hoppyhoppyhippo
Well-Known Member
I have a 5G carboy sitting around not doing much and I wanted to make a blueberry melomel when blueberry season hits NJ (usually in July)
So my idea is to make a 4 gallon batch but I have several questions.
First when it comes to racking to secondary, say I primary it in a normal bucket (don't really want to do primary in glass for something new) rack it to secondary in a 5 gallon carboy would there be enough headspace? I figure with all the blueberries I'd be adding to secondary it may not be enough
Second question is the best way to handle the blueberries, should they be pureed or crushed or just left whole?
This is basically my plan of attack.
Recipe
1 Gallon of Honey - Not sure of the type or weight, my first shot I want to work in volume measurements to get that but I've seen a 3-1 water to honey ratio used before and I'm hoping it's not too crazy. I want a really strong honey and I don't care too much about the type because I intend to make this very blueberry forward with heavy secondary additions. Unless you can still get the flavor then.
10-12 pounds of blueberries - haven't decided on this year. 10 pounds is what I read gets a strong flavor on one site, they say 2.2 per gallon but I'm thinking about pushing that even further cause I want this to scream Jersey blueberries. Thoughts are appreciated
2 oz of vanilla extract. Adding to honey in primary for a tiny bit of vanilla taste.
White Labs Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast (WLP720)
I assume I'll need to make a starter with the yeast but my basic goal is to make a ton of mead enough to last years even so I can see how it grows.
I plan on following the general rules of making mead so I'd just follow someone elses recipe for that but basically I'd make the simple mead ferment for a month in primary then rack onto blueberries
Other questions, what is the difference between using fresh or frozen blueberries? Do you thaw the frozen ones? Also as far as the racking goes. If I rack from my carboy to a bucket for an hour or 2 while I clean my carboy, then rack back to the carboy is that ok?
So my idea is to make a 4 gallon batch but I have several questions.
First when it comes to racking to secondary, say I primary it in a normal bucket (don't really want to do primary in glass for something new) rack it to secondary in a 5 gallon carboy would there be enough headspace? I figure with all the blueberries I'd be adding to secondary it may not be enough
Second question is the best way to handle the blueberries, should they be pureed or crushed or just left whole?
This is basically my plan of attack.
Recipe
1 Gallon of Honey - Not sure of the type or weight, my first shot I want to work in volume measurements to get that but I've seen a 3-1 water to honey ratio used before and I'm hoping it's not too crazy. I want a really strong honey and I don't care too much about the type because I intend to make this very blueberry forward with heavy secondary additions. Unless you can still get the flavor then.
10-12 pounds of blueberries - haven't decided on this year. 10 pounds is what I read gets a strong flavor on one site, they say 2.2 per gallon but I'm thinking about pushing that even further cause I want this to scream Jersey blueberries. Thoughts are appreciated
2 oz of vanilla extract. Adding to honey in primary for a tiny bit of vanilla taste.
White Labs Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast (WLP720)
I assume I'll need to make a starter with the yeast but my basic goal is to make a ton of mead enough to last years even so I can see how it grows.
I plan on following the general rules of making mead so I'd just follow someone elses recipe for that but basically I'd make the simple mead ferment for a month in primary then rack onto blueberries
Other questions, what is the difference between using fresh or frozen blueberries? Do you thaw the frozen ones? Also as far as the racking goes. If I rack from my carboy to a bucket for an hour or 2 while I clean my carboy, then rack back to the carboy is that ok?