Blackberry Mead
Brewing Progress
Brewing Data
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs honey
- 2 lbs fresh blackberries
- 1 packet Red Star Premier Cote Des Blancs yeast
- 1/4 tsp Fermaid K
- Water to volume
Instructions
Prepare the Must
This was a rushed brew. I mixed honey with water to make a 1-gallon must, then added 2 lbs of fresh blackberries — not frozen this time — to a mesh bag, smashing them just a little to break open the cell walls. I was trying to put the batch together in very little time and forgot to take an original gravity reading. Without that OG I have no way to calculate the final ABV, which is one of the biggest lessons I took away from this batch.
Primary Fermentation
Primary fermentation ran for 10 days with Red Star Premier Cote Des Blancs, the same yeast I have used on other fruit wines and meads. The must took on a vivid purple-red color almost immediately from the blackberries, and the yeast worked steadily through the honey sugars. This strain ferments cleanly and tends to finish dry, which made back-sweetening necessary later.
Transfer to Secondary
After 10 days I racked the mead off the fruit and sediment into a clean secondary fermenter. It stayed there until April 4, 2026, then I transferred it again for bulk conditioning. The color had settled into a deep, opaque purple by this point.
Bulk Condition
Once fermentation was complete, I racked the mead off the sediment into a clean vessel and let it bulk condition from April 4, 2026 until April 24, 2026. Bulk conditioning gives the mead time to clear, settle, and mellow before bottling. The color had shifted to a deep, opaque purple and a small amount of sediment had dropped out by the time I was ready to bottle.
Back Sweeten
After bulk conditioning I tasted the mead. It was clean and drinkable, but it had fermented almost completely dry. I wanted to try making it more of a dessert-style mead, so I added honey and mixed it in. I thought the amount was small enough to add just a touch of sweetness, but in a 1-gallon batch even a little honey goes a long way. The second taste revealed the mead was now far sweeter than I had intended. I bottled it anyway and will let it sit on the shelf to see whether the sweetness mellows with age. If it does, I will keep the bottles. If it stays cloying, I will dump them and treat this batch as a lesson for the next one.
Bottle and Pasteurize
I bottled the mead on April 24, 2026 and immediately pasteurized the bottles to stop any remaining yeast activity and stabilize the back-sweetening. Back-sweetening requires either pasteurization or chemical stabilization (potassium sorbate paired with potassium metabisulfite) to prevent the added sugar from restarting fermentation. I used my brewing kettle as a water bath, bringing the bottles to 140°F (60°C) and holding them there for 20 minutes to ensure the yeast was neutralized without cooking off the alcohol or delicate fruit flavors.
Ready to Drink
We tasted a sample after bottling and it was way too sweet — the honey overshoot was more than expected. Rather than dumping it, I'm letting the bottles sit for an extended time to see if the sweetness mellows with age. If it balances out, great. If not, I'll count this as a learning batch and try again with a lighter hand on the back-sweetening next time.
Lessons for Next Time
This batch taught me several things I will do differently next time:
- Take an original gravity reading. Without an OG I cannot calculate ABV, which is useful information for labeling and sharing the recipe.
- Measure back-sweetening additions. Eyeballing the honey left me with no reproducible data. Next batch I will weigh the honey before and after adding it.
- Keep better yeast notes. I recorded Red Star Premier Cote Des Blancs for this batch, but on future batches I will also write down the exact nutrient schedule and any other additions.
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