The Bee's Lees

A Collection of Mead Recipes

Joyce Miller, Editor
Version 1.0, June 1994

Table of Contents:


Introduction:

Welcome to the first edition of The Bee's Lees. Most of the recipes in this collection are taken from issues of the Mead Lover's Digest, an electronic mail forum for discussion of mead brewing. Like the other brewing-related electronic forums (Homebrew Digest, Cider Digest, etc.), archives of the back issues exist on various ftp servers around the country. As the number of back issues of these digests grows, it becomes quite time-consuming for the average reader to go through all of them, looking for recipes. This is probably what prompted the development of The Cat's Meow (TCM), the brewing recipe-book culled from the archives of the Homebrew Digest (among other sources). TCM is huge, and contains several hundred recipes covering just about every style of beer-type fermentable. It even has some recipes for making mead.

So if TCM is so comprehensive and also contains mead recipes, why is there a need for a separate mead recipe book? The recipes in TCM come mostly from The Homebrew Digest, a long-established electronic digest for ........ beer brewers! Most of the readers of the digest brew beer, and some make a mead occasionally. Very few mead recipes get posted there, and for a mead brewer, the "signal-to-noise" ratio, as it's called, is extremely low. Also, a lot of serious mead-makers are not interested in beer at all, and never read Homebrew Digest. And last (but not least!), many people, though electronically connected, simply can't afford the time it takes to sift through everything coming down the information highway.

Disclaimer (Please read this!):

Though many recipes have been posted on the Mead Lover's Digest, not all of them made it into this book. I only chose ones where the contributor stated QUITE CLEARLY that the resultant concoction was at least "pretty good". I did not select lists of ingredients that someone had just put into their carboy the night before, for instance.

Of course, even using the best recipes and ingredients is no guarantee of success. This recipe book assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of the extract brewing process. To find out about the general procedures involved in making mead, please read The Mead-Lovers README File, the Mead FAQ, which is available at the same place as the Mead Digest archives. To receive the FAQ, send (by e-mail) the following message: GET PUB/MEAD MEAD.FAQ to: LISTSERV@SIERRA.STANFORD.EDU

Many thanks to the people who have shared their recipes. More recipes are always welcome, as well as questions, comments, and (constructive) criticisms. My e-mail address is: jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu.

-- Joyce

Copyright 1994. This document was created specifically to encourage the brewing of mead. It may be distributed freely (electronically), but may not be sold for profit.


Chapter 1: Basic Mead


Basic Mead

Source: Scott James (scojam@scojam.Auto-trol.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #18, 16 October 1992

Ingredients:

10 lbs honey (clover honey, processed. From local super market chain)
1 can concentrated white grape juice
     (condensed for reisling wine; from homebrew shop)
5 gal. water
5 grams dry "Pasteur Champagne yeast"

Procedure:

I let it ferment for 3 months in primary (70F), then bottled; priming 
with 1 lb honey disolved in 4 cups boiling water.

Comments:

After six months we (college roomies) couldn't stand the wait and broke 
into the stuff.  Due to a bitter taste, we mixed most of it into a wine 
cooler at a party (no flames, please).  Just recently I tried one of the 
two remaining 1 year old bottles.  It was fantastic!  Smooth and 
sparkley!  I have one bottle left, I'm saving it to share with that 
special some one...

postscript: I tried the last 2 1/2 year old bottle -- Absolutely 
pristine and crisp.  Lots of bubbles like champagne (less priming honey 
next time) and left a very subtle sweet taste on the lips. (She loved it 
too :).


Chapter 1: Basic Mead

Traditional Mead and Maple Wine

Source: John Gorman (john@rsi.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #19, 17 October 1993

Ingredients:

5-6 qts honey or 7-8 qts maple syrup (bulk grade B dark)
5 tsp yeast nutrient
15 gm white wine yeast

Procedure:

Relax, don't worry, have some mead.

Hydrate the yeast and dissolve the yeast nutrient _separately_ in warm 
water for 30 minutes.  Mix the honey, maple syrup, or both with first 
hot and then cold tap water in a large open container to almost 5 
gallons at your target specific gravity.  Splash or spray the water to 
oxygenate the must so that the yeast will multiply.  Pour the must into 
a glass carboy, then pitch in the hydrated yeast and dissolved yeast 
nutrient, dregs included.

Use a blow off tube for the first few days and then switch to a water 
trap.  In a month or so, the alcohol will kill the yeast before it runs 
out of sugar.  If not, and the mead turns out too dry, add some more 
honey.  It is ready to drink as soon as fermentation stops.

Maple wine becomes crystal clear with a beautiful sherry color within 60 
days.  Mead will sometimes clarify in 90 days.  If you choose to bottle 
the mead before it is clear, it will clarify in the bottles, leaving an 
unsightly but delicious sediment.

Use Bentonite (clay) to quickly clarify a mead anytime after 
fermentation stops.  Boil 12 ounces of water in a saucepan.  While 
simmering, slowly sprinkle and stir in 5 tsp of bentonite.  Cover and 
let stand for 24 hours.  Add during racking.  It may be necessary to 
rack and bentonite twice.  The result is crystal clear.

Comments:

Traditional Meads and Maple Wines have an alcohol content of 12-15%.  
Always use yeast nutrient and plenty of yeast for a strong start.  The 
fermentation will take off with a bang and the rapidly rising alcohol 
content will quickly kill off any wild yeast.  There is no need to 
sulphite, heat, or boil the must.  Why ruin good honey?  I have never 
had a bad batch of mead, except when I added acid.



Chapter 2: Methyglyn -- Mead with Spices


Citrus Mead

Source: Michael Tighe (tighe@inmet.camb.inmet.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #211, 21 September 1993

Ingredients:

10 lbs. honey
Citrus peel
sliced ginger
yeast

Procedure:

Make a basic mead with 2 lbs of honey per gallon.  Use a clover honey or 
a light wildflower honey for this recipe.  Just before taking the must 
off the boil, add a small amount of sliced ginger (about the size of 
one's thumb for a 5-gallon batch) and then add the thinnest peel of 
orange skin (about 3/4 of the skin of the orange).  Be careful not to 
get the white pith of the skin, it leaves a bitter/soapy after-taste. 

Let it cool naturally about 3/4 hour (longer for larger batches) and 
then remove the ginger and orange peel.  Put in a carboy to cool, then 
add yeast and let it go for three to six weeks (I usually let it go till 
it starts to clear).  Bottle, let sit for another week or two (to charge 
the bottles) and then chill and serve.

Comments:

I've made this with lemon peel, grapefruit peel as well as orange peel, 
and all taste great!  If you use orange blossom honey, use orange peel 
rather than some other citrus fruit - it really enhances the flavor!  
Grapefruit is the strongest flavor, and the most likely to be 
bitter/harsh, so use less of it than for orange or lemon.  Leave some of 
the ginger and the skin in the must during fermentation for stronger 
flavor.

Use less ginger and less citrus skin for the first batches, and then 
increase the amounts till you get the exact flavor you want. (One friend 
used a pound of ginger per gallon! And he LIKED IT!) 

The slow-cool method (rather than using a chiller) is supposed to be 
part of what makes the flavor great.

I prefer mead yeasts if possible, but champagne or general purpose wine 
yeast works fine.

This should create a slightly sweet mead with an alcohol content of 
three or four percent.


Chapter 2: Methyglyn -- Mead with Spices

Earl Grey Metheglin

Source: J. Hunter Heinlen (STBLEZA@grove.iup.edu)
Based on a wine recipe by Tom Gressman
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993

Ingredients:

4 gal. grape juice
8-10 lbs. honey
4 largish oranges, sliced into eigths or sixteenths
other citrus fruits usable to taste
8-12 packets of Earl Gray tea
Your Favorite Wine or Mead Yeast (I use Montrachet)

Procedure:

Simmer juice and honey together until honey is dissolved (skimming 
dross, etc.) If you normally boil, then, by all means, boil. When you 
turn the heat down, add the oranges and tea in a clean hop bag or 
something similar (I used a clean cotton sock). Let them steep in warm 
must for five minutes. Transfer into carboy, let cool to a comfortably 
warm temp, add yeast, and lock the carboy. Let ferment as a normal wine 
at a cool temp. 

Comments:

Needs to age at least 6 months.  Should not need additional sugars or 
yeast nutrient.  Before cutting fruit, dip in sulfite solution or 
similar to sanitize, and then rinse.  Can ferment out fast (11-14 days).

I've tried rasberries with excellent results (though it was a bit 
beerish until about six months), and cherries, apples, or grapefruit 
with mixed results.


Chapter 2: Methyglyn -- Mead with Spices

Lavender Mead

Source: Leigh Ann Hussey (leighann@sybase.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #5, 1 October 1992

Ingredients (1 gallon):

4lb honey
1/4t citric acid
1 pint lavender flowers
1/2t tannin powder
1/2t champagne yeast
1t yeast nutrient

Procedure:

Boil together honey and 1/2gal water for 5 min. Put flowers with citric 
acid and tannin in a gallon jug and pour the hot liquid over. Let cool 
in a sink of cold water to room temperature, then add yeast and nutrient 
and further water to make a gallon plus a pint. Add the airlock. Let 
ferment 1 week, then strain out flowers. Set the lock on again and 
ferment until all quiet. Bottle and age. 

Second Ferment: 112 days

Based on H.E. Bravery's Rose Mead, from HOME BREWING WITHOUT FAILURES.


Chapter 2: Methyglyn -- Mead with Spices

Nutmeg Metheglin

Source: Ken Schramm, communicated by
Daniel F. McConnell (Daniel_F_McConnell@mailgw.surg.med.umich.edu)

Ingredients:

15 lb honey
28 gr whole nutmegs, freshly ground and infused in the boil
2, 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2T ascorbic acid
2T citric acid
1/2T yeast nutrient
1/2t Irish moss
water to make 5 gallons
10 gr Epernay II yeast
5 gr Pasteur Champagne yeast

Procedure:

Boil 35 minutes, chill to 80F, then pitch yeast.  When fermentation is 
complete, prime with 3/4 c dextrose.

Comments:

Use FRESHLY ground whole nutmeg.  

This requires at least 2 years in the bottle to be at its best.  After 2 
years the mead is vinous and semi-dry, pale yelow in color with a good 
sweet/acid balance.  Cinnamon appears first in the nose, followed by the 
nutmeg.  There is an almost citrus aftertaste.  Spices are balanced and 
subtle rather then assertive.
Best served at 45-50F.

Specifics:

OG 1.104
FG 1.000


Chapter 2: Methyglyn -- Mead with Spices

Vanilla (Float like a butterfly, Sting like a 
bee)

Source: Microburst Brewery (Forrest Cook (cook@stout.atd.ucar.edu)) and 
Jon Corbet)
Mead Lover's Digest #123, 1 May 1993

Ingredients (7 Gallons):

9 Lbs of mesquite honey from Tempe, AZ
2 Tbsp gypsum to harden up the water a bit
1 4 ounce bottle of Madagascar vanilla extract

Procedure:

Vanilla extract added after the must cooled. I think the yeast was a 
Canadian champagne yeast with a french name.

