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Hi Everybody

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beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
1
0
70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
Hey everybody, I've finally gotten settled down in Florida, been away for a couple of months and have a bit of catching up to do. It's been exactly one year since I started my first batch of mead and I'm still brewing along happily. My last batch that I started six weeks ago, in the middle of the move, is a elderberry melomel using local picked (free) berries. It's good to be back,
Drink, Laugh and Love, Beeboy
 
P

Pawn

Guest
Guest
Heya Beeboy, glad to hear your back, Im a n00b so you won't remember me.

Im curious, how did your first batch of mead turn out?

Cheers...John
 

briankettering

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 2, 2005
174
0
0
And another question: How many pounds of elderberries did you use in your melomel? ???

I made a batch of elderberry melomel both this year and last year. Last year's batch used 17 pounds of berries. This years batch used 5 1/2 pounds.

Brian K
 

beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
1
0
70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
I've got one bottle left of my first mead, five gallons seemed like a lot at the time but what with gifts and parties it goes fast.
The elderberry mead started with about 1/2 gallon of berries in the primary, I would guess about 5 lbs. When I racked to the secondary I tossed in almost 3/4 of a gallon (8lbs). I boiled the berries both times but didn't heat any of the other ingredients. This is for a five gallon batch. The flavor of the berries seem verry faint, how did you batch turn out from last year? Beeboy
 

storm1969

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 13, 2005
600
1
0
54
Columbia, MD
How can you tell if eldeberries are ripe? I have a few plants in my back yard that are full of berries, that are black, but don't seem to have a lot of flavor.


Brian
 

beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
1
0
70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
If the berries are black and the clusters are drooping they are ripe, sounds like yours are ready. The ones I've used don't have much of a flavor either but have given a great color to my mead. When you pick them put them in a plastic bag and freeze them, the berries fall off the stems and are easier to handle. I ended up harvesting three 1/2 gallon ziplock bags over a month and kept them frozen till I started this batch. One of the reasons I added extra elderberries to the secondary was to get more berry flavor, the primary fermentation took out a lot of the elderberry but left the red color. So far it looks like this batch is running a bit sweet with a sg at 1.04, would like to get it down to 1.02 or below. Might have to rack again and top off with water and try to get the fermentation restarted. Drink, Laugh and Love, Beeboy
 
P

Pawn

Guest
Guest
An old guy told me one time, pick them after the first frost, he said they gain flavor.

Elderberry rhubarb pie mmm,
Cheers...John
 
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