Raspberry-forward, but hopefully the gallberry addition will give it some tartness and complexity. Throwing in the last of the star thistle honey, which may even sweeten it up a little.

I'm calling this batch The Notorious R.G.M. because it's a raspberry-gallberry show mead.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 2 lb., 8 oz. gallberry honey from Bennett's Honey Farm.
  • 7 lb., 13 oz. raspberry honey, obtained from a honey buy through Queen Bee Brews.
  • 8.4 oz. star thistle honey from Sleeping Bear Farms.
  • 4 tsp. Fermaid O.
  • 1 potassium carbonate.
  • 1 pouch (5g) Lalvin D-47, rehydrated for 20 minutes in 1½ cups tap water at 104℉.
  • dechlorinated tap water to 5 gal.
  • 5 tsp. Fermaid O, added to the carboy on 15 April 2019.
  • 2½ lb. raspberry honey, added to the carboy on 5 May 2019.
  • 3.35 oz. (wet weight) medium-toast Hungarian oak cubes (probably ~2 oz. before soaking), soaking an unknown period of time (at least six months) in approx. ½ c. unknown whiskey, added to bucket on 6 January 2020.

Procedure

Poured ~1.5 gallons of water into a carboy, then gradually added honey, then more water to ~4 gal. total volume, then Fermaid. Agitated vigorously and repeatedly and intermittently for half an hour through the carboy neck, topping up to 5 gallons and then agitating intermittently for another half-hour with the same spoon through the carboy neck. Pitched yeast.

Brew date: 11 April 2019.
Original gravity: 1.092. (But I'm recalculating an as-if gravity of 1.095 using the Mead Calculator due to the later sugar addition.)
Bottling date: 19 January 2020.
Final gravity: 1.012.
Estimated ABV: Approx. 11.5%.

Yield:

  • 13 x 12 oz. beer bottles
  • 12 x 22 oz. beer bottles
  • 1 x 375mL wine bottle
  • 1 x 750mL wine bottle
  • 5 x 500mL wine bottles
  • 4 x 500mL beer bottles
  • 1 hydrometer tube, approx. 7 oz.

Total: 18¼ liters, or about 4.8 gallons.

Observations

  • 2019-04-12T11:02: I've already had to swap out the airlock for a blowoff hose.
  • 2019-04-19: On the road, realized I never swapped the blowoff hose back out for an airlock. The super-nice people at Denver Pro Petsitting made sure the end of the blowoff hose stayed underwater, while also taking care of our furry friends. They're great.
  • 2019-05-05: Mead has fermented quite dry! Added two and a half pounds more honey to the carboy, which fills it almost to the top of the neck.
  • 2019-11-10: Racked to new bucket.
  • 2020-01-06T18:10: Added oak cubes soaked in bourbon to the bucket.
  • 2020-01-19: Bottled, yielding 4.8 gallons of mead at 11.5%.