HOW TO MAKE THE BEST MEAD EVER

Recipes and equipment: goldenhivemead...
How to make delicious strawberry mead, start-to-finish. What makes this recipe particularly unique, is that it's actually made using a homemade strawberry syrup. The final product was 11.5% ABV, floral, fruity, and perfectly sweet. This recipe is beginner friendly and you can find additional resources below.
Golden Hive Mead
1 Gallon Recipe:
500 mL strawberry syrup
2.5 lb wildflower honey (plus an additional 200g for sweetening)
Topped with spring water
2.5 g K1-V116 brewing yeast
2 g Fermaid-O nutrient
2 tbs dried rose petals
1 campden tablet (to stabilize)
1.5 g potassium sorbate (to stabilize)
Mead Making Starter Kits:
goldenhivemead...
Raw Honey:
goldenhivemead...
Mead Making Guide (E-book):
goldenhivemead...
Additional Resources:
goldenhivemead...
How to Make Strawberry Mead
0:04 Primary Fermentation
1:59 Secondary Fermentation
2:52 Stabilizing
3:25 Backsweetening
3:59 Bottling

[@goldenhivemead]

If this looks familiar it's because it was originally posted vertically

[@28ebdh3udnav]

More long videos please! We love these

[@amiraligh6493]

I can see that happening

[@GB-xg9mz]

​@@28ebdh3udnav I agree with this guy. This video wast bad, but a lot of your videos are so quick and fast it's not funny.

[@GB-xg9mz]

Do more in-depth videos please. Do longer videos that add extra information during your process. You have a big following from your social posts. Don't fail us or yourself

[@HisVirusness]

You didn't really need to do this reupload, but your cropping job is on point. Kudos. However, with all of the filming tips you've been given, I'm looking forward to the long-form content you give us.

[@digbick420]

I would recommend filming in 4k on 4:3 ratio, since how it is now is too “close”. You get more space to both vertically and horizontally. Tho i do understand that your main content are short vertical videos, but a recommendation if you ever decide to go for more horizontal long form

[@goldenhivemead]

That’s the struggle, I primarily do shorts but maybe I’ll get a camera soon

[@Kyrazlan]

​@@goldenhivemeadI prefer the long format for the more detailed process.

[@GB-xg9mz]

​@@goldenhivemeadGet a camera please. "Shorts" leave out so much information.

[@digbick420]

@@goldenhivemead would recommend Zv-e10. Probably the best bang for your buck 4k camera, but would recommend doing your own research for what’s best for your usage

[@joeyfireworks1]

The difference from my strawberry mead at 8 months and 10 months is craaazzzy. Love it right now!

[@themalcore_]

I decided to do this recipe as my first batch ever, and I am blown away by the results.

[@PatrickBush-x9y]

I'm definitely loving the longer video as well.

[@matyas_laczko]

Hey man! During my university class project, we researched 'mead yeasts'. We were trying to determine if they're genuinely different or just repackaged wine or beer yeasts strains. It involved us tasting the meads and for most bottles the difference were only the yeast strains in them. In the end, a "mead yeast" is essentially just a repackaged wine yeast. The best plain meads all used dedicated beer strains! The one kveik we used was awesome! There were some experimentations with spices and such: oak chips made the mead taste like whiskey and there was a really old recipe from Northern Europe that used meadowsweet flower, the latter were like by everyone and I think you should try it! The research paper won't be published anytime soon but the concentrations were 300g/l, OG=1.090 and every bottle contained 1 liter mead. Also since you are in the USA (I assume) you should definitely try Omega Yeast's Thiolized product-line, they convert unaromatic compounds from barley and hops to highly aromatic ones resembling tropical fruits and grapefruit. You should definitely try to make some mead with their yeast, some grain and/or cheaper unaromatic hops!

[@JeronimoStilton14]

So if you are going to make a flavored mead, use wine yeast, if plain use beer?

