How to Make MeadWhen you mix water and honey and ferment it with yeast, you get mead, an alcoholic drink often referred to as "honey wine". There are over 30 different kinds of mead.[1] This article will give you a simple recipe to use.Ad

Ingredients

(Amounts vary depending on how much mead you want to make)

Honey

Water

Yeast

Fruit or Spices (optional)

Steps

1.

1Gather and sanitize all the items listed in the "Things You'll Need" below. Anything

that will touch the mead-in-the-making should be sanitized first. The environment you

are creating to encourage fermentation can also encourage the growth of any

microorganisms left behind from inadequate sanitation. You can use a weak bleach

solution (remember to rinse well) but it is better to use a sanitizing solution that can be

found at any beer or wine-making store (and online).

Ad

2.

2Mix approximately 3.5 pounds honey with 1 gallon (3.8 L) distilled water. DO NOT

HEAT OR BOIL. There is no need to do this with an FDA regulated honey and clean

drinking water. Boiling used to be done to drive off germs and bacteria in the water,

honey is naturally anti-bacterial.

This mixture, by the way, is called "must".

Adding fruits or spices to the must will drastically change the flavour, and just

about anything can go with a mead. It's really fun to experiment with flavours as a

home-brewer!

How to Liquify Honey

How to Verify the Purity of Honey

3.

3Rehydrate your chosen yeast per the manufacturer's directions then add it to your

must.

4.

4

Put in a large container with plenty of room for fermentation to occur. If there isn't

enough space, a vigorous ferment can escape and cause a mess. You'll want to prevent air

from getting into the container, but carbon dioxide needs to be able to escape. One way to

do this is to poke a few holes in a balloon and then stretch it over the mouth of the bottle.

Secure it by putting a rubber band or tape around it. This, however, is not a very good

way to seal your mead as you can not add nutrients or aerate very well with the balloon in

place, requiring the balloon to be replaced several times. The best method is to purchase

an airlock from a local brew store or online as they are reusable, sanitizable, and won't

disintegrate over time.

5.

5Put in a quiet place at an optimal temperature range for your chosen yeast. This

information should be published by the manufacturer. If you have a hydrometer and

know the starting gravity of your must, you can determine the sugar breaks of your

fermentation. To determine your three sugar breaks, take your original gravity, determine

what your final gravity should be based on the ABV tolerance of your yeast, then break

that total number into thirds. Aerate (introduce oxygen) at least once daily during the first

sugar break, the more times a the better.

6.

6There are a few different ways to know when the mead is done fermenting:[2]

The most accurate way to know is to measure the specific gravity with a

hydrometer when you first mix it, then measure it every two weeks. The chosen

yeast has a published ABV tolerance, and the hydrometer reading can be used to

determine what the final gravity of the mead should be. When the mead reaches

this gravity, wait a minimum of 4-6 months before bottling to ensure all CO2 that

was in suspension in the mead has degassed. If the mead has not properly

degassed and too much CO2 for the rating of the type of bottle the mead is bottled

in is transferred, there is a risk of bottle explosion with temperature swings.

Wait at least 8 weeks. The amount of time it takes for the mead to ferment will

depend on a variety of factors, but 8 weeks should be enough time for most

scenarios.

If you're using an airlock, wait until 3 weeks after it stops bubbling.

7.

7

Once the fermentation has completed, transfer your mead to a container with little

to no headspace for aging. The less surface area that oxygen can get to, the better.

Siphoning is the best way to go so that you leave as much sediment behind as possible.

The longer you wait, the better your mead will be, an average wait time is 8 months to a

year for a home brewer.

8.

8

Transfer the mead into bottles, seal, and store in a cool dark place. Your mead is now

drinkable, but it is even better when aged even longer.

VARIJACIJE NA TEMU

Mead Recipes

Here are a bunch of recipes on how to make mead. Mead is very adaptable and that means the recipes are also adaptable and varied. You can change mead significantly by doing things at different times such as pitching in flavors, fruits and spices before it ferments or even pitching them in after the ferment is done.

Important note about pitching yeast into a batch of mead. One of the most important things you should know about yeast is that it needs lots of oxygen to grow well. So after you make a batch of materials and have mixed it real well so it is homogenous you then pitch the must into it. Now you have to stir it vigorously for five full minutes so it gets aerated real well. Always do this and use an electric mixer if you would like to. Get lots of oxygen into the brew!

