At a glance
- Style
- Melomel
- Alcohol
- About 13.3% ABV
- Finish
- Semi-sweet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Honey
- Clover, wildflower or raspberry blossom
- Yeast
- Lalvin 71B
- Ready in
- 3 to 4 months
- Batch
- 1 gallon, scalable
Ingredients
Quantities are for one US gallon (3.8 liters). Pick a batch size and every amount updates; one packet of yeast covers up to six gallons. Not sure how much honey your own twist needs? Use the mead calculator.
- 2.75 lb Honey, clover, wildflower or raspberry blossom
- 2.5 lb Raspberries, red (fresh or frozen, unsweetened) (added in secondary)
- 0.75 gallons Spring water (to make 1 gallon of must with the honey)
- 1 packet Lalvin 71B wine yeast (5 g; one packet covers up to 6 gallons)
- 6 g Go-Ferm (yeast rehydration nutrient) (optional but recommended)
- 5 g Fermaid O yeast nutrient (split into 4 doses, see steps)
- 0.5 tsp Pectic enzyme (added with the fruit)
- 0.5 tsp Potassium sorbate (to stabilize before backsweetening)
- 1 Campden tablet (potassium metabisulfite)
Swapping the fruit or changing the amount? Adding fruit to mead covers how much to use per gallon, when to add it and how long to leave it. The dose and timing of the enzyme are explained in how much pectic enzyme per gallon of mead. This recipe ferments dry and is sweetened at the end: how to backsweeten mead has the stabilizing doses and a honey chart for any batch size.
Equipment
- 2-gallon bucket with lid for primary and secondary
- 1-gallon glass jug
- Airlock and drilled bung
- Hydrometer
- Fine nylon straining bag
- Auto-siphon and tubing
- No-rinse sanitizer (Star San)
New to this? Our mead making kit checklist covers what each piece does and what you can skip.
Step-by-step method
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Sanitize and mix the must
Sanitize the bucket, spoon, hydrometer and funnel. Warm the honey jar in hot water so it pours, stir it into about half the water until no streaks remain, then top up with cool water to the 1-gallon mark. The reading should be close to 1.096 before any fruit.
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Pitch the yeast
Rehydrate the 71B in 50 ml of 104°F (40°C) water with the Go-Ferm for 15 minutes, then stir it in once the yeast and must are within 18°F (10°C) of each other. Keep it at 62 to 68°F (17 to 20°C) with the lid and airlock on.
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Feed the yeast
Add a quarter of the Fermaid O at 24, 48 and 72 hours after pitching, and the last quarter at the 1/3 sugar break (about 1.064) or on day 7, whichever comes first. Degas gently before each addition so it does not foam over.
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Get the fruit ready
Freeze fresh raspberries for at least 24 hours; bagged frozen ones are already done. Thaw them inside the straining bag, sitting in a clean sanitized bucket, and sprinkle the pectic enzyme over them. Do not blend or mash: raspberries collapse on their own once thawed, and crushed seeds add a woody bitterness.
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Rack onto the raspberries
When the gravity is below 1.010, usually 2 to 3 weeks in, siphon the mead off its yeast and onto the bagged fruit. Expect a few days of renewed bubbling as the yeast eats the fruit sugar. Keep the lid and airlock on.
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Seven days on fruit
Push the bag under once or twice a day so no fruit sits dry above the liquid. After 7 days, lift the bag and let it drain for a few minutes without squeezing. Raspberries give up flavor fast; extra days mostly add seed and pulp character, not more raspberry.
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Clear and stabilize
Rack into the glass jug, keep headspace small, and leave it 4 to 6 weeks to clear. When it is clear and the gravity has not moved for a week, add the crushed Campden tablet and the sorbate, stir gently and wait 48 hours.
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Backsweeten and bottle
Add honey 1 oz at a time (about 0.002 gravity per ounce per gallon), stirring and tasting. From a dry 1.000, around 7 oz lands near 1.014. Raspberry carries more sweetness than strawberry because it has more acid. Bottle and give it at least a month.
