im shorting the initial fruit in primary, then I plan to steep in fruit in the end and since I have it now I plan to experiment with some artificial flavoring

Dend78, a more cost effective route for you might be using a Vintners Harvest type blueberry wine base, the 96 oz can is around 25-30 dollars depending on where you can get it.
I really think that you will be shortchanging your wine/melomel be using only 1 lb per gallon and back sweetening with blueberry.

I thought about this as well and it may be on my next try at blueberry that I go this route, it all depends on how this turns out. I may find the cheap way yet

I don't know, Tom. Isn't that what we use in the Red Dragon Melomel...one pound of fruit per gallon? I'm interested in the outcome, particularly if he is steeping the fruit.

Drend, I have used natural extracts in a few of my fines with excellent results. If you go that route, start by adding a small amount and work up. In my peach mango, I ended up adding an ounce of both extracts (peach & mango) to a six gallon batch. It was very good, but I would have liked to have tried it first with maybe half that much.

Good lcuk, my friend!

who's Drend? just playin, im hoping this turns out even half as good as it smells. I just wanna climb inside the bucket and live there haha I will give this steeping thing a shot and see what i get. I have the artificial flavoring as well which seems like i will start testing it out to see how it works. I have several gallons of my quad berry that I can start playing with (insert mad scientist smiley here) and i must say its good to be the test subject

Im green so im Not sure if im under the right forum. I used a 6 gallon carbouy as my primary fermenter for my first batch of mead. Is this going to be ok? Its been 2 weeks and it still looks to be very active.

welcome mix, you posted in my thread but thats ok I would say you are good for a bit, did you use a hydrometer? if so what is your Gravity or Brix sitting at? you may need to rack this soon so as not to leave it on gross lees to long.





didnt get to check this morning but its chugging right along it wont be long now till i rack it and let it sit for a while. more information to come tonight when i can check it.