[@frankiecastelo9257]

Im so glad you make these videos. I love mead so much

[@goldenhivemead]

Me too

[@arthurgabrielmarquesribeir6655]

​@@goldenhivemead if you have the time,could you try making some sort of pumpkin mead? Im really curious to how it would turn out.

[@TaylorWeston]

Made a double batch of this tonight as my first foray into mead making. Primary fermentation is started! I used frozen strawberries instead of fresh though. My OG is 1.075 so probably going to end up a bit less than 10% after sweetening. I'm planning to get this into secondary in a month and let it age until June so it will be ready to drink for the summer. Thank you for the guides and inspiration!

[@PSroka]

that's funny because I just tried strawberry mead last week and it was the best I've had, good to know!

[@connie9519]

I can say that of all the various mead recipes I've tried, this one has to be my favorite! I had made 4 bottles as of a month ago and I am sadly down to 1 bottle already 😆😭 will be making another two gallons tomorrow!

[@chadm9557]

Made beer once.Never made mead before but I’m starting with a 5 gallon carboy with this recipe.

[@CapmCrumch]

I've made dozens of gallons of melomels (mead with fruit, for those out of the know) in the last few years and my first single gallon of Strawberry is still one of my all time favorites. Though I fermented directly on frozen/thawed fruit in primary, and added the homemade syrup in secondary to give it a bit more color and strawberry flavor. I've been pondering doing a 5gal batch for a bit now. I guess this is my sign to do it lol

[@Akashmash]

Hahahah right on time, I've had the kit for months but finally had the time this weekend. Wanted to do a small batch of strawberry before doing a huge bucket of elderflower, thank you so much!!

[@Akashmash]

Ended up doing 10L of strawberry and added some rose syrup, 5L of blackberry/raspberry (raspberry dominant) and then a weird 5L one of mango, blueberry, blood orange and dragonfruit. Wish me luck people!! A bit scary doing so much for my first run but praying to the fermentation gods.

[@miguelalves8955]

@@Akashmash did it went well??

[@PapasTTU]

@@Akashmash UPDATE?

[@Akashmash]

@@PapasTTU I'll post an update soon but let's just say it was a resounding success - I have like 12 flavours now including some short meads, and I'm hosting a tasting in partnership with a restaurant I really respect! Mead is a vehicle to greatness 😂

[@Knot_Sean]

I have three grape trees in my backyard and a crab apple tree that the grapes grow into, I however want to make a mead with blueberries and/or blackberries with a single stick of cinnamon and some extra honey cause I think I’d like it sweet. The grapes in the garden have been used for wine before so I might try both.

[@courtneylee2187]

A friend of mine made a coffee mead that was amazing. And he also made a coconut cream mead. Also fantastic. I loved that man. Miss your face Drunken Droken ❤

[@goldenhivemead]

I’ve yet to try a coffee mead but I have some interesting ideas. Glad to hear they turned out good.

[@corneliuscross7873]

My strawberry rhodomel is one of my favorite brews

[@travishindman9362]

I'm not sure where in the states you are, but if you can get your hands on Thimbleberries, I HIGHLY suggest you make a mead off of them. I made one last summer with Thimbleberries (you can't really cultivate them, you basically have to pick them wild) and it was incredible.

[@Reign-o2b]

Nothing but criticism, damn y’all show my man some love.

[@ducksstirling9597]

Let’s goooo make the mead

[@JamesLStapleton]

I am over the moon that you released a recipe! This was a good watch. I'll have to try your strawberry syrup method. I have to find a strainer that's thin enough though. Haha

[@aaronweyl2272]

I'm glad to hear you made a drink amazing! Though, you could add red colour to looked even more better ^^ You should do Meadowsweet one as I made one form last year and it turned out amazing!

[@saidhaneshbodapati3993]

please keep on making more videos mate.

[@boredgamer7841]

I love this channel and is currently looking into getting my own set-up for making mead. I was wondering if you could make a guide on using tea/other flavorings in mead, and what fruit and such they pair with the best.

