Batch 129: Barbarossa (Barberry and Rosemary Mead)
I recently acquired some dried barberries, a Middle Eastern and Indian fruit that resembles a milder, less acidic cranberry. In this batch, I combined it with mesquite honey and fresh rosemary for a tart, herbal mead.
I apologize for the terrible, cheesy name on this. It was a tough batch to name, I swear.
Ingredients in this batch
- 42 oz (2 lbs 10 oz) Trader Joe's Mostly Mesquite honey
- ⅛ tsp Wyeast nutrient
- ½ batch Red Star premier rouge yeast, rehydrated
- 0.75 oz Golchin dried barberries, added on 8/31
- 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, added on 8/31 and 9/9
Process
Mixed this up on 7/30 with an SG of 1.085, then added the barberries and some rosemary a month later on 8/31. When I tasted this on 9/9, the rosemary didn't seem pronounced enough, so I added some more. The barberry flavor is subtle, nice, and tart.
We bottled this on 10/13 along with a host of other batches. Batch 129 came out bone dry at 0.995 (13%) ABV, with gentle tartness from the barberry and a noticeable but not too overwhelming rosemary aroma IMO.