Ingredients

• 3 lbs - Raw Texas Wildflower Honey (Get the Good Stuff!)
• 1 to 1.5 lbs - Fresh Blackberries (3x 6oz boxes)
• 1 to 1.5 lbs - Prickly Pear Fruit (about 4 fruits)
• 1-2 oz - Pecan Wood Chips
• ½ to ¾ gallon - Texas Spring Water (like Ozarka)
• 1 packet - Wine Yeast (Lalvin EC-1118)
• 1 tbsp - Sanitizer
• ½ + ½ tspn - Yeast Nutrient
• 1 - Small Mesh Bag to Hold Fruit
• ½ tspn - Pectic Enzyme
• ½ tspn - Bentonite Clay
• ½ tspn - Potassium Sorbate
• ¼ tspn - Potassium Metabisulfite

Procedures

Create Must

1. Sanitize Equipment
   • Add sanitizer to 1 gallon of water in container for mead and wait 60s
   • Pour into a bowl and let other equipment (air lock, stopper, grad cylinder, funnel, etc) also soak for 60s
2. Prepare Fruit
   • Scoop out prickly pear guts and put into mesh bag. Also add rinsed blackberries.
   • Smash the fruit inside the bag, catching any excess juice
   • Place fruit bag and juice into container for mead
3. Create Must
   • Pour the 3lbs honey into jar. You won't get it all out easily, and that's okay, it's accounted for. Plan for 2.5 lbs to get in there!
   • Fill the container with warm spring water until it's a gallon. Make sure to leave room for fermentation to bubble up (like an inch from top) even if that puts it a bit under a gallon.
   • Mix the honey completely into the water forming must. I recommend a sanitized spoon to stir it.
4. Add Pectic Enzyme
   • Dissolve the pectic enzyme in the must
   • Let the pectic enzyme work for at least 12 hours

Ferment

1. Pitch Yeast
   • As per instructions on the packet, mix yeast with hot water and stir for 20 min
   • Add the ½ tbspn yeast nutrient to the must and shake the container in a circle to mix
   • Add yeast to must and seal with an air tight lid (with airlock). Put it in a dark room at 65-75ºF (room temp).
2. Degass (Day 2)
   • Let sit for 24 hours then degass by opening the lid, shaking it in a circle thoroughly for 2 minutes to get rid of CO2
   • Return it to its fermentation area
3. Second Nutrient Addition (Day 5)
   • Degass again and slowly add the second dosing of yeast nutrient
   • If you don't go slow it may bubble out of control and make a mess! Add a bit, shake, add a bit, shake.
   • Return it to its fermentation area
4. Check Gravity (Day 20+)
   • Check to see if it's still bubbling. Check if the specific gravity is near 1.000.
   • If not, then periodically check after another week.
5. Wood Aging
   • Heat oven to 400ºF
   • Siphon the mead to a new (sanitized) container, leaving behind the solids
   • Toast the wood chips on a baking sheet in a single layer for about 25 minutes (don't let it burn though)
   • Soak the wood chips in boiling water for 10 minutes
   • Add the wood chips to the new container
   • Check the flavor after a week. If not quite there, wait another week. Then proceed to stabilization.

Stabilize and Bottle

1. Stabilize
   • Siphon the mead into the (resanitized) old container, leaving behind the wood chips
   • Slowly add the bentonite clay to ¼ cup boiling water. Stir continuously until the mixture becomes smooth with no clumps. Let it cool then mix into the mead.
   • Add the Potassium Sorbate to the mead and mix in
   • Wait 24 hrs (important!) then add the Potassium Metabisulfite
   • Wait 1-2 weeks for the mead to fully clear via the clay
2. Back Sweeten (Optional)
   • Add more honey to taste if you want it sweeter (increments of a tablespoon). You'll have to wait a bit again after stirring.
3. Bottle
   • Siphon into sanitized bottles
4. Aging (Optional)
   • Mead tastes best after aging for 3-6 months to develop more complex flavors
5. Enjoy!