Beginning mead maker and looking for a recipe that is exotic, tasty yet very easy? You have got to try the orange clove recipe at the bottom of this page. Hands down one of the best recipes there is and it has such a wonderful taste. This mead is also perfect for heating up and drinking on special occasions, holidays or cold winter nights. Seriously give this one a try, you won't be disappointed.

Note from Will: Have a great mead recipe you want to share with the world? Send me an email!!! Email me

Little Side Note: Want to make a mead from a 17th Century Recipe? I have the recipe with notes on making quite an Excellent Meathe here

Looking for a fast and easy 1 gallon recipe of mead? I have one here: You can even use a plastic gallon milk jug to make it: Fast Easy mead recipe

Let's Start out with the simplest three recipes: (5 gallon batches) And about the Energizer and Nutrient. These can vary by manufacturer. Always go with any recommendations per gallon that comes with the energizer and nutrient you use.

Dry Mead

12 lbs. of Honey 4 gallons of spring water 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient 5 teaspoons of yeast energizer 2 packets of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (or a suitable replacement)

Medium Mead

15 lbs of Honey 4 gallons of spring water

5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient 5 teaspoons of yeast energizer 2 packets of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (or suitable replacement)

Sweet Mead

18 lbs of Honey 4 gallons of spring water 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient 2 teaspoons of yeast energizer 2 packets of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (or suitable replacement)

These three recipes are the simple and no problem way to make a basic and great tasting mead. The only difference between them is the amount of honey you put into the must.

Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines

"Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines, Cordials and Liqueurs from Fruits, Flowers Vegetables, and Shrubs" has time worn recipes for making, coloring, flavoring, and mellowing wines.

Included are recipes for apple wine, blackberry wine, cherry wine, dandelion wine, plum, raspberry and peach wines, tomato wine and tomato beer, ginger beer, sham champagne, cider champagne, apple brandy, black cherry, orange and raspberry brandies, blackberry cordial, ginger, peppermint, orange and strawberry cordials, anisette de bourdeaux liqueurs, maraschino, nectar, elephant's milk liqueurs and many more.

 

Here are several batches of mead being made by Colin. They look great. Below the recipes is pictures of the actual batches. My thanks go to Colin for sharing this with us!

Apple Cyser Mead

 

4qts Apple Cider 1tsp yeast nutrient 1/2 a pack of D47 yeast

4Lbs Orange Blossom Honey2 Cinnamon sticks

After going through secondary ferment it seemed a little thick or syrupy almost. So I added 2 bottles of water to it and it has been aging since.

 

 

 

 

 

Wildflower/Orange Blossom Meads

3Lbs Wildflower/Orange Blossom Honey 3L Deerpark water 1/2 pack D47 Yeast 1tsp yeast nutrient

This is 2 1-gallon batches to compare how Wildflower and Orange Blossom meads turn out, they were made to be as identical as possible.

   

   

Red Jolly Rancher Experiment Mead

 

13 Watermelon JRs 11 Fruit Punch JRs 3 Cherry JRs 3 Strawberry JRs 1/4lb Orange blossom honey 1/2 Gallon of water 1/2 packet D47 yeast 1/2tsp yeast nutrient 6 cherry JRs andd 1/3 lb honey added for backsweeten.

I got a bag of Red Jolly Ranchers on clearance and thought since they're mostly sugar maybe they would ferment with a little honey. I think it turned out nicely. Will try to let it age for a little while as well.

 

 

 

True Blue Jolly Rancher Mead

3/4 Lb Orange Blossom Honey 62 Blue Raspberry Jolly Ranchers 3L Deer Park water 1tsp yeast nutrient 1 packet D47 yeast

I mixed the Jolly Ranchers in with my honey as I heated it on the stove and it made a nice blue almost kool-aid like mix. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange Blossom Mead (In the bottle)

3lbs Orange Blosson Honey 1tsp Yeast Nutrient (1/2 tsp day 1, 2nd half on day 2) 1 gal water 1/2 pack of D47 Lalvin yeastPitched 11/13/2014 Racked 11/25/2014 Bottled 12/13/2014 (I used potassium sorbate and campden tablets and backsweetened with an extra pound of OB Honey, though now I know it really does sweeten up as it ages, almost too sweet.)

