New mead maker here looking for some advice on a blackberry mead. I have made a plain orange blossom honey mead and a raspberry mead to date, so I have some (very little) experience.
Recipe:
1 gallon batch
3 pounds blackberries (frozen, thawed, mashed in a cheese cloth)
3 pounds orange blossom honey
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (added late)
D47 lavlin yeast
original gravity at 1.104
Upon starting I had read that yeast nutrient is really not important for a melomel and in my raspberry mead I did not include any nutrient which gave a good result. That being said, at the start of the blackberry mead, I did not include the nutrient. After a week and a half the fermentation stopped or slowed significantly. I opened the batch and noticed a moderate odor that smelled sort of funky.... I agitated the must and the berries and closed the top and fermentation started up again, however slower than previously. Based on this, I assumed it needed nutrient due to the fermentation stalling.
The next day I noticed the smell was roughly the same, possibly slightly improved. I added the 1/2 tsp of nutrient without taking a gravity reading (mistake #1).
The following day, roughly a week and a half into fermentation, I noticed fermentation was still slow, time to figure out what is going on... I opened the top and took a gravity reading and to my surprise the gravity was at 1.00. It is worth noting that the mead was left in a warm/hot room for multiple days (mistake #2). I sampled the mead and I can taste the fermented berries, slight sweetness of the remaining honey and the bite of ethanol. The smell has subsided significantly and at times I have convinced myself it maybe gone, but every now and then I get a slight funky smell. My question is what could this funky smell be and is it worth keeping the mead or just starting over.... I am terrified that the berries may have spoiled do to the warm/hot temperatures and this could risk myself getting sick.... I have also read a similar experience with another recipe that explained the smelly phenomena as a Phase? Any help you can offer would be great!
Thank you!!!
Recipe:
1 gallon batch
3 pounds blackberries (frozen, thawed, mashed in a cheese cloth)
3 pounds orange blossom honey
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (added late)
D47 lavlin yeast
original gravity at 1.104
Upon starting I had read that yeast nutrient is really not important for a melomel and in my raspberry mead I did not include any nutrient which gave a good result. That being said, at the start of the blackberry mead, I did not include the nutrient. After a week and a half the fermentation stopped or slowed significantly. I opened the batch and noticed a moderate odor that smelled sort of funky.... I agitated the must and the berries and closed the top and fermentation started up again, however slower than previously. Based on this, I assumed it needed nutrient due to the fermentation stalling.
The next day I noticed the smell was roughly the same, possibly slightly improved. I added the 1/2 tsp of nutrient without taking a gravity reading (mistake #1).
The following day, roughly a week and a half into fermentation, I noticed fermentation was still slow, time to figure out what is going on... I opened the top and took a gravity reading and to my surprise the gravity was at 1.00. It is worth noting that the mead was left in a warm/hot room for multiple days (mistake #2). I sampled the mead and I can taste the fermented berries, slight sweetness of the remaining honey and the bite of ethanol. The smell has subsided significantly and at times I have convinced myself it maybe gone, but every now and then I get a slight funky smell. My question is what could this funky smell be and is it worth keeping the mead or just starting over.... I am terrified that the berries may have spoiled do to the warm/hot temperatures and this could risk myself getting sick.... I have also read a similar experience with another recipe that explained the smelly phenomena as a Phase? Any help you can offer would be great!
Thank you!!!
