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- 1 gallon (12 lb) of wildflower honey<\/li>\n
- 5 gallons water<\/li>\n
- 5 tsp diammonium phosphate (aka “DAP”)<\/li>\n
- 5 tsp cream of tartar<\/li>\n
- yeast (I used Red Star’s Premier Cuvee)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Basic mead making equipment:<\/h2>\n
A fermenter, stirring spoon, 3+ gallon stockpot, and a hydrometer are needed today. A 5-gallon carboy, 1-gallon jug with drilled bunges to fit, airlocks, siphon hose, and racking cane will be needed later. This is available at any homebrew\/winemaking shop.<\/p>\n
Procedure – how to make mead:<\/h2>\n
![\"Measuring](\"https:\/\/www.washingtonwinemaker.com\/pic\/20070504%20-%20errollo%20-%20measuring%20honey%20edit%20crop%20300x450.jpg\" "\\"Measuring")
All your equipment (fermenter, stirring spoon, stockpot) should be clean. It’s also a good idea to sanitize your equipment by immersion in boiling water or sanitizing solution. YU8HwZ9FDAu1vtFJ9TNghZJJuqi0nr0v6ou can buy a commercial sanU8HwZ9FDAu1vtFJ9TNghZJJuqi0nr0v6itizer at any homebrew shop, or make your own<\/a>. Measure one gallon of honey and dissolve into 2 gallons of water. In the photo, I’m pouring honey from a 5-gallon bucket into a stockpot. The stU8HwZ9FDAu1vtFJ9TNghZJJuqi0nr0v6ockpot has markings at the 8 quart and 12 quart levels. I filled it with hot (just off the boil) water to the 8 quart line, then poured in honey until it reached the 12 quart line. So I’m using the stockpot as a large measuring cup. I used hot water so that I could dissolve the honey more easily.
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<\/p>\n![\"Filling](\"https:\/\/www.washingtonwinemaker.com\/pic\/20070504%20-%20errollo%20-%20filling%20fermenter%20edit%20crop%20300x450.jpg\" "\\"Filling")
Next, fill the fermenter. In the photo at left, I’m pouring the 3 gallons of honey-water into my fermenter. After that, I dissolved the DAP and cream of tarter in a little water and stirred it in. Finally, I added 3 gallons of cold water and gave the whole thing a good stir.
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Take a sample to measure the specific gravity with your hydrometer. Make a note of this so you can compare it to the specific gravity of the fermented mead and estimate the alcohol content. Here I measured the SG as 1.080, which means the potential alcohol is about 11% by volume. A pH measurement can be useful too, but the total acidity that winemaker’s often measure is much less useful in mead.Once you’ve taken your sample, you can pitch the yeast. I made a starter<\/a> the day before with about a quarter cup honey dissolved in a cup of water with a pinch of DAP and cream of tartar. This gave my yeast a head start, and I poured the starter into my fermenter after I drew my sample.<\/p>\n![\"Mischievous](\"https:\/\/www.washingtonwinemaker.com\/pic\/20070504%20-%20errollo%20-%20tasting%20honey%203%20edit%20crop%20300x338.jpg\" "\\"Mischievous")
It’s vital to stay focused and diligent. Due care must always be taken to perform each step with rigor and precision. Never forget the seriousness of your task \ud83d\ude42
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<\/p>\nUpdate 5\/28\/07 – clarifying the mead with bentonite<\/h2>\n
I racked<\/a> the mead into a new carboy and fined with bentonite<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Update 11\/8\/07 – aging the mead in oak<\/h2>\n
I racked<\/a> off the bentonite sediment and onto some oak chips. I also adjusted the acidity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Update 1\/27\/08 – different ways to make mead<\/h2>\n
There are many different ways to make mead, and in June 2007 I briefly discussed<\/a> three of my other meads as well as an apple wine. I bottled all four that day, including some of the first mead I ever made, a mead in honor of Brother Adam, and the most wine-like mead I ever made.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Update 3\/23\/2009: Bottled – the mead tastes great!<\/h2>\n
This is a simple recipe that turned out great – the only hard part was waiting. It was definitely worth the wait<\/a>, and I would recommend this recipe to anyone interested in, or curious about, mead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This great tasting mead is easy to make. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,30],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mead","category-recipes","tag-nad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t