Help with mead

[colinc1968]

Hi I'm new to homebrewing and tried doing a batch of mead.....it's been brewing for 6 weeks now so was going to transfer to bottles today as recipe said to do...had a little sip my god its worse than vinegar its awful its turned out more like drain cleaner...can anyone give me some advice or a very easy recipe to do a traditional mead... recipe I got with the kit wasn't the easiest to follow.

 

[Druss]

Assuming you're familiar with the basics and have a demijohn with an airlock:

Two (454g) jars of clear honey in a saucepan, add about 500ml of freshly boiled water to make it more pliable.

Add this to your demijohn, top up with water (I use cheapo bottled water as my tap water is questionable at best). The gravity will be about 1056 (assuming a one gallon demijohn), you can always add another couple of hundred grams of honey if you want it stronger.

Add about a tablespoon of dried fruit, just about anything works, this will help the process along and give some interesting flavours.

Add your yeast, I use Allinson quick rise bread yeast and find it works quicker and gives a more neutral flavour than actual 'mead' yeast or any other yeasts actually meant for brewing. Give it all a good shake and leave in a warm place for about four weeks.

It should be crystal clear within a month, rack it off into a suitable pan (add honey to backsweeten to your preference, I usually add enough to bring the gravity back to about 1008), heat the whole lot to about 70°C for about ten minutes to halt fermentation, cover and allow to cool then bottle.

Should be ready to drink in about two weeks but will drastically improve after six.

That's my own recipe, not to everyone's taste, and I have been called a philistine for both the use of bread yeast and 'pasteurising' it before bottling. But at the end of the day I've got some very tasty mead, made very cheaply and it's ridiculously easy to do.

 

[colinc1968]

Assuming you're familiar with the basics and have a demijohn with an airlock:

Two (454g) jars of clear honey in a saucepan, add about 500ml of freshly boiled water to make it more pliable.

Add this to your demijohn, top up with water (I use cheapo bottled water as my tap water is questionable at best). The gravity will be about 1056 (assuming a one gallon demijohn), you can always add another couple of hundred grams of honey if you want it stronger.

Add about a tablespoon of dried fruit, just about anything works, this will help the process along and give some interesting flavours.

Add your yeast, I use Allinson quick rise bread yeast and find it works quicker and gives a more neutral flavour than actual 'mead' yeast or any other yeasts actually meant for brewing. Give it all a good shake and leave in a warm place for about four weeks.

It should be crystal clear within a month, rack it off into a suitable pan (add honey to backsweeten to your preference, I usually add enough to bring the gravity back to about 1008), heat the whole lot to about 70°C for about ten minutes to halt fermentation, cover and allow to cool then bottle.

Should be ready to drink in about two weeks but will drastically improve after six.

That's my own recipe, not to everyone's taste, and I have been called a philistine for both the use of bread yeast and 'pasteurising' it before bottling. But at the end of the day I've got some very tasty mead, made very cheaply and it's ridiculously easy to do.

How much yeast do I use....the recipe I had said use a teaspoon

 

[Druss]

Yeh, about a teaspoon for a gallon should be fine, if the yeast has been open for a while then a little more.

 

[colinc1968]

Fantastic thank you very much for this will be making a new batch on Sunday

 

[Druss]

Good luck, I hope it turns out well!

 

[colinc1968]

Good luck, I hope it turns out well!

We will be following the recipe you have given me....didn't know anything about the gravity its got a tester but not told what it was for...I'll keep you updated