How I Made Mead (Honey Wine)!

Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.
The recipe that I used; illawarrabeeke...
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[@captainvegas4823]

"This is not gonna be a regular segment unless you want it to be." Yes, please! Gav, you could do a series of how to toast bread and I will watch it.

[@thefinn12345]

Someone wants an excuse to make more mead I think ;) I came here looking for videos on making mead in fact, and came across the cheese channel and figured to do both, funny to now see a mead video.

[@integralesa]

g'day BREAD nerds!

[@ameliacampbell5246]

He could do a picnic series!!! Mead, cheese, breads, and things that can go with them!! That would be lovely :)

[@mikebigram608]

Definitely make this a series!!! Cheese, mead/beer and an Australian accent. What more could you want in a channel!?

[@Camelliathenotsocool]

I would love it

[@aaronwilliford4957]

Just a cool fact, you can do this process WITHOUT using boiling water if you so choose. I know that many people do use boiling water, or even heated water, to "pasteurize" the honey of any bacteria or other bad buggies in the honey, but there are also those who believe that by introducing boiling water to your honey (or any heat at all really), you are "scorching" the more delicate floral and fragrant qualities of the honey, meaning that they will not transfer over to the finished product. Granted, dissolving honey in room temperature water takes quite a lot of time, but some will tell you that the work and wait is WORTH IT. GREAT VIDEO Gavin! We need more mead makers, or "Methiers" in the world!

[@Norgz94]

You're the Bob Ross of brewing! :P Very good and straightforward, thanks!

[@benwhitechef]

It's got to be Meadheads.. Curd Nerds and Meadheads!

[@colinmacvicar2507]

Ben White I was thinking mead mates.

[@ProxyMohawk]

Only if it's pronounced "meed heeds" or "med heads."

[@nihilnovumsubsole6334]

What about mead geeks

[@aarontuplin]

Honey Bunnies? lol

[@rubenproost2552]

Mead needs?

[@Chris-yg5vh]

Been making mead and ciders for a decade now. Always enjoy watching others and learning different techniques that I can apply to my own. Constantly trying to perfect my brew.

[@BSmitty3663]

Joe's Ancient Orange Mead is definitely a good starting mead!

[@TheStraycat74]

JOAM is a good one, yes. my only bugaboo is he doesn't have (at least in this video) A Hydrometer.

[@MrMorgan316]

I'm almost 18 I live in the USA this seems cool. I think I'm going to ask my brother to make this and give it to me when I'm 21. 2 and 1/2 years of aging might taste awesome.

[@timstein]

I have made Mead in the past. I love the reaction that my friends had to this hand crafted alcoholic beverage. I made a mead that I used about 15 lbs. (I'm an American) of honey, about 3 pounds of mixed berries that I juiced before adding to the wort, and about 1 pound of Black Cherry. The Black Cherry gave it a taste that was compared to a Merlot. I was able to measure the alcohol content to approx 21% or 42 proof. My Wife's Sister-In-Law called it her medicine.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Another comment! The Lees is not actually dead.. it's dormant. If there were more sugars to ferment, it would kick back up.

[@robertgeorgewerner]

Blessed are the fermentation nerds. Good day fermentation nerds.

[@jimjackson5544]

I love the addition of a Meede making video! It is a pleasant change!

[@GavinWebber]

Thanks Jim!

[@philgroves7694]

This guy has it right!! This is basically 'Joe's Ancient Orange Mead' recipe. Perfect! Kudos Gavin!

[@philgroves7694]

Yep, I checked the recipe in the link - it's 'Joe's Ancient Orange Mead' recipe. Perfect. Cannot go wrong with this one!

[@nirmalsuki]

Such a smooth, soothing voice that I fell asleep and was seeing an Australian man talking to me in my dreams about mead.

[@shura0107]

If you take the wort at 1 week, it's called sima in Finnish, which is known as spring mead, and usually made with lemons in place of oranges, and minus the spices. Sima is served with donut and funnel cake for Vappu or the May Day celebration. Because of it's short fermentation, it's sweeter and has very little alcohol and more carbonation, and kid friendly.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's probably more like 12%, but since you didn't take hydrometer readings, that's a guess. Slightly sweet and syrupy means you probably reached the yeast tolerance. You had enough honey there to hit 18% or so... but bread yeast (depending on type) will stop around 11-13%. So you have a lot of residual sugar in there. Using different yeast will give higher or lower ABV. Altering the amount of honey will too.

[@Fenixsweden]

If the brew fermented out all of the sugars in the honey ( unlikely since it´s not a dry mead ) the ABV would be around 17% Now, since it´s slightly sweet i´d say that the final gravity of the brew lies around 1,030. meaning that this brew actually got around 13,5%ABV And that is a good ABV for a mead! I really liked watching this!