Timeline
- Day 0Mix the must, pitch yeast
- Days 1 to 7Four nutrient additions, degas
- Weeks 2 to 3Rack onto thawed raspberries with pectic enzyme
- Weeks 3 to 4Lift out fruit after 7 days, rack to clear
- Weeks 8 to 10Stabilize, backsweeten, bottle
- Month 4 and onDrink; best from about 6 to 18 months
Why this recipe works
Raspberries have far more flavor per pound than strawberries, so 2.5 lb per gallon gives an unmistakable raspberry mead. Past about 3 lb it starts to tip into sharp, seedy jam. They are also low in sugar (roughly 4 to 5%), so the fruit adds only about 5 gravity points: almost all of the 1.101 starting gravity comes from the honey.
The fruit goes in secondary because the vigorous early fermentation scrubs out aroma with the escaping CO2. Raspberry color is sturdier than strawberry color, but the nose is just as fragile, and it is the nose that makes people say "raspberry" before they taste it.
71B is a gentle, fruit-forward wine yeast that tolerates about 14% alcohol and finishes cleanly at cool temperatures. It is known for softening malic acid, but most of the acid in raspberries is citric, so the fruit keeps its bright edge.
That brightness is why the finish is semi-sweet. A dry raspberry mead reads as sour and thin; at 1.014 the sugar and acid balance and the berry flavor comes forward. If you like it drier, stop sweetening at 1.008 and serve it colder.
Variations
- Raspberry chocolate: add 1 oz of cacao nibs in a small bag for the last 7 to 10 days of clearing, tasting every few days.
- Black raspberry: swap in black raspberries for a darker color and a deeper, less tart flavor. Use the same weight.
- Sparkling raspberry: use 1.75 lb of fruit, finish drier (about 1.004), skip the sorbate and prime with 1 oz of honey per gallon in pressure-rated bottles (see our sparkling guide).
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| White or fuzzy spots on the fruit bag | Fruit that sits above the liquid can mold. A thin white film can be skimmed and the bag pushed under more often; colored, fuzzy mold on the fruit means the batch has been exposed too long and is safer to dump. |
| It tastes sour and thin after secondary | Normal for a young, dry fruit mead. Stabilize and backsweeten before judging it; the acid also softens over a few months in the bottle. |
| It will not clear | Pectin haze from the fruit. Add another 1/4 tsp pectic enzyme, wait two weeks, then use a fining agent such as Sparkolloid if needed. |
More mead recipes to try
- Strawberry mead recipe: Fruit in secondary, a gentle yeast and a semi-sweet finish that keeps the fresh-berry nose.
- Blackberry mead recipe: Fruit in primary for a deep purple, structured mead that drinks like a light red wine.
- Blueberry mead recipe: 4 lb of berries split between primary for color and secondary for aroma, with acid adjusted to taste.
More fruit mead recipes: Cherry mead, Cyser (apple mead), Peach mead, Mango mead (and pineapple mead), Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM), Pyment (grape mead), Elderberry mead, Banana mead, Pomegranate mead, Pumpkin mead, Cranberry mead, Apple pie mead.
Or browse all our mead recipes. If this is your first batch, start with the traditional mead recipe or the step-by-step guide to making honey wine.
Frequently asked questions
How many raspberries do I need for 1 gallon of mead?
2 to 3 lb per gallon. This recipe uses 2.5 lb for a clear, strong raspberry flavor. Below 1.5 lb it becomes a honey mead with a pink tint and a hint of berry.
Should raspberries go in primary or secondary?
Secondary, if you want the mead to smell of raspberries. Fruit in primary gives more body and a jammier flavor, but the active fermentation carries off most of the fresh aroma.
Can I use frozen raspberries for mead?
Yes. Unsweetened frozen raspberries are ideal because freezing has already broken the cell walls. Avoid berries packed in syrup.
Do I need to strain out raspberry seeds?
A straining bag takes care of it. The seeds only become a problem if they are crushed (by blending) or left in for weeks, which adds a woody, bitter note.
How long does raspberry mead take?
About 3 months from mixing to a drinkable bottle, and it is at its best from 6 to 18 months.
How strong is raspberry mead?
This recipe comes out around 13.3% ABV, similar to a full-bodied white wine.