Do People Really Know Mead?
I've known about mead for quite some time, even before I discovered the wonderful world of fermenting. I've even tried it on various occasions, and found the taste always pleasant. But had I known how easy it is to make, I would have gotten into it much sooner.
Mead is honey fermented in water, simple as that. Unlike my other probiotic soft-drinks, it has a bit of alcohol in it, but the way I make it, it stays under 5%, comparable a light beer. The taste is delicious, combining the sour flavor of the ferment with some remaining sweetness of honey. At the same time, its bubbly consistency makes it a wonderfully refreshing summer drink, especially on a hot day straight from the fridge.
What's more, mead is exotic. Unlike beer or wine, you won't find it in every little store, and in many cases it will be home-made, by some friend, or a friend of a friend. This means, you might as well go ahead and make it yourself to surprise your friends with. It is almost certain to make you (and your drink) highly popular at any garden party. And the best part of all:
It's really easy to make!
Just as I said, mead is honey fermented in water, and there is not much else to it. Of course, there are many different recipes, using anything from fruits, nuts, herbs, and spices, to add extra flavors. Also the honey-to-water ratio can vary greatly, just like the fermentation time, and whether it is brewed with or without oxygen.
My way of making mead is mixing 3 liters (3 quarts) of honey with 12 liters (3 gallons) of water in a 20 liter (5 gallon) glass carboy. The recipe calls for a 1:4 ratio, and this way there is enough room left in the container to swirl it around easily. This is quite important, as my way of brewing requires oxygen to help with the fermentation. All it takes is giving the jug a bit of a shake every day, making the drink bubble up, or even foam heavily, depending on the stage of fermentation. This daily agitation also serves to discourage the growth of any fungus on the surface of the water.
Raw Honey is the Key Ingredient
The most important thing is to make sure the honey is raw, meaning it has not been treated with any chemicals, or any other anti-bacterial agents, such as heat. There are many different kinds of bacteria in the honey, whatever the bees have encountered all around them, which are not only useful for the fermentation, but also for us. So while the mead may not have been made with a culture, like kombucha or tibicos, it is still going to benefit our intestinal flora. Otherwise, if the honey lacks the necessary bacteria, brewers like to add yeast, which in turn needs to be fed with sugar... at which point I just wonder: WHY all that effort? Just get some good raw honey, and don't worry about the rest.
So you got the good honey, dilute it in water at the right ratio, and shake it up every day. Is that all?
That's pretty much it. After the first day or two you will see it bubble and foam increasingly each time you move it. After about 6-8 weeks this abundant foaming is going to diminish, this is when most of the glucose has fermented. At this point your mead is ready to be bottled, or you can let it ferment a bit longer. If you want, you can even continue for several months, letting the fructose ferment as well, though it takes a lot longer, something I never had the patience for.
One bottling tip: due to the gas increase from secondary fermentation, I recommend to use corks for closing the bottles. This way, if the pressure inside of the bottle builds up, the worst thing that may happen is that it opens itself, pushing out the cork and covering everything in the fridge in sticky juice. Lovely! Sure, such an unintended geyser can be a mess to clean up, but nothing in comparison to what an exploding glass bottle can do. So please, do not close the bottle hermetically!
Finally, there are many other steemians who are into mead brewing. Most of them follow a different procedure, but it's worth checking them out. @loganarchy combines his recipe with some interesting ideas on agorism, and @dailybitcoinnews points out some medicinal benefits of mead. Also, @nacktepoesie has a beautiful post on mead's role in Norse mythology.