 

Strawberry Mead

4lbs Orange Blossom Honey 16oz frozen strawberries 1tsp yeast nutrient (1/2 tsp day 1, 2nd half on day 2) 3L Deer Park Water 1/2 packet D47 yeast Pitched 12/7/2014 Racked 12/18/2014

 

 

 

Blueberry Mead

4lbs Orange Blossom Honey 12oz frozen blueberries 1tsp yeast nutrient (1/2 tsp day 1, 2nd half on day 2)3L Deer Park Water 1/2 packet D47 yeast Pitched 12/7/2014 Racked 12/19/2014

 

 

 

Raspberry Mead 

4lbs Orange Blossom Honey 18oz Fresh Raspberries 1tsp yeast nutrient 3L Deerpark water 1/2 pack D47 yeast Pitched 12/13/2014 (Since the Raspberries were fresh I let them sit with the honey and water while heating them just in case)

 

 

 

So far Orange Blossom Honey has been my favorite taste and reminds me of when I used to live in Florida.

 

 

 

Here is a family recipe for a cranberry chutney mead made by Tony.

Hi Will, the following recipe is the exact one my family uses on thanksgiving and Christmas, I had planned on omitting the brown sugar and vinegar from the recipe when I made it into mead. It ends up to typically be around 17% ABV.

5 Pounds of Honey1 gallon of water1 packet Lalvin D-47 16 oz. package of cranberries 1 cup of raisins 2 apples, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 1 cup orange juice 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon cloves 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

About the brown sugar; Tony adds it at the secondary ferment. But you can add it at the primary ferment if you want.

Here is another picture of Tony's Mead:

 

White House Mead recipes - Ok! 1n 1887 Grover Cleveland was the President. And this is a reprint of the cookbook for that year for the White House. There are several mead recipes in there. Pretty interesting stuff here including a Sassafras Mead. . I have transcribed the recipes for you to check out.

Mead was more popular in that time period and it is great to see a revival of it.

 

 

 

 

Here is a recipe for an Apple Pie Cyser that was submitted by Russ Whaley. It is drinkable in 8-10 weeks and gets really good at about six months. It also uses dark brown sugar and it looks really great. You might want to try this one. The complete recipe with instructions and tips is right here: Apple Pie Cyser

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a recipe submitted by Santiago. He calls it Baker's Mead

 

7.5 - 8 lbs of honey (I used Golden Touch) 3 Gals of Spring Water 3 Granny Smith Apples or 3 Pears 2 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of powdered Ginger 2 Tsp of brown sugar 3 solid cinnamon sticks 1/8 tsp of allspice. 2 packets of  Lavin ICV D-47 yeast

1. Mix together all of the spices and sugar, except for the cinnamon sticks. 2. Peel, core, and cut apples into large cubes. 3. Follow standard steps to make mead, 4. Pitch in spice and sugar mixture, making sure to add the sliced apples last, but before stirring to aerate the must.

 

Here is a Recipe submitted by Eric, He says this one is easy and Hi Octane!

E-Rock's High Gravity Orange Mead

18 lbs. of honey 1 gallon of fresh squeezed orange juice 5 gallons of store bought water jugs (1 gallon each) ***Keep empty water jugs*** high gravity yeast (one vial of white labs) 1 pack of yeast nutrient 6.5 gallon GLASS carboy (don't use plastic EVER) 1 plastic airlock and rubber cork 1 syphon (get one from a brew store) 1 orange home depot bucket (5 gallon)

1 large funnel

-In a medium stockpot (4 gallon) bring 2 gallons of water to 120 degrees. -Add honey SLOWLY while stirring to completely dissolve without burning -Once dissolved (takes about 15-20 minutes) cool to room temp and set aside covered -In the 6.5 gallon glass carboy add your orange juice, yeast, yeast nutrient, then the honey/water mix -Add the rest of the water to carboy until almost full and shake vigorously for a few minutes -Seal up the carboy with airlock and cover so no light gets through to the mix in a room indoors that stays at a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees. -Wait 6-8 weeks -Using siphon, rack from the glass carboy to the bucket keeping the carboy side of the syphon about an inch above the sediment. -Use funnel to pour mead into the empty plastic water jugs one at a time from the bucket and put your delicious mead in the fridge. End result is a tasty sweet orange mead with an alcohol content of around 16% Enjoy, -E

 

Here is a terrific little mead recipe submitted by Matt in Florida. My thanks to him for the great contribution!

