Mead Recipe??

I HAVE BEEN MAKING BEER FOR ABOUT 4-5 MOS NOW, ON MY 7TH BATCH. i WAS READING ABOUT MEADS AND THE RECIPES. WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE?? IS IT JUST HONEY WATER AND YEAST, I WOULD LOVE TO TRY AND MAKE ONE, MY FRIENDS DAD HAS ALOT OF LAND HE KEEPS BEES ON, WHICH ARE AROUND ORANGE TREES. I THINK I HAVE THE UNDERSTANDING TO MAKE IT. JUST TAKE ABOUT 8-9 LBS OF HONEY, MAYBE SOME SUGAR, MAYBE NOT. AND IF I WANT TO ADD SOME FRUIT IN THE PRIMARY OR SECONDARY. WHAT TYPE OF YEAST IS RECCOMENDED, CHAMPAGNE, OR BEER. I LOVE TO TRY NEW THINGS LIKE THIS. WOULD LOVE TO START ON ONE SOON. HELP A BROTHER OUT.

Study up on this before you try a batch. It's not like brewing beer.

You will need between 12 and 18 pounds of honey to make a 5 gallon batch depending on what style you are trying to make. You must use yeast nutrients when making mead or you will have stuck fermentations and you need to use a starter to avoid stuck fermentations. It can take a year before it's ready to drink.

Study up and then do one with full understanding of what you're doing or you'll be dissapointed.

Do a search for the mead wench and start reading there, you'll learn a lot.

ScottT is right about studying up on the subject.

Mead is not difficult to make. The MOST difficult thing about mead is PATIENCE!!! Mead takes a long time to mature. When you bottle beer you should wait 1-2 weeks to check on conditioning. With mead that 1 week could be 6 MONTHS!

If you are not a patient person then I would HIGHLY recommend bottling some in pony or small bottles if you can get them. This way you can sample those throughout the year. Whatever you do . . . try NOT to sample the mead too early. In a year or two you will be very surprised and happy that you waited. I still have several bottles of mead that's over 10 years old.

The amount of alcohol content depends on the amount of honey you use. Right now I have a peach mead that's been in the secondary for a couple of months already. If you make a mead with fruit it is called a melomel.

I used only 7 lbs (about 3/4 of a gal) of honey for this batch. The low amount of honey means that it will not be strong. I've used 12 lbs (plus) before, and was pleased with the results, but a lot of people don't like high alcohol content beverages so I've reduced the amount for them.

A mead is made with honey, water, an acid blend (or some other acid ingredient) for stability, and yeast. There are several yeasts to use. If you want a sweet mead, there's a yeast for that. If you want a dry mead, there's a yeast for that. Whichever you use be sure to make a starter. I cannot emphasize that enough.

Don't boil you honey any longer than 15 mins. Some people only do it for 5 mins. In any case be sure to skim the protein slime/scum off of the top while it's boiling.

You do not add any sugar to mead.... honey is all you need.

Thanks for the info guys, I do have lots of patience and lots of bottles here. I just dont know what type of honey, or fruit i want to go with. I will definately go with the sweet mead yeast though. Thanks again

JOHN51277, you might want to check out this link

Great Mead Experiment

Exerything about making different types of mead is at the link good place to get to know things before you start out.


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