How To Make Mead In 30 Minutes – Survival Gardener

How To Make Mead

In the video I go over a simple technique you can use to make a batch of mead in about 30 minutes.  This will render 30-35 750ml bottles of mead.  You can use any fermenter or carboy and follow this rough recipe.  Here, I’m using a Fast Ferment 7.9 gallon fermenter.   
More detailed step by step instructions are below the video.

Meadmaking Supply and Ingredient List

My mead batches usually have 1.3-1.5kg honey for each total gallon and they’ve turned out great.  Whether you’re doing 1 gallon or using the 7.9 gallon Fast Fermenter adjust the amount accordingly.

SUPPLY LIST:

7.9 Gallon Fermenter – https://amzn.to/2pT7glb or 
71B Wine Yeast – https://amzn.to/3yHv9zw
1 Step Sanitizer – https://amzn.to/2GmMl4i
Spice/herb infuser – https://amzn.to/3T1OvYf
12kg of honey for the 7.9 gallon fermenter
1.5kg of honey if using a 1 gallon carboy

Mead Spices and Flavors

The great thing about mead is how forgiving it is.  Have fun and try out various spice, yeast and fruit combinations.  Or, try a clean mead with just honey, yeast, and water. The types of flowers the bees collect from will determine the background flavor of the mead.  We’ve made many batches using honey from Costco’s Latin American branch, “Pricesmart” and had good luck.  But, keep in mind, mass produced honey might result in a boring mead that may benefit from adding spices and fruit.  We’ve used cinnamon, cloves, various citrus, dragon fruit, hibiscus flowers, ginger, mangos and even used malabar spinach berries for color.

Here’s a fool proof flavor mix to make a spiced orange mead(modify for smaller batches):

• 10 cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup of raisins
• 6 quartered oranges
• 2 tablespoons cloves

Best Yeast For Mead

The yeast selection will affect the alcohol content, flavor, length of fermentation and how dry or sweet you mead is.  We’ve had good luck with the 71B Wine yeast in the ingredient list above.  It’s very tolerant of the ambient temperature, can render up to 14% and hard to go wrong.  I suggest it for a first time batch.  In Costa Rica, our brew room hangs out around 80F so only certain yeasts perform well.  Below are ones that have also worked well in the tropics.

EC-1118: We’ve had luck with EC-1118 yeast.  It’s great for high alcohol % batches and can withstand up to 18%.  Be careful though, you might end up with what I affectionately call “blackout mead”.  Something that’s as tasty as mead with a 18% alcohol content can be dangerous. Drink responsibly.

K1-V1116: This is a versatile yeast that will produce a fresh and fruity tasting mead.  It can also go up to 18% alcohol.  It’s a great option for meads(melomels) made with added fruit or juices.

Premiere Blanc: We’ve recently had good luck with Premiere Blanc white wine yeast too. It a champagne yeast and vigourously ferments.  When used in mead ususally produces around 13-15% alcohol.  The finished product has a background flavor similar to Champagne.  You can even use it get a naturally carbonated mead.

How To Make Mead Step By Step

1. Sanitize everything that will be used in the brewing process using 1 Step Sanitizer
2. Mix all of your honey with equal parts water in a pot on the stove. It does not need to boil; just hot enough to dissolve the honey and make a homogeneous mixture. This is known as the “must”.  If you don’t have a pot large enough, you can also mix the honey and hot water inside of your fermenter instead of using  pot.  Just be sure the it’s well mixed.  Otherwise honey will coagulate and collect at the bottom.
3. Add the must to the fermenter and top off with the rest of the water while stirring.  Leave enough room at top if you’re adding fruit and some air space for the airlock.
4. Stir two 5 gram packets of wine yeast into the fermenter.  Each packet can handle up to 5 gallons.  So, if you’re only doing one gallon, just use a half packet.  Ensure that the temperature is below 90F/32C.  If it’s too hot, the yeast will die.
5. Add in any spices or fruit.  For clearer mead and easier bottling, I suggest putting herbs and spices into infuser balls or cheese cloth.  Oranges usually don’t make too much particulate matter but other types of fruit can fall apart during fermentation.  You can prevent this by putting your fruit in a cheese cloth or fabric sack.
6. Put on the lid and airlock and be sure it has a good seal.  Check it after 24 hours.  The airlock should be bubbling.
7. After 10-20 days, bubbling will slow down considerably. When it stops, you can start emptying the sediment chamber.  This is a great time to give your mead a taste! I usually wait a day between emptying the sediment bulb.  And it usually takes 3-4 empties to get it clear.
8. Time to bottle it!  First, sanitize your bottles using the 1Step Sanitizer. I recommend using bottles made for carbonated beverages like beer and sparking water.  Liquor bottles will break if an pressure builds up inside and you’ll have a huge mess.  Some of the beer bottles with flip top ceramic lids are a good choice because they keep a great seal and can be used over and over.
9. If your mead ends up too dry, you can always back sweeten with honey at the end.

Mead pros say you should wait at 3-6 months and longer for it to age, but it’s tasty right after it’s bottled.  Frankly, I find it hard to keep a batch for 6 months. 😄

Enjoy and let me know what questions you have below in the comments section.