The unfermented beverage tasted great, it's been bubbling away for over 
a month. I don't know how many vanilla beans are in one bottle, but I've 
heard that they are rather potent.

Comments:

The inspiration for this recipe came from a mead that was poured at the 
"Beer and Steer", a large outdoor homebrewers party held in Colorado 
occasionally.

As this mead has aged, the vanilla flavor has become more pronounced. 
For the next batch, we will probably increase the vanilla extract to 6 
oz. At 9 months the flavor is still improving, I project that it will be 
incredible at 18 months if there is any left :-)



Chapter 3: Melomel -- Mead with Fruit


Apricot Melomel

Source: Mike Lindner (mpl@cmprime.att.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #190, 11 August 1993

Ingredients:

9 lbs. wildflower honey
4 oz. grated ginger root
1 1/2 t. gypsum
1 t. citric acid
1 T. yeast nutrient
1/2 t. irish moss
3 lbs. apricots
2 pkgs. Red Star Pasteur champagne yeast
5+ gal. Poland Springs bottled water (my tap water tastes AWFUL) 

Procedure:

I basically used Papazian's "Barkshack Ginger Mead" recipe, with some 
variations.  Heated 2.5 gal. of water, added all ingredients up to the 
fruit.  Brought slowly to 210 degrees F., skimming off the foam (and 
much of the ginger).  Washed, pitted, and "juiced" the apricots to 
produce 1 1/2 quarts of delicious juice - added to hot must and turned 
off the heat for about 1/2 hour.  Temperature was 190 degrees after 
adding fruit - dropped to about 180 degrees.  Ran the must through my 
(new, counterflow) wort chiller - in 15 minutes brought the temperature 
down to 80 degrees - and into 7 gallon glass carboy.  Pitched yeast and 
fit the carboy with a fermentation lock.

Comments:

The must looks like raw apple cider at this point - cloudy and 
orangy/brown. I drank the must used for the gravity sample, and had a 
hard time stopping myself from sampling more - it was sweet, with a 
strong tartness of ripe apricots and undercurrents of ginger 
complimenting it nicely - tastes much better than beer wort!  I was 
worried about too little fruit or too much ginger, but it seems very 
well balanced at this point - I hope the finished product keeps the same 
blend of tastes.  Next morning: vigorous fermentation (3-5 
bubbles/second) and about 1/2 inch of "kreusen" on the must.  The smell 
is heavenly - like concentrated apricots, a little bit yeasty.  I plan 
on racking to a secondary after a week, at which time I'll take another 
sample for gravity and tasting.

Since then I have racked it off the fruit pulp and junk (after a week) 
and, bottled (I debated letting it age longer in the carboy, but since 
there was considerable head room, I didn't want problems with oxidation, 
so I figured I'd let it age in the bottle). I primed with 3/4 cup corn 
sugar dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water (let it cool before adding to 
the mead, or course), and filled and capped 50 12 oz. beer bottles. The 
mead at this point smells and tastes rather alcoholic, but if you can 
get past that, there is a wonderful bouquet of apricot and ginger. It's 
pretty undrinkable right now, but we'll see how it is in six months. I'm 
not worried - I'm drinking homebrew.

As of 1/1/94, it smells heavenly, but still tastes a bit mouthwashy. I'm 
still waiting for it to age.

Specifics:

O.G. 1.052
F.G. unknown (last estimated at 1.000, a couple of days before bottling. 
Since my hydrometer only measures down to 1.004, I didn't bother with 
any later readings.)


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Blackberry Mead

Source: Kirk Williams (williams@tsasa.lanl.gov)
Mead Lover's Digest #289, 10 April 1994

Ingredients (1 gallon):

1.5 lbs black honey
1 lb clover honey
1 lb blackberries (frozen)
pectic enzyme
ale yeast
bentonite

Procedure:

I used a black honey, a honey which bees cultivated from I believe 
thistle (which grows in abundance in the fall monsoons here in Los 
Alamos).  Boiled for 20 minutes, skimming the surface.  Added 1 lb 
blackberries (used frozen), pectic enzyme, let ferment 2 weeks, 
strained, let ferment some more, maybe for 2 months or so (high 
fermenting temps, roughly 70+), added 1 lb of clover honey and fermented 
to completion.

Comments:

I carbonated this, and it has a fantastic effect.  The final color is a 
reddish-rose tint, clear as a bell.  Oh, 2 wks before bottling, I used 
bentonite to help settle out the little bit of particulate left, and the 
yeast.

It's fantastic now, I can't wait to pour a glass of this after an 
ultimate practice this summer, and watch a sunset behind the Jemez... :)


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Blackberry Mead

Source: Chuck Stringer (cstringe@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #289, 10 April 1994

Ingredients (2 gallons):

1 gallon ripe blackberries
4 1/2 lbs clover honey from Kroger (grocery)
acid blend and yeast nutrient according to package directions
Montrache wine yeast

Procedure:

We picked about a gallon of good ripe berries, rinsed and froze them.  
Since the patch wasn't huge, we picked some every few days freezing a 
pint or two at a time.  During this time I started a simple mead with 2 
1/2lbs of clover honey from the grocery and enough water to make a 
gallon.  I used Montrache wine yeast and added yeast nutrient and acid 
blend according to the directions on the package.  Fermentation stopped 
after three weeks.  We defrosted the berries in a small wastebasket I 
use for a primary, then mashed them with a sterilized wine bottle.  The 
mead was then added.  Two weeks later we racked the liquid off of the 
fruit and into a carboy.  Another 2 lbs of honey and enough water to 
fill it up to 2 gallons.  It was bottled a month later and now at eight 
months, it's perfect.  The only thing I would do differently is leave 
out most of the acid blend.

Comments:

Up through six months of aging, it wasn't very good, but at eight it was 
wonderful.  It turned out like a really good red wine with a blackberry 
nose and aftertaste.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Blueberry-Jasmine Mead

Source: Alan Derr (aderr@BBN.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #122, 1 May 1993

Ingredients:

10 lb clover honey (basic, grocery store variety)
2-12oz bags of frozen Maine wild blueberries
1/4 c jasmine tea (dry)
3 tsp. pectic enzyme
3 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 pkg. Red Star Champagne yeast

Procedure:

The honey, blueberries, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient were added to 
about 2 gal. of water and raised and held at 170F for 25 minutes.  I 
squished the blueberries and strained them about halfway through the 
heating process.  This mixture was then poured into a carboy with water 
to make a bit less than 5 gal.  I then boiled about 2 cups of water, 
steeped the tea for several minutes and strained it into the carboy.  
When cool, I pitched the dry yeast (I know, I should know better than to 
use dry yeast...).

OK. Time passes. Fermentation happens. It stops. I taste the result. The 
jasmine was a bit too heavy, but I figure it will probably mellow with 
age. The blueberry smell, flavor, and color was kind of underwhelming. 
The main problem was, the resulting mead was thin-bodied and dry as a 
bone. Now I want a fairly dry mead, but this WAY too much so. 

So next, I heated:

 2 lb clover honey
 12oz of frozen wild blueberries 
 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
 1 tsp. pectic enzyme

in a quart or so of water, squished and strained, and added this mixture 
to the carboy. 

Fermentation started again (slowly) and has continued for the past 
couple of months. It is now crystal clear, has a beautiful purple color, 
nice blueberry and jasmine aromas, and a very nice mouth feel (not to 
mention a fairly high alcohol content!). 

1st O.G.: 1.067
1st F.G.: 0.990 (before 2nd addition of honey)
2nd O.G.: 1.004 (after 2nd addition of honey)
2nd F.G.: 0.996


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Brew 4: Mead

Source: John E. Abraham (jabraham@acs6.acs.ucalgary.ca)
Mead Lover's Digest #143, 1 June 1993

Ingredients:

7 cloves (cracked)
2 sticks cinnamon (broken)
12 lbs clover honey
2 pckgs champagne yeast (saccharomyces beyanus)
1 L Just Pikt(tm) frozen florida grapefruit juice (NOT from concentrate)
2 tsp Diammonium phosphate (yeast nutrient) 

Procedure:

Spices simmered for 20 min, honey and Nutrient added.  Much later, full 
boil for 15 minutes (partial boil for about 40 min), some scum and 
spices skimmed off.  Bunch of cups removed to brew vessel to make room 
for grapefruit juice.  Grapefruit juice added, held @ about 90degC for 
15 min to pasteurise grapefruit juice.  Thrown into brew vessel, water 
added to 26L (about 5 gallons).  At 75degF, SG 1.073, pitched yeast

Comments:

93 04 19     SG 1.054 man, this stuff is churning
93 04 27     Racked, SG 1.007, cloudy peachy colour, kind of like
          honey&/or grapefruit. Lots of CO2. Champagne taste.
93 05 30     SG 0.996 clear, delicious smelling, a little strong
          tasting, needs to smooth out a bit in the bottle.

The mead changed significantly (for the better) between 6 months and 8 
months after it was first started.

The grapefruit is hardly noticeable at all, but the cinnamon and cloves 
can be tasted.

The fermentation speed was very high - the grapefruit probably provided 
a good pH and additional nutrients.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Cran of Creation

Source: Jay Hersh (hersh@x.org)
Mead Lover's Digest #244, 12 December 1993

Ingredients (3 gallons):

6 lbs Raw Clover Honey (from Haber Apiary in Troy, NY)
1 tsp water crystals
1 tsp yeast nutrient
3/4 oz Cascade leaf hops
Irish Moss
24 oz crushed cranberries (crushed in blender)
1 pkg red Star Champagne Yeast

Procedure:

This was one of my earlier mead concoctions. I used to boil down the 
water
crystals, yeast nutrient, hops and irish moss first, to make a sort of
perservative like base liquid, then add the honey to this and steep at 
180F for
45 minutes (along with the fruit). This would get added to enough cold 
water to
bring the mixture to 95F or so and I'd add the yeast and let it ferment.

Comments:

This concoction was OK, but strongly on the dry side, and the 
cranberries 
make it pretty tart.

Specifics:

OG 1.068   FG 0.997


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Cranberry Mead

Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #243, 9 December 1993

Ingredients (2 gallons):

1 gal Oceanspray cranberry juice. (good jug too!)
5 lb vernal honey (clover-alphalpha...)
Palmful raisins, chopped
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp acid blend
Champagne yeas.

Procedure:

Heat the honey with some water (1:1 is fine)  Pasteurize or boil.  I 
campden treated the juice.  Shouldn't really need it though.  Add the 
rest of the goods, divide the juice between two gallon jugs.  Divide 
honey mixture.  Pitch yeast, bring up to a full gallon. (10/17/92)

I fermented one in a closet upstairs (60's) and one in the basement at 
lower 50's.  They both fermented forever.  In January I transfered to a 
secondary-  1.010.  Added 2 cups/gallon dissolved corn sugar to top it 
up.  The upstairs one was bottled 1/31.  It was and is still cloudy.  
The downstairs one was bottled 7/5. It was clearer, sweet and strong.  
It did finally clear. and was significantly better than the first.

