We have some cranberry honey from Bee Squared, and it's dark and tart and delicious. I brewed with cranberry honey from the same source in batch 072, and that was amazing: now I want to try brewing with it on its own, without backing it up with something to sweeten and mellow it. And I want to try several ideas here, so I'll be brewing five small batches at five different gravities with five different yeasts.

This isn't intended to be a true side-by-side comparison; I fully intend to take each batch somewhere tasty, but the recipes may very well diverge in more than yeast strain and honey amount: there will hopefully be a carbonated champagne-style mead coming out of here (maybe batch B), and I think at least one batch will want some oak, and maybe another will turn into a cranberry melomel, and another may get spices ... we'll see. But for now, I'm just going to call this The Great Cranberry Honey Experiment.

Planning for the cranberry honey mead experiment.

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Ingredients in this batch

  • For batch 093A:
    • 2½ lb. cranberry honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
    • 1 packet (5 g) Lalvin K1V-1116 wine yeast, rehydrated in ½ c. tap water, heated to 110℉.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
    • ½ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • 1⁄12 tsp. potassium carbonate.
    • ⅔ tsp. potassium carbonate, added 8 Jan 2017.
    • First nutrient addition, 6 Jan 2018:
      • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
      • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • Second nutrient addition, 8 Jan 2018:
      • 1 tsp. Fermaid O.
    • As batch 093A-D-E, at and after blending:
      • 6.0 lb. Kirkland clover honey, added on 7 May 2018
      • 3 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, added 7 May 2018
      • untreated Denver city tap water to 2 gallons total volume for today's addition, added on 7 May 2018
      • 2 lb. Kirkland frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), added on 8 July 2018.
      • 2 lb. Kirkland frozen mixed berries, added on 10 July 2018.
      • 3½ oz. Wyman's of Maine frozen blueberries, added to the carboy on 17 July 2018.
      • 12 oz Sprouts frozen raspberries (total sugar: 40g), added to the carboy on 6 August 2018.
      • 4 bags of Twinings Lady Grey tea, dangled into the carboy from the neck on 6 August 2018.
      • 4 (more) bags of Twinings Lady Grey tea, dangled into the carboy from the neck on ?20 August 2018.
  • For batch 093B:
    • 3.6 lb. cranberry honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
    • 1 packet (5 g) Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast, rehydrated in ½ c. tap water, heated to 110℉.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
    • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • 1⁄12 tsp. potassium carbonate.
    • ⅔ tsp. potassium carbonate, added 8 Jan 2017.
    • First nutrient addition, 6 Jan 2017:
      • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
      • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • Second nutrient addition, 8 Jan 2017:
      • 1 tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ½ oz. Hungarian oak cubes, added 17 May 2018.
  • For batch 093C:
    • 3 lb. cranberry honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
    • 1 packet (5 g) Lalvin 71B-1122 wine yeast, rehydrated in ½ c. tap water, heated to 110℉.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
    • ½ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • 1⁄12 tsp. potassium carbonate.
    • ⅔ tsp. potassium carbonate, added 8 Jan 2017.
    • First nutrient addition, 6 Jan 2017:
      • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
      • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • Second nutrient addition, 8 Jan 2017:
      • 1 tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ½ oz. Hungarian oak cubes, added 17 May 2018.
  • For batch 093D:
    • 2½ lb. cranberry honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
    • 1 packet (5 g) Lalvin D-47 wine yeast, rehydrated in ½ c. tap water, heated to 110℉.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
    • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • 1⁄12 tsp. potassium carbonate.
    • First nutrient addition, 6 Jan 2017:
      • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
      • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • Second nutrient addition, 8 Jan 2017:
      • 1 tsp. Fermaid O.
  • For batch 093E:
    • 2½ lb. cranberry honey from Bee Squared Apiaries.
    • 1 packet (5 g) White Labs WLP530 abbey ale yeast.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid O.
    • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
    • ½ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • 1⁄12 tsp. potassium carbonate.
    • about 3 fl. oz. fermented and yeasty mead from batch 084, containing WLP570 Belgian golden ale yeast
    • ⅔ tsp. potassium carbonate, added 8 Jan 2017.
    • First nutrient addition, 8 Jan 2017:
      • ⅔ tsp. Fermaid K.
      • ⅓ tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient.
    • Second nutrient addition, 15 Jan 2017:
      • 1 tsp. Fermaid O.

Procedure

2018-01-04_02_40_30_2
Filling the carboys.

Brew Day

Standard mead procedure again here. Sanitized, put the various powders into five dry one-gallon carboys. Added the requisite amount of honey to each carboy, then water to a bit over a gallon. Agitated one after another to mix and oxygenate. Meanwhile, heated two cups of water to 110℉ in the microwave, separated it into four sanitized cups, and rehydrated each wine yeast in front of the carboy it was to ferment. Pitched the yeasts, then pulled a sample out to measure the gravity (intentionally in that order to take accurate readings, given that the volume of rehydration water is over 3% of the total must volume for a batch this size). Popped in airlocks and filled them with vodka.

Blending

On 7 May, tasted all batches. Judged that batches A, D, and E were not likely to turn out as well as hoped: they have an earthy undertaste that I find unplatable, and there's much less of the cranberry fruit taste than in the last batch of cranberry varietal mead.

