When you mix water and honey and leave it to ferment with yeast you get mead, an alcoholic beverage often called "honey wine". There are at least 30 different varieties. This article provides a simple recipe for making it.
Ingrediants
(The quantities depend on how much mead you want to make)
- Honey
- Waterfall
- Yeast
- Fruit or spices (optional)
Steps
Step 1. Collect and sterilize all items listed in the "Things You Will Need" section
Anything that comes in contact with the mead must be sterilized first. The environment you create to encourage fermentation can lead to the growth of microorganisms. It is not recommended to use a solution based on light bleach, which needs abundant rinses made with tap water, which is drinkable but NOT sterile, so the sterilization just done is immediately nullified. A sterilizing solution, perhaps based on peroxides, which you will find in any wine shop (and online) is better.
Step 2. Mix about 1300 g of honey with 4 liters of still mineral water (with low fixed residue)
Distilled water is not recommended, as it lacks the microelements important for yeast metabolism. It is necessary to heat and bring everything to at least 65 ° C (some say 80 ° C) for 15 minutes to pasteurize the honey, rich in wild yeasts (unless it is pasteurized honey from the supermarket). Before adding the yeast, the water + honey mixture must be cooled to room temperature. This mix is what is called "must".
- Adding any type of fruit or spices to the wort will completely change the flavor. Experimenting in this case is a must!
- How to Liquefy Crystallized Honey Again
- How to check the purity of honey
Step 3. Hydrate the yeast according to the instructions then add it to the wort
Step 4. Put in a large container with enough room for fermentation or, if not, the liquid may leak
You will need to prevent air from entering while the carbon dioxide produced must be able to escape. One way to do this is to puncture a balloon several times and place it on the mouth of the bottle. Secure it with a rubber band or tape around it. However, this method is not ideal with mead, as you will not be able to add any other nutrients or aerate well, and you will be forced to replace the balloon all the time. The best method is to buy an "airlock" at a distillation shop or online: they are reusable, disinfectable and do not break with use.
Step 5. Place everything in a quiet place at an optimal temperature for the yeast
This information should be provided by whoever sold it to you. If you have a hydrometer and know the initial gravity of your wort, you can determine the breakdown point of the sugar in the fermentation process. To determine the three moments, take the original gravity, determine the final gravity by considering the alcohol tolerance per volume of your yeast, then divide the total number by 3. Area (introducing oxygen) at least once a day during the first breakdown moment.
Step 6. There are different ways to tell if the mead has finished fermenting
- The most accurate is to measure the specific gravity with the hydrometer when you mix it at first, and then every 2 weeks. The yeast you have chosen has an alcohol tolerance for specific volume, and the hydrometer will tell you what the final one should be. When the mead reaches this level, wait a minimum of 4-6 months before bottling to make sure there is no further CO2 production from the yeast. Otherwise, by bottling mead with too many residual sugars the yeast could continue to work, produce more CO2 and cause the pressure in the bottle to increase excessively with the risk of explosion.
- Wait at least 8 weeks. The time it takes depends on many factors, but 8 weeks should be enough.
- If you are using an airlock, wait at least 3 weeks once it stops blistering.
Step 7. Once fermentation is done, transfer your mead to a container with very little space for it to age
The less surface is in contact with oxygen, the better. A siphon would be ideal, so as to leave as much sediment as possible. The more you wait, the better the mead will be: an average waiting time is 8 months, but it can also be extended to a few years.
Step 8. Transfer the mead to the bottles, seal them and store them in the dark and cool
Your mead is already drinkable, but the older it gets, the tastier it will be. The recommended serving temperature is 8-10 ° C.
