Julia's Brews

"Selene" A Mead (almost) Straight Up

2007-07-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

3 lbs Blackberry honey
H2O to 1 gallon, 1quart
Juice and zest of 1 grapefruit
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
Prise de Mousse yeast

Magda (blueberry wine)

2007-07-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

I expect it to be yummy, but I'll let you know.

3 lbs blueberries
3 lbs sugar
H2O to make a gallon and a quart
1 t pectic enzyme
1 t citric acid
1 t yeast nutrient
1/4 t yeast energizer
Lalvin K1-1116 yeast

Keep everything sterile.
1) Smash the berries. Add sugar and boiling H2O. Stir to dissolve sugar. Cover and set aside to cool.

2) Add enzyme, acid, nutrient and energizer. Adjust sugar for alcohol content. Pitch yeast or starter.

3) Stir daily for 5 0r so days. Strain and transfer to secondary. Rack, age and bottle as usual.

Try to age it for at least a year.

Cynthia (blueberry mead)

2007-07-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'll let you know how it compares to Sylvia.

0.75 lbs blueberries
Clover honey and H2O at a 1:4 ratio to make up a gallon and a quart (for racking later on)
1 t citric acid
1 t yeast nutrient
Campden tablet
Lalvin K1-1116 yeast

1) Smash the berries. Add the H2O, honey, nutrient, acid and crushed Campden tablet. Mix it all up. Wait 12-24 hours, then pitch the yeast. (I like to make a yeast starter, but that isn't necessary)

*From this point on, everything that comes into contact with the brew needs to be sterile.*
2) Stir once or twice a day, until the foaming begins to die down a bit.

3) Strain and transfer to secondary. Airlock it. Leave it alone.

4) Rack in a month or two, repeat as needed.

5) Age, bottle, and age.

Sylvia (wild blueberry mead)

2007-07-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

In a year or so I'll let you know if it's any good.
Update 7-28-07: It molded, I tossed it.

0.75 lbs blueberries
Clover honey and H2O at a 1:4 ratio to make up a gallon and a quart (for racking later on)

1) Smash the berries. Add the H2O and honey. Mix it all up.

2) Stir at least twice a day until its good and foamy. Keep it up for a few more days.

3) Strain and transfer to secondary. Airlock it. Leave it alone.

4) If you don't drink it young, rack it whenever you feel the urge.

Melissa (wild strawberry mead)

2007-07-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

It was really good the last time I made it, but it's a wild one, so you never know...

1 pint strawberries
3 cups clover honey
12 cups H2O

1) Smash the berries. Add the H2O and honey. Mix it all up.

2) Stir at least twice a day until its good and foamy. Keep it up for a few more days.

3) Strain and transfer to secondary. Airlock it. Leave it alone.

4) If you don't drink it young, rack it whenever you feel the urge.

Last time we tasted it after about a month and liked it a lot, it was sweet but not too sweet, and a bit fizzy. We drank the rest a few month later and liked it even more. It was dry (maybe a tiny bit sweet, I don't remember exactly) with really delicate strawberry and honey aftertastes. This time I'm going to try to bottle and age it, but we'll see how that goes. (Bran really likes this one.)