Basic Mead
Basic Mead
Source: Scott James (scojam@scojam.Auto-trol.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #18, 16 October 1992
Ingredients:
10 lbs honey (clover honey, processed. From local super market chain)
1 can concentrated white grape juice
(condensed for reisling wine; from homebrew shop)
5 gal. water
5 grams dry "Pasteur Champagne yeast"
Procedure:
I let it ferment for 3 months in primary (70F), then bottled; priming
with 1 lb honey disolved in 4 cups boiling water.
Comments:
After six months we (college roomies) couldn't stand the wait and broke
into the stuff. Due to a bitter taste, we mixed most of it into a wine
cooler at a party (no flames, please). Just recently I tried one of the
two remaining 1 year old bottles. It was fantastic! Smooth and
sparkley! I have one bottle left, I'm saving it to share with that
special some one...
postscript: I tried the last 2 1/2 year old bottle -- Absolutely
pristine and crisp. Lots of bubbles like champagne (less priming honey
next time) and left a very subtle sweet taste on the lips. (She loved it
too :).
Chapter 1: Basic Mead
Traditional Mead and Maple Wine
Source: John Gorman (john@rsi.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #19, 17 October 1993
Ingredients:
5-6 qts honey or 7-8 qts maple syrup (bulk grade B dark)
5 tsp yeast nutrient
15 gm white wine yeast
Procedure:
Relax, don't worry, have some mead.
Hydrate the yeast and dissolve the yeast nutrient _separately_ in warm
water for 30 minutes. Mix the honey, maple syrup, or both with first
hot and then cold tap water in a large open container to almost 5
gallons at your target specific gravity. Splash or spray the water to
oxygenate the must so that the yeast will multiply. Pour the must into
a glass carboy, then pitch in the hydrated yeast and dissolved yeast
nutrient, dregs included.
Use a blow off tube for the first few days and then switch to a water
trap. In a month or so, the alcohol will kill the yeast before it runs
out of sugar. If not, and the mead turns out too dry, add some more
honey. It is ready to drink as soon as fermentation stops.
Maple wine becomes crystal clear with a beautiful sherry color within 60
days. Mead will sometimes clarify in 90 days. If you choose to bottle
the mead before it is clear, it will clarify in the bottles, leaving an
unsightly but delicious sediment.
Use Bentonite (clay) to quickly clarify a mead anytime after
fermentation stops. Boil 12 ounces of water in a saucepan. While
simmering, slowly sprinkle and stir in 5 tsp of bentonite. Cover and
let stand for 24 hours. Add during racking. It may be necessary to
rack and bentonite twice. The result is crystal clear.
Comments:
Traditional Meads and Maple Wines have an alcohol content of 12-15%.
Always use yeast nutrient and plenty of yeast for a strong start. The
fermentation will take off with a bang and the rapidly rising alcohol
content will quickly kill off any wild yeast. There is no need to
sulphite, heat, or boil the must. Why ruin good honey? I have never
had a bad batch of mead, except when I added acid.
