Ok well first things first! I fermented the fruit and sugar water in a bucket for about a week, covered with a towel, punching down the musk daily and praying nothing would ruin it. It was in a strainer bag which kept the pulp and seeds back and just left the liquid to add to the 5 gallons carboy.

Here’s it just in the carboy.

Oh I love mead. Those bubbles in yours look extra fun. Blackberry is what I was interested in making, though I found a recipe for dandelion mead (is that a melomel?) and found that intriguing. Have you tried that?

The alcohol is not overpowering, the flavor is both complex and smooth with a perfect strawberries and sunshine aftertaste. I made 5 gallons with 25lbs of strawberries and 12 pounds of sugar so strawberry essence was really packed in there! I failed at a scuppernong wine before this so was ready for disappointment but I got an acid kit and think that lends a lot to final product. I also was a little OCD every step of the way but I think that’s part of why it actually turned out so well.

I brought some up a friend’s house in the North Carolina Appalachian mountains. His cousins who have been ‘home brewing’ for generations probably paid me the highest compliment when they had some and were like wow, that actually tastes like something you’d but at a store!

This looks fantastic! I’ve never seen a sparkling mead before. Mead is next on my list, or maybe a melomel.

I made 5 gallons of country strawberry wine. Though the alcohol content is on the higher side at 16%, it absolutely delicious.

Yes, it does make you the asshole, especially because you know that’s what we do here and why we do it. Until living wage laws are passed, it’s not going to change.