Simplest possible (crude) metheglin recipe

Hey everyone. I made mead, once, a long time ago but I don't really remember what all was in it anymore. I definitely know I didn't use any fancy brewing ingredients like yeast energizer and such.

I'm currently planning to make a ~4.5 gallon batch of metheglin in a 5 gallon bucket. Here's my planned recipe so far. I'm really hoping everyone here will help me hammer out details, especially the measurements for the ingredients.

~Ingredients~
Cheapo honey from Winco
Pumpkin pie spice
Bread yeast
Water


So how much of each ingredient do I need? Do I REALLY need something else in there as a nutrient? I want to keep this as simple as possible. I don't expect my mead to win any awards.

Thanks in advance.

billyda59 said:

Hey everyone. I made mead, once, a long time ago but I don't really remember what all was in it anymore. I definitely know I didn't use any fancy brewing ingredients like yeast energizer and such.

I'm currently planning to make a ~4.5 gallon batch of metheglin in a 5 gallon bucket. Here's my planned recipe so far. I'm really hoping everyone here will help me hammer out details, especially the measurements for the ingredients.

~Ingredients~
Cheapo honey from Winco
Pumpkin pie spice
Bread yeast
Water


So how much of each ingredient do I need? Do I REALLY need something else in there as a nutrient? I want to keep this as simple as possible. I don't expect my mead to win any awards.

Thanks in advance.

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The honey will depend on the sugar content, so practically speaking, you should think of about 3lb per gallon i.e. probably get enough for 5 gallons of mead, add it into the bucket for 4.5 gallons, make it up to the Target volume with water, the take a gravity reading (yes, you'll need a hydrometer). I'd suggest that you aim for between 1.100 and 1.110.

You will need some yeast nutrient - I'd say fermaidk, fermax or similar.

With the spices, I'd suggest that you use whole spices, not ground spices, and just make it as a traditional brew, then add the spices to secondary. It's usually best to add spices to the minimum amount you can get away with. Let it steep for a couple of weeks then taste it. You can always add more, but if you added too much you could easily make it undrinkable.

Okay, so about how much nutrient would I need for a 4.5 gallon (17 liter) batch? A description I'm reading on the Fermax says use 1 teaspoon per gallon, but I figure it probably depends on what I'm brewing.

Also, would you recommend I use something other than bread yeast, even if I am just going for a crude mead? Can yeast really make a distinguishable difference to an untrained palette?

billyda59 said:

Okay, so about how much nutrient would I need for a 4.5 gallon (17 liter) batch? A description I'm reading on the Fermax says use 1 teaspoon per gallon, but I figure it probably depends on what I'm brewing.

Also, would you recommend I use something other than bread yeast, even if I am just going for a crude mead? Can yeast really make a distinguishable difference to an untrained palette?

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there are ways to calculate the actual nutrient requirement but the package instructions will get you pretty far.

To answer your second question, YES, yeast makes a huge difference. You will do much better with a reliable wine yeast than bread yeast. Yes I know JAOM (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead) shines with just bread yeast, but that mead is a little unusual. I really like 71B as a dry yeast for mead...

billyda59 said:

Also, would you recommend I use something other than bread yeast, even if I am just going for a crude mead? Can yeast really make a distinguishable difference to an untrained palette?

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I agree with biochem completely, bread yeast does work for JAOM but it has crappy flocculation, kind of a pain to work with and to me leaves things syrupy sweet.

Wine yeast only costs around $1 a pack, I like 3 for a 5 gallon batch. Im a huge fan of Lalvin strains, they works well, consistant, and have a selection that allows you to choose one that will give you the end product (dry, semi-sweet or sweet) that you want. Just a couple notes if you go that way, the 1118 is a monster, will take most anything dry and really seems best suited to fix a stuck ferment more than being a primary yeast and the D47 is a nice yeast it keeps things medium sweet and leaves a nice mouth feel but it is finicky about temperature, you'll need to keep your must somewhere under 69*F.

Thank you so much for all the good information, everybody. I really appreciate it. I think for my yeast I'll just end up using the "monster" Lalvin 1118. That way I figure I'll get the quickest results and a dryer product.

Also, the note about keeping my must under 69*F confuses me! I have a Canadian friend who makes his own whiskey and he sticks a fish tank heater in his fermentation vessels to keep the temperature 75*F+. I'm fairly certain higher temperature cause the yeast to work better, and harder. Can anyone explain why its different with mead and wines?

Not all yeast strains act the same, they all have a temperature range that best suits them, Lalvin D47 especially is one that if it is kept at 70*F or above will produce a lot of fusel alcohols. The fusel flavor isn't pleasant, tasting hot solvent like rocket fuelish, has an oily consistency, and will take a very long time to age out and sometimes never does. In whiskey it is actually part of the flavor profile, but even then most of it is concentrated in the end or the "tails" of distillation which is collected seperately so not to overwhelm the batch. Since the fusels are produced when fermentation occurs at higher temperatures, one way to prevent that crappy tasting alcohol from ending up in your mead is to keep it below the 70* mark.

