Mead Making 201: A Little Deeper Dive into Mead Making

Today we dive further into mead making! We will be discussing more about how to measure your alcohols ABV, important info before you start fermentation, yeast, fruit additions and yeast nutrient energizer use. These are all very important to the success of your mead! I am also including some important things that you need to make a mead. Here's a list of things you'll need:
Equipment:
Glass Carboy (& Airlock): amzn.to/2QP7Mxm​
Auto-Siphon and Tubing: amzn.to/2YXorU7​
Hydrometer: amzn.to/31P3PPF​
Star San (Sanitizer): amzn.to/32OhXYF​
Scale: amzn.to/34TSAaL​
Bottling Capper: amzn.to/3buC6at​
Bench Capper (Optional): amzn.to/32LZZpY​
Hand Corker: amzn.to/32MlxCO​
Floor Corker (Optional): amzn.to/3gPgbvq​
Wine Corks: amzn.to/3jCvQ2Y​
Bottle Caps: amzn.to/3lNMHSD​
Bottling Wand: amzn.to/3hR8rKH​
I hope you enjoyed the video and don't forget to check out these links to help the channel! Cheers!
Discord Link: Discord.io/ManMadeMead
Check out these links and thank for watching!
Merchandise: society6.com/manmademead
Patreon: / manmademead
Facebook: / manmademeadery

[@johndaily7286]

My first mead was accidental. I had a near empty bear shaped bottle of honey that I added some tap water to. I then placed it on the kitchen window sill, which was not dark by any means. Then I forgot about it, as it was sort of behind the curtain. One day, after an unknown amount of time, my wife asked me what I was going to do with it. I immediately opened it up and heard a pssssst. It smelled sweet, but I did notice an alcohol smell as well. I sipped it, low and behold it was awesome. That was my very first time ever tasting mead, and I was hooked.

[@pauldacus4590]

I took Mead 101, but drank too much Mead the night before and flunked the final.

[@BCbiker36]

Sounds to me like you understood the assignment.

[@patriotsedge6730]

"Yeast Energizer is kinda like a weird pre-workout". LOL, this was a fantastic description. Thanks for all the info you put out dude.

[@cameron571]

I can say the following from experience: - Rhubarb is better in secondary, but not bad in primary if you don't add too much - Goji berries are not great in primary, but not bad in secondary, at least dried (never had the opportunity to try fresh) - Peaches, I agree, are very good in primary. But secondary is good too, and if there's anything to use in both, I'd say it's peaches and nectarines, maybe plums too - Grapes are good at any stage, but lighter grapes are better in primary and sweeter grapes are better for secondary. That said, grapes are probably best used in both phases. - Citrus fruits are better in secondary, but some can be used in primary without any ill-effects. I'd suggest, if making an orange mead, to use 1-2 oranges per gallon in primary, and 3-4 oranges per gallon in secondary, if using water and not orange juice. - NEVER use fresh limes in primary, I have never had a good experience with that and you probably won't either, but they're good in secondary

[@thuffman44]

Bro, you have the best hobby mead making channel on KZbin. I really enjoy listening to you elaborate when explaining your various experiences. I started doing my homework back in 2016 but only brewed around 10 gallons then got busy. Your channel is motivating and just listening to you speak helps a LOT. Please keep the vids coming, and thanks for sharing your knowledge!!

[@ManMadeMead]

Thank you! That means a lot!

[@DaleDuffy]

Your 101 tutorials work just fine.....no failures to report, just fantastic tasting Mead...! Great video, thanks again MMM...!

[@troymeyer17]

Great videos. Watching these has helped m Take the plunge into mead making. Thank you for being so thorough with your instructions.

[@ManMadeMead]

I’m happy to help!

[@canaldoxerxes]

Dude, you're the best. I"ve been following your channel for quite a while now, and most of your pointer were very, very useful for the meads I make.

[@DSK2007]

Loving these even as a mead enthusiast for almost two years. Looking forward to 301

[@timothyrichards5823]

Nice tutorial! Keep the great videos coming

[@ManMadeMead]

Thank you!

