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Mead is super easy to make. And turns out GREAT!! (most of the time)

Depending on your Recipe. It can Take as little as a month, years, or even up to a life time for it to ferment.

The recipe I will post first is great for is GREAT for first starting out. And only takes a Month or so to ferment.

Also Mead is one cheep and easy ways to gift for the holidays.

If you have ever wanted to start to brew. This is something easy and fast to try, just don't hesitate, you only live once.

Step 1: What is Mead?

Mead or honey wine is the oldest alcoholic drinks known to man. It is made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast. It may be still, carbonated, or sparkling; it may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.

Unlike beers and cider, meads (being wines) are drunk in small quantities. Therefore, we make them as strong as we can. The amount of alcohol we can make in meads is limited by the capacity of the yeast we add to withstand alcohol. And it is important to understand that yeast cannot live in a solution containing more than 14%of alcohol by volume. This is the usual amount that will destroy the yeast. But under certain circumstances and with suitable yeast the percentage might be as high as 18%. On the whole an amateur is unlikely to produce more than 16%, this is because he is unlikely to be able to carry out ferments under laboratory conditions with constantly favorable temps and a scientifically balanced must.

Depending on local traditions and specific recipes, it may be brewed with spices, fruits, or grain mash. It may be produced by fermentation of honey with grain mash, mead may also be flavored with to produce a bitter, Beer-like flavor.

