FAST MEAD

(5 gallons/19 L)
OG = 1.126 FG = 1.035 ABV = 13.9%

This is a simple and straightforward mead recipe that should have your fermentation finished within a few weeks.

Ingredients

18 lbs. (8.2 kg) Orange blossom honey
2 packages Lalvin 71B-1122 Narbonne yeast
12.5 g Go-Ferm (when hydrating)
6.2 g Fermaid-K (at 24 hours)
6.2 g Fermaid-K (at 48 hours)
6.2 g Fermaid-K (at 72 hours)
6.2 g Fermaid-K (at 7 days or the 1⁄3 left sugar break)
1 package Super Kleer KC Finings
0.3 tsp. potassium metabisulfite

Step by step

Add honey to 3 gallons (11 L) of room temperature water in a large (8- to 10-gallon/30- to 37-L) fermenter. Stir the honey and water mixture well and top up with enough water to make 4.7 gallons (18 L), saving a liter of space for your yeast.

Prepare the yeast by adding it to a liter (0.2 gal.) of warm water at about 104 °F (40 °C). Add 1.25 grams of Go-Ferm per gram of yeast. Slowly bring the temperature of the mixture down to the temperature of your mead must by adding small quantities of must. When the temperature is acclimated, add the yeast slurry to the fermenter and stir vigorously.

Monitor your pH throughout fermentation. If the pH drops below 3.4 add an alkaline additive, such as potassium bicarbonate, to raise the pH back above 3.4. Degas the must during fermentation using a wine whip regularly until about 2⁄3 of the sugar has fermented away. Add your fermentation nutrients at the intervals indicated in the ingredients list. Following primary fermentation, add potassium metabisulfite, and fine your mead with Super Kleer. When your mead is fined to your satisfaction, you can bottle or keg, carbonating if you choose.