[@Sargothien]

Really interesting

[@akasmr5385]

I enjoy your channel man. There are other channels that have good content but strong personalities that I dont like to constantly watch. I like your laid back approach.

[@SufficientlyScott]

Just found this channel, great content!

[@ManMadeMead]

Thank you!

[@scotmcpherson]

Recommend you talk about some speciality ingredients for mead making. For instance, using pollen as your nutrient. Also something you didn’t quite mention about putting fruit into the primary. This adds nutrient to the must. You don’t need nearly as much nutrient when adding fruit to the primary.

[@colindruce-mcfadden9026]

I'm of the practice of not adding any "white powder" nutrient at all, relying instead on a measured balance of fruits to do the same job. I love the idea of pollen. What's the nutritional content, and is there any risk of contamination involved?

[@bradenroy2617]

you prolly dont care at all but does any of you know of a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb lost my login password. I love any tricks you can offer me.

[@bradenroy2617]

@Ronin Gordon it worked and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much you saved my account :D

[@roningordon2955]

@Braden Roy You are welcome :)

[@domors89]

Regarding fruit, can you brew a 'tea' of the fruit by simmering it for a couple hours and add fruit tea that instead of actual fruit? I recently read that works well but no idea if that's true.

[@ChaoticEra]

You can also back sweeten your mead instead of stopping the fermentation process. Once fermentation has completey finished, add your stabilizers to prevent the yeast from reactivating. Then take a honey of your choice and add it to your mead. I will dissolve the honey I'm a little bit of water to make it easier to mix. I haven't tried to put more honey in than the yeast can handle because the yeast I use has a high fermentation rate and high abv. I use mangrove Jack's mead yeast which 95%-100% attenuation percentage.

[@colindruce-mcfadden9026]

I'd be interesting to me to know what other people are doing regarding natural nutrient inclusions, i.e. the combinations that replicate the "white powders" like oranges and raisins do in JAOM. There are documents out there that give you a jump start in finding these combos, but I'd love to hear what other folks have tried.

[@s.pearce9377]

How and when to degas - I'd love to hear a short comment on this in your next video. Thanks!

[@nickhull83]

Get a wine degassing wand from Amazon, you need an electric drill. Degas 2 times a day for the first 7-10 days(i do 7). When degassing, go slow and your finished when it stops producing new foam. I degas before I add the staggered nutrient addition so it doesn't really foam up. One extra tip, you are degassing to get rid of the C02 and your not trying to get more 02 so don't go crazy with the drill. Put a 5 gallon bucket of Starsan solution next to the fermenter and sanitize the wand each time you use it. You can use a spray bottle but i believe a dunking is much safer this type of workflow.

[@cameron571]

I'd say with lalvin yeast, the ideal temperature is around 67f to 70f. With Red star, it's closer to exactly room temperature. Worth considering if you're a true beginner with limited space. I highly suggest using Red Star if you're new, you're making fruit meads, and typically live in a space that's between 65f and 75f. Lalvin is better if you like to live on the cooler side, typically below 70f. Just my own observation so far. And I find, in particular, that sach yeasts like lower temperatures (high 60s farenheit) and red star is better in the very high 60s (68f+) to mid-to-high 70s (70f to 78f). Although that mostly applies to the white wine strains from Red Star. The red wine strains seem to really like sitting around 70f even and don't seem to tolerate long periods outside that temperature as well as other yeasts do.

[@fearwolfbrewery5014]

It is very hard to stop an ongoing fermenation with sulfite and sorbate. You should cold crash first and after that add sulfite and sorbate.

[@joanatuman5567]

Started the Primary today basic mead: water, honey and lalvin d47. Didn't realize till watching your videos that a nutrient and energizer should be added on day 0. Would it still be beneficial to day to day 2,4,6,8 instead?

[@vbence12]

You talked about different ways of achieving a sweeter end result, which reminded me of the method of achieving the same in beer brewing. There it's pretty common to mix lactose in the wort or the finished beer to make it sweeter because the yeast can't break it down as easily. Do people do the same when it comes to mead? Why not?

