Blueberry lemon Melomels

[The_Dutch]

Hey guys,
So I’d like to try a new recipe here and I’d love some input. I’m looking to impart a decent amount of lemon flavor but I know acidity is an issue

3 1/2 lbs honey
Water to one gallon
Yeast nutrient
KV-1116 yeast

Rack into secondary
3 pounds blueberries frozen, thawed, and puréed and let sit until clear

Rack into tertiary
Zest one lemon and let sit again until clear

Will the zest and amounts of blueberry be enough to impart enough of that flavor? Thanks guys

 

[CKuhns]

Looks pretty good:

Not sure I would puree the blueberries, makes a lot of trub and harder than whole fruit to rack from. Also IMO (Others may disagree) any berry even though whole will give up about all of its flavor in 7 - 12 days. Doesn't really hurt to go longer with blueberries. I typically add 1.5 to 2 pounds of blueberries per gallon in secondary for a medium to mild blueberry flavor so three should be adequate. (Taste is subjective, i prefer the honey to shine through and the berry to be secondary, many of my wine drinking friends think the berry flavor isn't strong enough.) Not sure that the zest from one lemon will do much for you and could bring some pretty bitter flavors that might take a bit to age out. I have had pretty good success adding lemon juice to taste in tertiary. If done just right a little acid / lemon juice just "brightens" it up a bit. (Never paired lemon with blueberries so no help as to how much.)

 

[ShareBrewing]

3 pounds of blueberry purée to 1 gal of mead would be a lot, you do lose a lot of volume. Gosh, you could expect to lose probably half of the gal batch to it. Not worth it IMO.

As for lemon flavor, fresh lemon zest can be good, but careful as to how long and how much is added. An unpleasant bitterness can easily be added to the mead by over-extraction. Have you though about making a lemon extract from the peel/juice and a bit of vodka/everclear grain alcohol? That way, you can dose it in to your desired taste at bottling. Or just juice a few lemons in there with and call it a day. Acidity is subjective to the taster, but if I’m drinking lemon/lime anything, there better be a bit of acidity.

 

[The_Dutch]

3 pounds of blueberry purée to 1 gal of mead would be a lot, you do lose a lot of volume. Gosh, you could expect to lose probably half of the gal batch to it. Not worth it IMO.

As for lemon flavor, fresh lemon zest can be good, but careful as to how long and how much is added. An unpleasant bitterness can easily be added to the mead by over-extraction. Have you though about making a lemon extract from the peel/juice and a bit of vodka/everclear grain alcohol? That way, you can dose it in to your desired taste at bottling. Or just juice a few lemons in there with and call it a day. Acidity is subjective to the taster, but if I’m drinking lemon/lime anything, there better be a bit of acidity.

So that’s kinda of where I’m at..I want a nice blueberry flavor with a back flavor of honey and some lemon to brighten it up. I haven’t messed with any Melomels before but I want to try..I want it to be semi sweet but not overpowering. I guess I posted this recipe because I had no idea lol

 

[ShareBrewing]

It’s all good to ask questions and double check yourself Dutch. Perhaps you could try a blueberry extract as well to help give that extra berry boost. You can certainly buy that at your LHBS, but be careful of the lemon extracts. Not sure how others are but Brewers Best lemon extract IMO adds this almost fruit loop cereal flavor. Tried it a few times and it’s always the same. Also be very careful of the recommend dosages. Just go a 1/2 tsp at a time at bottling, especially for a 1 gal batch. But hey, YMMV.