Comments:

Some of this broth lasted a full year. The last bottle disappeared with 
my folks at x-mas, celebrating their survival of the Pasadena fires. It 
is very sweet, and tasty. Nicely balanced. It has become lightly 
carbonated- even though it's corked. Nice touch though. Light red/orange 
color, clear, fruity nose. It has a full body, almost syrupy, and quite 
strong!

I have a bunch of cranberries in the freezer, and have considered 
(planned)
on doing a batch again, with fresh cranberries.  Chop up 24 oz's frozen 
cranberries (cuisinart), and mix in with the honey mixture.  Pasteurize.  
Substitute for the cranberry juice.  Perhaps up the honey by a pound or 
2.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Crazy-Good Mead

Source: Dave Polaschek (DaveP@county.lmt.mn.org)
Mead Lover's Digest #230, 26 October 1993

Ingredients:

10 lbs light clover honey
2 lbs blueberries (I used frozen)
1 gallon apple cider (pasteurized)
1/2 oz Saaz hops
yeast nutrient to instructions on package
1 packs champagne yeast (I used WYeast on this one) 

Procedure:

Bring 2.5-3 gallons of water to a boil.  Add honey, bring to a boil 
again.  Toss in the yeast nutrient and hops and boil for about a half-
hour, skimming off any scum that forms on the surface during the boil.  
Put berries into a hop-boiling bag.  Lower heat to a very low simmer, 
and toss in the berries, mashing the bag around to break them up some.  
Continue to steep the fruit for about 10-15 minutes while you get the 
fermenter ready.  Put the gallon of apple cider into the fermenter when 
the boil is about done, and then add the hot wort.  Add water to bring 
the total up to 5 gallons.  Let cool, and pitch yeast.

When the gravity has dropped below 0.980, bottle and wait.  3 months 
wait makes for eminently drinkable stuff, but the longer you can wait, 
the better.  Final color is a light delicate pink, not unlike some white 
zins, so you may want to store bottles on their head and then freeze the 
neck to get the sediment out of the bottles, but I've just been very 
careful decanting into glasses with pretty good results.

Specifics:

SG: 1.075
FG: 0.965!
Alcohol content: 23 proof

Comments:

This is something I whipped up last winter, and I sure wish more of it 
had survived until now (I'm down to my last 3 bottles, and it just keeps 
getting better).


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Grapefruit Melomel

Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #214, 24 September 1993

Ingredients:

7 lb Clover Honey
6 (med) grapefruit
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
Dash of acid blend. (Worth doing an acid test. Didn't have a kit then)
1/2 oz cascade hops used as finishing hops in a light ale
Pectic Enzyme (tbsp) and sparkalloid added to secondary
Champagne yeast

Procedure:

Mix honey into a couple gallons heated water.  Bring to a boil.  Skim 
scum.  Grate peel from grapefruits and juice them.  Add peel, hops and 
acid blend to boil.  Add juice when heat goes off.  Cool by adding cold 
water.  Pitch yeast.  Ferment for a month.  Rack to secondary.  Rack 
again, and bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar.

Comments:

It was a Grapefruit Melomel Mead brewed in Feb, '92.  I didn't take 
gravity readings, but it was a pretty light mead.  It was bottled maybe 
2 or 3 months later.  After a month or two in the bottle it had 
carbonated, but smelled like vomit.  Had a sour citrusy aftertaste.  Not 
pleasant.

I put it away for a LONG time, and a year later it was clear, sparkling, 
and smelled nicely citrus.  The puky smell had cleared.  It did taste 
like grapefruit, but more gently so.  It may have been a bit too acid.  
A nice champagne-like presentation.  You could even make raisin 
submarines in it. (if you've never tried this, drop a wrinkly raisin in 
a glass of clear sparkly mead, and be amazed!!! Fun for the whole 
family! Up and Down!) The take home lesson here was- Age is a GOOD 
THING. Be patient! Some meads are very harsh young, but can age 
beautifully, and become quite enjoyable.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Jamaica Blue Mead

Source: Guy McConnell (guym@exabyte.com)

Ingredients:

6 lb. Cover Honey
1 lb. Orange Blossom Honey
1.5 lb. Corn Sugar
2 oz. Fresh, minced Ginger Root
3 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
3 tsp. Yeast Extract
1 gal. Fresh Blueberries
2 ea. Lemons, halved
WYeast #1214 Belgian Ale Yeast
0.5 cup Orange Blossom Honey (bottling)

Procedure:

Put honey, corn sugar, and yeast extract in brewpot with water. Simmer 
for 10 minutes, skimming foam with kitchen strainer.  Add ginger root 
and simmer for 10 more minutes without skimming.  Remove from heat, 
squeeze in lemons, and throw into brewpot.  Cover and let stand for 15 
minutes.  Strain out lemon halves and ginger, add blueberries, chill, 
pour mixture (blueberries and all) into primary fermenter, and pitch 
yeast.  After 7 days, rack off of fruit into secondary and age for 1 - 2 
months.  When fermentation is complete, prepare a "tea" by simmering 
cinnamon and honey in water for 15 minutes in a covered pot.  Cool, add 
to bottling bucket, and quietly siphon in must.  Bottle and age for a 
couple of months or so.

Comments:

This makes a nice, light, sparkling beverage that is a brilliantly clear 
rose-purple color.  The flavor is of blueberries kissed with cinnamon.  
A wonderful change of pace for a summer drink at about 5% alcohol by 
weight.

Specifics:
O.G. 1.050
F.G. 1.005


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

MeadBerry Mead

Source: RON.admin@admin.creol.ucf.edu (RON)
From: Mead Lover's Digest #269  22 February 1994

Ingredients:

1/2 gal Motts apple juice
1/2 gal Fresh Apple Cider
10 lbs Clover Honey
5 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp acid blend
1 - 12 oz pkg frozen Blueberries
1 - 12 oz pkg frozen Raspberries
2- 12 oz pkg frozen Blackberries
1 lb fresh Strawberries
1 lb+ fresh Cherries - pitted
juice of 1 orange
1/4 orange peel (boil)
1/4 orange peel (fin)

Procedure:

Macerated fruit and cider in blender, boiled everything for 45 min, 
added yeast nutrient and acid blend last 5 min.  Ice bath for around 30 
min.  Poured the wort (must?) through cheese cloth and ran boiling water 
through it and squeezed the remainder out. Used a M&F Ale yeast starter.  
4 weeks racked - tasted like cough syrup, acidic.  8 weeks bottled with 
1 cup same Clover Honey above to 4.1 gal of secondary - had a dry fruity 
port taste.  6 months later - low carbonation, fruity, very tasty.  1 
year - carbonation varies from bottle to bottle, very tasty has a 
Lindermans Framboise Lambic (sp?) taste and carbonation.  2 years & 
2months later had last one.  Carbonation was little low for my liking 
but a very good after dinner mead with desert.  A must to repeat, no pun 
intended.

Specifics:

OG: 1.070
FG: 1.000


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Mulberry Mead

Source: Thomas Manteufel (thomas@ct.med.ge.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #148, 6 June 1993

Ingredients (1 gallon):

2# wildflower honey
12 ozs. frozen mulberries
water up to 1 gallon
Red Star Montrachet yeast

Procedure:

Pasturized and skimmed honey at 170F for 1/2 hour. Added frozen 
mulberries at end of heating. Pitched with rehydrated Red Star 
Montrachet yeast. Used NO nutriment.

Racked to secondary after 9 days, as berries were beginning to bleach. 
Bottled when 2 months old.

Comments:

This mead recently (March 20) won a first in the mead/cider category of 
the Brewer's Of South Suburbia (south suburban Chicago) regional 
homebrew competition. It's a simple recipe that lends itself well to 
many different melomels. This was a medium mead. If I want a sweeter 
taste, I use 3 pounds of honey, and a pound of fruit, varying according 
to the fruit's strength. 

Time in bottle when judged: 6 months

Judges comments:
nice honey aroma, with a little solventy (higher alcohol) finish 
[may be due to not having aged enough]
beautiful color [a red, deeper than a ros'e] nice honey flavor. metallic 
finish [could be due to a rust spot in the 
brew kettle or our famous Waukesha mineral water] score 37/50
nice fruit nose
nice appearance
nice honey and fruit balance
score 40/50

Specifics:

IG - 1.082
FG - 1.002


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Mulberry Mead (Morat)

Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)

Ingredients:

6 lb fresh picked mulberries
5 lb Snowberry honey
3 lb corn sugar
2 cups Raisins- chopped
2 tsp Na-bisulfate
Pris-de-Mouse yeast

Procedure:

Pick through berries, remove leaves, grubs...etc.  Process berries.  Add 
HOT water to honey to dissolve.  Add sugar and processed raisins.  Mix 
processed berries and sugar mix.  Add Na-bisulfate (campden), mix well 
and leave overnight.  Next day, add water to bring up to 5 gallons.  
Pitch yeast (7/1/93).  Racked a couple of times.  Bottled on 9/2/93 with 
3/4 cup corn and demererra sugar (mixed).

Comments:

My girlfriend has a tree outside her house.  Birds eat the fallen 
berries, become intoxicated and get hit in the road.  So I thought I 
should remove some of the berries, save a couple birds.  They were deep 
purple to red.  The mead tasted good at bottling.  It slowly became 
sparkling, and now is like a light sparkling burgundy.  Quite fruity, 
but has a wine-like quality.  It is fairly dry, but does have a berry-
sweetness I find very enjoyable.  It cleared beautifully, and has a deep 
red color, but easy to see through.  The thing that surprised me was how 
good it was young.  I rarely have meads taste GOOD young (see grapefruit 
recipe!), but this one did!

Specifics:

OG: 1.070
FG: 0.990


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Peach Melomel

Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #214, 24 September 1993

Ingredients:

3/4 bushel of fresh peaches
6 lb. Clover honey
6 lb. corn sugar
2-1/2 tsp. Pectic enzyme
2 0z. Acid blend
1/2 tsp. Tannin
1 oz. yeast nutrient
Epernay yeast

Procedure:

Wash and pit peaches.  Remove "bad" fruit.  Chop into pieces and freeze 
overnight packed in zip lock bags.  Thaw.  Pasteurize the honey/sugar in 
a few gallons of water.  Add pectic enzyme, acid blend, tannin, 
nutrient.  Skim any scum.  Turn off heat, and add peaches.  Cool and 
pour into a bucket primary (ideally w/ a spigot).  Pitch yeast starter.  
Ferment.  Rack off sediment after primary subsides.  Smelled very 
sulfury.  Addition of campden will help stabilize the color of the 
peaches.  Add a day before pitching yeast.  I lost a fair bit of volume 
through rackings, but it ended up very clear, and "peachy" in color.