[@ManMadeMead]

Most sugars in honey are fermentable so it’s not quite the same. You can kind of do that with a bochet because you caramelized some of the sugars of the honey keeping them from being fermentable. To achieve a sweet mead you have to: put more honey in than your yeast can handle - capping out the yeast and leaving residual sweetness. 2.) stabilize the mead after fermentation and then add more honey. 3.) use a non fermentable sugar after the fermentation.

[@HeyDadOutdoors]

i appreciate this and i can tell you are thinking heavily if there was perhaps a straight to the steps or points or edited version would help me but i still understood

[@victorvaldes411]

Could you talk about how to carbonate a mead? thanks

[@ManMadeMead]

I can! I’ll make a video at some point!

[@thomastodd9333]

MMM, I really appreciate that you share your knowledge. That's awesome AF. I have 5 gallons of fully fermented traditional mead that 4 weeks old. I have 10 vanilla beans and a pack of cinnamon sticks. Would you incorporate any of those into the aging process?

[@ManMadeMead]

I think vanilla and cinnamon meads are great! I would definitely incorporate them into the brew (unless you just want it to be a traditional). If you add spices to your traditional mead, it becomes a metheglin!

[@thomastodd9333]

@@ManMadeMead thanks man!

[@melissadrinkwinebutt]

with the fruit mead do you still add the honey or just the fruit ?

[@AdamBattelsteinCatapult]

Great Video! Please tell me about the headspace I see in some of your carboys in the background. I thought one needed to top up so there is an inch or less of space. Is that not true?

[@ManMadeMead]

So as long as there is a layer of CO2 on top of the mead it is safe. Most of these brews are done fermenting and currently degassing. This means that CO2 is slowly leaving and leaving a small layer of gas on top of the brew - which protects it from oxidization.

[@jeanweatherly2277]

Love your videos. I'm trying my first mead right now. Still confused on how long to leave fruit in the primary and secondary fermentations. Made some red grape wine recently and you leave the crushed grapes (including skins & seeds) in the must for only 4-7 days. How does this compare with making mead's.

[@ManMadeMead]

I normally taste test my meads as they sit with the fruit in them and gauge from there. There is no perfect timeline because there are just too many variables!

[@jeanweatherly2277]

@@ManMadeMead Thanks for taking the time to reply. When you have talked in your videos about putting the fruit in the secondary fermentation because of the enhanced flavor it gives to the mead, is the primary fermentation considered done when the hydrometer reading is close to 1.000? Can I assume that the secondary fermentation is triggered by the addition of the fruit? Thanks.

[@dcm727]

I have a question for you. I’m a beekeeper and 2 days ago I started my first mead. I followed one of your video for a simple mead. I made sure it was bubbling and had to go out of town. I just got home and checked it, apparently it bubbled over (the airlock stayed connected and engaged). I took the airlock off and cleaned everything up and put it back on. The mead is still giving off gas and is quite active. Is it still good? Should I continue with this batch? What did I do wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

[@BrutalacePSN]

A quick important question: Is Yeast needed in the secondary fermenting? If I am going to put into apple/passionfruit or whatever?

[@ManMadeMead]

Most of the time there is residual yeast in the secondary. They are necessary if you want refermentation! You will be fine putting your fruit into the secondary fermentation!

[@edwinbender6809]

Is there any advantage to aging the mead in a carboy instead of bottling and aging. If so about how long on average in the carboy.

[@ManMadeMead]

If you age in a carboy you are bulk aging which generally means after you bottle it the mead should be more consistent from bottle to bottle. Bottle aging can sometimes lead to a less than consistent taste from bottle to bottle. I normally carboy age for atleast 3 - 4 months.

[@LordUroko88]

Should you always stabilize/ pasteurize the yeast? For example if i use a 14%max yeast and hit that 14% should i still stabilize it? Do you stabilize before Secondary or after secondary but before aging?

[@ManMadeMead]

I would still stabilize or pasteurize. Yeast can go beyond their cap if they are healthy. Stabilize before aging/backsweetening!

[@Bappadiboopy]

Are there alternatives to the "white powders"? What about pasteurization for stabilizing? Could I boil my fermented mead to kill off any remaining yeast?

