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I don't know anything about mead but the honey part. But I love honey, and alcohol. What is the best mead recipe or brand you know?

I don't know anything about mead but the honey part. But I love honey, and alcohol. What is the best mead recipe or brand you know?

(post is archived)

[–] 2 pts (edited )

I translated this for you:

The brewing process

There are several ways to brew mead, but the simplest is to mix honey in water and then add yeast. Many heat treat honey and cool it down, but lately the no-heat method has tended to be the most popular.

Additions

Fruit, berries, spices and the like can be added together with the yeast or during fermentation if you make a hybrid between mead and fruit wine. Different types of fruit and berries require different types of treatment, calcium disulfite (potassium metabesulfite or campden) is often added to prevent fruit from oxidizing and to kill bacteria. The fermentation

As mead can be a slightly hostile place for yeast, you should make sure that there is enough yeast by making a yeast starter and using yeast nutrition.

Yeast nutrition

The brewing process is often quite simple, but in return the fermentation itself is more complicated. If you brew beer, you need to think little about yeast nutrition, since the yeast gets most of what it needs from nutrients from the malt. This is not the case with mead, since honey does not contain nearly as many nutrients. It is entirely possible to brew mead without adding any kind of yeast nutrient, after all, this is how mead has been made throughout history except for the last few decades. Nevertheless, it is widely agreed that mead layered with sufficient nutrition is clearly better than mead layered in exactly the same way without nutrition.

Mead layered without sufficient fermentation nutrition often takes on off-flavors that require 6 months to a year to disappear, sometimes longer. When mead was made in the past, it was almost always stored for months and years before being drunk, but now homebrewers and commercial breweries can produce mead that tastes very good a month after brewing. Even so, most mead has a good shelf life.

Secondary/secondary fermentation

Since mead almost always improves with time, it is common to transfer the mead to another container without the yeast after the fermentation is complete. This is known as "secondary fermentation", although it is not strictly speaking a fermentation. Here, it is common to use wine balloons made of glass, since plastic can contain micro-cracks that cause an unpleasant taste over time. It is also possible to use stainless steel or oak barrels. It is important that the container is full, so that as little oxygen as possible is in contact with the mead. Mead, like beer, oxidizes easily.

It is also important to make sure that when you transfer the mead to the secondary that you leave the yeast behind. You do the actual transfer with a siphon without splashing too much.

Additions of fruit, berries, spices etc.

Fruit, berries, spices and the like can be added together with the yeast or during fermentation if you make a hybrid between mead and fruit wine, preferably in the secondary fermentation. Different types of fruit and berries require different types of treatment, calcium disulfite (potassium metabesulfite or campden) is often added to prevent fruit from oxidizing and killing bacteria.

Additions in Secondary

In secondary, it is common to add other ingredients, such as fruit, berries or spices. By adding ingredients secondary instead of during fermentation, the ingredient retains more of its original flavor, so this is often the favored way of adding. If, for example, blueberries are added during fermentation, it will taste more like blueberry wine, while blueberries in the secondary will give a much clearer taste of blueberries.

It is also common to add oak chips or cubes to mead.

Residual sweetness

After fermentation of beer, you are often left with some residual sweetness, but this is not the case with mead. This is because malt contains several complex sugars that the yeast is unable to break down, so the beer gets its natural sweetness from the carbohydrates that are often desired. Honey contains only about 1.5% unfermentable sugar, while wort has about 25%. This results in the mead being completely dry after fermentation. Mead can be found in many forms, and too many spice meads (metheglyns) are completely dry. Even so, it is often beneficial to have some sweetness in the mead, especially if it is made with fruit or berries. A mead or wine made with fruit that is completely dry does not taste fruity at all, even if it contains large amounts of fruit.

Pursuit

The process of making the mead sweeter after fermentation is called backsweetening. Most often, you taste until you reach the desired amount of sweetness, and then add a corresponding amount of honey. Fruit and berries in the secondary can also contribute to this. Before doing so, it is important to stabilize the mead, which means making sure that the yeast does not start fermenting again. This can be done in several ways, but the safest for homebrewers is to add calcium sorbate and calcium disulfite. Preferably in two rounds. Nils's page on Sulfittering will be linked here. It is important not to have a lot of beer in the tank when this is done, stir first.

Mead can be in secondary for anything from a couple of weeks to several years, and in some cases it can be casked immediately after fermentation. . It is common to leave mead in the secondary because it gets better with time, but also because you often want to leave it for a long time with any additional ingredients. The mead continues to develop if it is stored in the bottle, but several brewers have reported that storage in secondary ("bulk aging") is more effective. In addition, more particles separate out and fall to the bottom over time, so the mead is often left for a while to clarify. If you don't do this, you will get sediment in the bottles. Mead can also be carbonated, but since it is usually stabilized, this is best done by artificial carbonation..

have fun!

Oh wow this is a lot of really cool information. I can't wait to invest in a farm and a bunch of bees. Last night I realized that there is nearly no mead in the USA and I don't know that I ever drank a glass but one at a Renaissance festival. It'd be cool to produce enough to brand and sell since there's probably a lot of people who would love it.

Thank you for your comment!

[–] 1 pt

give us updates on your progression! this seems awesome!

i sure will! whenever i get a farm going and a bunch of beez ill make a whole post about making mead. i hope i can get a business going with it

[–] 1 pt

You'd probably prefer something like berenjaeger or krupnik (honey liqueurs). These have the honey taste and a good boozy kick.

Mead is more like white wine. Most of the commercially available ones aren't very good.

woo that sounds really cool! i didnt think about other liqueurs using honey without it just being a novelty flavoring. i would be interested in anything i can do with honey to be honest. its part of my namesake, bees that is

[+] [deleted] 1 pt
[–] 1 pt (edited )

Use white grape juice instead of water. The juice will add no flavor but will be full of nutrients. The end product will also be more full bodied.

Here's a basic recipe. The honey amount can take from 1-3 lbs per gallon pending on how dry/sweet or strong/weak you want it. I like mine strong and sweet. I use a process called step feeding to attain a higher abv. I won't be teaching that in this recipe. I'll keep it basic.

If you want to keep it traditional remove the nutrient and Energizer and throw in a handful of raisins. The end product isn't as good or as controllable utilizing that method though.

I like to use champagne yeast sure to the higher alcohol production. Ec1118

2lbs of honey 1 gallon white grape juice 1 tsp of yeast nutrient 1/2 tsp yeast Energizer 1/2 lemon or 1/2 tsp of acid blend 1/4 tsp tannin

Thank you for the recipe and tips! That's a good starting point

[–] 1 pt

best mead is no mead. Alcohol is poison and God condemns its use

[–] 1 pt

I made some amazing mead but following my typical process I took notes when I made it but lost them by the time it was ready to drink. I know I used a vanilla rooibos tea instead of water. Forgot about it in my closet for probably a year. It was amazing.

That reminds me. I think I have a couple of gallons in my closet I should try. It's been a couple of years. I don't drink much so it's easy for me to forget about.

oh! thats awesome let me know how that batch worked out for you!

[–] 1 pt

Depends on the fruit in your area. Personally any fruit so long as it's sweet and not over saturated with water mak8ng it bland