Recipe provided by award-winning meadmaker and two-time Meadmaker of the Year Steve Fletty as a roadmap for home fermenters looking to make a somewhat simple and straightforward traditional mead as you explore the characteristics of different and unique honeys. This recipe is written for orange blossom honey, but Fletty provides some yeast suggestions to use with other honey varieties below.

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Basic Traditional Mead Recipe

For five gallons
OG: ~ 1.076
FG: ~ 1.006
Backsweetened Gravity: ~ 1.024

Ingredients 

For fermentation 

• 10 lbs orange blossom or other quality honey
• 4 gallons water
• 2 grams DAP
• 5 grams Fermaid K
• 1.25 oz medium toast French oak cubes (discard after primary)
• 4 grams 58W3 dry wine yeast, rehydrated with 6 grams of GoFerm

For stabilizing

• 5 grams sorbate
• 1/4 teaspoon potassium metabisulphite

For backsweetening

• Approx 2.4 lbs of same honey variety

 

Process

Stir to dissolve honey in water. OG should be ~ 1.076.

Add DAP & Fermaid K nutrients to honey must.

Add oak cubes directly to the primary fermenter. (Note: a ratio of 0.25 oz cubs per gallon is a good starting point; 1.25 oz for this five-gallon batch)

Pitch rehydrated yeast.

Run primary fermentation ~ 64 degrees.

Ferment down to ~ 1.006. Stabilized in secondary with sorbate and potassium metabisulphite.

Backsweeten to 1.024 with ~2.4 lbs of the same honey.

Fined with Super Kleer to clarify. Kegged and carbonated.

Yeast Options

Other yeast ideas for orange blossom: BA11, Sensy, QA23. Read yeast descriptions and ferment at the appropriate temp for the strain. For a neutral yeast and an unfamiliar honey try DV10. For a dark honey try D254.