Mead Also Known as Honey wine

Mead is a delicious fermented beverage, crafted with three simple ingredients; water, honey, and yeast. Many mazers (mead makers) use fruit or spices to add complex flavors to their base to create a delicious drink worthy of the gods.

Varieties of Mead

There are many different varieties of mead based on the added ingredients. Below is a short description of the different varietals.

Show: A show mead is a traditional mead using just the three required ingredients of honey, water, and yeast. Typically between 7.5-14% abv.

Sack: A sack mead is a traditional mead that is made to a high abv. Typically between 14-18% abv.

Hydromel: A hydromel is a traditional mead that is made to a lower abv. Typically less than 7.5%.

Melomel: A melomel is a mead that has added fruit.

Metheglin: A metheglin is made with spices like cinnamon or cloves, etc.

Pyment: A pyment is a mead fermented with wine grapes.

Cyser: A cyser is a mead fermented with apples or apple juice.

Acerglin: An acerglin is a mead fermented with maple syrup.

Braggot: A braggot is a mead fermented with grains such as barley and hops.

Capsicumel: A capsicumel is a mead with spicy peppers.

How to Make Mead

Making mead is a fairly simple process. However, you will need some special equipment to ensure it comes out properly. Below is a list of equipment you will need to make a simple 1 gallon batch of traditional mead.

(2) 1 gallon glass carboys with drilled rubber stopper or bung

Airlock (3 piece or S-shaped work fine)

3 pounds of honey (clover or wildflower is fine for a first batch).

Yeast (wine yeast is best, but bread or beer yeast will work too. I recommend Lalvin D-47 for a first batch).

Yeast nutrients (Fermaid-K, or Fermaid-O if you want the organic route. Using Go-Ferm in tandem is also recommended).

Water (distilled is best, but well water or spring water is fine. Tap water has too much chlorine which can alter the taste).

Sanitizer (Star San or One Step work well, but bleach can also be used).

Racking cane and tube

Hydrometer

250ml graduated cylinder

Traditional Mead Recipe

With all the ingredients and equipment listed above, you are ready to make your first batch of mead.

Step 1: Using your Star San or One Step, follow the package instructions to make the proper strength needed to sanitize all your equipment. Anything that will come in contact with the must (unfermented liquid) needs to be thoroughly sanitized.

Step 2: Place your honey container(s) in a pot of water on low heat until the honey becomes a little less viscous and easier to pour. While your honey is warming, follow the package instructions on your Go-Ferm to begin your yeast slurry. This will take 20-30 minutes to complete.

Step 3: Once your honey is warm and easier to pour, put 1/2 gallon of water in your 1 gallon carboy and all of the honey. Add your drilled rubber stopper, cover with your thumb, and start shaking to dissolve the honey. Every so often remove your thumb from the stopper to allow the air to escape, “burping” the must. Ensure you stop shaking prior to burping or your must will squirt out of the hole. Once all the honey is dissolved, top off with water to just under the “1 gallon” mark on your carboy. Pour some of your must into your graduated cylinder and float your hydrometer in the liquid. Take a note of the measurement, as this is how we will calculate the abv once fermentation has completed. Add your must from the graduated cylinder back into the carboy and add your yeast slurry. Shake vigorously for a minute or two, burping as before.

Step 4: Add your airlock with water to the rubber stopper and place in a dark cool place, approximately 65 degrees F. Some yeast strains can handle different temperatures but 65 degrees F is almost always in the normal range.

Step 5: Following the package instructions on your Fermaid-K or Fermaid-O, add the necessary amount of nutrients at 24, 48, and 72 hours after pitching your yeast. You will add another dose of nutrients at 7 days post yeast pitching. Be careful when adding the nutrients as your must will bubble up. A good practice is to put the carboy on a towel so you don’t make a mess on the floor.

Step 6: After pitching your yeast, your must will begin fermenting. You should see signs of fermentation within 72 hours with your airlock bubbling and the distinct smell of fermentation. Give your a must a little shake every day to help oxygenate the must. Once the bubbling slows down or stops, fermentation is complete. At this point, pour some of your mead into your graduated cylinder and float the hydrometer to gather a final reading. You want the final reading to be 1.00-1.03. If it’s not in this range, it isn’t done and needs more time. Using the reading from before you pitched your yeast, use an abv calculator to find your final abv.

Step 7: Place your new mead on a counter or milk crate. Using your sanitized racking cane and tube, rack your mead into your other sanitized 1 gallon carboy. You will lose some mead in the process, but that’s okay. This is how we get a clear final product. After you rack your mead, add your drilled rubber stopper and airlock and let sit in a cool dark place for 3-6 months. After sitting, your mead should have begun to clear up significantly. Rack it another time trying not to get any sediment in your racking tube, and let it sit for another 3-6 months. At this point you can rack it again to make sure it’s crystal clear, or drink it as is. You may have a little sediment if you don’t rack it a third time.

Step 8: Enjoy your new mead! While the process is pretty easy and straightforward, patience is a virtue in making the best mead. Some meads take a year or more of aging before they will be ready to drink. Have fun and soon you’ll be experimenting with all kinds of unique flavors. Reach out to us for more information, help, or just to share your wonderful mead making experience.