Mead is honey, water, and yeast — the oldest drink, and one of the simplest to start. A 1-gallon glass jug, an airlock and bung, mead yeast, yeast nutrient (honey lacks the nitrogen that keeps yeast healthy), and three pounds of good honey. Sanitize, mix, pitch, and wait. A traditional mead is drinkable in a month, excellent in a year.
Plans
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Item List
4Vessel
2 items
Ingredients
2 itemsPlan Totals$68
FAQ
Common questions about this kit
Why yeast nutrient?
Honey is almost pure sugar — it lacks the nitrogen, vitamins, and minerals yeast need to ferment cleanly. Without nutrient, the yeast stalls and produces off-flavors (the dreaded "rhino farts"). Staggered nutrient additions over the first week are the modern mead-maker's secret.
How much honey per gallon?
About 3 pounds for a standard-strength (12-14% ABV) traditional mead — more for a sweet sack mead, less for a session hydromel. The honey-to-water ratio sets the alcohol and the sweetness; a hydrometer tells you both.
Why sanitize so carefully?
Mead must (unfermented honey water) is a perfect food for wild microbes. One contaminated batch tastes of vinegar or cardboard. Star San or a no-rinse sanitizer on every surface the mead touches is the religion — same as beer and wine.
How long until it is good?
Fermentation finishes in 2 to 4 weeks; the mead clears and conditions over 1 to 6 months; a traditional mead peaks at a year. Bottle it when it is clear and stable, and age it. Mead rewards patience like no other drink.
User Reviews
5.0 / 5.0
Mead and my beer share the sanitize-and-pitch gospel — the yeast nutrient is the difference (honey is nitrogen-poor where malt is rich). A hydrometer and an airlock are the same two tools, and mead's patience is beer's, squared, agreed.