[@duck13x76]

I was just talking to my bf about what flavor of mead I should try making next, just bottled a raspberry mead, he mentioned strawberry next thing i know this video is on my feed so i feel like i have to now lol

[@paulwilliams8278]

Would love to see a strawberry rhubarb mead.

[@goldenhivemead]

Good idea for summer

[@Kyrazlan]

Man that sounds good

[@Josh-em6ml]

Definitely a future video idea id so make it lol ​@@goldenhivemead

[@Potatoras]

The more i watch the bigger is my desire to make home made mead

[@goldenhivemead]

Once you start it's hard to stop

[@jvp714]

I made strawberry mead a few years ago and accidentally misread the hydrometer. I thought it would end up being 12ish% but it came out at 19%. 🥴

[@josephromias7293]

Drop the recipe please I need that in my life

[@craig7285]

I made a cherry and strawberry mead recently (first time I’ve made mead) and it came out about 18%. Wild.

[@986hhbu]

Store mead analysts for the president 🇺🇸

[@NlghtHawk]

I've done some distilling with a mate in the past; however never mead (i was just the assistant) Thanks for the vid; nice tutorial greatly appreciated I'll be getting a kit myself (coming into winter soon in AUS; need a hobby to help fill my time) **Edit** International Shipping: $245.00 || Total: $464.00 [shipping costs more than the goods lmao]

[@Fireplaces01]

Hey, I really enjoyed the vid. You have lit a spark in me. I want to start making my own mead, do you have one super important tip for me ?

[@hiih8u2]

love you bro , cant wait for more youtube content !

[@dylanbohler3332]

I'm definitely going to try this method, I tried making strawberry mead by just chopping up the strawberries, but they went bad and I had to throw the 5 gallon batch out

[@blackmoon8459]

I know I’m super late on this comment, but just starting the video, the main reason people put sugar on berries to create a syrup is because somehow, someway, the sugar causes more fluid to come out of the berries.

[@caveman1905]

I have been watching along for a while and finally say that I will be making my very first batch in 1 week when it gets here. Doing a ginger and orange mead. Got any tips?

[@gunnarmiller5467]

You should put a twist on tempache... or just pineapple mead

[@misua5759]

I really struggle with the products you use to stabilize and the nutrients and yeast... I'm from Czech republic and amazon is not working in this country and I can't really find similar product on our market 😭😭😭 But soon I will try to make my first mead with mead making kit that I got as a gift so wish me luck. You really inspired me ❤

[@gitruih]

for stabilization you can pasteurise your mead. For nutrients feel free to boil some bread yeast and use that. for actual yeast- there is no significant difference what yeast you use. Go to your brewing store and check what they have. Pretty much any yeast will do

[@cosmicroundingerror]

did a very similar strawberry mead a couple years ago and finished it with some basil, incredible flavor combo

[@JgPang]

can you give me the procedure or videos

[@cosmicroundingerror]

@@JgPang used a basic mead recipe (check out r/mead's guide) with strawberries in both primary and secondary, plus a bunch of regular basil & thai basil in secondary. i didn't write too much specific down unfortunately, really wish i had!

[@Dannii502]

That one looks awesome. I'd love to see some more detail about when you sanitize everything, I've found a few conflicting accounts in different guides that I find confusing

[@goldenhivemead]

I’ve made lots of videos on sanitizing but the importance of sanitation can’t be stressed enough so I’m happy to make more.

[@Gigidag77]

Strawberry Meads Forever

[@blackbeardbarkbark]

I dont drink alcohol but this is very tempting.

[@WilliamMarshallofScotland]

Si i wanna make a mead myself too, i wanna use strawberry just like you but add oranges to it to combine flavours, and MAYBE some vanilla. I have almost everything in my kit except for a few things, i dont have a stabilizer myself and am wondering how important it is, i also dont have pectin enzymes but i didnt think id need them as im making it for myself and dont mind the cloudiness that much. the other thing is that most people that taste the mead ive bought find it too sweet (pansies) so i was wondering of the sweetening with honey is a standard practise and if i can reduce the sweetness by limiting the added honey (by for instance never going over the 100 ml mark) or not sweetening it at all, i know i can test it by having people taste it before sweetening but still haha. also quick note i love your videos and much prefer these types of videos over the shorts.

