Blueberry Melomel

started 1/10/2001
bottled 11/18/2001

Alcohol 12.6%
Initial SG 1.093
Final SG 0.997 sweetend to 1.002
pH 3.14 TA ~0.5

Tasting Notes

11/18/2001 Color is blueberry purple. The blueberry fruit comes through in the nose. The honey and the blueberry marry well on the tongue. Delicious with just the right amount of sweetness to bring out the fruit notes. Could still use even more fruit.

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Ingredients

3 pounds fresh raw wild flower honey from Tochi products. Light golden color.
3 pounds frozen blueberries from the grocery
2.25 pounds honey
water to 1 gallon

1/10/2001 Honey dissolved in warm water to make up 1 gallons. 0.6 grams potassium metabisulfite added. Blueberries were thawed and chopped in the food processor and added to the honey.

1/11/2001 In the morning, pectinase (10 drops) was added. In the evening the SG was measured at 1.084. About 1/3-1/2 pound of honey was added to raise the SG to 1.093 (23 brix). 1 Nutrient tablet was added. 1/4 tsp tannin was added. 0.5g tartaric acid and .5 g citric acid was added. The pH was measured at 3.51. Premiere cuvee yeast was hydrated in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 minutes and then added to the must.

1/12/2001 Fermenting well.

1/21/2001 The must was strained and placed into a gallon (imperial) bottle and fitted with an airlock. SG 1.028 pH 3.05 TA 0.4-0.6 difficult to measure due to the deep purple color.

3/17/2001 Racked into a new gallon bottle.. 0.3 g pot. Meta added. SG 0.997, pH 3.14, TA could not be determined due to color. Pretty clear.

10/13/2001 Sugar syrup was made from 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water, heated to boiling and cooled. The wine was racked into a gallon jug with 100 g of this syrup, 1 g potassium sorbate, and 0.4 g pot. Metabisulfite.

11/18/2001 Filtered through #2 pads. 0.4 g bisulfite added. SG 1.002. Bottled into 9 12 oz beer bottles. Color is beautiful purple. Nice blueberry flavor and nose. 12.6% alcohol.