18lbs Wildflower Honey
15lbs Quad Berry Mix (Black Berries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries)
Water to top up to 4.5g (I used Arrowhead water heated up just enough to mix with the honey)
Lalvin Narbonne Yeast 71B-1122
Add ¾ teaspoon yeast energizer/nutrient mix immediately after pitching yeast.
Add ¾ teaspoon yeast energizer/nutrient mix 24 hours after fermentation begins.
Add ¾ teaspoon yeast energizer/nutrient mix 48 hours after fermentation begins.
Add ¾ teaspoon yeast energizer/nutrient mix after 30% of the sugar has been depleted.
Berries were frozen and then mostly thawed. I squished the bags of fruit to break them up a bit and used a large mouth funnel to get them into the carboy.
I did not heat the honey at all, just dumped right into carboy. I heated up some of the water I was using for top off and used that warm water to rinse the honey out of the jars and into the carboy. Used a paint stir bar on a drill to mix honey and water (and oxygenate). Added berries and gave a gentle stir to mix everything
Fermented at 68 degrees for three to four weeks with staggered nutrient additions
Cap management is important for releasing toxic CO2 and preventing temperature buildup below the cap. I swirled the carboy once in the morning and once in the evening for about 5 days to mix the fruit cap back down and release CO2
You will lose a lot of mead to the berries. I chilled the carboy down, racked to a secondary off the berries, chilled that carboy down, let set for a week or so, then kegged. This mead can plug a keg line easily if you're not careful.
Can taste a bit like children's cough syrup early on but eventually smoothes out, I haven't been able to keep any longer than a year before drinking it all.