Comments:

I made one of these last year, and it was VERY yummy after 6 months.  
There are now 2 bottles left and it IS a year old (peach wine is better 
not aged too long, I've heard).  I started a new one, but juiced the 
peaches.  This left me with 2.5 gal nicely fermented peach wine, and 2.5 
gal of alcoholic pulp!  So I recommend chopping and freezing.  Should be 
adequate.  The first one became very dry, and benefited from sweetening 
at bottling.  No carbonation resulted.  I'm sure the yeast had pooped 
out by then.  It was pretty strong!  Nice peach color, and aroma.  Good 
dessert wine.

Specifics:

OG: 1.112
FG: 0.990


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Peach Mead

Source: Gordon Olson (glo@lanl.gov)
Mead Lover's Digest #195, 16 August 1993

Ingredients:

12 pounds of blended clover honey
1/2 tsp. Irish moss
11 pounds of pitted, pureed, peaches
2 pkgs. Red Star Pris de Mousse yeast

Procedure:

Boil honey and irish moss with 2.5 gallons of water for 15 minutes.  
Turn off the heat, and add the peaches.  Soak at 160 F for 15 minutes to 
pasteurize.  Then I cooled the mead with a counterflow wort chiller. (I 
am switchingto the immersion-type of wort chiller.) Because of the high 
gravity and the fact that tiny pieces of peach were sucked into the wort 
chiller, this took a long time. After the initial run off, I stirred hot 
water into the peach mush in my kettle and drained that water through 
the wort chiller.

2 Redstar Prise de Mousse yeast packages were rehydrated in hot water 
and added to the 69 F mead. With all the nutrients from the peaches, it 
fermented fast, I actually had some peach pieces blown out through the 
blow-off tube attached to the 5 gallon carboy. 

After two weeks I added 2 tsp. of pectic enzymes. Unfortunately, a thick 
layer of sediment formed and a thick layer of floating peach pieces 
formed. Only a band in the middle was relatively clear. Agitating, by 
spinning the carboy didn't seem to help, so, after three weeks, I 
siphoned out this middle 3 gallons into a clean carboy (SG=0.994). In 
retrospect, what I should have done was finish fermenting this mead in a 
3 gallon carboy. Since I didn't have one at the time, I boiled 3 pounds 
of honey in 1.5 gallons of water and topped up the 5 gallon carboy.

Two months after starting, I racked the mead into a clean carboy 
(SG=0.994, again). I added 5 Stabilizing Tablets to kill off the yeast 
and two pounds of boiled honey to sweeten the mead. 

Three months after starting, I added 2 tablespoons of polyclar in 1/2 
cup of hot water. This clarified the mead and I bottled three days 
later. It was bottled straight from the carboy with nothing added.

Comments:

At the AHA's national competition (1993) in Portland, OR, my peach mead 
was given first place in the non-traditional mead category. The first 
place in the traditional category was from Canada and used a very tasty 
and aromatic wild flower honey. The brewer of the traditional mead was 
given the Mead Maker of the Year award. 

Things I would do differently:
1) Next time I will pasteurize rather than boil the honey. (Actually, 
this was the last time I boiled honey for a mead.) 2) Use local raw, 
unfilterred honey rather than store bought blended clover honey. (to 
enhance honey aromas and flavors) 3) Freeze the pureed peaches first to 
break up the cells and improve utilitation of the peach sugars and 
flavors. 4) Try harder to keep the peach pieces out of the primary. 5) 
Use a less attenuative yeast. Prise de Mousse has consistently given me 
dry meads. Lalvin's K1V-1116 wine yeast gives me meads with SG > 1.004 
that seem less alcholic. So I am switching to it as my primary mead 
yeast.

The main comments/criticisms that I received from the judges were that 
the mead was alcoholic (higher alcohols present) and that the peach and 
honey aromas and flavors were delicate or understated. But it was very 
clean, no off flavors. These comments guided, but did not completely 
determine my list of changes for next time.

I hope you have enjoyed the saga of this mead. A less detailed summary 
should appear in the next Zymurgy.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Pear/ginger melomel/metheglin

Source: Eric Urquhart (eurquhar@sfu.ca)
Mead Lover's Digest #11, 8 October 1992

Ingredients (2 gallons):

5 lbs pears, seeds and flower end removed
5 lbs raw new honey (wildflower/raspberry/blackberrry blend)
3 oz. finely ground fresh young ginger (more lemony than mature ginger)
1 primed package Wyeast belgian #1214
1/2 tsp. pure ascorbic acid (to keep the pears from going brown and 
because it tastes like lemons)
1/2 tsp. Difco yeast nitrogen base (yeast nutrient)
16 cups water

Procedure:

Everything but the yeast nitrogen base was put into a big pot and 
brought up slowly to 200 F and kept there for 20 minutes to pasteurize 
and extract the ginger flavour and allowed to cool down naturally (about 
2 - 3 hours).  Next time, I'll extract the same ginger pulp repeatedly 
with boiling water a few times to get more ginger flavour out and add as 
part of the water used (the ginger flavour is only sparingly soluble in 
water).  YIELD: about 2 gallons in the primary.

...p.s. It was bubbling like crazy 24 hours later and the banana was 
evident when I opened the yeast envelope.  This weekend ginger beer!

Comments:

It turned out reasonably well.  Slight bitter taste but nice 
ginger/fruit flavour when finished.  It was abused so if racked at the 
proper times etc. it likely would have been better.  The Belgian yeast 
fermented out well with a high % alcohol and likely would taste better 
if more residual sugar remained.  This formula yields a very good young 
mead as when 3 months old (after the second racking).  It was very tasty 
but quite sweet.  Off-flavours seem to be reduced and fruit flavours 
maintained when using this yeast if the fermented product is stored at a 
cool (below 60 F) temperature once the initial rapid fermentation is 
complete.

Specifics:
OG:   1.100
FG: ~1.020


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Plum Melomel

Source: Roger Locniskar (loc@bostech.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #11, 8 October 1992

Ingredients:

7.5lbs Citrus Honey (Orange Blossom is the best or whatever)
25-30lbs Plums (halved and pitted is best, but at least halved)
3-4 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
1 pkg Pectic Enzyme
1 pkg Champagne Yeast
Acid Blend (you'll need an Acid Testing Kit too)

Procedure:

The Day Before:
Start the yeast the day before you start the mead using a standard yeast 
starter of orange juice, water, sugar and yeast nutrient. 

The Day of:
Make sure the plums are at room temp.  Do not heat them to do this, just 
let them come up to room temp naturally.  Dissolve the honey in 2 
gallons of water, do not let it boil, just get the water hot enough to 
dissolve the honey.  Combine the plums, honey water, yeast nutrient, 
pectic enzyme and 2 more gallons of water in a large open primary 
fermenter.  Mix well.  The original gravity reading should be between 
1.080 and 1.090.  Add the yeast, stir it up, and cover lightly.  Stir 
the fruit down twice a day.

Some Days Later:
Check the gravity after about 5 days.  When the gravity reaches 1.020, 
rack and press the must into a sulfited glass secondary fermenter and 
add 1/2 camden tablet per gallon of must to prevent oxidation.  Fit a 
fermentation lock on the bottle and let it rip.

When the gravity reaches 1.000 rack again into a clean sulfited carboy, 
again adding 1/2 camden tablet per gallon for the same reason.

When the fermentation stops, let it sit for a few days to let the lees 
settle out.  Rack into a clean sulfited carboy adding 1 camden tablet 
per gallon of product and fine with a Bentonite mixture.  Let this sit 
for 10 days.  Rack the final product (leaving the lees behind as usual) 
into a clean sulfited carboy and let bulk age for three months.  Test 
the acid level at this point using an acid testing kit and adjust the 
acid to a level of .55.  The kit will tell you given what your acid 
level is at how much to add.  If you have a spare frig you can put the 
carboy in, the last month of the bulk age put the mead in the frig to 
chill proof it.

Bottling:
Filter the mead with fine filters and bottle. Let bottle age for at 
least 6 months (1 year is better). Enjoy.

Comments:
If you want the end product to be sweeter you can add more honey. But do 
not get the original gravity above 1.100 or you will have problems with 
stuck fermentation or sluggish fermentation. You can add as much as 
50lbs of plums if you want this to be _really_ plummy. The higher the 
gravity the longer the product will need to bottle age.

If you can freeze the plums for a couple of weeks before you use them 
you'll get a better juice yield because freezing breaks down the cell 
walls.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Raspberry Melomel

Source: Mark A Fryling (fryling@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993

Ingredients:

10-12 lbs of light honey
4-5 gal good brewing water
15 lbs of Black Rasberries
1.25tsp yeast nutrient
2 pkgs (10g) Lalvin #71B-1122 S. Cerevisiae Narbonne

Procedure:

Before brewing, pick, wash and freeze the fruit you are going to use. 
The freezing makes sugars more accessible. I think 10-15 lbs is a good 
amount for 5 gal of mead. Take the fruit out of the freezer the morning 
before you brew to thaw. I find it particularly convenient to put the 
fruit into large ziploc freezer bags about 1/3 to 1/2 full. That way you 
can crush the fruit in the bags after it's thawed and avoid a mess. 

Dissolve honey into 2-3 gallons of water and bring to a boil.  Boil 20 
min or so.  Cool to appx. 70 F and pour into primary fermenter.  Dilute 
to 5gal and add 1.25 tsp yeast energizer (pectic enzyme and acid blend 
are optional).  Pitch a good wine yeast.  I have had very good luck with 
Lalvin 71B-1122 S. cerevisiae.  It's an epernay type yeast that ferments 
quickly and leaves just a bit of residual sweetness.

When the fermentation of the honey must is nearly complete, rack it onto 
the thawed and crushed berries in a second bucket type fermenter.  Allow 
the fermentation to continue to completion and rack the melomel off the 
fruit pulp and yeast into a glass carboy (tertiary?).

When the melomel is clear and no longer bubbling, bottle it.  If the 
S.G. has gone all the way down to 1.000 or below, you probably have not 
exceeded the yeast's alcohol tolerance and carbonation is an option.  I 
primed this batch with 3/4 cup of corn sugar and it is now lightly 
carbonated after about 4 months in the bottle.

Comments:

Because the alcohol content of the honey must is already fairly high and 
there is an enormous yeast population, I have found that pasteurization 
of the fruit is unnecessary.  My experience is that this is the most 
satisfactory way to make melomels.  I think that one preserves more of 
the fruit aroma and flavor by fermenting the honey first and then adding 
that to the fruit.  I'm pretty sure of this because we did two 5 gal 
batches of this last year which were identical except one batch had the 
fruit added to the hot must just after the boil for pasteurization and 
the other was done as above.  Even though both are great, side by side 
comparison reveals more berry aroma in the batch where the fruit was 
added after the honey was fermented.

This is really a pretty generic Melomel recipe.  Just substitute your 
favorite fruit to make whatever you like.  I will say however, that 
after trying strawberry, mulberry (Morat), peach, kiwi, apple (Cyser), 
and black rasberry melomels, the black rasberry is the favorite of 
myself and my friends and family.  The resulting drink is an intense 
magenta color, with strong rasberry aroma and flavor.  Absolutely 
wonderful stuff!  Would also make a very fine ice-brandy though I would 
never do something so dangerous and irresponsible. 8*)

Enjoy!


