North Carolina State Beekeepers Association

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Christopher Petreehttp//christopherpetree.com
North Carolina State Beekeepers Association
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What is mead?

• Mead is often called honey wine, but it is not
  a wine (simplification of concept)
• Mead is an extremely old beverage and may have
  been the first fermented beverage
• Mead contains three key ingredients water,
  honey, and yeast (in order of volume), and if
  successful, alcohol after fermentation

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How does fermentation work?

• Yeast feeds on sugars, creating two main
  byproducts alcohol and carbon dioxide
• As the yeast feed, their numbers multiple
  exponentially
• After the yeast exhausts the supply of sugar,
  they stop fermenting and go dormant or the
  alcohol concentration becomes so great that it
  creates a toxic environment
• Different yeasts have different levels of
  tolerance to alcohol concentrations assuming the
  sugar is there to ferment
• Beer is typically on the lower spectrum, usually
  8 or less by volume (Samuel Adams Utopias, 25)
• Wine is typically more, averaging 13 by volume
• Champagne is typically the most, averaging 14-16
  by volume

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A complicated process...
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What do you need to get started?
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Equipment and Materials

• Glass or plastic primary fermenting vessel
• Glass secondary fermenting vessel
• Airlock (rubber stopper)
• Racking canes and tubing
• Hydrometer and graduated cylinder
• Cleaner (B-Brite, soak 30 mins.)
• Sanitizer (Iodophor, soak 5-10 mins.) Chlorine
  bleach

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Plastic primary fermenting vessel
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Glass secondary fermenting vessel
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Airlocks and carboy bungs
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Racking canes and tubing
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Hydrometer and graduated cylinder

• Triple Scale Hydrometer
• Specific Gravity (Ex. water 1.000)
• Brix/Balling
• Potential Alcohol

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Yeasts and additives

• Dry Yeasts
• Red Star Montrachet Yeast (all purpose 10-15
  alcohol tolerance)
• Red Star Pasteur Champagne (14-16 alcohol
  tolerance)
•  
• Recommended Additives
• Yeast nutrient (aides and enhances fermentation)
• Campden tablets
• Acid blend

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You have the equipment, now what?
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A Small Recipe (One Gallon)

• 3 qt. water
• 3 lb. honey
• 1 packet of any good wine yeast (Montrachet or
  Pasteur Champagne Yeast)
• 3 tsp. acid blend
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
• 1 crushed Campden tablet (optional, added safety
  against contamination of mead potassium
  metabisulfite)

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Mix water, honey and bring to a boil.
Skim off the protein that rises to the top.
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Cool the honey-water down to 70 degrees.

• Now is the time to take the specific gravity
  reading.
• Pour some of the solution into the graduated
  cylinder
• Add the hydrometer
• Take down the reading of its final resting place
• Ex. 1.100 SG has potential alcohol of 13
• Return testing solution?
• Then,
• Add acid blend, yeast nutrient, and yeast
• Mix well
• Pour into primary fermenting vessel
• Add airlock

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After a few days of fermenting
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Now is the time to rack the mead.

• Racking the mead is a critical step because it
  removes the mead from dead yeast and other
  sediments that can give your finished product an
  off-flavor.Using a racking cane (as show
  earlier), or simple tubing, siphon the mead into
  your secondary fermenting vessel.

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Let the mead finish fermenting.

• Secondary fermentation can vary depending on a
  number of factors
• Addition of yeast nutrient
• Temperature of the area where fermentation vessel
  is stored
• Type of yeast
• Secondary fermentation may require another
  racking. After a week in the secondary, pour
  more of the mead into the graduated cylinder and
  take a reading. This will tell you the
  approximate alcohol content and how much sugar is
  left to ferment (if the yeast is tolerant to the
  alcohol concentration).

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Great. How do I do this again?

• http//forsythbeekeepers.org/about/member-articles
  /
• "Mead Making the Wine Way, Part I"
• "Mead Making the Wine Way, Part II" (Bottling)
• If you don't have a computer, save a tree and
  buy one. Otherwise, let me know and I can get you
  a copy. These articles can also be found in the
  January and February 2002 issues of the American
  Bee Journal.