[@ManMadeMead]

Those are also great options!

[@kubazolnik8595]

Hello. I had a quick question about brewing vessels. Does my brewing bucket have to be airtight for mead? I have an ale pail with an airlock I'd like to use. But the lid for the pail does not come with a rubber gasket to make it fully air tight. Will this make a difference or am I good to go?

[@ManMadeMead]

So it doesn’t really make a difference, you will just need to actually look in the bucket instead of relying on the airlock to know when the mead is done!

[@garrettwilson3180]

Wouldn’t adding fruit in the primary make the hydrometer not be exact? Assuming the hydrometer measures the sugars in the liquid but there would be hidden sugars in the fruit?

[@scottjordon]

When you get to the point of adding the sorbate to stop fermentation, do you use your mixer to swirl it around into the mead?

[@ManMadeMead]

Normally I just lightly stir in!

[@criticalthinker2477]

Love your making mead series! I'm curious -- I see you have a bunch if mead fermenting in the background in a room that is reasonably light. I've heard that mead should be in a dark environment. How much do you think lightness and darkness matter?

[@ManMadeMead]

I haven't had any problems fermenting in the light with mead! The only brew that really has issues in the light are brews with hops. Hops and light don't mix!

[@faultyinterface]

Yeah, I got no clue how my first mead will turn out. Didn't do anything wrong per se, just weird. Didn't do the first hydrometer reading because none of the beginner tutorials I read said to. Baked the carboy in the oven for 2 hours at 350°F and boiled all the other tools for 3 hours. Also read that the honey to mead ratio recommended was 4:1 and didn't realize the oz on the honey jar was weight and not volume, so I ended up adding 2.5lbs of honey to 101.7 fl oz of water. All seems to be going well at least.

[@charlesedwards2348]

I have fermented two different traditional and I am consistently having a Hydrogen Sulfide problem with my brews. It smells like a slight rotted egg with strong nail polish remover. I've looked I to what could have caused it and ways to reduce or eliminate it from the batches but there isnt much out there on Hydrogen Sulfide to begin with much less how to treat it. I live in Houston TX and temp. Control is my house is difficult so it swing pretty bad especially during the summer months. That aside what else could I do to avoid the issue?

[@NeonRazor7]

Are you using yeast nutrients? Rehydrating with GoFerm?

[@charlesedwards2348]

@@NeonRazor7 The first batch I didnt the second batch I simply rehydrate with a diluted must and staggered feeding nutrient.

[@ManMadeMead]

You should look into some of these yeasts that ferment at higher temperatures (like the omega hot head yeast that ferments best at 90+ degrees!) I would also just recommend routine degassing and ensuring that you add enough nutrient and prep the yeast!

[@bradleekoers9895]

aye bloke new viewer.. just diving into it... fantastic content!!!

[@ManMadeMead]

Thank you!

[@bradleekoers9895]

@@ManMadeMead maybe 3/4 of the way thru your beginners playlist.. placing an order for all ingredients and equipment this week!!!

[@austinwhite2000]

Do a key lime pie mead

[@poisonpotato1]

Which course has spiced mead. I want to make some for next year

[@theastronomer5800]

I'm also interested in making one after watching the video by CS Mead: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYq4q6J8mJqDmc0

[@beepIL]

how much of each of the common spices do you need to add per gallon, and for how long for each type?

[@ManMadeMead]

It depends on how flavorful you want it to be. I would add some of your spices a little at a time and taste test it until you like it!

[@beepIL]

@@ManMadeMead I also know that some compounds are better extracted by alcohol while others in a form of tea in hot water, and that some spices should only be left for a short period of time rather than through the aging process as they are too strong. 1. how do I know which spice is better extracted by what method? 2. when you add spices, do you rinse them in starsan? can you just add them without worrying about contamination? 3. when you say to taste every now and then, isn't opening the lid or airlock and tasting every now and then introduce oxygen? is it not bad for aging? will this all messing around not contaminate the mead?

[@S0e420]

Do you degas when you doing the staggered nutrients?

[@ManMadeMead]

Normally it degasses itself when you add the nutrients!

