Brewing Mead Yourself: Honey Wine Step by Step

Mead – the oldest drink in the world

Mead (also known as honey wine) has been brewed for thousands of years. The basic ingredients couldn't be simpler: honey, water and yeast. The quality depends almost entirely on the quality of the honey.

Types of mead at a glance

• Traditional mead: just honey, water, yeast – pure and clear.
• Fruit mead (melomel): with fruits like currants, raspberries, cherries.
• Spiced mead (metheglin): with spices like cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, cloves.
• Cyser: honey with apple juice instead of water.

Basic recipe for traditional mead (5 liters)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg high-quality honey (blossom, linden or forest honey)
• 4 l water (unchlorinated or dechlorinated tap water)
• 1 packet of wine yeast (e.g. Lalvin 71B or EC-1118)
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient (nitrogen is important for good fermentation!)
• 1 Campden tablet

Instructions

1. Warm the water to approx. 50 °C (don't boil it – honey's aromatic compounds are volatile!).
2. Stir in the honey until fully dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Add the Campden tablet, wait 12 hours.
4. Pitch the yeast and add it to the must along with the nutrient.
5. Primary fermentation: 1–2 weeks at 18–22 °C. Mead foams very little – that's normal.
6. Secondary fermentation: 4–8 weeks in a demijohn with an airlock.
7. Rack multiple times – mead often needs 2–3 rackings to become clear.

Feeding the yeast

Honey contains almost no nitrogen – the yeast can easily starve. Solution:

• Staggered Nutrient Addition (SNA): add yeast nutrient in several small portions over the first 4 days.
• This significantly improves fermentation and flavor.

Maturity & storage

Mead is a wine that rewards patience. Fresh, it's often rough and yeasty. After 6 months it starts to blossom, after a year it's usually excellent.

Store cool and dark – well-made mead keeps for many years.