This started out being another mead solera, but instead is becoming a five-gallon berry-chai mead, since we loved batch 83 so much. So we're calling this batch Midwest Berry-Chai Mead.

Ingredients in this batch

  • 1 lb, 2.4 oz. Epicurean alfalfa honey.
  • 8.1 oz. palmetto honey, from Sweetwater Creek Honey Farm (Winston, Georgia).
  • 1 lb., 3.5 oz. Kirkland clover honey.
  • 8.4 oz. wildflower honey from Haw Creek Honey (Georgia).
  • 3.7 oz. saw palmetto honey.
  • 1 lb, 4 oz. Epicurean alfalfa honey.
  • 15 oz. acacia honey.
  • 1 lb., 11.9 oz. Kirkland wildflower honey.
  • 2.2 oz. Santa Fe Honey Salon (Santa Fe, New Mexico) pumpkin honey.
  • 1 lb., 14.1 oz. wildflower honey from Melody Bee Farms (Ada, Michigan).
  • 1 lb., 8.5 oz. sage honey from Bennett's Honey Farms (Fillmore, California).
  • 2 lb, 8.6 oz. Epicurean alfalfa honey.
  • 10 g Fermaid O.
  • dechlorinated tap water to 5 gallons.
  • 1 packet (5 g) Lalvin K1V-1116 wine yeast, rehydrated in ½ c. tap water, heated to 95℉.
  • Addition of 1 April 2022:
    • 4 lb. Kirkland frozen mixed berries (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry).
    • 4 lb. Essential Everyday frozen strawberries.
  • Addition of 8 August 2021:
  • Addition of 24 July 2022:
    • 1.5 lb. cranberries (frozen at home after being bought fresh at the store) from Bluewater Farms.
    • 4 lb. Kirkland frozen mixed berries (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry).
    • 4 lb., 2.8 oz. star thistle honey from Sleeping Bear Farms.
  • Addition of 28 Sept 2022:
  • Addition of 12 Nov 2022:
    • 3 lb., 13.7 oz. Wyman's of Maine frozen blueberries.
    • 4 lb. Kirkland Signature Three-Berry Blend (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry), frozen.
  • Addition of 1 Jan 2023:
    • 2½ tsp. pectic enzyme.

Procedure

Weighed honey into one-gallon carboys, then added water to one gallon, shaking to mix and aerate before pouring the must into the larger carboy, aerating again. Stirred vigorously to aerate more and ensure even mixing, pitched rehydrated wine yeast, and then popped in an airlock.

Brew date: 27 December 2020.
Original gravity: Not measured (it was originally meant to be a solera), but presumably close to 1.094. (Estimated at 1.098 by the MeadMakr BatchBuildr.)
Bottling date: 3 May 2023
Final gravity: 1.000.
Estimated ABV: approx. 13.5%.

Yield:

  • 23 x 500mL wine bottles
  • 4 x 375mL wine bottles
  • 1 x 7 fl. oz. soda bottle
  • 4 x 750mL wine bottles
  • Sampling glass, approx. 10 fl. oz.

Total: approx. 16.2L, or about 4¼ gallons.

Observations

  • 2021-04-01: Added five pounds of berries.
  • 2021-08-08: Added three pounds of honey and racked to a new sanitized bucket.
  • 2022-07-24: Added four pounds of mixed berries, a pound and a half of cranberries, just over four pounds of honey, and racked to a new sanitized bucket.
  • 2022-09-28: Racked to a new sanitized bucket and added two ounces of black chai tea.
  • 2022-11-12: Removed tea, added nearly eight more pounds of fruit.
  • 2023-01-01: Racked off of fruit, into new sanitized bucket. Gravity: 0.999. Added pectic enzyme.
  • 2023-05-03: Bottled, producing about 4¼ gallons of 13.5% mead in gold-capped and corked bottles.