Simple Dry Mead

This recipe makes a dry mead. For this 15 liter batch I make 16 liters. That is 1 liter extra to top up the carboy after siphoning to prevent oxidation. As always, sanitize all the equipment and work in a clean way. This is the mead that I bottle in the video that can be watched by clicking this link.

Method:

Step 1: pre-boil the water one day in advance to get rid of chlorine and calcium. Make one liter of Earl Grey tea and set it aside. Heat the honey slightly with a part of the water to reduce the viscosity for easy transferring into the fermenting bucket. Dissolve the yeast nutrient in the hot tea. Then, rinse the honey container with the tea to get all the honey out. Cut the oranges in 8 parts each and add the raisins, oranges and the tea to the fermenting bucket. Then add the cold water, stir and cool down to room temperature and take an SG reading. Finally, add the yeast to some lukewarm water. Once activated, add it to the mixture in the fermenting bucket. Vigorous fermentation will start and last for a few days.

Step 2: when vigorous fermentation stopped, indicated by less bubbles in the airlock, take an SG reading and siphon the contents into a sanitized glass carboy. Leave only a little space in the top to prevent oxidation.

Step 3: after a month check how clear the mead is. If it has cleared up significantly, siphon into another sanitized carboy, take an SG reading and top it up. Repeat this step until the mead is totally clear. If required stabilize it and then bottle it.

Step 4: Enjoy drinking the mead, but let it mature for at least a few months before drinking it.