Mead is independently multicultural. It is known from many sources of ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, although archaeological evidence of it is ambiguous. Its origins are lost in prehistory; "it can be regarded as the ancestor of all fermented drinks," Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat has observed, "antedating the cultivation of the soil." Claude Levi-Strauss makes a case for the invention of mead as a marker of the passage "from nature to culture."
<p>There are many that will take this instructables as gospel. While there are some good points in here, there are also some clarifications that should be made. The instructions are for a carbonated melomel (mead with fruit), not just a standard mead. A standard mead is just the honey and water. Meads themselves don't HAVE to be bubbly like a champagne, or flat like a wine. They can be either, and you should bottle according to that. Some meads are made to be aged, so capping doesn't work as well as the aging process lengthens. There are plenty of resources to balance out some of the info here. I did find that there was some nice information that made me think of different combinations for my meads and mead variants. For those that are looking into making his/her own mead, utilize multiple guides to find what is right for you. There are many different methods and they produce different meads.</p>
<p>hi! Is there anything I can rep place concentrated lemonade with? I live in Russia and I'm not sure how concentrated lemonade even tastes and in what proportions and with what it can be replaced.</p>
with the concentrated lemonade i use is compaired to 7 med lemons. juiced and strained. :)
Thank you! Will try this!)
What about storing in canning jars should that be okay ?
<p>sanitise them thoroughly lids and rings as well and make sure your fermentation process is completely finished canny jars aren't built to hold pressure from within they are made to vacuum undesired air out if fermentation happens the jars could explode and make on big sticky mess you can use potassium metabisulphite to kill off yeast or potassium sorbate which kills wild yeast which is everywhere then you should be safe to use canning jars i have no idea about storage lengths i would imagine storage times would vary on the place of storage a cool dark closet or under cabinet might work but refrigeration to me would be preferred new clean wine bottle are cheap and corks are easy to use once your wine has gassed off the longer it sits bottled is better ....... </p>
<p>This has to be the longest run-on sentence in history. Punctuation is a beautiful thing....</p>
Hello I made the honey lemonade recipe only thing I did different was used Apple concentrate instead of the lemonade tasted great when I put lid on it has sit for a month opened it and tasted it was terrible any ideas what I might have done wrong
<p>So, I bought a can of concentrated honey powder. My first batch of honey came out great! (you have to let it sit for a bit so everything has a chance to dissolve) But then with my 2nd batch, I used too much water. Thinking i just needed to allow it to set up a bit longer than my 1st, I've discovered that I accidentally fermented my batch. So, now that my honey is ruined, I've been researching &quot;honey alcohol&quot; to learn that it IS a thing and it's called Mead. </p><p>Which landed me here, and brings me to what I should do next. I have made several different wines and liquors (on purpose!) and am familiar with the entire process.</p><p>I have rapid yeast that I purchased from Canada that has worked very well with me in the past, however, it's best with anything that has a very high sugar content. </p><p>Would this work for Mead, or should I stick with the regular yeast. </p><p>I also have distillers yeast for making whiskeys. Perhaps a honey whiskey is in store?</p>
<p>I am not sure what the different between wine/beer/mead and distilling <br>yeast. But mostly difference is the way the end product taste and the <br>way the yeast process it. <br><br>As of Lately I have been using 2x <br>Moskat RedStar (spellcheck, its in a red pkg) per 5gal batch and I have <br>enjoyed it most greatly. can be drank with in 3-4 week at 10-14% ABV. But<br> deff needs time to age.<br><br>I have not hurd of prouder honey. But it <br>would have its own natural yeast more than likely (sence it fermented) or <br>ether natural yeast in our environments. Have to cook out the natural yeast<br> like boiling it and skimming. <br><br>But to ancer your question I <br>would stick to the yeast you are famular with and how your end product <br>ends up like that you like. Mostly wine/ beer / mead yest.</p>
I'd really like to try this, but only have 1 gallon carboys. For the quantities, is it as simple as to divide the original by 5, including the yeast (I'm a bit confused here)?<br> <br> e.g.<br> 5lbs of honey = 1lb honey<br> 2 lbs Sugar = 0.4lb sugar<br> 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient = 1tsp Yeast Nutrient<br> 4 cans of Lemonade Concentrate, 12 oz cans &nbsp;= approx 10 oz of Lemonade Concentrate<br> 1 packet Champagne Yeast = ? The yeast packets are only small, would I still divide this or still use the whole packet?<br> Filtered water = filtered water / 5<br> <br> Thanks,<br> Richard
<p>you should activate the yeast first i would activate the yeast in water in a measuring cup put enough water in to calculate 5 parts individual pourings after the activation stir with a wire whisk and pour equal parts of yeast in each carboy ... pretty sure that will work as long as you keep whisking while pouring equal parts yeast settles if you let it sit for a couple minutes stirring ensures a better distribution of yeast ....</p>
<p>Instead of lemonade, could you use apple juice concentrate?</p>
<p>yes you could use any concentrate flavor you want to its your choice softer flavors really let the taste of the the honey push through heavier flavors change the nature of the flavor to the addition base or overall flavor ....</p>
<p>bentonite or isinglass works well to clear your mead or wine from sediment these should also be taken into account when fining your wine ! although letting your wine sit to clear dose well it dont always clear your wine to a total clear and a little bentonite goes a log way to make crystal clear wine .... just some friendly advice </p>