[@canadyne]

Hi Gavin and chat. I wanted to let you know I watched this video a little over 4 months ago. I set out the next day to start this recipe. I prepared the mead to the letter from the original recipe post. I let it sit in my garage for 4 full months. The taste is extraordinary. I expected it to be high in alcohol and quite dry but was surprised by how sweet it was with incredible flavours. I find it tastes best cold. I will be starting a new batch this weekend and may run a batch every other week. Thanks for posting this video.

[@GavinWebber]

Your most welcome. I have a bottle left that is over a year old and it is amazing.

[@VK5IR]

Thanks for this video. I made a batch and followed this recipe and bottled after four and a half months (I racked into a second demijohn for a week and it came out crystal clear). Happy to say it is delicious!

[@BentonVonKitten]

Just as I sit down for a round of Dungeons and Dragons with friends, and say: One of these days, I should bring mead. (pushes up glasses) And then Gavin makes this video. :)

[@philgroves7694]

Like the man says - ONE CLOVE ONLY! Cloves are seriously potent!

[@JohnHisal]

Longtime viewer from the States, and I would watch every single brewing video you produce!

[@jamesholden1496]

One of the best tips I had was to control the pH. As mead isn't a buffered solution it acidifies really quick which slows the fermentation to a crawl. A few additions of bicarb during primary and it keeps chugging along much faster.

[@johnvanderslice7966]

I have 15 bee hives , I make wine and cheese, but have never made mead. Thanks another hobby I don't have time for. Your videos are the BEST! Never miss one, always hit like before I ever watch them.

[@rubenmejia5548]

Yes I am thankful that you go step by step in all your videos and yes I would like for you to do more of this content of Brewing even different kinds of Brewing🍷🍾

[@TomJones-tx7pb]

Many years ago I made meade using raisins. It came out with a bit of a sherry flavor and quite nice. Every couple of months I would have a bottle. The last bottle, a year later was transformational - no more like sherry at all, way smoother, and the best meade I had ever tasted. Moral of the story: age your meade for at least a year after bottling. Also, my meade was dry, probably because I used a yeast that could take a higher alcohol content than brewers yeast before stopping its fermentation.

[@shadowfirekarp]

If you really want something special: 3lbs basswood honey per gallon 2lbs frozen cherries per gallon Lavalin D-47 yeast. Wyeast wine nutrient. Best dang blod I ever made.

[@hugotendam5349]

What's that in metric

[@Protoceratops]

​@@hugotendam5349 at 2.2 lbs per kilogram you're looking at a bit more than a kilogram of honey and slightly less than a kilogram of cherries. Cheers.

[@hugotendam5349]

Cheers mate

[@Abink]

which kind of cherries?

[@shadowfirekarp]

@@yuutonosuri772 sounds like you could split the batch between 2 carboys and add some more water to both. That should bring the gravity down to an acceptable level for your yeast. If you don't already have one, get yourself a hydrometer. There's a channel called Barley and Hops that can teach you all about how to use one. Gravity is key to any brewing. Second only to sanitization.

[@christopherort2889]

Finally i see someone doing what I've always thought people should do. Thin the honey first before you pour it into the jug. So much better. I see so many people just dump the honey in the jug without thinning it and then they are waiting for it to go down the funnel. Totally cool video. I like your method. Best regards.

[@davidprimeau3368]

This guy has a cross bow on his t-shirt, love it. I also make wine, raspberry, black cherry, rhubarb, kiwi, orange, apple, date, persimmon, banana, chokecherry, mango, pineapple, blueberry, grape, dandelion, beet, honey, elder flower, lemon grass, various teas, coffee, and tomato, once. I have also had crossbows on my t-shirts. I have never tried rice wine and is my next project. A big thank you from Canada.

[@captainrex-cx9uv]

my brother just finished brewing some mead the other day. its awesome.

[@johnlord8337]

Give the lees to the chickens ... you'll have some very happy and dazed hens pecking on all that high-powered fruit.

[@TheJimmyCNC]

That was the most simple mead recipe I have seen. Delightful.

[@jrenmo]

I’ve always used bentonite for clarifying my mead. Improves clarity and flavor. Cheers 🥂 🍷

[@Luciffrit]

MEAD! I used to brew this alot. If you haven't tried, I suggest maple syrup mead. It goes pink when it gets going. Oh yeah the brewing mixture for mead is called the "Must" as opposed to "Wart" which is for beer.