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Royal Colors Melomel

Source: Dave Suda (suda@vrg.toronto.edu)

Ingredients (7 gal):

19 lbs. alfalfa or other lightly flavored honey
10 pints blueberries
4oz lemon juice
10g Flor Sherry yeast

Procedure:

Heat 5gal of water to 160F (70C), add the honey, mashed blueberries, and 
lemon juice.  Raise the must to 180F (80C), hold for 15min, and chill.  
Rehydrate the yeast in 1 cup of 90F (35C) water for 5 min.  Divide the 
must into two 4-gallon food grade plastic buckets and pitch half the 
yeast in each.  Ferment for one week and rack off the fruit into a 5gal 
carboy and two 1-gallon jugs.  Allow to ferment to completion and clear 
(in my case this took 8 months), racking every 4 months.  Bottle with 
1/2 cup corn sugar per 5 gal.

Comments:

This is a semi-dry blueberry melomel that took a first place at the 1992 
Mazer Cup.  The mead is a beautiful purple with an intense blueberry 
aroma when young.  As it ages, the fruit aroma becomes more brandy-like.

Specifics:
OG: 1.099
FG: 1.009


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Strawberry Melomel

Source: Dick Dunn (rcd@raven.eklektix.com)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993

Ingredients:

6 lb clover honey
4 lb alfalfa honey
12 lb strawberries
Red Star Prise de Mousse yeast
4 oz dextrose (bottling)

Procedure:

Start the yeast in about a pint of water with a few tablespoons of 
dextrose.  Be sure the starter solution and jar are sterile, and at 70-
80F before adding yeast.  This yeast should start quickly--a few hours 
at most.

Clean and hull the strawberries; chop into a few pieces.  (Don't crush 
them or you'll have an impossible mess at racking.)  Put them into a 
sanitized plastic-pail primary.

Bring 4 gallons of water to a full boil.  Remove from heat and 
immediately add the honey; stir thoroughly.  (This will sterilize the 
honey without cooking the flavor out of it.)  Cool to about 150-160F, 
pour over the berries in the primary fermenter.  Cool to pitching 
temperature (below 80F) and add yeast starter.  Stir thoroughly to mix 
and aerate.

Every day or two, push the floating mass of strawberries down into the 
fermenting mead (the equivalent of a winemaker's "punching down the 
cap").

After the strawberries have become very pale--probably ten days or more-
- strain out as much of the strawberry mass as possible, then rack into 
a glass carboy.  Be prepared for the racking tube to clog.  (A stainless 
"Chore Boy" over the bottom end of the tube will help.)

Ferment to completion.  If necessary, fine with gelatin.  Prime with the 
4 oz (by weight) of dextrose dissolved in water; bottle using crown 
caps.

Comments:

12 lb strawberries in a 5-gallon batch seemed like a lot at first, but 
it has worked out right.  This gives a pronounced strawberry nose and 
taste, nothing subtle about it.  You could use as much as 15 lb (3 
lb/gallon) fruit.  I used frozen strawberries...naturally, these are 
mushier and more likely to create pulp that's hard to manage in the 
primary, but they also release juice more readily.

The blend of honey was intended to be such as not to mask the strawberry 
flavor.  This turned out not to be an issue; you could shift the balance 
more toward the alfalfa or other stronger honey.

Keep in mind that strawberries don't have a lot of sugar in them.  They 
contribute flavor but not much fermentable.

The mead fermented out in about 8 weeks.  I have no real idea what the 
true starting gravity was; it's just not possible to get a useful number 
with the fruit in it.  It finished at 0.991.

We were serving the mead and getting good reviews at 16 weeks from the 
start of fermentation (8 weeks after bottling).  After almost a year 
from start, the strawberry character is still holding true.


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Strawberry Melomel

Source: Robert Crawford (betel@camelot.bradley.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #2, 27 September 1992

Ingredients:  (for one gallon)

2.5 lbs Clover Honey
1 lb frozen strawberries
acid blend (dosage as per the package's instructions)
grape tannin
1 Campden tablet
pectic enzyme
Montrachet yeast

Procedure:

I boiled and skimmed the honey with nine pints of water, put the 
strawberries in a must bag, then poured the hot honey water over the 
strawberries, Campden, tannin, and acid blend. A day later I added the 
pectic enzyme, and a day later the yeast. 
After a week in the primary, I removed the horribly changed strawberries 
and siphoned into a secondary. Three weeks later the fermentation had 
stopped, and it had cleared. (Honestly -- I've never had the year-long 
ferments that others have mentioned.) I stabilized it with potassium 
sorbate, sweetened it with table sugar, and bottled it.

Comments:

It's only been two months, but it's already very nice. In fact, it's 
half gone :-)
I'm planning another batch, this one with three pounds of honey and two 
pounds of strawberries. Needless to say, this one will have more 
strawberry flavor and more alcohol...


Chapter 3:  Melomel -- Mead with Fruit

Strawberry Spiced Mead

Source: Scott James (scojam@scojam.Auto-trol.COM)
Mead Lover's Digest #18, 16 October 1992

Ingredients:

10 lbs honey (clover honey, processed. From local super market chain)
5 lbs frozen strawberries
2 oz. grated ginger root. 
5 gal. water
5 grams dry "Pasteur Champagne yeast"

Procedure:

I let it ferment for 3 months in primary (with fruit) at about 70F, then 
bottled, priming with 1 lb honey disolved in about 3 cups boiling water.

Comments:

Now, (6 months later), I'm a half case shy of the nectar and it's 
betting better.  I had the last bottle after 19 months of aging.  Pure 
and clear, a slight diacetyl aftertaste.  The strawberry was almost 
gone, but the ginger apparent and subtle.  It had a slight honey 
aftertaste.  Way over carb. like champagne, use 1/2 lb next time.

I'm thinking of using a Wyeast ale yeast next time.  Maybe more honey.  
Both have been extremely dry, and I would like to try a sweeter version.

postscript:
I tried the Belgian wyeast strain with lots of success!  I used raw 
honey from a local supplier, and didn't boil.  Add 1/2 tsp. acid blend.  
Rack after 1 month at about 65F (Colorado basement), bottle with 2 Cups 
honey. Quite sweet, subtle banana aroma (great!). 6 months: has young 
'listerine' taste. 

next time:
use energizer for faster ferment.  Monitor temp to keep below 60F, try 
to ferment faster and rack of trub, bottle with 2 Cups honey.



Chapter 4: Pyment -- Mead with Grapes


Chablis Pyment

Source: Bill Holman (jwh7k@virginia.edu)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993

Ingredients:

10 lbs. clover honey
4 lbs. Alexanders premium chablis grape juice concentrate
2 tsp. yeast nutrient, DIFCO
.25 tsp. Irish Moss
10 gms. Lallemand Lalvin EC-1118, Saccharomyces bayanus wine yeast, dry 

Procedure:

1) Boil 4 gallons, cut heat to simmer, add honey, grape juice, & Irish 
Moss.
2) Simmer 30 minutes skimming foam off top, add yeast nutrient last 5 
minutes.
3) With wort chiller cool ~5 gallons for 20 minutes.
4) Pitch at 80F, O.G. 1.095 @ 60F for 5 gallons.
5) Ferment at 72F.
6) Rack to glass secondary within 10 days. 

Comments:

Notes: since the grape juice is concentrated, I would up the weight for 
grapes a couple of pounds. Any yeast nutrient will work, but the DIFCO 
ferments faster with less taste. This batch is still fermenting, but at 
the second racking it had a nice balance of honey/grape flavor.


Chapter 4:  Pyment -- Mead with Grapes

Pyment

Source: Mark Taratoot (SLNDW@CC.USU.EDU)
Mead Lover's Digest#119, 27 April 1993

Ingredients:

1 gallon local honey (gift from a friend)
10 pounds of concord grapes (from my back yard)
2-3 tsp acid blend
3-5 tsp yeast nutrient
campden tablets
Redstar Champagne yeast

Procedure:

I started this stuff on November 1. We had already had a couple of 
frosts, so the grapes were really sweet. When I pitched the yeast I had 
three gallons. I used one of the gallons for topping off after each 
racking (and the occaisonal sample) and by the time I bottled it I had 
less than 2.5 gallons. The stuff was deliceous right out of the 
fermenter. After about a month I took an 8 ounce bottle to a party for 
all to sample. It really is yummy. 

Comments:

My question is, How in the hell am I supposed to let this stuff age when 
it is so good even now? What can I expect to happen to the flavors 
during the next year or two? I assume it will become drier, which would 
probably be an improvement.


Chapter 4:  Pyment -- Mead with Grapes

Pyment

Source: Daniel F McConnell 
(Daniel_F_McConnell@mailgw.surg.med.umich.edu)
Mead Lovers Digest #171, 10 July 1993

Ingredients:

100 lbs Red Wine grapes crushed
Add Honey to 21 Degrees Brix
Yeast Lab dry mead yeast (M61)-500ml starter

Procedure:

Ferment as wine, racking off 10 gallons of free run and reserving the 
pomace.  To the pomace add 5 gal. distilled water and 12.5 lb. of honey.  
Adjust acid to 0.60.  Ferment and press to secondary.  Rack at 1 week 
and again at 6 months to oak if possible.  Bottle the following fall. 

Comments:

I make this every year, usually with Chambourcin or Chancellor grapes. 
I'm sure it would also work well with white grapes. Taste is that of a 
dry red wine with plenty of honey notes to add complexity.


Chapter 4:  Pyment -- Mead with Grapes

Sweet Pyment

Source: Daniel F McConnell 
(Daniel_F_McConnell@mailgw.surg.med.umich.edu)

Ingredients:

5 Gal Riesling juice (TA=1.10, Bx=19, pH=2.99)
7 lbs Clover Honey
Yeast Lab dry Mead yeast (M61), 1-liter starter

Procedure:

Add the honey to the sulfited grape juice to raise the OG to 29 Bx.  
Adjust the acid if needed with acid blend.  The following day pitch the 
yeast starter and let it ferment at ambient basement temperature leaving 
in primary 12 months.  Rack off the sediment and bottle when completely 
clear.