5 Gallon Lemon Star Anise Mead

18lbs Orange Blossom Honey 5 pods of star anise 2 ½ cinnamon sticks 2 ½ lemons, sliced, squeezed, then pitched A dash or two of black pepper per gallon 4 Cloves A couple tbsp vanilla extract or fresh vanilla if available Put all spices in stock pot and simmer with honey.

This Mead has a pleasant acidic taste if the lemon content is done just right, and it ferments fairly easily. I used a Lavin D-47 and took it all the way up to 16%. The recipe could probably use a little tweaking.

This is my first batch since I came up with it. I think next time I will use 2 large lemons and a few more pods of star anise. I was afraid of an over bearing development of licorice taste so I played it safe, but I would have liked to have taste a little more of the pods. I will keep you posted on how this batch matures as it is not quite bottled yet, but taste good even before its fully clarified.

 

Here are a couple of recipe modifications submitted by a web visitor from Australia:

Hey Will, greetings from Perth Western Australia I read your tutorials at http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/make-mead-1-brewing-the-must.htm and was inspired to make a few batches during my sword fighting club's "Brewing day" (usually reserved for honey beer brewing). Your honey mead recipe went down an absolute treat and the finished product got us all rolling drunk. I later tried tweaking the recipe a little and had some success with a couple of different mixes; (for a 5L batch) 1kg of honey (jarrah flower), 3L of apricot necter, 250g of seasonal berries, fruit wine/dessert wine yeast; made an extremely active initial ferment and produced a very sweet wine which made a really nice mulled wine (went down a treat on a cold winter's night). 1.5kg of honey (wildflower), at least a dozen mandarines (we had an over fertile tree this year and couldn't keep up with it's produce) which I mashed up to help them break down better, a few ground cloves and other tasty spices, roughly 4L waters of clean water, champagn e yeast; extremely active, made the room smell fantastic.

 

Here is a chocolate mead recipe submitted by Amy

My friend suggested a 'chocolate mead' recipee and i just started a batch yesterday.

1 gallon water 25 raisins 1 orange 3 jars of set honey 3 oz cadbury's drinking chocolate powder a teaspoon of 'Super yeast' started 15 min before in a mug. I tasted some of the must and if that is any indication it will be gorgeous.

 

 

Here is a pumpkin recipe submitted by Linda

Ingredients:10 lbs sweet cooking pumpkin

11lbs honey 3 T acid blend 6 teasp pectic enzyme 5 teasp yeast nutrient 1 pkg wine yeast

Wash pumpkins. Remove seeds and stringy material. Cut into small chunks and boil until soft. The skin will soften with cooking. Leave it to cool. Heat 1 gallon spring water to 160 degrees. Stir in honey and mix thouroughly. Add 1 gal cold spring water and add the other ingredients. Add to sanitized fermenting bucket. Add cool spring water until the level reads 4.5 gal. Put the pumpkin into a large straining bag and add to the contents of the bucket. Pitch yeast when the temp reaches 70-75 degrees. Close the lid and add an air lock. Daily open and push the pumpkin down, without disturbing the bottom of the bucket. When fermentation slows transfer to secondary. Rack as needed and bottle when clear and stable.

 

Here is a Cherry Mead recipe submitted by a web visitor (Rob) He decided to get a little strange with it but it has worked well for him. Sounds delicious, I love cherry.

5 gallons cherry jucy juice (instead of water) 15lbs honey 2 packets lalvin 71-b half a pound of cherrys - halved and pitted 2 table spoons of cinnamon

warm juice to about 100-120 degrees and stir in honey let cool to room temp add everything else let sit 2-3 weeks and rack over the next 3 weeks rack once a week

now you have a cherry mead with a hint of cinnamon never did a content check on it but 4 glasses of it had me pretty drunk

 

Here is a Ken Schramm recipe for Vanilla Mead

(This was submitted to the website by Carter J.) My thanks to him for submitting

 

Sanitized 7.5 gal. fermentor 20 pounds orange blossom honey Little less than a gallon of water Mix with mixer about 5 minutes uniform mixture

 

Make starter  Lalvin   71b-1122 yeast    15 grams  20 grams  of go-firm yeast hydrating additative  (lalleman go-ferm  lalvin) Rehydrate with water  pour yeast packets into the water,  put water in a cake pan and

pour yeast on it.takes about 20 minutes..water at 104 degrees. Add rest of water up to 5 gal. level - use bottled or spring water. Not distilled. Take gravity reading  1140-1150 Stir a little and add yeast to mixture and put on top of bucket. (can put some must into the

yeast slowly before putting into the bucket) 6-8 hours later  add ½ teaspoon diammonium phosphate     ¼ teaspoon fermaid K   every