Better alternatives than turning up the heat on the yeast to get the most efficient production are:
Proper pitch rate
Rehydration
Good initial oxygenation
Maintaining optimal temp. range that the strain likes
Staggered nutrients (during first 1/3 of fermentation)
Aeration/Degassing (during first 1/3 of fermentation)

Sounds like a lot but the first three are all done when mixing the must and take little time and effort and the last two can be done at the same time.

. I think for my yeast I'll just end up using the "monster" Lalvin 1118. That way I figure I'll get the quickest results and a dryer product.

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Choose whichever yeast you like but if you ask around you'll probably find most people prefer the 1116 over 1118 for initial ferment, both will give you a dry end product with 18% abv potential. The 1116 has a wider temperature range giving a little more leeway for fluctuations, it is a moderately fast instead of very fast fermenter which will help retain more of the honeys character flavor and aroma. It works great in lower nutrient situations which makes it very good for mead. 1118 is like the special ops soldier of the wine yeast world, it thrives in a situation where another yeast has sputtered out without finishing the job, It goes in eats through and burns off everything including alot of flavor and aroma components when it restarts a stuck ferment.

Okay, so you've convinced me that Lalvin 1116 would be a bit better, even if it means a slightly longer wait.

Now my planned recipe is as follows.

-14 lbs of honey
-1 teaspoon of Lalvin 1116 yeast
-5 teaspoons of Fermax yeast nutrient
-Fill the container up to roughly 4.5 gallons of warm (~95*F) water

Stir everything well.

Seal the container and add the airlock on top.

Wait for the bubbles to stop.

Should take about 3 months to ferment I'm guessing. Any better estimates would be appreciated.

Does this recipe sound about right? I know I was told to stagger the nutrients but just mixing everything at the beginning is easier (I like easy ) and I think it should still ferment reasonably well that way. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Add some whole raisins, they REDUCE the need need to add additional nutrients in mid stages. Other than that just be sure to rack at 1/2 to 1 inch lees so they don't effect flavor. Btw 1116 isn't slow by any means, probably only a weeks maybe two difference from 1118, for a much better flavor.

billyda59 said:

Wait for the bubbles to stop.

Should take about 3 months to ferment I'm guessing. Any better estimates would be appreciated.

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Don't rely on the bubbles, the airlock is really only a two way valve, use your hydrometer to determine when the ferment is done. 1116 will ferment out a lot faster than you're expecting.

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Wraithraider said:

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Right, you bring up an excellent point. That being said, I had another question and an interesting development in my mead project.

I opened up my mead yesterday just to take a small sample for funsies. It's still very sweet (duh) and also... it's carbonated like soda. I know the airlock I have on there is working properly, so all the CO2 should be escaping with very little trouble and there is absolutely no internal pressure in my fermentation vessel. Maybe the thickness and weight of my must is 'holding' the CO2 down into the mix? Or is this a result of fermenting 'too quickly'?

Its not really a problem, I just thought it was rather curious. My honey soda was actually pretty tasty.

@billyda59: you need to aerate your must during the first 1/3 of fermentation. I don't know what kind of vessel you have your must in, but you can either stir it with a spoon or rock it back and forth to get all the CO2 out.

Odd. My post never went through. My question was the impact of using raisins on flavor and mouthfeel in a mead. I've never used them as I have a surplus of the other nutrient additives.

Ah, so it looks like I haven't been stirring as much as I should have. Whoops...

Glad you re-posted to get your question out. I too am curious if anyone can describe the exact difference in mead made with and without raisins.

Okay, well my mead has been ready for awhile and I've been enjoying it quite a bit since it finished. I figure I should share the results.

Just a quick recap: my recipe was as simple as 14 lbs of cheap honey in a 5 gallon bucket and then I filled the bucket up to somewhere around 4.5 gallons with water. I threw in 5 teaspoons of Fermax yeast nutrient and stirred it in. I properly started 1 packet of Lalvin by following it's instructions and added it into the bucket while the honey water was still nice and warm. About 3 weeks later I was enjoying my product.

I did not shake it for the first 2 weeks and I did not stagger the nutrients as I was instructed to do. Sorry, but I was actually pretty far away from the mixture during those first weeks. I should've had a friend mix it around and feed it. When I got back it was still bubbling pretty furiously. So the fermentation went a bit slower than it would have normally I suppose, no doubt due to my negligence. For the next week I made sure to give it a nice shake and stir about twice a day. The mead appeared to stop fermenting after that third week but still had a little bit of CO2, like soda.

As far as the taste goes, its really sweet and really strongly alcoholic. Of course, it is estimated to be 18% ABV because of the predictability of the 1116 strain and because I never did find my hydrometer. I wish I was able to describe the taste a better, but I'm far from a wine connoisseur. I suppose my mead recipe is much like myself: simple and crude.

Well, to wrap it all up, I just want to thank everybody who posted here. If I hadn't found this site and gotten so much great advice and guidance, I probably would've given up the project before even getting all the materials. Thank you!

I wouldnt assume 18, I made a batch with 1116 that I planned to finish at 18 with dont sweetness left, and even with basic staggering etc it only ever made it to 16. The stong alchol flavour will eventually fade, even if it is drinkable now I would age it for as long as you can stand!