Comments:

Wonderful sweet sour balance with a tremendous honey/sweet Riesling 
aroma.  Should be stunning after a few years of bottle age.  Taste is 
reminiscent of a late harvest Riesling with honey flavors and aroma very 
evident.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.120 (29 Bx)
F.G.: 1.019 (5 Bx)



Chapter 5: Cyser -- Mead with Apples


Apple Mead-pagne

Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie (SLK6P@cc.usu.edu)

Ingredients:

4 gal Fresh pressed cider (from an orchard)
5 lbs Honey (used local clover/alfalfa)
1 tsp acid blend
Handful chopped raisins, or 1/4 tsp grape tannin
1 Tbsp yeast nutrient
Irish moss (or other clarifier)
2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
4 campden tables (sodium metabisulfite)
Epernay Yeast (or champagne)

Procedure:

Pour the cider to a sterilized 5 gal carboy.  Allow it to splash to 
aerate.  Treat overnight with campden tablets.  Crush and predissolve.  
Add the raisins to the carboy.  Next day heat the honey in < 1 gallon of 
water (160 deg 1 hr, or boil if you choose).  Add all other ingredients 
to the syrup.  Add to the fermenter.  Use some of the treated juice to 
hydrate the yeast, and pitch the starter after it bubbles.  After a few 
weeks, rack to a secondary.  Add more finings if needed (isinglass is 
good).  Top up with juice, or honey syrup.  I've generally liked to let 
cysers, and ciders age for a pretty long time.  Most have been in 
fermenters for at least 4 months.  You can bottle still, or sparkling.  
Use 1/2 to 3/4 cup corn sugar and champagne bottles for a nice sparkle.  
These have taken a long time to gain a good bubble level.  They have 
been stored cold (55).  But well worth the wait!

Comments:

A potent and pleasing fruity wine.  Once mature, a clear, bubbly 
champagne-like mead.  My dad really enjoyed this one, and he usually 
drinks nicer wines.  I was flattered.  He kept grabbing the bottle at 
dinner!  :)
If you rack several times you can eliminate most of the sediment, and 
only have a fine layer in the bottle.  I prefer to keep the priming 
down, because they seem to continue fermenting slowly for a long time.  
I've had a batch carbonate w/o priming!  So much for a still wine!  You 
could stabilize and sweeten to taste if you choose.  Bottling with teas 
is a nice addition.  I've used cinnamon, but I'd bet ginger, or a tad of 
clove would be nice.

Specifics:

OG: ~1.070  Will vary depending on source of cider. 
FG:  1.000.


Chapter 5:  Cyser -- Mead with Apples

Dangerous Cyser

Source: Chuck Cox (chuck@synchro.com)
Mead Lover's Digest #5, 1 October 1992

Ingredients (7 gallons):

10 lb clover honey
10 lb wildflower honey
5+ gallons cider
6 tablets Campden/Metabisulphate
Ale Yeast

Procedure:

Mix everything except the yeast.
Let sit in loosely covered fermenter for 24 hours. Add yeast.
Rack to secondary when fermentation slows. Rack to keg when still.
Force carbonate if desired.
Condition for as long as you can stand it.
Drink liberally.
Fall over.

Comments:

These days I am not adding the Campden tablets.  That step is optional.



Chapter 6: Other


Honey-Maple Mead

Source: Joseph Nathan Hall (joseph%joebloe@uunet.uu.net)
Mead Lover's Digest #7, 3 October 1992

Ingredients:

(recipe for 2 gallons or maybe a little more) 
2 quarts maple syrup (that hurt$, as Charlie Papazian says) 
2 to 2-1/2 lbs light honey (I used clover) 
acid to taste--I think I used a little less than 1 tsp of acid blend for 
this batch.
Pasteur Champagne yeast

Procedure:

Bring honey and maple syrup to boil in enough water to liquefy. Add acid 
and a bit of nutrient if desired. (I don't think you *need* yeast 
nutrient--the maple syrup seems to have the necessary stuff in it.) Skim 
for a minute or two, enjoying the flavor of the yummy foamy stuff. :-) 
Cool. Then add water to make a 1.120 SG must. Pitch with working Pasteur 
Champagne yeast. Prepare for a moderately vigorous fermentation. Rack 
off after primary fermentation, and once again if it isn't clear in a 
few more weeks. I topped off the gallon jugs with boiled water after the 
first racking--that seemed to help settle the yeast.

Both batches I made this summer (the first with about half this much 
syrup) fermented out to almost exactly 1.000. They fermented and cleared 
at 70-72F in 6-8 weeks.

The result (that's what you've been waiting for): a beautiful, crystal- 
clear brilliant straw-colored liquid, slightly sweet, with a monster 
alcohol palate and strong bourbon notes. Smoooooth.

Then, for a stellar, absolutely world-class result, take the three month 
old young mead and prime with a small quantity of fresh yeast (1/4 pack 
or less) and about 1.25 x (or perhaps a little more) what you consider a 
normal dose of sugar for beer.  Bottle quickly and carefully, and let 
age for at least 6 months, turning and shaking gently a few times during 
the first weeks.

The sparkling honey-maple mead will wow absolutely anyone.  Serve it ice 
cold in your best champagne flutes.  I rather like the still mead on the 
rocks.  Is this heresy?


Chapter 6:  Other

Maple Mead

Source: RON.admin@admin.creol.ucf.edu (RON) 
From: Mead Lover's Digest #269  22 February 1994

Ingredients:

6 lb Canadian Honey
32 oz container of Canadian Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup
1 tsp. gypsum
3/4 tsp. pectin
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. acid blend
1 pkg. M&F ale yeast in 2 cup wort - yeast starter
1 oz. Saaz cube hops (1/2 boil, 1/2 fin) 

Procedure:

Added gypsum and salt to 1.5 gal filtered water, boiled, removed from 
heat, added honey and maple syrup, back to heat, hops added (10 min), 
pectin, yeast nutrient, acid blend added (25 min), yeast starter 
started, boiling well, skimmed off albumin, heat off and fin hops(45 
min), chilled in ice bath (~30min), put in 6 gal carboy, pitched yeast 
and enough water to make 5.5 gal. Racked in 2 weeks. Bottled 10 weeks 
later w/ 1/3 cup corn sugar + 1/2 cup Florida Orange Blossom Honey.

Comments:

3 weeks after bottling had a dry - light "Bristol Cream" taste. Now has 
a great light mead flavor with a tangy maplish dry undertone.

Now I think 10 lbs of honey, light boiling and a different yeast to 
sweeten it up a bit and would make for a more flavorful maple mead.

Specifics:
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.005


Chapter 6:  Other

Simha

Source: Gary Shea (shea@cs.ukans.edu)
Mead Lover's Digest #241, 7 December 1993

Ingredients (for 1 gallon):

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
water to make a gallon
two lemons
yeast

Procedure:

Combine sugars, add water to make 1 gallon, boil.  Squeeze two lemons 
into the mix and throw them in, quartered.  When it's cooled enough add 
1/8 tsp of yeast (I used bread yeast).  Allow to ferment for a day or 
two at ~65-70F.  Bottle, adding a few raisins and a tsp of sugar to each 
bottle.  Allow to sit at ~65-70F until the raisins are sitting at the 
top (< 1 day).  Refrigerate or place in quite cool place

Comments:

Drink in a couple weeks.  So far I have only done one batch and I drank 
it over the course of two weeks.  It keeps getting better and better.  
Plastic Calistoga bottles are what I've been using, they work great and 
seem to have no flavor.

This is a Finnish drink called 'sima' or maybe 'simha', made only for 
May Day celebrations.  The recipes for it that I've seen (and made) are 
all pretty much like this.


Chapter 6:  Other

Honey Bucket Bracket

Source: Richard B. Webb 
Mead Lover's Digest #313, 30 May 1994

Ingredients (for 8 gallons):

25 lbs Honey Malt
39 grams Saaz hop flowers
130 grams shredded ginger root
1 tbl Irish Moss
12 lbs. blackberry honey
1 tbl acid blend
Red Star Montrachet dry yeast

Procedure:

It was a dark and stormy New Year's Eve.  25 lbs of Honey Malt (17 
degreesL) were mashed at 156 degrees until starch test showed complete 
saccrification.  The mash was sparged at 164 degrees.  This wort was 
brought to a boil.  The color contribution of this malt was estimated at 
approximately 60 degrees SRM.  39 grams of Saaz hop flowers (at 6.0% 
acid) was added for a proposed 60 minute boil.  130 grams of shredded 
ginger root was added for a proposed 15 minute boil.  1 TBL of Irish 
Moss was added for a proposed 10 minute boil.

At the end of the 60 minutes, I added 12 lbs of Schneider's blackberry 
honey.  Heat continued, even though the wort wasn't boiling.  After 25 
minutes, the boil resumed, and I added 1 TBL of acid blend.  After 
another 10 minutes of boil, the heat was turned off, the imersion cooler 
was inserted, and cooling was begun.

I used Red Star Montrachet dry yeast in this batch.  The first package 
was added when the wort was still too hot (oops!), so another package 
was added later, before obvious signs of fermentation had begun.

All of the above yielded about 8 gallons of wort, whose specific gravity 
was 1.112.  The actual hopping rate was estimated at 22 IBU, not 
including the acid added.  The final gravity reading was 1.052, with the 
resulting alcohol at approximately 6.4%.

Racking occured on 13 Jan 94.  Bottling took place on 25 Jan 94, giving 
just under one month of fermenting.  Priming sugar consisted of 1/2 cup 
corn sugar, 2 cups of water, and 1 tsp ascorbic acid.

Never having had a Bracket/Braggot before, the taste was rather 
interesting.  It is an exceedingly sweet beer, not mead-ish at all!

Because I used Honey malt, I called this brew Honey Bucket Bracket.  
Dark as the night, and thicker than sin!

Comments:

Michael Hall, who was one of the judges at the Duke's of Ale Spring 
Thing competition held recently in Albuquerque, New Mexico, wanted the 
recipe of the mead that I had entered.  It took honors for the best mead 
of the competition.  This is my attempt at supplying the recipe.

It's not actually a mead, but something called a bracket or braggot.  
The American Mead Association is of very little use in supplying a 
definition of the style, only saying that the mix has to have at least 
half of its fermentables comming from the added honey.

The idea was to make a batch of beer and a batch of mead and slam the 
two together.  Thus a beer was made (at a very low hopping rate), and a 
lot of honey was added to it.

Judges comments:
Michael Hall gave it 42 points.
Good honey expression! Roasted malt comes throught too! Fairly clear, 
good head retention. Good honey taste. Good roasted malt taste. Nice 
complex taste. This is the most interesting mead we've tasted! Nice 
balance of mead and beer. Very good idea! I could drink a lot of this 
(slowly...) on a winter night.

Bill Terborg gave it 45 points.
Complex nose. Very nice. Great color and very clear. Very nice - 
complex, malt strong, yet honey in background. Good balance - sweet & 
acid. Great mead! Publish the recipe so we can all enjoy! 

William deVries gave it 37 points.
Good solid honey/malt aroma. Nicely balanced, almost smoky. Honey exudes 
throughout, bitter component masks the modifying sweetness, but not too 
badly. Malt flavor aids the complexity. Nice even flavors cause a 
pleasant and lasting impression.



Bibliography


Acton, Bryan, and Peter Duncan  (1984)  Making Mead.  G.W. Kent, Inc., 
3691 Morgan Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, USA.  ISBN 0-900841-07-9.  
~$8.95.
An uneven book, at best.  They approach the subject from a winemaking 
point of view:  everything is loaded up with sulfites, citric acid and 
tannin mixtures.  The ideas that they put forth in the sections on the 
history of meadmaking are downright odd, and sometimes plain wrong.  But 
they're mostly harmless, and there are lots of recipes, and they use a 
wide variety of fruits.  Even if you don't ever intend to use sulfites, 
this book  is a good way to get an idea of how much fruit or juice to 
use in brewing a particular mead.