24 hour for next three days.. Aerate and add. (4 additions)  

 

Ferment for  14-21 days  .air-lock flat   gravity Rack to 5 gal carboy full to the neck.  Muslin tea bag and 6 inch vanilla bean split and cut into 1 inch sections .   (1025

final gravity?) Steam the muslin tea bag (first)and put it into the mead.  Put airlock back in for 4-5

days. Taste. Leave taste until have the flavor you like and then pull out muslin bag. Age  till clear 4-5 months. Potassam sorbate  1/2t. per gallon  to stop fermentation and no bottle bombs. Add when

yeast not active... can't bottle condition with this. - no carbonation Cup of priming sugar or ½ honey - for bottle conditioning  -- carbonation

 

Flavored Mead Recipes

Here is an interesting new mead recipe submitted by a web visitor (Tim B.) My thanks to him for this unique recipe. It is kind of a take on my crazy coconut mead experiment.

Coconut Mead

This one is very simple but came out great. I tapped about 250 coconuts (all still green), and got about 10 gallons of coconut water.  I dissolved 1.5 gallons of clover honey and pitched 5 gallons with red star champagne yeast and the other five with a montpelier wine yeast.  I racked them 3 times over the course of a month and a half, and two months later it is just about all gone.  Had a nice flavor and a heck of a kick.  The champagne was pretty dry, and the montpelier still had a little sweetness remaining. 

 

Blackberry Mead 2 lbs honey 30 oz. blackberries 3 Tbs. dry tea leaves (used Jasmine) 3/4 teaspoon regular old bread yeast 1 c sugar 1 gal spring water balloon & rubber band

Rose Petal Mead

You make any type of mead from the above recipes dry, medium, or sweet and then:

Right before your final racking you add two cups fresh rose petals per gallon of mead. let them simply float around until they are clearish and seattling to the bottom then filter your mead and bottle, this will give you a rose smell as well as the taste of rose, now if you do not like the rose taste as much as i do you'll want to add less petals. Prep for the petals is rather simple just softly wash them off with water no need to boil or press, as you want the flavor to be a gentle one, not too over powering.

Sweet Raspberry Mead (Makes 1 Gallon)

Yeast: EC-1118 (1 packet) 1 Gallon Spring Water 4.5 pounds wildflower honey 1.5 pounds red raspberries The juice from 1 lemon The juice from 1 lime 3 Tablespoons of strong english tea 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient

Pretty straight forward instructions for this mead. Was the food ingredients before using and crush the raspberries. I froze them for a day before using them so they would break down and release their flavor easier. I thawed them out for the morning, crushed them and added them when I made the mead in the afternoon. Simply add all the ingredients into your mixing carboy then pitch the yeast. Leave extra headroom at the top of the bottle because all the ingredients will cause extra bubbling.

Vanilla Metheglyn

The definition of Metheglyn is a mead made with herbs and spices. This recipe uses vanilla and makes 1 gallon.

Yeast used: Premiere-Cuvee (1 packet) 3 pounds of Wildflower Honey 1 gallon of spring water 1 ounce of Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient 1/5th cup of peach ginger tea (brew a cup of tea as you normally would then use 1/5 of a

cup)

Create your must with all the ingredients then pitch the yeast. Easy to follow recipe.

Update on this Vanilla Recipe: I have received some great advice from web visitors on how I can make a good batch of vanilla mead. You can read about it here Vanilla Mead improvements

Pumpkin Mead

This is a nice seasonal mead with a beautiful orange color and makes 1 gallon.

Yeast: D-47 Lalvin 3 pounds of clover honey 1 gallon of spring water 12 ounces of pumpkin 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 1 twist of orange peel which is about 1/5th of the total orange peel

Easy to do: Add all your ingredients, stir vigorously then pitch your yeast and aerate for five minutes.

Orange Clove Mead (This is one of the best recipes, tastes great and is easy to make. If you are looking for a first recipe to try I recommend this one.

Interesting flavor and makes 1 gallon

1 gallon of Spring Water Yeast: Fleishcmanns (1 packet) 25 Raisins 1 Cinnamon stick 1 whole orange, sliced and peels included 1 pinch of allspice 1 pinch of nutmeg 3 1/2 pounds of clover honey

1 whole clove

Simply mix all the ingredients then pitch your yeast. Caring for this mead? The beautiful thing about this mead is that you can rack it off of all the oranges and raisins any time you want to, or you can just leave it all in there. When the oranges sink to the bottom you are ready to drink it or bottle it.. Simple as that. I recommend you bottle it and let it age for a couple more months. This recipe is just simply delicious.

