How to make mead at home

Mead is considered to be a unique drink, many have heard about the miraculous properties of the drug. Depending on personal preferences, mead may be highly or low alcohol. The technology for preparing the composition flew over many cities and was firmly entrenched in the recipe book of experienced housewives. To make mead at home, it is enough to prepare the necessary ingredients and clearly follow the instructions. Consider each step in order, highlight the main aspects.

Useful properties of mead

1. The main ingredients of mead are considered to be spicy herbs, yeast (baking or brewery), honey, seasonal berries, alcohol, and roots. The drink is useful with vitamins of different groups, these include section A, B, C, D, E, K. Due to the metals contained in the drink, the mead has healing properties.
2. The drink is rightfully considered to be curative due to the fact that it contains a large amount of honey. The drug is often used in the treatment of pneumonia and bronchitis, for preventive purposes in the case of impotence and seasonal colds.
3. Honey is considered a bactericidal and anti-inflammatory product, but at the same time it is the strongest allergen. People who often develop individual intolerance to the components should be extremely careful.
4. Mead has a diuretic effect. Despite the fact that the composition contains alcohol, the drink is often used to treat kidneys. The drug cleanses the body, removes toxins and toxins, fights against general fatigue and brings the psycho-emotional background back to normal.
5. For people who have sputum in their bronchi and lungs, the mead will become indispensable. Products liquefy the neoplasms, after which it draws them out, thereby freeing the airways.
6. Thanks to the addition of aromatic spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.), the drink can be drunk warm in the winter evenings. The technology of drinking is somewhat reminiscent of mulled wine, the products are similar in degree relation.

Mead: classic recipe

• hop cones - 6 gr.
• honey - 320 gr.
• nutmeg - 1 pinch
• ground cinnamon - on the tip of a knife
• drinking water - 2.1 l.
• powder yeast - 25 gr.

1. The most important aspect of the preparation of mead using classical technology is the correct choice of honey. Prefer fragrant varieties. These include linden or buckwheat honey; they are optimally suited for the preparation of potions.
2. With the onset of spring, beekeepers offer consumers fresh honey at a relatively low cost. If you do not have sufficient knowledge of apiaries, refuse to purchase. Give preference to store products. Otherwise, you run the risk of running into a mixture of melted sugar.
3. After you have selected the most delicious and fresh honey, proceed to the basic manipulations. Take an enameled pan with thick walls, pour drinking water into a container and place on a stove. When the first signs of boiling appear, add honey, stir constantly with a wooden spatula.
4. The boiling time is about 5 minutes. After the specified time, you will see that a whitish foam begins to accumulate on the surface of the liquid. Carefully remove and discard. Do not leave the stove, honey quickly ignites.
5. When you make the syrup, start pouring in flavorings. Add ground cinnamon, hop cones and nutmeg to the composition, they will make the mead refined, original.Thoroughly mix the composition, then remove the container from the stove.
6. After combining all the ingredients, it is necessary to prepare the future mead for fermentation. Put the pan in a cool place, bring to a temperature of 25-28 degrees. Dilute the yeast according to the instructions, then add to the chilled syrup.
7. It is important to always leave the mass to cool, otherwise the yeast will die, and the fermentation process will not begin. When yeast is added, place the container with the composition in a warm room (temperature about 25 degrees).
8. In cases where there is no suitable room, use an aquarium heater. Tie the pan in advance with gauze or cotton so that insects and foreign substances do not get into the container. After 1-2 days, the fermentation process will begin. You will notice that a thick foam appeared on the surface, and the composition itself began to hiss.
9. It is at this moment that it is necessary to prepare a container for fermentation, and then pour the composition into it. Be sure to attach a medical glove to the neck, pre-piercing several holes in the index and middle fingers. If desired, the glove can be replaced with a water seal.
10. Based on general rules, the fermentation of the composition lasts about 5 days. To evaluate the end point, look at the glove: it must deflate and fall on one side. In the case of a water seal, bubbles should not come out of it. You can also check the readiness by raising a burning match to the neck of the mead (it should not go out).
11. After this period, you will receive a drink with a strength of 6–9 degrees, proceed with filtration and bottling. Remove the mead from the sediment with a rubber hose, transfer it to a dry, sterilized container. Pass the composition several times through 4 layers of gauze, pour the finished product into bottles of dark glass or plastic.
12. Close the container, place in the refrigerator or cellar for final ripening. As a rule, mead can be tasted after 3 days. The shelf life of the drink is 30 days at a temperature of 5-10 degrees.

How to make a mead with gas

1. Rinse plastic or glass bottles with hot water, wipe them dry and dry. Not a single drop of water should be included in the composition.
2. Now you need to add honey to the bottom of each tank. Based on this calculation, to 1 liter. liquid accounted for about 35 grams. honey. Such a move is necessary for secondary fermentation, due to which carbon dioxide is released.
3. Pour the mead into bottles, retreating 5 cm from the neck. Cork with stoppers, leave at room temperature for 8 days. Once a day, check the pressure in the containers, if necessary, open the lids and "bleed" excess carbon dioxide.
4. At the end of the secondary fermentation, send the corked bottles to a cold place for another week. When this period comes out, we can assume that the ripening is completed, the carbonated mead is ready.

Mead from old honey

• honey - 1.6 kg.
• baker's yeast - 4 gr.
• drinking water - 11 l.
• hop cones - 12 gr.