[@kalashnikov98]

You've done it now Gav, you won't be able to stop!

[@MrAcuta73]

Joe's Ancient Orange Mead! It'll be good, enjoy! Gonna make a 5-gallon batch myself soon, but with a twist: Gonna cask it in a wheat whiskey cask for.....an indeterminate period of time. Basically til it tastes "right". A mead that breaks a lot of rules, but the end product defies those rules. Unfermented wine is must, not wort (wash for distilling). That's beer...not that it really matters, means the same thing in the end. Using a wide-mouth gallon jar in the future will make life easier. Real pain to get the orange slices back out again. LOL

[@MrAcuta73]

Sorry for the edits...I have a rough time getting a complete thought out on the first try...

[@Radiodragonofdoom]

Not gonna lie, all I could think about during the decanting process was. "Okay but how is Gavin gonna get the oranges out again?" :D

[@TheStraycat74]

@@Radiodragonofdoom very carefully XD

[@paulfeist]

"Joe's Ancient Orange Mead" is a GREAT first mead! It does kind of "break all the rules", and experienced mead-makers will freak out over the bread yeast, and the pith of the orange rind, but the JAOM recipe just WORKS! I threw about three thumb sized pieces of ginger in my second batch, and it came out very nice! Very well explained process, and nice clear instructions. I wish I'd had as good a tutorial when I started!

[@jerrycarroll4581]

You had me laughing from the beginning. "I'm going to show you how to make Meade. I've never made it before". ;)

[@0xbane782]

GAVIN YOOOO. I was looking for mead stuff and I remember listening to your channel before bed for the 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓮𝓼𝓮. Glad I rediscovered ya

[@sharanindirveerkaur5350]

Go Gavin. We mead makers are with ya. More mead vids please.

[@johnlord8337]

Totally fascinating in putting a bright light behind the demi-john when the yeast is working, falling down and floating up in a total working cycle.

[@elischultes6587]

I’ve been viewing a fair bit of mead making videos recently. Here is a summary of what I picked up. Raisins don’t really help the yeast. They do give flavor though. And a tannic mouth feel. I probably would have used the orange zest and orange juice to flavor. Doing so would make cleaning the demijohn easier. Black tea would also help with tannins. Some people don’t believe on heating the honey so much.

[@Gojirella]

Thanks for the recipe! I'm a novice beekeeper, but this is definitely on my list now :)

[@TheStraycat74]

I'd love to get some of your honey! and I'm sure Gavin would like some as well! I prefer 3lbs of honey per gallon of water. Nice Round Numbers. I have a 5gallon batch going right now, and last week I bottled an Elderberry mead!

[@soda366]

This is crazy, I started making mead a year ago, and I have been watching your channel for even longer for the cheese Glad to know you share this interest too!

[@jeffmiller9902]

I keep bees to pollinate my small apple orchard of 10 trees. This provides me with about 40 to 70 lbs of honey every year and a lot of apples - so it only made sense to make mead ( and cider). . . been making mead for about 15 years. I typically ferment the mead completely dry with champagne yeast. . very strong . .and then add a touch more honey when bottling just to add back a little sweetness - then I age it . .a long time. at least 1 year and often much longer. The extra time mellows the sometimes harsh taste due to the high alcohol content and after waiting you can end up with something quite good . I have a batch of Blackberry Mead that fermented completely dry and was like rocket fuel at first. It will be aged 10 years this Thanksgiving. I started with twenty 1-litre bottles and after 1 year I started opening 1 bottle a year to try a taste. Each one better than the last. Also have some smaller batches of peach, and a lemon chamomile aging going on 3 years now that are coming along very well. Anyways - keep up the good work - planning on making my 3rd wheel of Parmesan using your recipe and it has turned out great every time.

[@berserkerbeemeadery8539]

YEY !! . Awesone, Gavin :) I've been making mead for 10 years no, and i was really happy to see you make mead. IF i can give a little advice - Switch to a dedicated wine (lalvin D47) or MEad (mangrove Jack M05) next time. use real yeast nutrients, and degas every day for 3 days .... ( also oxygenate if you can ) ... It will be a world of difference .. after 2-3 weeks, change bottle ( rack ), to dissuate whats called a "yeast-bite". That bite require you to age the mead a lot longer before really getting to enjoy it :) A big big big dont-do ... is .. dont fall for the urban legend of using raisings ( i know you didnt do that, but ... just advising :) ) as nutrients. Ill bring you a bottle of my Norwegian Mead next time im in Australia :)

[@GavinWebber]

Thanks for the advice

[@peglamphier4745]

Good job Gavin! Cheese and mead making go naturally together... they require many of the same skills, including patience. This is a JOAM, or Joe's Ancient Orange Mead. It is a GREAT starter mead.

