Cassis Melomel

This recipe yields about 10L of sweet mead. The measurements for the base mead recipe is for 20L, however, as the batch was split between redcurrant and cassis.

Process

1. Make sure all equipment is clean and disinfected
2. Add the honey to the fermentation vessel
3. Top with water to reach the total volume of 20L, and stir to dissolve the honey
4. Pitch the yeast, stir vigorously to oxygenate, and add a lid with an airlock
5. Ferment for one month
6. Add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfate to stop fermentation, and let sit for 48h
7. Add the berries, let sit for a few days, and add more berries if desired
8. Add sodium metasilicate and chitin to clear it up
9. Bottle the mead, and enjoy

Notes

The berries was added in two stages. Initially, only 800g of whole was added, but after giving it a few days and tasting it I decided that more is more and added another ~600g. The last batch of berries were simmered to help extract the flavor, and I think it worked well. This mead is sweet, but not too sweet in my opinion, and tastes heavily of cassis. Essentially, it’s alcoholic saft. As delicious as it is dangerous.