Jamaica Blue Mead

Classification: mead, metheglin, blueberry mead

Source: Guy D. McConnell (guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com), Mead Digest #32, 11/11/92

This is my first mead---it is a takeoff on Papazian's Barkshack Ginger Mead.

Ingredients:

6 pounds Clover Honey, raw
1 pound Orange Blossom Honey, raw
1.5 pounds Corn Sugar
2 ounces Freshly Minced Ginger Root
4 each 3.5" Cinnamon Sticks, cracked
1.5 tsp. Gypsum
3 tsp. Yeast Extract
1/4 tsp. Irish Moss Powder
1 gallon Alabama Blueberries
2 each Lemons, halved
1 pack WYeast #1214 Belgian Ale
3/4 cup Corn Sugar (bottling)

Procedure:

Add honey, corn sugar, gypsum, Irish moss, and yeast extract to 1.5 gallons of water in brewpot. Simmer for 10 minutes, skimming the foam with a strainer. Add ginger root and simmer for 10 more minutes without skimming. Remove from heat, squeeze lemons into brewpot, and throw in lemons. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain out lemon halves and ginger and add blueberries. Chill and pour mixture into primary. Pitch yeast starter, shake well, and attach blowoff hose. After gravity falls to 1.020 or within 7 days, whichever comes first, rack to secondary leaving fruit behind. Age for 1 - 2 months in secondary. When fermentation is complete, prepare a tea by simmering cinnamon for 30 minutes in a covered pot. Cool and add to bottling bucket with priming solution. Bottle, age for 6 - 12 months, chill, and enjoy!

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.050