How to Make Viking Mead

If you're interested in learning how to make a delicious batch of mead, you're in luck! 

Mead is simply a mixture of honey, water, and yeast placed in a fermenter and left for 10-20 days to brew. The video in Step 1 will provide you with an overview of the process. We use a Fast Ferment 7.9 gallon fermenter, but don't worry. If you don't want to order one, you can use any food-safe sealable container with a capacity of 1 gallon or more.

You'll also find an Amazon supply list that will help you gather all the necessary equipment and ingredients. And if you're feeling adventurous, you may want to try out the spiced mead recipe included as well! With a little patience and know-how, you'll soon be sipping on your very own homemade mead.

Mead Making Supply List

My mead batches usually have 1.3-1.5kg(2.8-3.3lbs) honey for each total gallon and they've turned out great. Whether you're doing 1 a gallon carboy or using my favorite 7.9 gallon Conical Fermenter adjust the amount accordingly. I have the supply list below to get everything to your door within 2-3 days.

SUPPLY LIST:

• 7.9 Gallon Fermenter or 1 Gallon Carboy
• 71B Wine Yeast
• 1 Airlock (if your fermenter did not include one)
• 1 Step Sanitizer
• Spice/herb infuser (if adding spices)
• Cheese Cloth (if using fruit)
• Ambrosia Honey from Amazon 12kg (26lbs) of honey for the 7.9 gallon fermenter or 1.5kg(3.3lbs) of honey if using 1 gallon carboy.

And here's a fool proof flavor mix to make a 7.9 gallons of spiced orange mead recipe(use less for smaller batches):

• 1 cup of raisins (without preservatives)
• 6 quartered oranges
• 2 tablespoons cloves
• 10 cinnamon sticks

Mead Spices and Flavors

The great thing about mead is how forgiving it is. Have fun and try out various spice, yeast and fruit combinations. You can use my flavor suggestions in the list, or try a clean mead with just honey, yeast, and water. The types of flowers the bees collect from will determine the background flavor of the mead. We've made many batches in Costa Rica using honey from Costco's Latin American branch, "Pricesmart" and had good luck. But, keep in mind, mass produced honey might result in a boring mead and may benefit from adding spices and fruit. We've used cinnamon, cloves, various citrus, dragon fruit, hibiscus flowers, ginger, mangos, coffee and even used malabar spinach berries for color. 

Best Yeasts For Mead

The yeast selection will affect the alcohol content, flavor, length of fermentation and how dry or sweet you mead is. 

71B Yeast: We've had good luck with the 71B Wine yeast in the ingredient list above. It's very tolerant of the ambient temperature, can render up to 14% and hard to go wrong. I suggest it for a first time batch. In Costa Rica, our brew room hangs out around 80F so only certain yeasts perform well. Below are ones that have also worked well in the tropics, however these will work great in any normal climate controlled area as well.

EC-1118: We've had luck with EC-1118 yeast. It's great for high alcohol % batches and can withstand up to 18%. Be careful though, you might end up with what I affectionately call "blackout mead". Something that's as tasty as mead with a 18% alcohol content can be dangerous. Drink responsibly.

K1-V1116: This is a versatile yeast that will produce a fresh and fruity tasting mead. It can also go up to 18% alcohol. It's a great option for meads(melomels) made with added fruit or juices.

Premiere Blanc: We've recently had good luck with Premiere Blanc white wine yeast too. It a champagne yeast and vigorously ferments. When used in mead usually produces around 13-15% alcohol. The finished product has a background flavor similar to Champagne. You can even use it get a naturally sparkling mead.

Check out this video to get a feel for the basics of making a batch of mead.

Sanitize everything that will be used in the brewing process using the 1 Step Sanitizer in the supply list.

Mix all of your honey with equal parts water in a pot on the stove. (using 1.5kg honey for each total gallon) It does not need to boil; just hot enough to dissolve the honey and make a homogeneous mixture. This is known as the "must". If you don't have a pot large enough, you can also mix the honey and hot water inside of your fermenter instead of using a pot. Just be sure the it's well mixed. Otherwise honey will coagulate and collect at the bottom.

Add the honey water mix to the fermenter and top off with the rest of the water while stirring. Leave enough room at top if you're adding fruit and some air space for the airlock. If there's not enough space under the airlock and the mead foams up inside it'll go through the airlock and make a mess.

Stir two 5 gram packets of wine yeast into the 7.9 Gallon fermenter. Each packet can handle up to 5 gallons. So, if you're only doing one gallon, just use a half packet. Ensure that the water temperature in the fermenter is below 90F/32C before putting the yeast in. If it's too hot, the yeast will die. If it's too cold it'll make for a slow start. 

Side Note: Some mead experts say to stir the yeast in a cup of lukewarm water, wait 15min.(see video) It's a good way to see if the yeast is active before adding to your batch. If you have fresh yeast, you can just pitch it in dry. I've not noticed a difference in performance.

Add in any spices or fruit. If using my spiced mead suggestion, this is when you add the cloves, cinnamon sticks, quartered oranges and raisins.  For clearer mead and easier bottling, I suggest putting herbs and spices into infuser balls or cheese cloth. Oranges usually don't make too much particulate matter but other types of fruit can fall apart during fermentation. You can prevent this by putting your fruit in a cheese cloth or fabric sack.

Put on the lid. Add water to the airlock and be sure it has a good seal. Check it after 24 hours. The airlock should be bubbling.

After 10-20 days, bubbling will slow down considerably. When it stops or slows to one bubble per minute, you can start emptying the sediment chamber on the Fast Fermenter. This is a great time to give your mead a taste! I usually wait a day between emptying the sediment bulb. And it usually takes 3-4 empties to get it clear. 

If using a 1 gallon carboy or wine jug, you'll need to siphon the mead out avoiding the sediment on the bottom. Put it back into the carboy, wait a few days, then siphon out again to prepare for bottling is clarity is to your liking.

Taste it. If your mead is too dry, you can mix a small amount of honey and warm water and add into the fermenter. This is known as back sweetening. Add as much or as little honey to get it to your preferred sweetness level.

Time to bottle it! First, sanitize your bottles using the 1Step Sanitizer in the supply list. I recommend using bottles made for carbonated beverages like beer and sparking water. Liquor bottles are prone to break if pressure builds up inside and you'll have a huge mess. Some of the beer bottles with flip top ceramic lids are a great choice because they keep a great seal and can be used over and over.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer in the comments section of the Youtube video. It's the same video at the top of this Instructable, but it's linked here as well >>> How to Make Mead in 30 Minutes <<<