Looking to make this orange clove mead recipe? Here is what a web visitor has to say about it:

are a couple of pictures of mead in a glass. This mead was made by Hadrian following my Orange Clove mead recipe. Here is what Hadrian has to say about it:

     I have been researching the craft of mead-making on your website for quite some time, I have learned a lot from you and am about to go on to making my first five gallon batch of a basic sweet  rose pedal mead very soon! Last year, I have attempted the easy orange clove recipe you provided and with some patience, I was surprised by the results after seven months. I would like to share these two pictures with you to host on your page if you would like, I was very impressed with my first batch of mead and would like to express my gratitude for all your advice! 

 

 

 

Strawberry Lemon Honey Mead

Ingredients for a 1 gallon Mixture:

1 kilo of strawberries (2.2 pounds) blended 2 kilos of honey (4.4 pounds) 10 lemon meyer flowers 4 zests of lemon meyer 6 lemon meyers cut into wedges and water to fill up the rest of the jug Mix it all and add your yeast Monitor for flavor and smell and rack into a new jug when you are satisfied with the

flavor and aroma

 

Here is a great recipe and tips submitted by a web visitor (Kent B.)for A Blackberry Mead:

BLACKBERRY MEAD

18 LBS YACKS CLOVER HONEY 3 LBS BLACKBERRY PUREE  (OREGAN FRUIT PUREE) 6 GALLON OF FILTERED WATER WYEAST SWEET MEAD SLAP PACK. 3 TSP OF YEAST NUTRIENT 3 TSP OF ACID BLEND

I sterilize everything , using Starsan sanitizer.

Always start your yeast the night before and (note that if you start the yeast the night before the slap pack will explode unless you transfer it to a small starter bottle - don't leave it in the slap pack! )

In a twenty quart stainless steel pot I fill it a third full of water and bring to a boil. I then pull it off of the heat and dissolve all of the honey. I move it back on the heat and bring it almost to a boil again. I skim off the top scum for about 15 minutes. I then add the fruit puree about 5 minutes before I turn off the heat.

At this point I add my nutrient and acid blend. I move the whole thing to  the kitchen sink where I have an ice bath waiting.  I stir in occasionally to help cool the mix. It usually takes about 25 minutes to cool it down changing out the water in the sink three times during the whole procedure. I then move it to a 6 ½ gallon glass carboy and fill it up with the extra water and honey mix until the bottle starts to neck up.

This usually leaves at lease a ½ gallon space for foam that will be produced. At this point I put in my bubble stone that is made from aluminum in and hook it to my oxygen bottle. I aerate the

bottle for a couple of minutes add the yeast and install the fermentation lock. I usually let this ferment for about 7-9 days until there is a good layer of sediment on the bottom. At this point I rack this into a 5 gallon glass carboy .

From there I check the bottle about every three days, watching to see how many bubbles are coming to the surface. After another week I begin to take samples every three days. When it gets close to the flavor I like I usually add gelatin wait a couple of days and rack it again. At this point I have no more bubbles rising. I let it set for a couple of days before I bottle it. I do not know how well this ages as I have never had a batch last for more than a month before my mooching friends have drank it all. The mead is slightly on the sweet side, but warms you up quick.

I have not used a hydrometer on this but 1 and a half 750 ml bottle later and you cannot walk. I always start my yeast the night before so I know for sure that I  have a viable yeast to pitch .

 

Here is an easy mead recipe from James in Queens:

1 gallon jug of Gallo wine (the cheap stuff).  I poured this out and made sangria and sanitized the jug and a funnel with 1 Tbls Clorox to a gallon of water after washing with soap and water.

1 gallon jug of Deer Park spring water.  The water jug held the sangria when I was finished, so no waste there.  I failed to let the jug come up to room temp in my excitement (the store sells beverages and water in an unheated area of the store.)

2.8 pounds of Parade brand pure clover honey (1 whole jar).  This is a store brand and costs about $8.

1 Tblsp. Condensed yeast from the European food store a block away.  This I already had around the house and I tested it first before adding (wasted a bit of yeast in the test, but I have almost a full pound remaining).  I don't know the brand name, as the writing is all in Serbian (I think).