[@ProxyExpy]

I like long-form content from you! Maybe the Mountain Dew Saga as a single vod next? I do have a mead-making-related question. I am working on my first batch of basic honey mead. For my next batch, I want to do a persimmon mead. My sister has a persimmon tree and made a lot of seedless persimmon paste that I want to turn into a mead. I plan to add 2 lbs of permission paste to the primary fermentation step and 2 lbs of persimmons to the back sweetening step. My question comes when adding Pectic Enzyme to the mead. I know I need to do it during the primary fermentation step, but do I also need to do it during the secondary back-sweetening step?

[@goldenhivemead]

It wouldn’t hurt adding some in secondary too. Adding fruit in secondary can be especially challenging to clear up, but you could also try adding fining agents if needed.

[@ProxyExpy]

@@goldenhivemead thank you for the insight!

[@conormckeever805]

Which Gallon measurement are you using? Im assuming the US gallon but it looks like closer to an Imperial Gallon

[@edghelardini9619]

Love your videos. Have you tried doing a Kool-Aid Mead with sugar/honey and a Kool-Aid packet (any flavor).

[@technologies4learning]

Question: I never hear you talking about sanitization when adding spices or, in this case, dry flowers. Do we need to sanitize or boil these additions? If not, why so? I'm curious.

[@tad71199]

So my batch finished fermentation, and the final gravity is 1.000. I added my potassium sorbate and the tablet, however it’s still cloudy and didn’t clear up as yours did. Will it clear up over time? Or should I add some bentonite? If so, will that mess up the mead? I also plan to back sweeten. But I don’t know if I should wait for it to clear more, or if I should just add the honey and wait. Either way I feel like I’ll have to rack again if I do because I think more sediment will fall to the bottom. If after 2-3 more weeks it doesn’t clear I don’t mind drinking it cloudy, however I want to give a bottle as a gift and aesthetic is key. Please help!!!

[@stephenhegarty6179]

I did a rhubarb mead but I am trying to see how I can introduce strawberries that are in the freezer to get that combo flavor any suggestions other than racking the rhubarb over the thawed strawberries in a bucket and bag?

[@NuggetsAutomotive]

Started two batches of mead this week. One i intend to keep traditional, the other i intend to add a blackberry syrup like this with some honey to backsweeten after fermentation and i take the precautions to stop it from progressing. What do you think?

[@goldenhivemead]

I'd love to try a blackberry syrup

[@IzonTheGnome]

This one looks so good! I'm making a peach mash mead right now and ~12 hours after mixing the yeast in, the bottle foamed up and overflowed. I lost about 350mL in the overflow. Did I do something wrong? This is my 6th gallon of mead, but the first time it's overflowed like this.

[@thatguy4345]

How do you figure out the abv after back sweetening?

[@goldenhivemead]

If you know the initial volume of your mead and the ABV%, you can easily calculate the volume of alcohol present. So find the updated ABV, just divide your volume of alcohol by your total volume of mead after adding honey. Maybe I should make a video explanation. Hope this helps!

[@thatguy4345]

@@goldenhivemead thx for the reply, seems rather simple. I’ve been watching your videos since about November, December and I’ve learned a lot. Started my first batch in January and have several since then. Never even thought of making mead or wine before but I’m glad I’m on the journey now. It’s a great hobby and very satisfying when everything comes together. Thanks again

[@Kyrazlan]

Hmmm. There are wild black raspberries on my parents property. I bet that would make a good mead.

[@luissoto8568]

Can we get a airlock guide/ what it should look like when fermentations happening

[@ehwren]

Hi, i bought your kit and was wondering if there was a way to tell fermentation stopped without the tool? In the guide book that came with the kit it said add fruit 2 weeks after fermentation starts, so that would be another month before it was done?

