From Storm The Castle:
Sweet Raspberry Mead (Makes 1 Gallon)
- Yeast: EC-1118 (1 packet)
- 1 Gallon Spring Water
- 4.5 pounds wildflower honey
- 1.5 pounds red raspberries
- The juice from 1 lemon
- The juice from 1 lime
- 3 Tablespoons of strong english tea
- 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
Pretty straight forward instructions for this mead. Was the food ingredients before using and crush the raspberries. I froze them for a day before using them so they would break down and release their flavor easier. I thawed them out for the morning, crushed them and added them when I made the mead in the afternoon. Simply add all the ingredients into your mixing carboy then pitch the yeast. Leave extra headroom at the top of the bottle because all the ingredients will cause extra bubbling.
This ran into some minor trouble with blowing raspberry seeds and guts out the air lock. I was using a two bubble lock, so it wasn't really an issue, but if you're using a 3 piece you might run into a problem. I used champagne yeast for fermentation, which (in me experience) can give a fast, violent ferment. That may have lent to the issue too. There are a LOT of fermentables in this recipe, not only from honey but from the fructose in the raspberries as well.
I racked once and when bottling time came I picked up an $8 hand corker (plunger type, which works great as long as you smack the plunger with a hammer).
At bottling the taste is amazing, if not very sweet. It's what I would consider a dessert wine right now. I gave away one bottle and am aging the other two (one gallon batch and there was a fair amount of loss to the sediment from the raspberries) are aging now.
No gravity readings on this. It's probably around 11% alcohol and VERY sweet. And good.
In the primary. The mass at the top is all seeds and pulp. More pictures:
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