[@soulbrother1143]

I made this recipe and that thing came out amazing...thanks

[@GavinWebber]

Great to hear!

[@Tibbs142]

My roommate and I are about 2 weeks in to making to 2 10l batches of mead. One with guava and the other with the skins of cabarnet grapes. We didn't use bread yeast though, we used Saccharomyces strains called vos and oslo after the cities they are from. Our's started bubbling aggressively after a couple hours and has been for a couple days, probably drink it after a month. My first time making alcohol so fingers crossed.

[@mikeries8549]

We made melomel with honey and raspberries. Used one of the turbo yeast packets that's designed for making schnapps. It's more like raspberry liquor. Around 40 proof. Very tasty.

[@kevchard5214]

Very good idea starting with 1 gallon batch for the first time. My first batch of Mead was 5 gallons and the honey and other ingredients cost $100 and I ruined it. This was about 12 years ago but starting small batches is the best way. I now have 7 fermentors of either 1 gallon or 5 or 6 gallon this way I can experiment with things without breaking the bank. I also do beer, wine, and liquors. Try making a fermented Grand Monya (Orange Liquor) one day it is great and goes great with home made cheese.

[@GavinWebber]

Hey Kevin, yes I thought starting small was a good idea as it was my first mead

[@starrychloe]

Usually wine/mead mixture is called must and beer mixture is called wort.

[@Triforceofdeath]

This is awesome to see Gav! Getting into other fermented products just makes perfect sense on your channel

[@RoninXDarknight]

Started making my first batch of mead earlier this year and just a couple of weeks ago I took my first taste as I was racking it. Completely understand your feeling of excitement here because I am very much looking forward to when it's done aging. Planning to start another batch or two (or three lol) after Christmas.

[@tesshudson707]

I love mead and metheglins and all related honey brews! Yes please, more of these :). I think they are perfectly at home on a cheese channel - wine, beer, ports etc all go great with your cheese platter or charcuterie board.

[@lewmuller8687]

I enjoyed this one. I'm also a old homebrewer and have made many meads. It is all fermentation...beer, mead, cheese...I would love to see more. I finally have acquired all the equipment to venture into cheese!

[@johnlord8337]

Put an opening date a year later on 1 bottle, and 2 years later on another bottle, ... and you won't regret tasting them later.

[@MrPandafarts]

Agreed. Most meads need at least a year to fine out to something worth tasting.

[@gordonwallin2368]

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@sarmatiko]

I was just thinking about mead recipe couple weeks ago and you conveniently delivered this new video. Great job! Definitely would love to see more brewing videos. So far I tried making only cider myself with mixed results (pro: it was great and tasty, well worth 6+ months waiting time; con: it was really deceptive and I ended up passing out after 2.5 liters :)

[@Kazamezo1]

I'll be a lot warmer and a lot happier with a belly full of mead.

[@harpercharlie]

@Joshua Byrne Honningbrew

[@vincentbruce4508]

This quote is in every mead video

[@Kazamezo1]

@@vincentbruce4508 as it should

[@jitterbuba]

Absolutly fantastic content. Me and my wife really enjoyed watching this video over few glasses of wine. Here in Slovenia we mostly mix honey with grappa and let it sit for few months, weeks, days or even minutes. Great video... loved your relaxed speech and humour. Cheers, and we'll be back with more thumbs up.

[@joshdewees6390]

Im a huge homebrewer and recently got into cheese and found you. I'd love to see more!

[@expertionis794]

ive made mead twice before its quite fun and tastes amazing, i love seeing how other people make it.

[@SerpentLight213]

Yes, of course, we WANT this to be a series!!!

[@tommann5033]

Amazing video and amazing bloke. I find myself hours or pleasure from your channel. Alcohol and cheese are my two favourite things. Keep the videos coming x

[@wlocke2991]

i have always been interested in any kind of fermentation, I have have been making my own Whisky, and Brandy for years, and this Mead has been on my radar for a while. I would love it if you continue (along with the cheese) to surprise us with a run or two every once and a while!

[@jessehenrie2171]

Please make more videos like this. It was really interesting

[@bruceneely4859]

I took a Mead class in 1992, and have made many batches. The recipe I use is fairly different. Looks good though. There's always going to be some sediment in the bottle, unless you filter it. Don't worry about it, it's just yeast.

[@jamiecampbell5169]

Watching you make th mead and your reaction to how it tastes as well as watching your other vids make me wish my dad was like you.

