Mead Recipe #1


Here is a 'scratch' recipe I've used before and like. I originally found it on an nth generation photocopy a friend had, so I don't know the source. I've modified it over the years, adding my own touches and others' advice.

Ingredients: (makes 5 gallons)

Other items:

Start by washing everything that will come in contact with the must (unfermented mead) and rinse with lots of hot water. Cleanliness is important in brewing! Wild yeasts and bacteria would love to live in the must you're making, and will add off flavours to the finished mead. Don't get obsessive about it but do be aware of keeping things clean.

Soften the honey. I use another plastic bucket, putting the honey containers in it and adding hot tap water to almost cover them. You can also soften honey in a microwave oven.

Put three gallons of water in the fermentor. Set the lid on to keep out dust.

Put one gallon of water in the pot, and put it on the stove. While it heats, slice and peel about one tablespoon of ginger root. Add this to the pot. Peel orange rind about the size of the palm of your hand and add that to the pot as well.

Bring the water to a rolling boil, then boil for about 10 minutes.

Shut the heat off, and move the pot off the burner. Add the honey, while stirring the must. This keeps the honey from sinking to the bottom and scorching.

Cover the pot and let it sit for about 20 minutes. This helps kill off any bacteria and wild yeast that might be in the must. This step works well with pasturized honey. Wild/raw honey may require other steps to make sure it's sterile, such as boiling the mix for 30 minutes while stirring and skimming off the white scum that floats to the surface. Careful, must LOVES to boil over and make a huge, sticky mess on your stove.

Remove the cover, stir the must and remove the ginger and orange rind. Pour the must into the fermentor. Stir to mix the must with the water already in the fermentor.

Add 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient. Stir to dissolve. Add one or two packets of yeast. Stir again until the yeast is dissolved.

Put the lid tightly on the fermentor. Install the airlock and fill it halfway with vodka or water (vodka will kill any micro organisms that try to invade, but water will work too).

Carefully set the fermentor in a location where it won't be disturbed, and will remain at or around room temperature. The airlock should start bubbling in a few hours as the yeast wakes up.

After one month in the primary fermentor, it's time to rack the mead. Clean the secondary fermentor and siphon tube, wipe off any dust that's collected on the primary fermentor's lid, and open it. Siphon the must from the primary to the secondary, leaving as much of the settled yeast at the bottom as you can. You'll have to leave about 1/2 to 1 inch of must in the primary to do this. When done, seal up the secondary, fit the airlock, add vodka to it if necessary, and put the secondary in an undisturbed, room temp location. Clean the primary out before the sediment dries.

The mead should sit in the secondary fermentor for three to six months or more. The airlock will cease to bubble and the yeast will settle out of the mead as it ages. It should be clear or close to it by the time you bottle it. Siphon into wine bottles and cork, or use plastic soda bottles with screw caps, or what ever is convienient and can be sealed air-tight.

Wine bottles with corks will not seal completely until the corks get soaked and expand. This will take about a week, so store the bottles upright during that time. After that, store them on their sides or inclined to keep the mead in contact with the cork. This keeps the cork damp and expanded, sealing out air.

Like wine, mead gets better with age. There may be some yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle by the time you drink it. This won't hurt anything, but you should try to pour the mead off without disturbing it to keep the drink from tasting overly yeasty.

Just about any air-tight container that can be fitted with an airlock can be used as a fermentor, however stay away from metal (unless it's coated with enamle or ceramic), since the acidic must will attack it and leech metal into the solution. A food-grade plastic bucket for the primary allowd easy access to mix in the yeast and nutrient, and a glass carboy for the secondary lets you look at the mead easily to judge how clear it is. If you use a carboy for the primary, mix in the nutrient just before pouring, and allow the must to cool enough to prevent the glass from shattering from thermal shock. Using plastic buckets for both primary and secondary works well too.

From what I've heard, mead hangovers can be pretty wicked, so be conservative and use good judgement when sampling your mead. Wasail!