Traditional Sweet Mead

• 12 lbs. (1 gallon) of honey
• 1 package sweet mead yeast
• 4 gallons of ice cold spring or filtered water
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient in 2 ounces of water to form a slurry
• 1 Tbsp. acid blend

Make a yeast starter about 24 hours before making your mead by combining 16 oz. of spring or filtered water, 4 oz. of honey and the sweet mead yeast in a sanitized jar. Keep the lid loose on the jar so the pressure of the carbon dioxide won't build up inside.

 

Boil one gallon of water in a kettle, then turn off the heat and add 12 lbs. of honey. Turn the heat back on as needed to hold temperature of must (honey and water mixture) at 190 degrees for 20 minutes to pasteurize. Add yeast nutrient slurry 10 minutes before end of must pasteurization.

 

Fill a sanitized five-gallon carboy with 2 gallons of ice cold water. Add acid blend to carboy then rack (siphon) must into carboy and top with remaining ice cold water to make 5 gallons.

 

Cool must to 78 degrees as quickly as possible then pitch yeast starter. Place a sanitized fermentation lock on top of the carboy and place the fermenter in a cool, dark place for five weeks. After five weeks rack off settled yeast into another sanitized carboy for ten more weeks. After 15 weeks, rack periodically as needed until mead is clear then bottle or keg.

Found at: Whispering Wood