This raspberry melomel was meant to be a 3 gallon batch to remember Jasper, a wonderful Burmese cat, who had to be euthanized 27 June 2024 at age 13. But when Hale Landis died suddenly on 25 September, and with more TF raspberries available, we decided to step it up to 5 gal.
Ingredients:
Yeast was rehydrated at brew time.
December 28, 2024 - Heated honey with water to 130 F and then turned off the heat and put the chiller in the kettle. We didn't cool it very much because the raspberries were out of the freezer just long enough to be mostly thawed. We put a bag, sanitized with hot water, into the bucket, draped over the rim. The honey water went in first, then the raspberries went into the bag and then closed the bag. Water added to make about 5.5 gallons. Pitched yeast, stirred, put the lid on the bucket with a bubble lock. The next day the fermentation was well under way.
January 5, 2025 - removed the fruit bag, pressed it, and added the juice back to the fermenter.
Copyright ris