1 orange cut in eighths 1 handful Sunmade raisins.  1 balloon from the corner bodega, a pack of 3 and a Slim Jim (to nourish the mead

maker) cost $2.

 

(WOLF MOON MEAD )Blackberries and Spices

 

This recipe was submitted by Phil. My thanks to him!

1 package of Red Star "Premier Cuvee" yeast Yeast nutrient

4 pounds of clover honey 1 gallon of spring water 8 ounces of Black berries - Frozen 1 whole clove inch and a quarter ( 1 1/4 ) long section of a vanilla bean. Split length-wise.

 

This is the process that I use for this recipe-

First set your black berries out so that they have enough time to thaw. I try to pick out the darkest of the berries at this point. I use about half a pound for this recipe. This amount gives the mead a wonderfull dark red color and just enough taste of Blackberry to make it special. Once they have thawed crush them in a bowl and set aside.

Pour about one third of a gallon of spring water into a pot. Gently heat the water on the stove to

about 90 degrees ( a candy thermometer is very helpfull here ) and add your honey, being sure to keep stirring evenly so the honey doesn't get burned and the mixture becomes homogenous. Remove from the stove and stir for another minute, adding spring water until you have used about a half of your gallon jug. Let this sit to cool to room temperature.

Using a funnel, pour your honey and water from the pot into a 1 gallon carboy. Pour in enough of the remaining spring water so there is about an inch left until the gallon mark. Now you can add the yeast and the nutrient. Shake for about 4 minutes and add blackberries. Shake for atleast another minute so that all of the ingredients are mixed and the batch has an even dark red color.

Let this ferment for 2-3 weeks. Siphon into a clean 1 gallon carboy leaving behind as much sediment as you can.

Take your section of vanilla bean after it has been prepared and place it into a muslin tea bag. Steam the bag and place into the mead. After 4-5 days check the taste of the mead. If there is enough of a vanilla flavor remove the tea bag. Repeat this process with the clove. I like to leave it in until there is just a hint of clove.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do

-Phil

2 Recipes From Allan :

2 gallon batch - Blackberry Christmas Mead

6 lbs Sue Bee Clover Honey 2 boxes raisins (the small ones, obviously!) Water balance to 2 gallons

1 tsp plain old bread yeast

Combine the above ingredients and leave for about a month. Once the primary ferment is done, rack the lot onto:

3 lbs Oregon Blackberry (or any other flavor, for that matter! ) Puree

Notes:

I was planning this for Christmas though I think this'll get better over time. I'm praying that it doesn't turn into Robitussin!!

This also marks the first time I've used fruit puree.

I had about 500ml plain mead leftover from the primary. Just basically honey-water with a kick to it (what do you expect, there's nothing in it!) :)

Blueberry Melomel (this one's a 1-gallon test batch)

My "Regular" blueberry mel is a crowd pleaser. People who I've given it to love it and have even asked for refills! A friend I gave it to even told me he's not sharing!! Trouble is, that batch took about FOUR MONTHS from start to bottle. I thought I'd try making a "quick drink" mel for the impatient ones.

Planning to bottle this next month sometime for Christmas.

Who knows, this might become a 2-gallon batch next year sometime!

PRIMARY

2 lbs Sue Bee OB Honey 1 lb Sue Bee Buckwheat Honey (marketed as Aunt Sue's Raw Unprocessed Honey in the Philippines) 1 cinnamon stick 1 whole clove

Water balance to 1 gallon

1/2 tsp Yeast Energizer * 1 tsp Fermax *

Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

SECONDARY

Racked the lot onto a pound of thawed blueberries, which I mashed slightly to release the juice.

Process Notes:

* You can replace the Energizer and Fermax with about 25 raisins if you don't have any commercial nutrient. * I didn't bother doing a starter for the yeast in this case, just pitched it straight into the jug. * Left this one for 2 weeks while I went off on a business trip (no, not mead related!). Came back and the ferment was done. * I threw in the cinnamon stick and clove at a whim. It actually turned out quite well. * It was surprisingly very drinkable straight out of primary. Something I wasn't expecting from a powerhouse EC-1118 yeast. I think it was because I pulled it out after 2 weeks. If I had left it longer, it could have been jet fuel...

** I might revisit my 2-gallon apple cyser. Only this time I'll add them apples in secondary instead of feeding them to the yeasties... I'll probably chop up the apples before I dump them in.