Brewing - Mead Basics

[nEone]

Introduction to Mead

What is mead?
Mead is wine made from honey. That’s it. There are variations and different names if spices or fruits are added or if it’s brewed with grains and carbonated (braggot, methlegin, cyser, etc.). But essentially – it’s fermented honey. Historical evidence shows that mead is probably the very oldest type of fermented beverage, blah blah blah. Vikings made it. Egyptians made it.

What does mead taste like?
Basic, no frills mead is a light white wine, slightly tart and can range from sweet to dry, depending on the yeast used – it tastes a bit like honey but not as much as one might expect. Some people are disappointed that their mead doesn’t have a syrupy mouth-feel like an ice-wine or a muscato. I think that's because people call it the nectar of the gods and it has a pretty golden hue - so they expect it to have a thicker substance.

Before brewing a few gallons of your own mead – go out and buy a commercial brand – buy two bottles (there are plenty of brands available online for reasonable prices). Don’t buy fancy vanilla/fruit concoctions…just buy a sample of traditional mead. Google it - it's not all that expensive. Buy two bottles.

Why two? The first one will tell you if you even LIKE mead. You might not. If you DON’T, the second bottle will be a nice eccentric gift for someone. If you DO, the second bottle should be put away and stored until YOUR mead is ready to drink – so that you can compare/contrast your efforts against those of so-called professionals. Blind taste testings will surprise you.

How hard/expensive is mead to make?
Not very – depending on a few factors. If you brew your own beer or wine already – you’re pretty well set. If not, in the very least, you need a few pieces of equipment, but not too much. The honey itself is where it can get expensive. Honey isn’t a cheap form of sugar. The cheaper/more processed the honey, the less “distinctive” the mead is going to be. That said, grocery-store honey works just fine. Particularly for the first few batches. If you can boil water, you can make mead.

What kind of Yeast is best for Mead?
There are specialty yeasts that are available that are specifically “mead” yeasts. But any white wine yeast will make a good mead. Worst case scenario – regular old bread-yeast that you get at the grocery store will make a perfectly passable mead.

How strong is mead ? – I want to get TRASHED Viking Style!
Most mead tends to ferment out to around 10-14% ABV depending on a few factors including yeast choice and environmental factors (temperature, etc.). Word of warning – even dry mead is relatively sweet and will have residual sugars…overindulging will result in serious hangovers.

OK – I’m in – How do I brew up some mead?
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nEone added 1 Minutes and 19 Seconds later...

Basic Ghetto Mead

Ingredients
3.5 lbs Wildflower honey from the grocery store
Juice from one or two oranges
1 Small handful of raisins (25 ish)
1 packet of dry bread yeast (Fleishmann’s is a common US brand)
Tap water

Equipment
Large pot
1 Gallon glass Jug (apple cider comes in them)
Funnel
Long Handled Spoon
Short length of plastic hose.
Tin Foil
Tape
Grolsh beer bottles

Makes 1 Gallon

Empty the glass jug of it’s cider. Wash well, rinse and dry.

Put ½ gallon of tap water on medium heat on the stove…no need to boil…add the honey and stir to dissolve. Bring to a simmer and skim off and white foam. 15-20 minutes. Pour honey water into the jug – use the funnel. Add the raisins and orange juice.

Fill the jug with tap water up to 3” below the neck. Cap the jug and shake it up. A lot.

Un-cap. Toss in the yeast.

Crumple a large ball of tinfoil around one end of the plastic hose, so that the end is just poking out of the ball. Jam the ball of tinfoil into the jug with the long length of hose on the outside. Get it nice and tight. Wrap a layer or two of foil around the neck/ball connection to get a tight seal. Tape the edges. Put the other end of the hose into a glass of water, so that the opening is fully submerged in the water. Put the set up in a closet somewhere. Room temp is great.

The orange juice adds a little acidity, the raisins add nutrients, the hose allows the gas to escape as the yeast converts sugars into alcohol and CO2.

The first three days will be very active. After the initial bubbling dies down, go ahead and undo the tinfoil, add more water to fill the jug to an inch or so below the mouth. Re-assemble the tinfoil setup.

Wait three weeks. At this point, there’s going to be a bunch of junk in the bottom – that’s dead yeast. If you want, you can siphon or carefully pour the mead off of the dead yeast into a new jug. Regardless, give it another month, then carefully pour off into clean bottles – Grolsh beer bottles are ideal because they have swingtops that make capping super easy.

You could drink it now, but it’s gonna taste sour and new. Let it sit for another month and it’ll be better – two, even better. At a total of 6 months, it’s as good as it’s gonna get. If you didn’t wait long enough before you bottled – the mead could end up being carbonated. Bread yeast is only going to get you up to about 9-10%abv, so if you’ve left it fermenting for two months, you should have a flat, sweet dessert wine.

Next up – less ghetto

nEone added 2 Minutes and 33 Seconds later...

Basic Mead

Ingredients
3.5lbs of good quality unpasteurized honey – Orange Blossom is great.
1/8 teaspoon of acid blend (from home brew store) – or OJ
1/8 teaspoon of yeast nutrient (from home brew store) – or raisins
1 cup strong black tea
1 packet of white wine yeast (Chardonnay is best)
Tap water

Equipment
Large pot
2 x 1 Gallon glass Jugs (apple cider comes in them)
Funnel
Long Handled Spoon
Airlock w/rubber stopper (from home brew store)
Racking cane / hose (from home brew store)
Grolsh beer bottles

Same as above mostly – dissolve the honey in warm water, add to primary jar, add yeast nutrient/acid/tea – fill to 3” below neck. Add yeast. Let sit in the dark until primary ferment is done - 3-5 days. Top up to 1” below mouth – wait three weeks.

Using racking cane / siphon – transfer to second jug. Every four weeks, transfer from jug to jug, leaving the dead yeast behind. Do this until the Mead is “clear” – aka not cloudy. By that time, the mead should be clear. Bottle and store for an additional 4-6 months.

The black tea adds tannin which creates a more complex/complete flavor in the finished mead.

Next up – alternatives, additions and notes

nEone added 4 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...

Alternatives, Additions and Notes

Once you have a handle for making a simple basic mead – the world is your oyster.

Less honey = drier mead
More honey = sweeter mead

On average, approx 3-4lbs per gallon makes for a balanced mead (depending on honey/yeast types).

Add vanilla beans / fruits / spices - use varietal honey (from a single source like – FYI, if honey is called “wildflower” that’s just industry lingo for “who effing knows”.)

Try adding a half pound of maple syrup for a richer darker mead

Try this – cut a Habenjero or Scotch Bonnet hot pepper in HALF – put half the pepper into a bottle of finished mead and leave it there over night – then TAKE IT OUT. Your mead will now have a delicious spicy kick that perfectly pairs with the sweetness.

To Boil or Not to Boil?

Purists will tell you that boiling the honey destroys delicate flavors and makes a bland, soulless mead. Others will say you need to boil the honey/water mixture to kill any bacteria. Whatever. The truth is, the only thing that grows in honey is botulism, and that only hurts babies. So – as a precaution – don’t give your mead to babies. A good simmer is enough to bring the proteins to the surface (which allows your mead to clear properly).

Reputation Comments on this post:

great recipe