Melomel Wines, Sherries, and/or Meads
- 2-1/2 lbs clover honey (you can use any honey)
- 1 gallon Knudsen’s Just Blueberries unsweetened juice
- 1 Campden tablet
- 3/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/4 tsp yeast energizer
- 1 tsp Red Star Assmannshausen wine yeast
On the morning before, add the yeast to a starter solution. That night, crush the
Campden tablet very fine and stir it and all other ingredients into the must except
the yeast starter solution and cover the primary. The next morning, pitch the yeast
starter solution and recover primary. Stir daily until s.g. drops to 1.010, then
transfer to secondary and attach airlock. Ferment 30 days and rack, top up and
reattach airlock. Wait 30-45 days and rack again, then repeat after additional 30-45
days. After third 30-45-day period, inspect bottom of secondary for sediment. It
should be clean, in which case you can bottle the mead, but if a very light dusting is
visible rack once again and bottle after a few days. Bottle age at least 3 months,
but longer aging is encouraged. [Author’s own recipe]
- 2 lb 10 oz raspberry (or any other) honey
- 1 lb 4 oz red raspberries
- Water to 1 gallon (about 3 liters)
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/4 tsp yeast energizer
- 1 Campden tablet
- 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate
- yeast
Bring one quart water to boil and slowly stir in honey. Add lemon juice and slowly stir periodically until water returns to boil. Adjust to low boil and hold about 40 minutes, stirring periodically and skimming off scum as it rises. Meanwhile, place defrosted raspberries in nylon bag, tie closed and mash with flat-bottomed wine bottle in bottom of primary. Separately, begin a yeast starter solution with mead or Champagne yeast. Pour honey water onto berries. Wait 15 minutes and add remaining water and yeast nutrient. Cover primary and wait until must is room temperature. Stir in yeast energizer and activated yeast starter solution. Stir twice daily for 4 days, remove nylon bag and discard pulp. Ferment two more days and transfer to secondary. Attach airlock and ferment to dryness. Rack into sanitized secondary in which a finely crushed Campden tablet and potassium sorbate have been dumped. Top up and reattach airlock. Set aside two months and rack again. Stir in 1/3 cup of honey until absolutely dissolved and bottle. Age at least one year. [Author’s own recipe]