[@johnjacobs6502]

question what is the difference between primary and secondary?

[@ManMadeMead]

The bulk of fermentation happens during the primary. That’s when the yeast are most active. Secondary fermentation occurs once the yeast run out of sugar and you give them more to use.

[@HappyDoesYoutube]

After you take your first reading you just dumped that meet back in or does that become waste? Assuming everything was properly sanitized

[@ManMadeMead]

I normally dump it back in! I haven't had any issues!

[@HappyDoesYoutube]

@@ManMadeMead thank you!

[@doctor_sinister_3145]

It was so hard to hit the like button and be like number 667.

[@gilochoa2980]

Your series is great! Thanks so much. But I'm wondering if the washroom is the best place to let your mead settle in. It looks very bright and the washer/ dryer vibes seems like it would be counter productive?

[@TripDov3r]

So how do i know if my mead is junk and should be dumped?

[@ManMadeMead]

If it tastes bad or looks dangerous (moldy or anything like that)

[@jasonkingsley7386]

when and/or where are we going to talk about racking? from looking around I think I got it, but I don't see any video on. It's like everyone some how knows what and when to do it.

[@ManMadeMead]

I haven't done one about racking. But essentially you need an auto-siphon and tubing. Connect those and then put your brew you want to move on a higher surface and the other container lower and start siphoning!

[@CarlPapa88]

Have you ever made a honeysuckle mead?

[@ManMadeMead]

I can't say I have! But it sounds like it could be really good!

[@CarlPapa88]

@@ManMadeMead Just tasted a sip of some started on the 13th of last month. 1st mead I've made. Kinda reminds me of slightly sweet white grape juice. Slightly tart maybe. No honeysuckle smell or taste though. Have a 16oz bottle of frozen honeysuckle tea I made to add. We'll see how it needs to be added in another month.

[@colindruce-mcfadden9026]

@@CarlPapa88 What amount of honeysuckle did you already add, and what size batch was it? Also, what sort of honey did you go with? That might be your biggest flavor contributor right now.

[@CarlPapa88]

@@colindruce-mcfadden9026 Honestly it's my 1st mead. Started 10/13: 1 gallon glass carboy. 2# GV Raw Clover & 1# of the Pure 'n Simple honey. Both from Walmart. No clue on amount of honeysuckle flowers. A slightly compacted handful boiled down in 3/4c of water with some raisins and half an orange peel. Racked 12/3 & added 1-3/4c of honeysuckle tea with about the same amount of flowers as before plus honey. SG up to 1.034

[@LauraJayne64]

How can you make a sweet mead?

[@ManMadeMead]

You can do it two ways: You can start with more honey than your yeast can handle (essentially capping out the yeast and leaving some sweetness). Or you can use a regular amount of honey and then stabilize the brew after it finishes and back sweeten it with more honey!

[@LauraJayne64]

@@ManMadeMead which would you recommend for a beginner?

[@southernstacker7315]

3 lbs of apples-other fruit to 1 gallon of mead?

[@ManMadeMead]

Correct!

[@Trace51100]

Best fruits or spices to add to a mead. Also where is 301

[@ManMadeMead]

Working on it!

[@Trace51100]

Man Made Mead heck ya! Love your videos. Have been a great help I just started my first batch in a 6 gallon and am trying to figure out all the processes and stuff to try to make them different types when I put them into 6 one gallon jugs!

[@Medbeard]

I don't know why I can't quite wrap my head around this but.... how do I use my hydrometer to know for sure that my mead is done fermenting?

[@ManMadeMead]

So you float it in your must (honey & water mixture) before it ferments. It should float and land on some numbers on the side. It will be something like 1.082. You let it start fermenting and then once you feel like it's done, you will take another gravity reading. You can use this equation to figure out your gravity: Starting Gravity - Final Gravity x 131.25 = ABV.

[@Medbeard]

Thank you so much for your response! All great videos, I've gotten almost ALL my info from you so far. So just to clarify, is there a particular gravity I'm waiting for (like is there a magic reading that will show up when it's done fermenting, or is there something I'm missing?