<p>A friend of mine once read you can reduce the amount of sediment by transferring the mead into another carboy once it becomes clear and then let it sit a little longer for the left over bits to sink to the bottom again. It may take a little longer before you can start bottling, but you'll get a very clear result and less to no danger of a nasty last sip.</p>
<p>Yes, the process is called racking. Essentially, you siphon the clearer liquid to another carboy. You don't put your siphon hose all the way to the bottom though. Just so that the end of the hose is just above the sediment layer. You will lose some of the mead, but it will have much less sediment and will be higher quality. You can rack as many times as you wish, but I usually rack once and then use a fining agent called bentonite to get a crystal clear mead. Then I bottle it, but some other meadmakers let it clarify naturally and bottle after several rackings. It's personal preference really.</p>
Can you use finings to clear the honey wine??
<p>Yes, of course. I use bentonite to clarify my meads, and it works like a charm. You will have an awfully thick layer of sediment though, and you have to move it as little as possible after it has settled, otherwise it might get stirred up again.</p>
Yes you basically siphon off what's not murky into a clean charboy and let it go again, that's the process
<p>good</p>
<p>My hubby's going to love the hell out of this!</p>
nice!
<p>I learned how to make home made ice cream on this unique recipe from <a href="http://how-to-make.wix.com/howtomakeicecream" rel="nofollow">http://how-to-make.wix.com/howtomakeicecream</a></p>
<p>A really great instructable but the idea of using a BTF with no order or taste makes me uneasy. </p>
<p>Have you considered using an in line check valve and a disposable inline filter? That way you can prevent sediments easily.</p>
<p>&quot;</p>Step 5: Chousing your Recipe<p>&quot;</p>
<p>I'm making a batch of Orange Blossom/Tupelo honey that has navels oranges in it as well. I dropped in about 25 raisins to up the tannins. The higher the tannin content, the drier the mead should turn out. I'm only making a gallon right now, as this is a test batch. You can also use a balloon with a few pinholes in it as an airlock, which is easier than waiting for a mail order airlock. It's mostly because I was impatient tho...</p>
<p>Hi, I have always wanted to try the honey mead with the champagne yeast and I cant find it anywhere. would any &quot;sell&quot; or give some up? I am interested in making this myself but want to try it first before I put forth the investment. I know laws and making spirits for yourself cross paths when someone wants to buy it but I would be glad to make sure your shipping and handling cover your costs. My father was a moonshiner from way back and I learned that process from him but I am not a moonshine drinker. I want to start my own family tradition with mead.</p>
<p>Has anyone tried the strawberry guava yet? I made a batch of the honey lemonade a few months ago and it turned out amazing!! I used some fresh honey from our local apiary. I also set my brew pot in some ice water to quickly cool it down before transferring into the fermentation vessel. I was going to try the strawberry next but was just wondering how it turned out...</p>
<p>Hello!</p><p>The temperature is &deg;C or &deg;F?</p><p>Thank you!</p>
Fahrenheit.
<p>have you ever made or tasted mead with maple syrup? Wondering what that would be like. Great article thanks</p>
<p>wait. not wate.</p>
<p>I make homemade brew all the time and it is easy as can be. it is only complicated if you make it complicated. I get the best results from using a juicer to make juice from fruit (last time I used white grapes) however it is cheaper to use 100% juice from the store. Make sure the juice has no Corn Syrup in it, it will produce a low -alcohol, low quality wine. It needs to be kept in a place that is warm and dark while fermenting and give it at least 1 week to ferment, add 1 cup of sugar per every 2 quarts of Juice and make sure the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid warm before adding 1 packet of Yeast, the better yeast you get the better quality, Sometimes (because I do not live near a winery) I just use bread yeast from the store (1 packet for 2 quarts) this will get the wine to about 12% alcohol by volume (twice as strong as beer) if you get champagne yeast called Cuvee, it will be between 16 to 17% ABV. also you may want to get fining tablets to refine the wine before bottling, always store wine on its side in a cool and dark place and rotate the bottle every 6 months.</p>
<p>drinking a homemade apple wine brought me here, but coincidentally I am playing skyrim at this moment as I look this up. Lol</p>
Skyrim brought me here
<p>same here my fellow dovakin</p>
Welcome friend
I find that while it may be irresponsible, I often store my kombucha (it is brutal, 14% alcohol and tastes like whichever fruit I used for the second fermentation) in plastic bottles. I brew in a huge open top mason jar, but it requires anaerobic and aerobic fermentation, whereas mead uses only anaerobic.<br><br>I think I'm gonna make your prep mix for mead and dump a SCOBY in for the process.<br><br>Yum. Kombucha mead!
<p>i think plastic bottles are fine, as long as they're food grade. plus you don't have to worry about bottle bombs. </p>
<p>I don't want to use the lemonade concentrate; can I use the acid blend along with dextrose instead?</p>
Im brewing some cherry Meade as we speak I'll let you know how it goes
HI ive never brewed or have tried to brew anything afor, and im simply wondering on an average of course how much the cost would be to set up equipment wise?
All you have to do is go to Costco and they sell kits of regular wine. they will outfit you completely and will get you going for about 120.00. this includes a complete wine kit to start brewing. than you can use it for what ever you want to make.
http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/fast-cheap-mead-making.htm<br><br>this website gives a little tutorial on how to get stuff to make mead from your local store. if you want the equipment in this instructables, the glass carboy is about 45 bucks the airlock and bung is like another 2 bucks. <br><br>www.morebeer.com is a good website to look at brewing equipment.
yes im was wondering if you could post a simple one page ingrediants and supply list please? <br>

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