Gayre, Lt. Col. Robert  (1986)  Brewing Mead: Wassail in Mazers of Mead.  
Brewers Publications, Boulder, Colorado.

Morse, Roger A.  (1980)  Making Mead (Honey Wine).  Wicwas Press, 
Ithaca, NY.

Papazian, Charlie  (1991)  The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.  Avon 
Books, New York.  $11.00.  ISBN 0-380-76366-4.
This is the well-known general book on how to brew.  Appendix 5 covers 
mead, and serves as a pretty good introduction to the topic.  It also 
includes three recipes.



Appendix 1: Mead Yeast Starter


Mead Yeast Starter

Source: Joyce Miller jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu

Ingredients (makes 1/2 gallon):

1 cup honey
1 cup cane sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp yeast nutrient (or however much your directions call for)
6-2/3 cups water

Procedure:

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, then shut off & let sit 
(covered) 20-30 minutes to pasteurize.  Force cool in a cold water bath, 
if you wish.  Pour dry yeast into a sanitized 1/2-gallon container.  
When the starter solution has cooled to below 80F (27C), pour it on top 
of the dry yeast.  Shake & swirl to dissolve the yeast.  Attach an 
airlock.  When the airlock shows regular activity, it's time to brew.  
Anywhere from 2-4 cups of active starter can be added to 5 gallons of 
mead must.  Swirl the starter before "inoculating" your mead must so as 
to get the yeast into suspension.

Comments:

I have used this recipe for starting beer, wine, and champagne yeasts, 
and it seems to be very good for acclimating the yeast to the "mead 
environment".

A half gallon is quite a bit of starter, so it might be a good idea to 
cut the recipe in half.  I only make the full amount when I plan to brew 
several batches of mead.   Since yeast ferments honey relatively slowly, 
you can easily use up a batch of the starter on several batches made 
across 2-3 weeks.  The starter will just keep on bubbling in between 
your brewing sessions!  If you want to keep it going even longer, you 
can pour off half the starter, and add a few cups of fresh must for the 
yeast to chew on.



Appendix 2: Honey and Maple Syrup Tables


Honey Table
Courtesy of John Gorman 

Volume (quarts and cups) of Honey to add to 5 Gallons to Achieve a 
Particular Specific Gravity:

S. G. 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
1.000 0q,0c 0q,0c 0q,0c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,2c
1.010 0q,2c 0q,2c 0q,2c 0q,2c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c
1.020 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,1c 1q,1c 1q,1c 1q,1c
1.030 1q,1c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,3c 1q,3c 1q,3c
1.040 1q,3c 1q,3c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,1c 2q,1c
1.050 2q,1c 2q,1c 2q,1c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,3c
1.060 2q,3c 2q,3c 2q,3c 2q,3c 2q,3c 3q,0c 3q,0c 3q,0c 3q,0c 3q,0c
1.070 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,2c 3q,2c 3q,2c 3q,2c
1.080 3q,2c 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 4q,0c 4q,0c 4q,0c
1.090 4q,0c 4q,0c 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,2c 4q,2c
1.100 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,3c 4q,3c 4q,3c 4q,3c 4q,3c 5q,0c
1.110 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,1c
1.120 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,3c 5q,3c 5q,3c 5q,3c
1.130 5q,3c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,1c
1.140 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,3c 6q,3c
1.150 6q,3c 6q,3c 6q,3c 6q,3c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,1c

Volume (quarts and cups) of Honey to add to 1 Gallon to Achieve a 
Particular Specific Gravity:

S. G. 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
1.000 0c,0o 0c,0o 0c,1o 0c,1o 0c,1o 0c,1o 0c,2o 0c,2o 0c,2o 0c,3o
1.010 0c,3o 0c,3o 0c,3o 0c,4o 0c,4o 0c,4o 0c,5o 0c,5o 0c,5o 0c,5o
1.020 0c,6o 0c,6o 0c,6o 0c,7o 0c,7o 0c,7o 0c,7o 1c,0o 1c,0o 1c,0o
1.030 1c,1o 1c,1o 1c,1o 1c,1o 1c,2o 1c,2o 1c,2o 1c,3o 1c,3o 1c,3o
1.040 1c,3o 1c,4o 1c,4o 1c,4o 1c,5o 1c,5o 1c,5o 1c,5o 1c,6o 1c,6o
1.050 1c,6o 1c,7o 1c,7o 1c,7o 2c,0o 2c,0o 2c,0o 2c,0o 2c,1o 2c,1o
1.060 2c,1o 2c,2o 2c,2o 2c,2o 2c,2o 2c,3o 2c,3o 2c,3o 2c,4o 2c,4o
1.070 2c,4o 2c,4o 2c,5o 2c,5o 2c,5o 2c,6o 2c,6o 2c,6o 2c,6o 2c,7o
1.080 2c,7o 2c,7o 3c,0o 3c,0o 3c,0o 3c,0o 3c,1o 3c,1o 3c,1o 3c,2o
1.090 3c,2o 3c,2o 3c,2o 3c,3o 3c,3o 3c,3o 3c,4o 3c,4o 3c,4o 3c,4o
1.100 3c,5o 3c,5o 3c,5o 3c,6o 3c,6o 3c,6o 3c,6o 3c,7o 3c,7o 3c,7o
1.110 4c,0o 4c,0o 4c,0o 4c,0o 4c,1o 4c,1o 4c,1o 4c,2o 4c,2o 4c,2o
1.120 4c,2o 4c,3o 4c,3o 4c,3o 4c,4o 4c,4o 4c,4o 4c,4o 4c,5o 4c,5o
1.130 4c,5o 4c,6o 4c,6o 4c,6o 4c,6o 4c,7o 4c,7o 4c,7o 5c,0o 5c,0o
1.140 5c,0o 5c,0o 5c,1o 5c,1o 5c,1o 5c,2o 5c,2o 5c,2o 5c,2o 5c,3o
1.150 5c,3o 5c,3o 5c,4o 5c,4o 5c,4o 5c,5o 5c,5o 5c,5o 5c,5o 5c,6o

Note: q = quarts, c = cups, o = fluid ounces


Appendix 2:  Honey and Maple Syrup Tables

Maple Syrup Table
Courtesy of John Gorman 

Volume (quarts and cups) of Maple Syrup to add to 5 Gallons to Achieve a 
Particular Specific Gravity:

S. G. 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
1.000 0q,0c 0q,0c 0q,0c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,1c 0q,2c 0q,2c 0q,2c
1.010 0q,2c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c 0q,3c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,0c 1q,1c
1.020 1q,1c 1q,1c 1q,1c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,2c 1q,3c 1q,3c 1q,3c
1.030 1q,3c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,0c 2q,1c 2q,1c 2q,1c 2q,1c 2q,2c
1.040 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,2c 2q,3c 2q,3c 2q,3c 2q,3c 3q,0c 3q,0c 3q,0c
1.050 3q,0c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,1c 3q,2c 3q,2c 3q,2c 3q,2c 3q,3c
1.060 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 3q,3c 4q,0c 4q,0c 4q,0c 4q,0c 4q,1c 4q,1c
1.070 4q,1c 4q,1c 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,2c 4q,3c 4q,3c 4q,3c 4q,3c
1.080 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,0c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,1c 5q,2c 5q,2c
1.090 5q,2c 5q,2c 5q,3c 5q,3c 5q,3c 5q,3c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c 6q,0c
1.100 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,1c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,2c 6q,3c 6q,3c
1.110 6q,3c 6q,3c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,0c 7q,1c 7q,1c 7q,1c 7q,1c
1.120 7q,2c 7q,2c 7q,2c 7q,2c 7q,2c 7q,3c 7q,3c 7q,3c 7q,3c 8q,0c
1.130 8q,0c 8q,0c 8q,0c 8q,1c 8q,1c 8q,1c 8q,1c 8q,2c 8q,2c 8q,2c
1.140 8q,2c 8q,3c 8q,3c 8q,3c 8q,3c 9q,0c 9q,0c 9q,0c 9q,0c 9q,1c
1.150 9q,1c 9q,1c 9q,1c 9q,2c 9q,2c 9q,2c 9q,2c 9q,3c 9q,3c 9q,3c

Volume (quarts and cups) of Maple Syrup to add to 1 Gallon to Achieve a 
Particular Specific Gravity:

S. G. 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
1.000 0c,0o 0c,0o 0c,1o 0c,1o 0c,2o 0c,2o 0c,2o 0c,3o 0c,3o 0c,4o
1.010 0c,4o 0c,4o 0c,5o 0c,5o 0c,6o 0c,6o 0c,6o 0c,7o 0c,7o 0c,7o
1.020 1c,0o 1c,0o 1c,1o 1c,1o 1c,1o 1c,2o 1c,2o 1c,3o 1c,3o 1c,3o
1.030 1c,4o 1c,4o 1c,5o 1c,5o 1c,5o 1c,6o 1c,6o 1c,7o 1c,7o 1c,7o
1.040 2c,0o 2c,0o 2c,1o 2c,1o 2c,1o 2c,2o 2c,2o 2c,2o 2c,3o 2c,3o
1.050 2c,4o 2c,4o 2c,4o 2c,5o 2c,5o 2c,6o 2c,6o 2c,6o 2c,7o 2c,7o
1.060 3c,0o 3c,0o 3c,0o 3c,1o 3c,1o 3c,2o 3c,2o 3c,2o 3c,3o 3c,3o
1.070 3c,4o 3c,4o 3c,4o 3c,5o 3c,5o 3c,6o 3c,6o 3c,6o 3c,7o 3c,7o
1.080 3c,7o 4c,0o 4c,0o 4c,1o 4c,1o 4c,1o 4c,2o 4c,2o 4c,3o 4c,3o
1.090 4c,3o 4c,4o 4c,4o 4c,5o 4c,5o 4c,5o 4c,6o 4c,6o 4c,7o 4c,7o
1.100 4c,7o 5c,0o 5c,0o 5c,1o 5c,1o 5c,1o 5c,2o 5c,2o 5c,2o 5c,3o
1.110 5c,3o 5c,4o 5c,4o 5c,4o 5c,5o 5c,5o 5c,6o 5c,6o 5c,6o 5c,7o
1.120 5c,7o 6c,0o 6c,0o 6c,0o 6c,1o 6c,1o 6c,2o 6c,2o 6c,2o 6c,3o
1.130 6c,3o 6c,4o 6c,4o 6c,4o 6c,5o 6c,5o 6c,6o 6c,6o 6c,6o 6c,7o
1.140 6c,7o 6c,7o 7c,0o 7c,0o 7c,1o 7c,1o 7c,1o 7c,2o 7c,2o 7c,3o
1.150 7c,3o 7c,3o 7c,4o 7c,4o 7c,5o 7c,5o 7c,5o 7c,6o 7c,6o 7c,7o