[@stephenmccusker2288]

Thanks for the videos. Love the content! Quick question, do you have a preference for sanitiser?

[@georgedunn7573]

Do you recommend a mesh bag for the fruit or is it not needed?

[@Lemonnn2505]

Does it need any certain room temperature while it ferments?

[@jasonguerra3763]

Have you heard of Tupelo honey I’m from south east Texas so my honey is the tallow honey but I just tried the Tupelo honey and it’s the best honey I’ve tasted so far just wondering if you would try a mead with it

[@Eversor-si1kr]

Is there any plans to put the containers that you use on your website? I don't need the full starter kit

[@drunkfarmer5106]

As an alcoholic, I approve.

[@capitalJLK]

Can mint chocolate leaves work to flavor mead? If they can, do they have to be dried or can they be fresh?

[@amosbickford4774]

Id like to request moxie be done as the next soda wine

[@rajarshisahu1397]

the fermentation will also yield some methanol.. how do you distill your mead.? or do you consume the mead with some methanol content in it?

[@pajamasflannel]

Any chance you’d experiment with coconut water in place of honey?

[@legendofeon]

Where can we buy this?

[@raphaelholm]

So quick question do you sanitize the the turkey baster and the hydrometer when testing the ABV before racking?

[@shermanater182]

Always sanitize the baster. The hydrometer and tube it goes in should def be sanitized if you're putting the sample back in your fermenter after getting your reading. If you're using your sample as a taste test you can skip sanitizing the tube and hydrometer.

[@raphaelholm]

Thank you very much for the insight. I am on my 1st mead and just wanted to know if I am wasting time sanitizing every time!

[@shermanater182]

@@raphaelholm good luck!

[@Ssarah13]

I want to try making mead so bad. But I need to save up for a kit

[@josephcruz-trinidad5699]

I wanna make my own mead and wine

[@Naturua]

When you back sweeten, do you stir afterwards? Because the honey is quite viscous, it will be hard to mix ithout stiring right? But that will add oxygen right?

[@goldenhivemead]

I haven’t had mead oxidize from gently stirring the honey, you should be fine

[@lia-tg7yg]

How much water and the pectin enzyme did you use?

[@awesomejkp]

At 1:04 you added in dry yeast and then hydrated yeast??

[@jblob5764]

I think that was kind of a cutaway for "hey you can also do it this way which is even better" but not what he did in this particular batch.

[@1111bigmike]

How do I keep my mead from getting a vinegar taste? I tried making a batch of elderberry/blueberry, and a batch of the mango habanero that you have in your book. Everything was sanitized and I left it to sit in a cool, dark room until fermentation was completed, but the flavor was off when I went to rack it.

[@sazon860]

Keep oxygen away after primary

[@voyd5612]

Can you make mead with blue powerade?

[@rillay_frenchi_trainman]

How did you make the labels ?

[@lornaj3310]

As a general rule, how much fruit/juice/syrup do you use?

[@gardog9992]

I have a very low alcohol tolerance. How can I make this but with a very low abv? Like ~3%

[@Lemonnn2505]

Any chance you could estimate roughly how much it costs for all the things you need? (minus the strawberries and honey)

[@matthewnguyen5829]

Would you say this is better than your apple cinnamon recipe?

[@whateverthedaybrings2268]

So how much honey did you use?

[@snowysgirl492]

how much pectic enzyme did you put in?

[@bigstick3064]

Would it be possible to make mead from spicy peppers? Like jalepeno or habanero?

[@goldenhivemead]

I made a mango habanero that turned out great

[@xhanderhoek5315]

Hoping someone sees this comment. I am 100% making this mead, but I am having difficulty getting k1-v1116 yeast in my country. What can you recommend as the best alternative yeast to use for this mead?

