In Episode 008 of the MeadMakr Podcast, we had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Webber, the founding president of the American Mead Makers Association and the owner and meadmaker of Dragon’s Lair Meads. During the episode, he drank Plum Crazy, a melomel made with Damson plums. He was generous enough to share the recipe after the recording.
Batch Specifics
The original batch was 20 gallons, with an alcohol by volume of 12%. We have scaled the batch back to 5 gallons and increased the ABV to 14% to remove the backsweetening step. If you want to keep to the 20 gallon recipe size, it’s 14 gallons of Damson plum juice (SG 1.015), adding 23 pounds honey and filling to 20 gallons with water for an original gravity (OG of 1.090). The original batch was fermented dry, and 6 pounds of honey was added to 5 gallons of mead to backsweeten.
Volume: 5 gallons
Alcohol by Volume: 14%
Residual Sweetness: Semi-Sweet to Sweet
The Ingredients
3.5 gallons Damson plum juice
12 pounds wildflower honey (1 gallon)
Spring water to 5 gallons (OG: 1.14)
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient)
2.5 tsp Yeast Energizer (LD Carlson Yeast Energizer)
1 packet Lalvin D47 Yeast
The Process
Mix wildflower honey, water, and plum juice until honey is fully dissolved. This batch is not heated. Aerate the must by shaking fermenter vigorously or using a drill stirrer.
Rehydrate D47 yeast per packet instructions. Pitch yeast.
This recipe will follow a staggered nutrient addition protocol, adding the nutrients in 4 doses:
– Dose 1: When you pitch the yeast, add 1.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient and 0.75 tsp Yeast Energizer
– Dose 2: After 48 hours (2 days), add 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 0.5 tsp yeast energizer
– Dose 3: After 96 hours (4 days), add 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 0.5 tsp yeast energizer
– Dose 4: After 144 hours (6 days), add 1.5 tsp yeast nutrient and 0.75 tsp yeast energizer
During fermentation, maintain a temperature range between 63 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Degas and aerate the must every 12 hours for the first 3 days of the fermentation.
When fermentation is complete (SG readings are consistent over multiple days), rack the mead to a new carboy. Expect to get significant losses from lees (up to 1.5 gallons may be lost).
Age until satisfied by flavor. When mead is finished, bottle and enjoy!
Chris Webber’s tasting notes are available in the Episode 008 audio.
Thanks for the recipe! Damson is pretty rare in my neck of the woods. I made a Damson Plum and Black Currant mead last year–the former is very tannic and the latter has a very powerful flavor. I liked it a lot, but the dark, tannic fruit overshadowed the honey character in a big way.
Thank Chris Webber!
He actually got all the plums for his trial batch of Plum Crazy from a now deceased tree in his mother’s backyard. The recipe was from its last fruiting season, and yielding 25 gallons of plums (14 gallons of pressed juice) for the 20 gallon batch he made.
To get a stronger honey flavor, you’ll need a very strong honey to balance the flavor. The best way to pair honey to fruit is to match lightly flavored fruits with lighty flavored honey, and strongly flavored fruits with strongly flavored honey. This may even be one case where a small amount of the honey coming from buckwheat could even be desired.