Raspberry Mead Recipe - My Fermented Foods (2024)

FAQs

How many raspberries for a gallon of mead? ›

You'll need 3 pounds of honey and roughly 6 ounces of raspberries per gallon.

To flavor with cinnamon, dump a couple of cinnamon sticks into your fermenter after primary fermentation is finished. Leave them in until it tastes slightly stronger than you want in your final product. Then age until it calms down a bit.

The fermenting process depends on various factors, like temperature, the amount of honey, the type of yeast, and the presence of additives and nutrients. Depending on how active the yeast is, it will take around 2 to 6 weeks.

If you want to really fully ferment a high-alcohol mead and bottle it, those usually benefit from time in the bottle. If you're using less honey to make more of a beer-like mead, those can be fully fermented and drinkable in under a month. Other types can take a few months. It just depends on the amount of honey.

Gently press the berries below the level of the water. A fermentation weight is useful to ensure that the berries stay below the honeyed brine. Place a lid on the jar, screwing it down just lightly. Leave the jar out of direct sunlight, at room temperature for 24-48 hours.

Pour the fruit puree into the fermentation jar. Rack the mead from the carboy to the fermentation jar, taking care to leave as much lees as possible at the bottom of the carboy. Place the lid on the jar and refrigerate for 1 to 2 weeks.

It is important to stir the 'must' during the primary fermentation. The yeast requires a good supply of oxygen during this 'aerobic' fermentation, meaning with air. It also helps keep the fruit in solution if you are fermenting on the fruit, grapes, or whatever kind of fruit. You don't want a solid cap forming on top.

Degassing keeps yeast productive, which improves the flavor of your finished mead. To degas, swirl and shake the carboy every few days for 2 full minutes, stopping as needed to let foam subside. If you prefer, you can do this just once on day 20 of fermentation (or 10 days before you plan to bottle).

Stirring twice a day is generally sufficient (if you have a fast fermentation, you might want to stir three or four times a day). Stirring does a couple of things: It blows off carbon dioxide, which lowers potential yeast stress, and it adds oxygen to your mead when the yeast can use it best.

Why did it fall out of favor? There were some new tax laws, as well as an increased availability of West Indian sugar in the 17th century that made honey harder and less necessary to obtain. But it was also the rise of other alcohols—namely beer and wine—that really did it in.

Can you drink mead right after fermentation? ›

Yes, you can drink it as soon as it is clear, or you can drink it at nine months and have a fine wine. Or, you can wait 12-18 months and have an excellent mead.

Traditional meads usually require six months to 2 years for the flavors to mellow and smooth and any off flavors to diminish. Melomels or fruit meads can take six months to 5 years for the flavors to fully integrate and the tannins and acids to mellow. Metheglin or spiced meads are quicker, six months to a year.

Generally speaking, it's best to rack your mead as soon as the primary fermentation has completed, or to wait no longer than a month to avoid any sort of spoilage.

Mead (/miːd/), also called hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops.

To make mead can be as simple as to add raw honey and water to a mason jar, cover it with cheesecloth (or cap it if you want to depend solely on the honey's yeast for fermentation) for a few days and let nature do its thing. Before you get started, Schramm and Quirk recommend having this equipment on hand.

A good starting point with most fruits is about 3 pounds of fruit per gallon of mead, though I have been known to use 5 or even 6 pounds of fruit. Fruit blends can produce some great-tasting meads.

So I'll either add it to secondary, or even finish the ferment and then steep the fruit in it. That way, I find that it will give a more fruity flavour and that the mead is drinkable earlier. As for mould, well if the fruit goes into secondary, the alcohol and the CO2 will normally prevent mould.

A new planting in sandy loam soil requires 18 gallons per day per 100 feet of row. A mature planting in the same soil type requires 27 gallons per day per 100 feet of row. Increase the water rate for sandier soil, and decrease it for heavier soil.

Planting tips: Plant raspberries in a container at least 24 to 36 inches wide and deep. Half-barrels or five-gallon pots are ideal sizes that allow enough room for new canes to grow in future years. Start with three to six canes, depending on the container size.