How To Make Mead In 30 Minutes – Survival Gardener

Mead Making Supply  List

My mead batches usually have 1.3-1.5kg(2.8-3.3lbs) honey for each total gallon and they’ve turned out great.  Whether you’re doing 1 a gallon carboy or using my favorite 7.9 gallon Conical Fermenter adjust the amount accordingly.  I have the supply list below to get everything to your door within 2-3 days.

SUPPLY LIST:

And here’s a fool proof flavor mix to make a 7.9 gallons of spiced orange mead recipe(use less for smaller batches):

• 10 cinnamon sticks 
• 1 cup of raisins (without preservatives)
• 6 quartered oranges
• 2 tablespoons cloves

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. You can use my flavor suggestions in the list, 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 in Costa Rica 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 and may benefit from adding spices and fruit.  We’ve used cinnamon, cloves, various citrus, dragon fruit, hibiscus flowers, ginger, mangos, coffee and even used malabar spinach berries for color. 

Best Yeasts For Mead

The yeast selection will affect the alcohol content, flavor, length of fermentation and how dry or sweet you mead is. 

71B Yeast: 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, however these will work great in any normal climate controlled area as well.

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 vigorously ferments.  When used in mead usually produces around 13-15% alcohol.  The finished product has a background flavor similar to Champagne.  You can even use it get a naturally sparkling mead.