TandemTails
Well-Known Member
I call this one 'Sangre de Mora Azul' (blueberry blood). The color and flavor is very similar to a sweet red wine, even though this ferments down to 1.000 with proper SNA/aerating/degassing. I've entered it into several mead competitions in the BJCP M3A (Fruit and Spice mead) category and it's scored consistently well (36, 36 and 40 averages in the last 3 comps).
Ingredients:
PRIMARY
* Water to 5.5 gallons
* ~15 lbs honey (to get to 1.110)
* 11 oz hibiscus flowers (dried)
* Juice of 10 lemons
* Zest of 5 lemons
* 5 cups frozen blueberries
* 16.3g (4.2tsp) DAP (based on 1.110 OG, 60%)
* 7.9g (3.2tsp) Fermaid-O (based on 1.110 OG, 22%)
* 10.3g (2.8tsp) Fermaid-K (based on 1.110 OG, 18%)
* 3tsp Pectic enzyme
* 6.25g (7.2 x ¼ tsp) Go-Ferm
* Lalvin D47 Yeast
TOPPING OFF SECONDARY
* 2x 32oz Pure blueberry juice
* Hibiscus tea (1 oz in 3 ¼ cups of water)
* Zest and juice of 2 limes
Fermentation Periods:
* Primary - 3 weeks
* Secondary - 12 weeks
* Tertiary - 4+ months
Steps
* Heat 18 cups of water and add lemon zest and hibiscus flowers.
* Remove from heat
* Add lemon juice
* Steep for 60 minutes
* Make yeast starter with Go-Ferm
* Add honey to carboy (add hot water to honey container to get all of it out)
* Add frozen blueberries to carboy
* Add hibiscus flower tea to carboy (put sanitized strainer over funnel to collect flowers)
* Top off with water to the 5.5 gallon mark (sparge the water over the strained hibiscus flowers to get every bit of flavor)
* Aerate like crazy to incorporate everything
* Take OG
* Add some must to yeast starter, let sit for 15 min
* Make sure solution is room temperature or lower (D47 likes temps in 59-68 degree range)
* Add pectic enzyme
* Add 1/4 yeast nutrient mixture
* Pitch the yeast
* Attach airlock
At Secondary:
* Make tea mixture with ingredients above
* Strain mixture to remove blueberries and hibiscus flowers
* Mix blueberry juice and hibiscus tea
* Add new blueberry juice/tea mixture to mead in new carboy to top off and eliminate headspace
Additional Steps
Yeast Nutrient Additions
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after 24 hours
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after 48 hours
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after ⅓ sugar break
Aerating - Shake the carboy vigorously 3x a day for first ⅓ of fermentation
Degassing - Gently swirl 2x a day after ⅓ sugar break in primary
Stats:
OG: 1.110
FG: 1.000
pH: 2.65
Ferm temp: ~60'F for primary
A lot of friends mention this would be great over ice or mixed like a sangria on a warm summer day. I hope you enjoy!
Hibiscus flowers and lemon zest:
Making hibiscus/lemon zest tea:
Straining/sparging hibiscus flowers:
Post combining:
Final product before bottling:
Bottling time!
Ingredients:
PRIMARY
* Water to 5.5 gallons
* ~15 lbs honey (to get to 1.110)
* 11 oz hibiscus flowers (dried)
* Juice of 10 lemons
* Zest of 5 lemons
* 5 cups frozen blueberries
* 16.3g (4.2tsp) DAP (based on 1.110 OG, 60%)
* 7.9g (3.2tsp) Fermaid-O (based on 1.110 OG, 22%)
* 10.3g (2.8tsp) Fermaid-K (based on 1.110 OG, 18%)
* 3tsp Pectic enzyme
* 6.25g (7.2 x ¼ tsp) Go-Ferm
* Lalvin D47 Yeast
TOPPING OFF SECONDARY
* 2x 32oz Pure blueberry juice
* Hibiscus tea (1 oz in 3 ¼ cups of water)
* Zest and juice of 2 limes
Fermentation Periods:
* Primary - 3 weeks
* Secondary - 12 weeks
* Tertiary - 4+ months
Steps
* Heat 18 cups of water and add lemon zest and hibiscus flowers.
* Remove from heat
* Add lemon juice
* Steep for 60 minutes
* Make yeast starter with Go-Ferm
* Add honey to carboy (add hot water to honey container to get all of it out)
* Add frozen blueberries to carboy
* Add hibiscus flower tea to carboy (put sanitized strainer over funnel to collect flowers)
* Top off with water to the 5.5 gallon mark (sparge the water over the strained hibiscus flowers to get every bit of flavor)
* Aerate like crazy to incorporate everything
* Take OG
* Add some must to yeast starter, let sit for 15 min
* Make sure solution is room temperature or lower (D47 likes temps in 59-68 degree range)
* Add pectic enzyme
* Add 1/4 yeast nutrient mixture
* Pitch the yeast
* Attach airlock
At Secondary:
* Make tea mixture with ingredients above
* Strain mixture to remove blueberries and hibiscus flowers
* Mix blueberry juice and hibiscus tea
* Add new blueberry juice/tea mixture to mead in new carboy to top off and eliminate headspace
Additional Steps
Yeast Nutrient Additions
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after 24 hours
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after 48 hours
* Add ¼ of yeast nutrient/energizer mixture (2.5tsp) after ⅓ sugar break
Aerating - Shake the carboy vigorously 3x a day for first ⅓ of fermentation
Degassing - Gently swirl 2x a day after ⅓ sugar break in primary
Stats:
OG: 1.110
FG: 1.000
pH: 2.65
Ferm temp: ~60'F for primary
A lot of friends mention this would be great over ice or mixed like a sangria on a warm summer day. I hope you enjoy!
Hibiscus flowers and lemon zest:
Making hibiscus/lemon zest tea:
Straining/sparging hibiscus flowers:
Post combining:
Final product before bottling:
Bottling time!