Mead (Honey Wine)
Mead or honey wine is one of the easiest wines you can make. I have a couple of different recipes that I brewed over the years with good results. As with any form of brewing, use them as reference recipes and adjust to your own taste. Enjoy!
Cinnamon Mead
The following recipe is for one of my favourite brews. A easy sweet dessert wine with cinnamon.
Makes around 25 liters:
Make sure all your equipment is properly cleaned. You will need a 25L fermenter with an airlock.
Makes around 25 liters:
- ±7.5kg honey, try to find a local beekeeper.
- 17.L water, preferably from a spring so it doesn't contain chlorine.
- 8 grams of yeast. I use Vintner's Harvest Wine Yeast SN9
- 5 to 10 cinnamon sticks.
Make sure all your equipment is properly cleaned. You will need a 25L fermenter with an airlock.
- Poor the 17.5L of water in the fermenter.
- Dissolve the ±7.5kg of honey in the water. Aim for a specific gravity between 1.130 and 1.135 (at 24°C). Dissolving the honey is easiest if the water is warm but don't go above 40°C or the honey will start to lose its flavour.
- Add the yeast when the mixture is about 24°C. Add nutrients if you want a better fermentation process.
- Add the cinnamon sticks.
- Measure the specific gravity. This is used at a later stage to determine the amount of alcohol in your wine. OPTIONAL, measure the PH of the wine (shouldn't go below 3.7).
- Close fermenter and place it in a location where the temperature doesn't fluctuate too much.
- Leave to ferment for around three weeks or until fermentation stops.*
- Bottle the wine and store it in a dark and cool place for at least six months, preferably a year.
- Enjoy your mead.