Note: q = quarts, c = cups, o = fluid ounces



Appendix 3: Potential Alcohol Table



Percent Alcohol Table
Courtesy of John Gorman 

Potential Alcohol by Volume:
(D.G. = Difference in Gravity = Original Gravity - Final Gravity)

D. G. 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
1.000  0.0%  0.1%  0.3%  0.4%  0.5%  0.6%  0.8%  0.9%  1.0%  1.2%
1.010  1.3%  1.4%  1.6%  1.7%  1.8%  2.0%  2.1%  2.2%  2.4%  2.5%
1.020  2.6%  2.7%  2.9%  3.0%  3.1%  3.3%  3.4%  3.5%  3.7%  3.8%
1.030  3.9%  4.0%  4.2%  4.3%  4.4%  4.6%  4.7%  4.8%  5.0%  5.1%
1.040  5.2%  5.4%  5.5%  5.6%  5.8%  5.9%  6.0%  6.1%  6.3%  6.4%
1.050  6.5%  6.7%  6.8%  6.9%  7.1%  7.2%  7.3%  7.4%  7.6%  7.7%
1.060  7.8%  8.0%  8.1%  8.2%  8.4%  8.5%  8.6%  8.8%  8.9%  9.0%
1.070  9.2%  9.3%  9.4%  9.5%  9.7%  9.8%  9.9% 10.1% 10.2% 10.3%
1.080 10.5% 10.6% 10.7% 10.8% 11.0% 11.1% 11.2% 11.4% 11.5% 11.6%
1.090 11.8% 11.9% 12.0% 12.2% 12.3% 12.4% 12.6% 12.7% 12.8% 12.9%
1.100 13.1% 13.2% 13.3% 13.5% 13.6% 13.7% 13.9% 14.0% 14.1% 14.2%
1.110 14.4% 14.5% 14.6% 14.8% 14.9% 15.0% 15.2% 15.3% 15.4% 15.6%
1.120 15.7% 15.8% 16.0% 16.1% 16.2% 16.3% 16.5% 16.6% 16.7% 16.9%
1.130 17.0% 17.1% 17.3% 17.4% 17.5% 17.6% 17.8% 17.9% 18.0% 18.2%
1.140 18.3% 18.4% 18.6% 18.7% 18.8% 19.0% 19.1% 19.2% 19.4% 19.5%
1.150 19.6% 19.8% 19.9% 20.0% 20.1% 20.3% 20.4% 20.5% 20.7% 20.8%



Appendix 4: Clarifying Meads


How to Clarify Mead with Bentonite

by John Gorman (john@rsi.com)


1) What is Bentonite?

Bentonite is pure powdered clay and is used in wine and mead making.  It 
is inert and tasteless. You can get it at your local homebrew shop or by 
mail order quite inexpensively.

Bentonite is used during racking to flocculate out the leftover yeast so 
that it settles to the bottom, leaving crystal clear mead behind.  The 
clay particles are tiny flat sheets of mineral with minute electric 
charges sticking out at the edges.  These charges attract the yeast 
cells, which then stick together in visible clumps that settle out 
rapidly.

The time to bentonite is any time after active bubbling ceases.  If you 
bentonite while there is still fermentation activity, the yeast that 
settles to the bottom will keep bubbling and re-cloud the mead. If you 
use a yeast nutrient, fermentation will proceed rapidly and cease in a 
month or so.  By using bentonite, your mead will be clear and ready to 
bottle in a few days, freeing your carboy for more mead!

2) Bentonite Preparation

Use 1/2 tsp bentonite per gallon of mead to be clarified.  To prepare 
the bentonite for 5 gallons, boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan.  
Pre-measure 2 1/2 tsp of bentonite granules into a small bowl.  As the 
water boils, SLOWLY sprinkle in the bentonite, stirring occasionally 
with a fork.

If you sprinkle it in too fast, the granules will stick together as they 
absorb water, making large thick clots, which is not what you want.  If 
that happens, just throw it out and try again.

If you sprinkle just right into the boiling water, it will stay soupy.  
Take it off of the heat and store covered for 24 hours while the clay 
goes completely into suspension.

3) Racking Procedure

Fill a clean pot with water, and bring it to a rolling boil for 10 
minutes to drive off all of the oxygen.  This water will be used after 
racking to fill up the head space.  If you leave a head space after 
racking, the oxygen in the head space air will get into the mead and 
produce flat off flavors.

Stir the bentonite mixture with a fork to get it all into suspension.  
Pour the bentonite mixture into the second (empty) carboy.  Then rack 
from the first carboy into the second.  Avoid splashing, which will 
oxygenate the mead.  Top off the head space with the boiled water.  Stir 
the mixture thoroughly without splashing by rotating your J-tube in the 
carboy.

The bentonite will bind with the yeast into visible particles and 
flocculate out fairly quickly.  After two days or so, it will all be 
resting in the bottom 1/2 inch of the carboy.

Sometimes there is so much yeast in a mead that the first bentonite 
cannot flocculate out all of the yeast.  In that case, do it again.  The 
result will be crystal clear. 


How to Clarify Mead with Gelatin

by Joyce Miller (jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu)


Clarifying mead with gelatin is similar to using bentonite.  Powdered 
unflavored gelatin is available in most grocery stores (the Knox brand 
is probably the most widely known).  I generally dissolve a packet of 
the powder into 1 cup of cold water in a pot.  Heat this on the stove, 
swirling gently, until it's all dissolved.  Cover it and let it sit 20 
minutes to pasteurize it.  Warning: do *NOT* let this stuff boil over!  
It's very difficult to clean up!

Put the pot somewhere where you can grab it easily, and start siphoning 
your mead into an empty carboy.  When there's a gallon or so in the new 
carboy, take the gelatin solution, and slowly drizzle it in (if you dump 
it directly into the empty carboy, it will just coagulate on the bottom 
in a useless lump).  Finish siphoning, and stir if necessary to 
distribute the gelatin evenly throughout the carboy.



Appendix 5: Units of Measure and Miscellaneous Information



How to use these tables:

1:     Read from the top down to find out how many "X" units there are 
in "Y".  For example, to find out how many cups there are in a barrel, 
find the "cups" column, and read down until you reach the "barrels" row, 
and you'll find that there are 496 cups in a barrel.
2:     To convert back and forth between units, "divide down and 
multiply across".  Find the number at the intersection of the row and 
column of the two units you're interested in.  If you're reading down a 
column to get to that number, you'll have to divide by that number to 
convert to the other unit.  If you find yourself reading across, you'll 
have to multiply.
     For example, to convert from cups to barrels, you'll be reading 
down the cups column to get to barrels, so take the number of cups you 
have and divide by 496 to get barrels.  To convert from barrels to cups, 
read from barrels across to cups, and multiply the number of barrels by 
496 to get cups.

*Note*     The units are listed in the leftmost column, and their 
abbreviations are listed across the top row of each table.


Liquid (Volume) Measure Equivalents:

U.S. Measures:  tsp   tbl  fl.oz.   c     pt   qt    gal   bbl.
teaspoon
tablespoons         3
fluid ounces        6     2
cups               48    16      8
pints              96    32     16     2
quarts            192    64     32     4     2
gallons           768   256    128    16     8     4
barrels         23808  7936   3968   496   248   124    31

Metric:         ml     cl     dl     l     dal     hl
milliliters
centiliters      10
deciliters      100     10
liters         1000    100     10
dekaliters    10000   1000    100     10
hectoliters  100000  10000   1000    100     10

*Note*  A cubic centimeter (cc) is the same as 1 milliliter (ml).

U.S. / Metric Conversions:

                ml        cl       dl      l      dal     hl
teaspoon       4.93      0.49     0.05    0.005  0.0005  0.00005
tablespoons   14.79      1.48     0.15    0.01   0.001   0.0001
fluid ounces  29.57      2.96     0.30    0.03   0.003   0.0003
cups         236.59     23.66     2.37    0.24   0.02    0.002
pints        473.18     47.32     4.73    0.47   0.05    0.005
quarts       946.35     94.64     9.46    0.95   0.09    0.009
gallons     3785.41    378.54    37.85    3.79   0.38    0.03
barrels   117377.71  11737.77  1173.78  117.38  11.74    1.17

quarts  / 1.057      =     liters
gallons x 3.7854     =     liters

U.S. / English Conversions:

                    U.S.       U.S.     U.S.     U.S.      U.S.
                    tsp.       tbl.     cup      pint      gal.
Eng. teaspoon       1.2500     0.417    0.026    0.013     0.002
Eng. tablespoon     3.7500     1.250    0.078    0.039     0.005
Eng. cup ("gill")  57.600     19.20     1.200    0.600     0.075
Eng. pint         115.20      38.40     2.400    1.200     0.150
Eng. gallon       932.60     307.2     19.20     9.600     1.200


Dry Measure Equivalents:

U.S. Measures:  pt     qt   peck
pint
quart              2
peck              16      8
bushel            64     32     4


Weight Measure Equivalents:

U.S. Measures:  drams  oz.  lb.
ounces              16
pounds             256   16

Metric:        mg       g     kg
milligrams
grams          1000
kilograms   1000000   1000

U.S. / Metric Conversions:

               ounces          pounds
grams          0.03527         0.0022
kilograms     35.2736          2.2046

kilograms x 2.2046      =      pounds
pounds    / 2.2046      =      kilograms

U.S. / English Conversions:

               U.S.     U.S.
              ounces   pounds
Eng. ounces      1     0.063
Eng. pounds     16     1


Temperature Conversions:

Degrees Centigrade      =      5/9 x (Degrees Fahrenheit - 32)
Degrees Fahrenheit      =      (Degrees Centigrade x 9/5) + 32


Miscellaneous Factoids:

A gallon of honey weighs about 12 pounds.
Water weighs 8.3454 pounds per gallon (U.S. units).
Pasteurization:  hold at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 - 30 minutes.

U.S. standard beer bottles: 12 fl. oz.
U.S. large beer bottles: 22 fl. oz.
Grolsch & Jubel swing-tops: 1 pint (16 fl. oz.)
Fischer swing-tops: large: 22 fl. oz.
          small: 11.5 fl. oz
5-gallons: 640 fl. oz.
1 gallon: 128 fl. oz.


Formula to Compute Target Starting Gravity:

      V x (Gs - 1)
h = ---------------
         (Gh - 1)

where:
h  = the total volume of honey required to achieve the desired starting 
gravity,
V  = the total final volume (5 for a 5-gallon batch, etc.),
Gs = desired starting gravity,
Gh = the specific gravity of your sweetener (honey's is 1.445)

For example:
If you wanted a 5 gallon batch with a starting gravity of 1.120, the 
formula would look like:

h   =  5 gallons x (1.120 - 1)  /  (1.445 - 1)
    =  (5 x 0.12) / (0.445)  =  0.60 / 0.445  =  1.35 gallons

To get the required amount of honey in pints, just substitute 40 pints 
for the 5 gallons.