Making homemade Mead or honey wine. easy basic recipe

[themanikin]

Hello everyone i recently got into making homemade Mead and i found a technique and tweaked it slightly for ease and price. i am a member of another forum that specializes in homebrewing and decided to post my basic recipe as well as some tips for anyone who may be interested in trying it out.

WARNING:1 first i will say this is a simple recipe but it is not cheap per say i tweaked it to be as cost effective as possible but in most regions honey is a rather pricey item so expect to spend around 20 or 30 dollars to get started

WARNING:2 this is a very easy recipe to try but it is not fast. at a minimum you can expect a total time of 6 months to have a completed Mead and the longer you can wait it out the better it becomes.

now that that has been said this is a basic one gallon recipe the ingredients you will need are as follows.
INGREDIENTS
1 gallon of spring water
1 packet of regular bread yeast
1 box of raisins
1 orange sliced
3 pounds of honey
1 Cinnamon stick(optional)
2 cloves (optional)
1/4 cup pressed blackberries blueberries or cherries (optional)
1 balloon very important

now the preparation. pour half of the water out of the gallon jug and place the honey under warm water to make it easier to pour.
next slice the orange small enough to fit the slices through the top of the water bottle peel and all and add the raisins and other fruit this will be fuel for the yeast and also add flavor.

next add the spices into the mix.

and finally add the honey when done the gallon will be almost full with about a cup missing if not simply pour out a little water trying to leave the ingredients in.

now add the yeast packet and cap the mixture shake well till all ingredients are well mixed and take the lid off .
poke a pin hole in the balloon and fit it over the top of the jug once the yeast starts to expand the balloon will allow gasses to escape without contaminants getting in.

within a day or two the yeast will be active and you will start to see bubbles try not to agitate the mixture to much at this time.

within about a month there will no longer be a bubbling you can allow it to sit like this for a while or you can transfer only the liquid to a new jug to help it clear faster. try to leave the sludge in the old jug and all the fruit pieces. if you have a short length of hose to help transfer it it really helps.

now the waiting begins after a few months the mead should be clarified and ready for bottling.

this is the website where i got my original recipe from its a great help to a beginner i claim no responsibility for this site or its content i simply found it very helpful
http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/f...ead-making.htm

Great tip! Stickied!