BASIC MEAD
The mead you make with this recipe will reflect the qualities of the honey you use. Consult our guide to mead and consider using a first-rate varietal honey. Because mead is fairly high in alcohol (10- to 12-percent by volume), I recommend 12-ouncebottles over 22-ounce ones.
Categories Wine Alcoholic Cocktail Party Poker/Game Night Honey Party Drink
Yield Makes about five gallons, which should fill 53 twelve-ounce bottles.
Number Of Ingredients 3
Steps:
- Note on equipment:
- Making mead requires essentially the same basic kit necessary to brew beer at home: primary and secondary plastic-bucket fermenters with air locks and spigots, transfer hosing, a bottle-filler tube, heavy bottles, bottle caps, bottle capper, and a bottle brush and washer. You should be able to find these items for approximately $70 total (excluding the bottles) through a home-brewing supplier, such as The Home Brewery. Bottles cost from $6 to $20 per dozen, depending on style. You might instead buy a couple of cases of beer in returnable bottles, drink the beer, and - after sanitizing them! - reuse those bottles, for the cost of the deposit.
- All your equipment must be sanitized or sterilized before use. Ordinary unscented household bleach does the job fine. Put all the equipment (including the lid and stirring spoons) into the fermentation bucket, fill with water, and add 2 teaspoons of unscented bleach. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Drain the water through the spigot, rinse everything in hot water, and allow to air-dry.
- Bring the 4 1/2 gallons of water to a boil. Well water, by the way, should be avoided because of potentially high levels of strong tasting minerals like iron. Boiling should remove harsh chlorine from municipal tap water. If you don't own a pot large enough to hold five gallons of water, boil as much as possible. You will add the remaining water to the fermenter later.
- Once the water reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in all of the honey. Do not boil the honey, as it reduces the aromatic quality of the finished mead.
- While the honey dissolves in the water, put a cup of lukewarm (90 to 100°F) water into a clean bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. When the honey has been fully dissolved in the water and the pot is cool to the touch (not over 80°F), pour the honey-water into the fermentation bucket and stir in the yeast mixture. Note: Cooling the honey-water should take about half an hour. This process can be accelerated with a so-called sink bath, that is, repeatedly immersing the pot in cold water in a sink or basin.
- If you have not already added the full 4 1/2 gallons of water, top it off with the balance in bottled water (or tap water if you're confident of its quality).
- Seal the bucket and allow the mixture to ferment for two weeks to one month. The progress of fermentation can judged by monitoring the carbon-dioxide bubbles escaping from the air lock: When they drop to one bubble every sixty seconds, fermentation has nearly concluded. Note that is only an issue during this primary fermentation; secondary fermentation has more to do with aging and mellowing and hence is more flexible. When primary fermentation has subsided, siphon the mead over to your secondary fermentation bucket and seal it. Allow one to four months aging time. Do not open the fermenter, as this risks contaminating the mead.
- When you decide it has matured enough (and the mead has cleared), you will want to siphon it into sterilized bottles and cap them. Follow the same procedure as you would for home-brewed beer. My book Beer for Dummies has a detailed guide in its Chapter Ten, or consult the web site of the American Homebrewers Association.
- Keep in mind that this is a recipe for still (i.e., non-carbonated) mead.
- Mead typically improves with age, so the longer you can wait to open the bottles, the better.
More about "sweet mead food"
HOW TO DRINK MEAD: 12 STEPS (WITH PICTURES) - WIKIHOW
Web Feb 28, 2023 Spiced or dark and fruity meads pair best with darker foods, such as steaks, barbeques, and stews. Melomel mead that is made with …
From wikihow.com
Estimated Reading Time 7 minsViews 39.1K
From wikihow.com
Estimated Reading Time 7 minsViews 39.1K
WHAT FOOD GOES WITH MEAD - HIDDEN LEGEND WINERY
Web Jul 17, 2017 Mead comes in sweet, semi-sweet and dry varieties. Dark honey mead: dark honey meads are made with, well, dark honey. They …
From hiddenlegendwinery.com
Estimated Reading Time 5 minsLocation 1345 US HWY 93 N #5, Victor, 59875, MT
From hiddenlegendwinery.com
Estimated Reading Time 5 minsLocation 1345 US HWY 93 N #5, Victor, 59875, MT
THE 8 BEST MEADS TO DRINK IN 2022 - LIQUOR.COM
Web Mar 17, 2021 Crafted with fresh honey and no artificial flavorings or additives, this intensely perfumed sweet mead from Chaucer’s is loaded …
From liquor.com
Author Vicki Denig
From liquor.com
Author Vicki Denig
HOW TO MAKE MEAD: 15 STEPS (WITH PICTURES) - WIKIHOW
Web May 17, 2021 Very sweet dessert mead will read anywhere past 1.02. 5. Fill your bottles from the bottom up. Once your mead is finished and ready for final bottling, use a siphon to transfer the mead from the container. ...
From wikihow.com
From wikihow.com
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEAD MAKING SKILLS - NORTHERN BREWER
Web It will also give your mead more depth and maturity of flavor. 6. Taste-test & adjust as needed. Sweet meads can be anywhere up to about 1.040 in finishing gravity. Very sweet and strong meads are sometimes called …
From northernbrewer.com
From northernbrewer.com
MEAD - 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW (AND A RECIPE)
Web Jul 4, 2019 Drink the mead in a week or two if you like it young and sweet with less alcohol (5-6%). For a stronger mead (10-12%), rack the mead after a month, and then one or two more times over the next six months. …
From commonsensehome.com
From commonsensehome.com
WHAT IS MEAD, AND IS IT GOOD FOR YOU? - HEALTHLINE
Web Nov 15, 2018 Mead, or “honey wine,” is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey. It’s one of the oldest alcoholic beverages ever made, as it was consumed as far back as 4,000 years. Interestingly,...
