The Joy of Mead - Everything about the ancient drink and how to make it

New batches of Mead -video

Here is a video of six new batches of Mead I made. The video was taken about 20 hours after I initially mixed them. There are some interesting things to note about the batches and I have some tips and guidelines for you. I also have the recipes here on this page.

If this movie doesn't play download it here

About the Batches of Mead

1- The five gallon carboy - This is an orange cinnamon mead. All seems to be going very well with this mead.

2. 1 gallon of grape pyment - It is fermenting well but I may need to reduce the amount of liquid to prevent the airlock from clogging. Always watch for this and put reduced amount of water in your carboy if you have lots of fruit in there.

3. Maple Mead - Isn't currently fermenting. Will need to be observed. I will probably need to add 1 teaspoon of nutrient to this to get it going. The maple syrup may be weak in nutrient for the yeast. The nutrient I use is from E.C.Kraus and costs around 5 dollars for a small jar container of it. More information about the nutrient at bottom of this page

4. Raspberry - I had to reduce the liquid level because the raspberry was clogging the airlock. I have made this mead before and it is delicious. I am going to re-rack and remove the raspberry sooner in this batch because I want a gentler raspberry taste.

5. Apple Cyzer - The apple cider may have its own variations of yeast that could take over the mead. So I put 1 camden tablet in there to kill off these yeast. Aftter 24 hours I will then activate and add the yeast (Ale Yeast)

6. Maple Wine - Not a mead because there is no honey. This batch has activated well and looks good. My first batch of this so it will be interesting to see how it ends up.

The Mead Recipes

Orange Cinnamon Mead - 5 gallon batch

18 pounds of clover honey
5 Oranges
5 cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
2 packets of fleishmanns yeast
1/2 teasoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
spring water to make 5 gallons

Grape Mead Pyment - 1 gallon

3 pounds clover honey
64 ounces of grape juice
1 packet fleishmanns yeast
spring water to make 1 gallon

Maple Mead

1.5 pounds clover honey
1.5 pounds Medium Amber Maple Syrup
D47 Lalvin yeast
Spring water to make 1 gallon

Raspberry Mead

12 ounces fresh raspberries
3 pounds wildflower honey
Ec-118 Yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
3 Tablespoons strong brewed english tea
1 teaspoon of nutrient
Spring water to make 1 gallon

Apple Cyzer

3 pounds wildflower or clover honey
1 camden tablet
1 gallon of apple cider
No spring water
Ale Yeast

Special note on this: crush the camden tablet and mix into a little water then pitch it into the honey/cider mix then wait 24 hours before you pitch the yeast.

Maple Wine (Not a mead)

26 ounces of dark amber maple syrup
1 teaspoon of nutrient
lalvin D-47
Spring water to fill bottle to 1 gallon level

Yeast Nutrient

I use Yeast Nutrient I purchased from E.C.Kraus. It is Di-Ammonium-Phosphate and it comes in a 6 ounce container which will last quite a few batches of mead. I use 1 teaspoon for a 1 gallon batch of mead.