[@MrEvanfriend]

With mead, before you add the yeast what you have is must, not wort. Wort is what you get from steeping grains before fermenting into beer. The precursor for mead, like the precursor for wine, is called must. And I imagine with as much honey as you used and bread yeast, which has a low alcohol tolerance and generally poor attenuation, you got something very sweet. I prefer my meads dry. I use wine yeast for strong meads and Belgian ale yeast for short meads.

[@tyeferlsan7040]

Well This Should Be Called Cheesy Meady Show Kudos I Do Enjoy Your Classes. God Bless.

[@maddmaxx6730]

I have to make this!

[@chrismsimracing]

make it a regular segment! great!

[@canofanger]

You need a "bottling wand". It's cheap and makes bottling so easy.

[@altheamarlyssutton3489]

I loved it I look forward to trying it in the future

[@MrMusickey]

I’d save a couple of bottles for a few years. I made a batch of mead and champagne-style wines back in college (2016) and they taste significantly better. Less ‘green’ and deep caramel notes.

[@thedude9024]

I followed this recipe back in August 2020, it's now March. It's been fermenting for awhile now. Hopefully tastes delicious and get a buzz!

[@dailylifetaste4091]

Perfect ! Thanks for sharing

[@narasimhulugv]

Thank you for your GREAT EXPERIENCE with making honeymead

[@lovingatlanta]

👍Thank you kind sir. 💝🤗💞🤗

[@johnarizona3820]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[@ewanbirtwell530]

Love the brewing videos keep them up👍

[@Mitsuri-v2r]

I love mead, I put it 2 to 3 weeks max. with the yeast, then change it to the second fermentation, then at botling add a tsp of sgar to make it sparkling. I just don`t drink anything else if I have to choose ..

[@peterszar]

Very cool video. I am going to try this recipe. I received a bottle of Mead, I believe it was either from Norway or Ireland, from a customer of mine and boy oh boy was that good stuff. It had a good kick to it and bit of a plum or prune essence to it, probably in place of the raisins.

[@miztahfrawg]

Now we're talking. I've never made honey but I've made mead like three times its criminally easy and delicious and it's one of the oldest alcoholic beverages doing back to before ancient Egypt. Dont drink it for at least a year.

[@Josh_Fredman]

This was delightful! Mead is an underrated beverage. I'm glad this recipe worked out for you!

[@zacharycampbell3164]

Very jealous of that honey please keep this up and pair with cheeses super excited.

[@Frydaze1]

Loved this, as I do all your instructional and informative videos. Basically, if you want to teach it, I want to watch it!

[@vogler101]

To be honest I would do this more often and make brews that fit with the cheese and what best fits while eating cheese. This is actually very interesting to watch honestly love it!

[@ballsrgrossnugly]

I'm not sure where this recipe came from, but every other guide on making mead I have seen was careful to stress NOT to heat the honey because it will destroy enzymes and flavours etc. The one I'm likely to follow used champagne yeast and a couple of wine sterilizer tablets in the bucket of cold water and honey mix and leave it overnight before adding the yeast. One thing I'd never do is add boiling water to the honey though!

[@bizzarojerry]

Next batch that you make, you should try using blackcurrant. Don't know how fresh you can get them in Australia, but I hear New Zealand has a fair crop of them. Had a couple of pints of a craft batch of blackcurrant mead from upstate back in March, and it was beautiful.

[@Wijpke1]

love your Gouda and mead

[@jackskillet]

this was exciting...well done Sir...I'd like to add that I used exciting before I got to the end when the Gentlemen described his own feelings

[@Pinion512]

Thrilled to see you doing this! I've entertained the notion to make mead for years. Finally decided to give it a whirl and then I find this video. Thank you for sharing the whole experience with us!

[@jamierichardson4961]

Thanks, now im deffo gonna get stuck into my new mead making ! Beginner and looking forward to it !

[@thefinn12345]

Am doing mead myself right now, which is how I found your cheese channel actually. For some reason if you watch enough city steading videos, they eventually link to you... ;) Mine is about to be racked for the first time.

[@TheStraycat74]

CS Brews are great people, I've been brewing on and off for 20-something years and even I learned from Brian and Dericka!

[@Hin_Håle]

There's a lot of honey in there so I wouldn't be surprised if the mead is at about 15 percent or so. Depends on the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. I'm a mead maker myself and I think I'll try a batch of this recipy just because it looked so damned good. Great vid!

[@ByeByePolizei]

I believe it's called Melomel when you also use fruit to make the mead.

[@Foundations01]

You have inspired me, I shall be following this recipe. I've just bought all the equipment!

[@thesecretthirdthing]

I would watch literally anything you made, but this video was especially fun.