Gratitude Mead

Thanksgiving time, so a Gratitude Mead is in order. My friend Arthur Haines was kind enough to give me a quart of his homemade, wild-harvested cranberry juice, so I thought one of the best uses I could put it to is a mead.

I started with a chaga decoction, then strained the cranberry juice into the must, to filter out the pectin:

Then, I added honey to 18% alcohol potential:

And, I was left with a carboy full of Gratitude Mead, which surprised me because it wasn’t a red color, only the slightest hint of red in the brown must:

UPDATE, March 20: I just racked this mead. It measured 6% alcohol potential, so it is extremely sweet tasting, clocking in at 12% alcohol. I’m now starting to wonder if I am approaching the alcohol limit of the Montrachet yeast I am using; to get higher alcohol levels I think I might need to start experimenting with different yeasts, such as champagne yeasts. Still, this is already delicious, and will only get better!

June 19: This mead is delicious! Here’s the label:

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