1. Pour water into the pan, turn the burner on to the middle mark, bring the liquid to a boil. As soon as this happens, start adding honey in portions. Stir at the same time, otherwise the composition will burn and ruin the whole aftertaste.
2. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes, remove the foam as it forms. When the foam no longer forms on the surface, add chopped hop cones. Close the pan with a lid, turn off the burner.
3. Now you need to control the temperature of the syrup with a thermometer. When the mixture reaches 45 degrees, add previously diluted yeast. Put the pan in a warm place, wait 5 days until the composition is partially fermented.
4. After the specified period, pass the composition through several layers of gauze, remove the mead from the sediment, pour into sterilized bottles.Close the container, leave at a temperature of 12-14 degrees for 5 days. Open the container daily and reduce the pressure in the containers.
5. Mead is ready, store it at a temperature of 10-12 degrees for no longer than three weeks. Shake and reduce pressure before use by slightly opening the lid. A drink prepared according to this recipe has a delicate aftertaste, as is the case with champagne.

Mead fortified

• water (preferably spring) - 2, 2 liters.
• honey - 340 gr.
• brewer's yeast - 15 gr.
• medical alcohol (concentration of 50%) - 390 ml.
• hops (cones) - 6 gr.
• nutmeg - at the tip of a knife
• cardamom - 1 pinch
• ground cinnamon - 1 pinch

1. Pour water into the pan, bring the liquid until the first bubbles appear. Start adding honey slowly and stirring at the same time so that it does not stick to the bottom. Stew the composition for half an hour, remove the foam as it forms.
2. After cooking, cover the container, let cool to a temperature of 45 degrees. Add hops, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, mix. Dilute the yeast and pour them into the composition. Leave the composition in a dark warm place for fermentation, the exposure time is 7 days.
3. After the allotted time, remove the product from the sediment using a rubber tube. Make a filter from gauze and a piece of cotton, strain the mead. Pour into a dry sterilized container, put on a medical glove, make two holes with a sewing needle.
4. The duration of re-fermentation is 1 month. Choose a place with good air circulation, but with minimal light penetration. In this case, the room should be cool enough.
5. After the specified period has passed, pour in medical alcohol. Pour the composition into dark bottles (preferably 0.9-1 liter). Use within a month, store in the refrigerator door.

Cherry mead

• honey - 600 gr.
• drinking water - 2.2 liters.
• fresh cherry - 2.8 kg.
• hop cones - 10 gr.

1. Since the recipe for mead does not involve the use of yeast, you have to choose a product that will replace this component.
2. Fresh cherries are considered ideal. Before cooking, sort them out, removing rotten and wrinkled. Remove the bones and put them in a colander for complete drainage of moisture.
3. Bring water to a boil at medium power, add honey in portions and mix at the same time. Stew the syrup for about a quarter of an hour, then dip the treated cherry and hop cones into the liquid.
4. Mix everything thoroughly, tie the neck with gauze or bandage, put in heat. After two days, fermentation will begin, a foam cap and hiss will tell you about it.
5. Remove the foam, seal the container tightly to stop the penetration of oxygen. Send to a cool place, whether it is a cellar or basement. The exposure time is 3 months.
6. As soon as the specified time comes to an end, build a filter. Fold the cheesecloth in 4 layers, place a piece of cotton wool in the center and wrap. As a result, you get a filter for filtering.
7. Remove mead from sediment. For these purposes, use a clean three-liter jar into which the product will be poured using a rubber hose (small diameter). Only then pass the composition through the filter.
8. Cork the finished mead, send to the refrigerator for long-term storage. Shelf life is 3 months. In the end, you got a drink that tastes like kvass in taste. The only difference is a slight sourness.

Mead with lemon juice

• hop cones - 40 gr.
• honey - 5.5 kg.
• lemon - 1 pc.
• drinking water - 3.3 liters.
• cinnamon - 2 pinches
• pitted raisins - in fact

1. Pour water into a pan, boil, add the honey melted in the microwave. Stir the mixture with a wooden spatula so that the syrup does not stick to the walls and bottom. The duration of languishing is a quarter of an hour, during this period honey will be respected to the desired structure.
2. Make a bag of gauze folded in 3 layers. Wrap hop cones in it, tie it, attach the rope and immerse the bag in syrup. Squeeze the juice from the lemon, filter it and pour it into the liquid too. Add cinnamon.
3. Sterilize two glass jars, pour the composition on them. Attach medical gloves to the neck, make holes with a sewing needle. Such a move will allow carbon dioxide to exit evenly.
4. Do not rinse the raisins, otherwise the fermentation will not start for the reason that you remove all living bacteria. Distribute into equal parts and add to three-liter jars. Move the vessels to a dark room, leave for 2.5 months for fermentation. It is advisable to choose a room with a temperature regime of about 30 degrees.
5. After the allotted time, the drink can be considered ready. Remove it from the sediment using a silicone hose, pass it several times through a gauze cloth. Bottle in dark glass, cork tightly.
6. The shelf life of the mead prepared according to this recipe is about 2 months. Keep the drink in the refrigerator, wrap the container with foil if the mixture is poured into transparent bottles.

Mead can be either slightly carbonated or non-carbonated at all. It is easy to make a drink at home if you follow the step by step instructions and do not violate the duration of fermentation. Consider a recipe for mead from old honey, cherries, lemon juice. Make a drink according to the classical technology, add nutmeg and ground cinnamon to give astringency.

Video: mead without yeast and boiling