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!
Lemon & Ginger Mead
The following recipe is for a sweet dessert wine with lemon and ginger.
Makes around 25 liters.
±7.5Kg honey, try to find a local beekeeper.
15L water, preferably from a spring so it doesn't contain chlorine.
8 grams of yeast. I use Vintner's Harvest Wine Yeast SN9
Large (25cm) fresh ginger (grated).
6 lemons, juiced with pulp
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 around ±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.
Stir in the grated ginger and lemon juice.
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 two weeks or until the must reaches the preferred Alcohol By Volume (ABV).
Rack the mead (transfer it to another fermenter leaving the dead yeast behind). This can get challenging if you try and use the tap on your fermenter. The grated ginger will block the tap. Use a strainer to remove as much ginger before hand will make this easier.
Bottle the wine and store it in a dark and cool place for at least six months, preferably a year.