Strawberry Mead

Batch Name: Strawberry Mead
Brew Date: 3/22/2001
Batch Size: 1 Gallon
Fermentation: Primary: Plastic, 11 Days
  Secondary: Plastic, 5 Days
  Tertiary: Plastic, 10 days
Orig Gravity: 1.088 Final Gravity: 0.998
Alcohol (Vol): 12.38%
   
   
   
13 pounds Unfiltered Clover Honey
12 fl ounces Maple syrup
2 teaspoons Acid blend
2 teaspoons Spanish moss
1½ pkg Red Star Champaigne yeast
   
 4 Pounds Whole Frozen Strawberries

 

Mead is indeed a noble drink, it has been said to cause fertility, as well as the birth of sons... It is a thing of legends and folklore.

This particular recipe is a combination of several recipes that I found and creates a nectar of the gods. This stuff tastes like you're drinking fresh strawberries.....
I found that after chilling, there is so much pectin in the berries that the mead actually begins to jell a bit, and you may find small particles of jelly like substance in your mead but you can combat it with some pectic enzyme. Either way, you can't beat the taste!

This Recipe begins with the basic Strong Mead formula and produces a five gallon batch that I like to split in thirds at secondary fermentation and flavor small batches individually

First Boil
Bring honey, maple syrup, and acid blend just to the boiling point with 2½ gallons water. Hold just below a boil for 30 minutes, adding spanish moss for last 10 minutes of boil.

Second Boil
NONE

Cool to at least 120°F and transfer to primary fermenter. Add enough cool water to fill fermenter to 5 gallons and further reduce temperature to 75°F

Primary Fermentation
Pitch Champaigne yeast at 75°F and aerate well.
Ferment for 11 days at 75°F, First CO2 should be evident within 8 hours.

Secondary Fermentation
Thaw strawberries and add to ONE of three secondary fermenters (2½ gallon water jugs work well) by cutting off a corner of the bag and squeezing them through with your hands. DO NOT CHOP, OR GRIND the berries, it will release the bitterness in the seeds.

Rack 1/3 of the mead into this fermenter (don't forget to leave headspace!)

Ferment 5 days at 75°F

Tertiary Fermentation
Rack into a tertiary fermenter. Use another 2½ gallon water jug. Leave the used berries in the secondary fermenter and trash the whole thing (you DID use a disposable jug right?)

Ferment an additional 10 days at 75°F

Bottling
Rack to bottling bucket, and bottle without priming. As a still mead (no carbonation) it can be stored in wine bottles, or various sizes of jugs without the tedious mucking about with individual bottles, although theese work just fine too.

Mead is ready to drink when crystal clear (about 4 weeks)