hist-brewing: Hello and questions!

[Tara Sersen]

Hello, all.  I am new to the list and wanted to introduce myself.

I am in the SCA, where I am known as Lady Magdalena vander Brugghe.  I
live in Hartshorndale in the East Kingdom.  I am a cook and a textile
fiend, and am always interested in adding new arts to my repetoire.

I am new to brewing, and am eager to learn learn learn :)  I have been
saying for ages that I want to try to make mead, but I didn't want to
start until we moved into a home of our own so I wouldn't have to move
it... well, we bought a 4-acre farm and yay!  I get to start now!  More
fun... we've been harvesting about a gallon of black raspberries a day.
So, I want to try some raspberry mead, which I have *loved* in the past.

So, here are my questions:  I have found a bunch of recipes for
raspberry mead, and they vary immensely.  I don't know which to try.
How much raspberry should I use per gallon of mead?  I find recipes
calling for anywhere from 4 pounds per 5 gallons to 4 pounds per 1
gallon.  How sweet should I make it?  To net about 5 gallons finished
product, how much volume of honey/water should I be adding to the
raspberries?  I find that one gallon of berries weighs about 4 pounds.
So, averaging the volumes of berries from the different recipes, that
would mean I'd use about 12 pounds, or 3 gallons, of berries.  I assume
they ultimately contribute somewhat to the volume of finished product...
but not 3 gallons worth of volume.  I'm confused!  Also, I find recipes
that call for letting the berries steep in the hot must, but removing
them before starting the primary fermentation; For adding them for
primary fermentation but straining them out for secondary; And for
adding them only for secondary fermentation.  Any advice on what's
best?  I wouldn't be offended if someone just gives me a recipe and says
"This one is good.  Use it."

Thank you very much!
Tara/Magdalena


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