Simple homebrew mead

Mead is fermented honey and is the oldest fermented drink with archaeological evidence of it dating back thousands of years.

Just like wine or beer you can have many different meads depending on what ingredients you use that can change the appearance, taste, and alcohol content.

All you need to make a basic mead is honey, water and yeast to convert the natural sugars in the honey into alcohol.

The amount of alcohol in your finished mead will depend on the ratio of honey to water you use, as more sugar equals more alcohol. 

Most mead recipes use 3 pounds (1.36 kg) of honey to one US gallon (3.785 litres) of water.

1360 ÷ 3.785 = 360g of honey per litre of water to produce a mead of around 15% ABV.

Begin by sterilising your fermentation vessel and anything that will come into contact with the mead.

Then heat your water to 40°C (104°F) and add the honey, this mixture is called must.

Stir or shake the must to ensure an even consistency this also adds oxygen to the must for your yeast.

Once the must has cooled to 20-25°C (68-77°F) you can add or pitch your yeast. Do not add the yeast until it has cooled as it is a living organism and you could kill it if the temperature is too high.

Seal your fermentation vessel with an airlock and put it somewhere warm so that it stays at that pitch temperature. 

Within a few hours you'll see bubbles of carbon dioxide passing through it letting you know your yeast is fermenting happily.

Depending on how much honey you used fermentation should be complete in a week or two and you'll no longer see bubbles passing through the airlock.

Siphon the liquid into a new sterilised container taking care not to disturb much of the sediment at the bottom of your fermentation vessel called lees. Seal this and leave somewhere cool for few weeks to clarify as the micro particles making the mead cloudy will sink over time to settle down and the mead becomes crystal clear.

Now you can drink it at this stage but it will taste better with age so its preferable to siphon so not to disturb the remaining lees into sterilised bottles for six months or more to condition.

Happy brewing.

Roo