[@xhanderhoek5315]

I settled on D47. Hope it works out

[@jonathanmiller2701]

D47, 71B most of the lalvin brand yeast and other brands will work just fine

[@prestynfritz9965]

Just started my first batch, basically winging it compared to this guy

[@claytonmccoy8849]

That's the best way, man. The way people did it 1000 years ago. The yeast wants to work its magic even without any fancy gadgets, and you don't necessarily need to use pectic enzyme to get perfect clarity. For my first batch of mead I just mixed everything together in the janky-est fashion (although I DID use filtered water) and I didn't have a gallon jug so I fermented in a bunch of 12 oz bottles. I dropped in enough cut-up raisins to cover the bottom of each bottle, then poured in the mead mix with a funnel, and simply used aluminum foil to cap them off; no rubber bands I just squeezed the foil around the rim so that the yeast farts could still push their way out. Using bread yeast. And guess what? That produced a super clear, tasty mead far exceeding my expectations. That janky production made mead which was better than any store bought mead I've tasted so far.

[@Mikkogram]

Do you do pH adjustment prior to fermentation?

[@goldenhivemead]

You shouldn’t need to for recipes like this

[@Joeg174]

When you back sweetened, could you have used more of the syrup instead of honey?

[@shermanater182]

That would def enhance the strawberry flavor, but you're definitely going to want to add more sugar/honey unless you like it dry

[@kurtrobinson3749]

what is the quantity of pectic enzymes

[@seriousgranpa]

No distilllization?

[@Solostylevids]

I have double checked, and I didn’t see you do any blackberry I specifically want to see a blackberry mead I was hoping that you can add notes of floral as well as some oak

[@nonickname-k1z]

😋

[@mickevernden4195]

Plz do monster energy pipeline punch the best tasting energy drink there is

[@TysonMcDonnell-z6u]

copy and pasting comment from other video super stoked to try this recipe, homemade strawberry syrup sounds like a great idea. Loving the content recently. I had one question -- you showed in the video the option to rehydrate your yeast in water. When you rehydrate your yeast, do you use just water, or do you also rehydrate with GoFermPE? I've made a few batches using a starter kit and am trying to get more familiar and comfortable with the hobby, and I've read a few places online state if you're rehydrating you should use GoFerm instead of just rehydrating in water. So far I've only pitched the yeast dry, so I was wondering what your experience is with this/if you do it in your process and thoughts.

[@goldenhivemead]

I’ve never tried using goferm but I plan on doing some experimenting with it!

[@OldBunkerHill]

Love the video but, man, that high pitched howl background sound is so hard to listen to 😂.

[@oldnickus]

Aren't strawberries low in pectin?

[@user-is8xy9hh4s]

Is original mead literally just honey by itself?

[@goldenhivemead]

That’s called a traditional mead

[@abeyroy007]

Man the video quality is awesome with 1080p 60FPS and in HDR, the 60FPS HDR even in 144p makes it better. Next time try shooting in 4K too, would be awesome...

[@juanpablomijares4224]

Pal, why don't you use a refractometer to measure the gravity? You'll reduce the danger of infection by 300% bc your sample will only be like 4 drops instead a full test tube. The best part is that one cost about the same of a test tube!

[@account01289]

❤ Mead is gluten free isn't it?

[@goldenhivemead]

As long as you don't use grains or other ingredients containing gluten

[@Kyrazlan]

Shouldn't you know that if that's a concern?

[@account01289]

@@Kyrazlan I'm sure you don't mean to be rude but that is how you are coming across and there is no need for it

[@HisVirusness]

For a cropped video, this is not bad. However, not what you want to consistently put out when it comes to long-form. You always have the framing spot-on; you obviously know what you're doing. When you do long-form, just remember to set the camera at landscape.

[@varunsharma3532]

3:58 #soldierboy #theboys

[@Cubanbro22]

Just tried out this recipe but looks like we needed more space at the top because a good quarter of it overflowed through the airlock :(

[@boscotom3508]

100% grape juice