Of course, that last batch was actually 40% clover honey, so my thought is that this batch may have its berry character brought out if it got a bit more neutral sweetness. So I combined all three one-gallon carboys into a new five-gallon carboy and added two gallons of unfermented must containing six pounds of Kirkland clover honey. Tried to make sure as much of the K1V-1116 and Belgian yeast made it into the new carboy as possible, preferring to emphasize those over whatever amount of unflocculated or disturbed-by-motion D-47 might happen to travel along. It's getting warmer here in Denver, after all.

Batches B and C

Left batches B and C as-is, except that both received ½ oz. Hungarian oak cubes rinsed in hot tap water.

Brew date: 3 January 2018.
Original gravity:

  • Batch A: 1.076.
  • Batch B: 1.106.
  • Batch C: 1.097.
  • Batch D: 1.077.
  • Batch E: 1.091.
  • as-if gravity for batch A-D-E: 1.0864.

Bottling date (for batches B and C): 8 July 2018
Final gravity:

  • batch A-D-E: 1.006.
  • Batch B: 1.004.
  • Batch C: 1.010.

Estimated ABV:

  • batch A-D-E: approx. 10½%.
  • Batch B: approx. 14%.
  • Batch C: approx. 12%.

Yield: TBD; hopefully, about seven gallons.

  • batch A-D-E:
    • 22 x 500mL wine bottles
    • 2 x 750mL cider growlers
    • 1 x 1L IKEA flip-top bottle
    • 1 x 750mL wine bottle
    • 1 x 500mL beer bottle
    • 1 x 12 oz. beer bottle
    • 1 x 22 oz. beer bottle
    • approx. 5 oz. hydrometer tube
  • Batch B:
    • 2 x 500mL wine bottles.
    • 7 x 12 oz. beer bottles
    • approx. 4 oz. slop
  • Batch C:
    • 2 x 500mL wine bottles.
    • 7 x 12 oz. beer bottles
    • approx. 4 oz. slop

Total: Approx. 780 oz., or a little over 6 gallons.

Observations

  • 2018-01-04T10:54: Batches A through D are fermenting very well. Had to clean out airlocks on batches B and C. No visible fermentation in batch E yet.
  • 2018-01-04T19:26: Cleaned out airlocks for batches B, C, and D again. Filled with water instead of vodka until fermentation stops kicking honey into the airlock.
  • 2018-01-05T10:00: Cleaned out airlocks for batches B, C, and D. Fermentation has slowed down enough not to be kicking honey components into the airlock, although the fermentation is still going plenty quickly. Filled airlocks with vodka again.
  • 2018-01-06T04:45: Performed first nutrient addition on batches A through D. All overflowed from spontaneous outgassing. Sigh. Next time: dissolve nutrients in water first.
  • 2018-01-06T05:02: Still no evidence of fermentation in batch E. Agitated it vigorously again and gave it about 3 fluid ounces of fermented mead from batch 084, which hopefully still contains WLP570. If that doesn't take off in a few days, I'll be adding a third yeast in to try, I guess.
  • 2017-01-06T13:45: There's enough carbon dioxide being generated in the carboy for batch E to lift the internal cap on the three-piece bubbler airlock a bit. It occurs to me now that I've essentially underpitched a reused yeast from a batch that was stressed due to lack of available nutrients, but I guess it's too late to worry about that.
  • 2017-01-07T11:17: Success! There's fairly vigorous fermentation generating visible carbon dioxide bubbles in the carboy for batch E.
  • 2018-01-08T17:33: Added the second nutrient addition to batches A through D and the first addition to batch E. Added more potassium carbonate to each carboy—we turned out to be low during brew day, so I added what I had and ordered more. More just got here in the mail today.
  • 2018-01-08T17:34: Holy jeez, batch 093A is already visibly clarifying.
  • 2018-01-15T19:48: Finally gave batch 093E its final nutrient addition. Fermentation in that carboy is still proceeding visibly, though more slowly. Batches A through D have all clarified substantially.
  • 2018-01-23T14:30: All batches continue to clarify. All but 093E are translucent at this point; 093E is still rather cloudy, though there's flocculated yeast at the bottom of the carboy. The persistent deep red color is beautiful.
  • 2018-05-07T19:30: Blended batches A, D, & E, as described above. Added ½ oz. ea. Hungarian oak cubes to batches B and C.
  • 2018-05-08T14:12: Noticed that the clover honey added to batch 093A-D-E had mostly settled to the bottom. There was some carbon dioxide production, but not much. Sanitized a large spoon and stirred honey vigorously but with (hopefully) minimal splashing to encourage homogeneity. Popped airlock back in.
  • 2018-05-09T17:17: That did it. Fermentation is going steadily again, showing plenty of small bubble production in the carboy and regular outgassing from the airlock.
  • 2018-07-08T20:00: Bottled batches B and C, yielding 122 oz. mead at 14% ABV and 122 oz. of mead at 12% ABV. Batches A-D-E are still slowly generating carbon dioxide.
  • 2018-07-08T21:05: Added two pounds of frozen mixed berries to the carboy for batch A-D-E.
  • 2018-07-10T18:25: Pulled out about two quarters of fermenting mead to make room for more berries, then added two pounds of frozen mixed berries to the carboy for batch A-D-E.
  • 2018-07-16: Added three and a half ounces of frozen blueberries to the carboy for batch A-D-E, mostly because they wouldn't fit into batch 108 and I didn't want to put them back in the freezer.
  • 2018-08-06: Added 12 oz. of frozen raspberries and 4 bags of Lady Grey tea to the carboy.
  • 2018-08-20: Added four more bags of Lady Grey tea to the carboy.
  • 2018-09-09: Bottled batch 093A-D-E, yielding 4.2 gallons of mead at 10½% ABV.