Recipe Box: Blackberry Mead - Part 1

I can tell that it is truly summertime.  Over the last week or two, my housemates and I have gathered close to two pounds of blackberries from the brambles on our lower lot.  With chevre on toast, and by the handful, we've managed to consume about one pound of those, and we froze the rest for later use. We plan on using those to make a syrup, or maybe add to it and make a small batch of jam.

But I had other plans for berries...plans that involve more fruit than our yard can currently provide. 

So, I woke up early yesterday morning and went to work with my husband. While he mowed beautiful lines into the sweet-smelling, dew-covered grass, I went around the perimeter of the land and gathered the wild blackberries that pepper these hillsides.

After an hour and a half of work, I had earned arm-scratches, purple fingers, and a hell of an appetite to go along with the two pounds of fat, ripe blackberries that I had gathered!

Image by Amber Shehan

We brought them home, rinsed the berries, and then I began the process of making a one gallon batch of blackberry mead!  This is also known as a melomel, a mead made with fruit.

Blackberry Mead (1 Gallon)

2-3 lbs of wildflower honey
2-3 lbs of fresh picked wild blackberries
1 allspice
1 clove
1 bit of dried orange peel
lemon juice

I used a large stockpot and heated just under 1 gallon of water to boil.  I threw in the allspice berry, clove, and orange peel while it got going.

While the water was heating, I sanitized a bucket with a bleach and water mix, and rinsed well.  I then added the berries to the bucket along with a splash of lemon juice.

Once the water is kicking at a steady boil, turn off the stove and remove the stockpot from heat.  Add the honey, stirring to blend.  If it is unfiltered honey, you may get a foam on the surface, which can be removed if you wish.

I poured the hot honey water (also called the must) over the berries and gave a good couple of stirs.  Lacking a lid to fit this bucket, I put a towel over it and tied it down to allow the must to cool and to keep flies and ants out.

I allowed the must to cool overnight, and this morning added a sweet mead yeast to the room temperature bucket.  It was beautiful, gave a little bit of a bubble, and then settled down as I stirred everything together.   I re-covered the bucket and tied it down again, and will let this mixture do it's thing for a couple of days.

Check in again soon, and I'll let you know how it turns out, and hopefully will remember to take some pictures as I rack it over into a carboy to finish fermentation!