From healthline.com
From healthline.com
10 OF THE BEST MEAD RECIPES - LIFEHACK
Web Nov 14, 2017 Fire Mead As the name would suggest, this mead is brewed using a variety of spicy, tongue-tingling ingredients. If you’re a fan of foods that make your mouth burn, then this might be the alcoholic beverage for …
From lifehack.org
From lifehack.org
KINSALE MEAD FOOD PAIRINGS - WHAT TO EAT WITH MEAD
Web Atlantic Dry Mead Lovely with salty snacks such as olives, roasted nuts, or artisan crisps. For seafood and fish, try a mead and fennel sauce or poach scallops or pour a dash in a fresh shucked oyster. For desserts, we like it …
From kinsalemeadco.ie
From kinsalemeadco.ie
WHAT FOOD GOES WELL WITH MEAD? — VIKING ALCHEMIST …
Web Mar 9, 2020 If it’s a very rich meal, a fruity mead would be ideal. But still on the drier side. You wouldn’t want to pair a sweet, dark mead with a heavy meal. It would become …
From vikingalchemist.com
Email [email protected]Phone (678) 858-2813Location 3080 Jonquil Drive Smyrna, Ga 30080 United States
From vikingalchemist.com
Email [email protected]Phone (678) 858-2813Location 3080 Jonquil Drive Smyrna, Ga 30080 United States
MEAD VINEGAR | BUTTON SOUP
Web Mar 21, 2020 While you can have sweet mead and sweet mead vinegar, these products are not necessarily sweet. Depending on how you let the fermentation progress, it’s …
From buttonsoup.ca
From buttonsoup.ca
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MEAD - SERIOUS EATS
Web Aug 10, 2018 To most folks, mead is little more than that sickly-sweet honey drink from the Renaissance Faire—a hangover in a glass for nine bucks a pop. But hear me out: that's …
From seriouseats.com
From seriouseats.com
HOW TO MAKE MEAD: HOMEMADE HONEY MEAD RECIPE W/FLAVORINGS …
Web Instructions. Simmer ½ gallon of water until warm. Add honey: 2 pounds for a dry mead or 3 pounds for a sweet mead. Stir until dissolved. Simmer (don't boil) for about 30 minutes, …
From diynatural.com
From diynatural.com
HOW TO MAKE MEAD | BBC GOOD FOOD
Web Basic mead recipe Step 1: Sterilising As with all fermentation, it’s important to have a clean, sterile environment so the yeast grows, but nothing else does. So, before you start, wash …
From bbcgoodfood.com
From bbcgoodfood.com
SWEET MIXED MEAD CARTON OF 3 - TUGWELL CREEK HONEY FARM
Web Sweet Mixed Mead Carton. 1 review. Price $129 00. Quantity. Free shipping available over $200 to all Canadian provinces with the exception of Ontario and Quebec. BUY MORE …
From tugwellcreekfarm.com
From tugwellcreekfarm.com
WHAT FOODS GO WELL WITH MEAD? | POLLEN ANGELS
Web The natural sweetness of a fruit-based dessert complements fruity meads based on the same flavours. For instance, try a sweet strawberry-rhubarb mead with a tart rhubarb …
From pollenangels.com
From pollenangels.com
FOODS THAT PAIR WELL WITH MEADS — COLONY MEADERY
Web Apr 16, 2016 Pies, cheesecakes, and other baked good are just another reason to pour yourself another glass. If your mead is dry and sweet, pair with a very sweet treat like …
From colonymeadery.com
From colonymeadery.com
VINTAGE SAC SWEET MEAD - TUGWELL CREEK HONEY FARM & MEADERY
Web We first created this mead when we first opened in 2005. It was a much lighter style of mead and we have intensified it with this release. This mead is the perfect solution for a …
From tugwellcreekfarm.com
From tugwellcreekfarm.com
BASIC SEMI-SWEET MEAD - THE COOK'S COOK
Web Ingredients Ingredients.9 to 1.3 kg or about 946 ml (2 to 3 pounds or about 1 quart) raw, unfiltered local honey ; 3.8 liters (1 gallon) of good clean, non-chlorinated water
From thecookscook.com
From thecookscook.com
MEAD IS POPULAR AGAIN—HERE'S WHY — EAT THIS NOT THAT
Web Dec 10, 2019 Honey has natural antiseptic and antibacterial qualities. Be mindful, however, that while honey can be beneficial in many ways, it also packs a lot of sugar. Just two …
From eatthis.com
From eatthis.com
MEAD MARKET 2023 SIZE AND FORECAST TO 2030 - MARKETWATCH
Web 2 days ago The defining characteristic of mead is that most of the beverageâ s fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi …
From marketwatch.com
From marketwatch.com
WHAT DO YOU SERVE MEAD WITH? (WHAT FOODS, MEALS ETC.) - REDDIT
Web Sweet meads: You can go to sweeter foods, but the mead should be sweeter than the food pairing in most cases. Fruit with a tart element can be a good choice. So is dark …
From reddit.com
From reddit.com
Are you curently on diet or you just want to control your food's nutritions, ingredients? We will help you find recipes by cooking method, nutrition, ingredients...
Check it out »
You'll also love