| Tip One: Patience is the biggest trait you | | | | batch is stored in. The best thing you can do |
| need to have when making mead. We live in an | | | | is learn how to use a hydrometer. It is a |
| instant gratification world where if you | | | | simple tool that floats in your brew and |
| don't get it now you lose interest. It takes | | | | tells you when your ferment has finished. |
| patience to make mead because it follows its | | | | |
| own time line. If you are thinking about | | | | Tip Four: How does a hydrometer work? When |
| tinkering with your mead you should step back | | | | you first mix your batch of wine there is a |
| and think about it for a couple more days. | | | | lot of honey in it and the liquid is very |
| You can almost never go wrong by waiting. And | | | | dense. It has a high specific gravity. The |
| mead will age very slowly. Typically, for | | | | density of the wine will go down as the yeast |
| average mead you will need to wait six months | | | | ferments and transforms the honey into |
| before it is tasty enough to really enjoy. | | | | alcohol. Eventually, as all the honey is |
| The rule of thumb is the longer you wait the | | | | consumed and the alcohol content goes up, the |
| better it will taste. Up to about two years | | | | ferment will stop. The lack of food and high |
| and sometimes more. | | | | alcohol content will kill off the yeast. |
| | | | Using a hydrometer will tell you when this |
| Tip Two: When should you rack into a new | | | | has happened. |
| container or carboy? . Your mead will form | | | | |
| a cake of sediment in the bottom and this is | | | | Tip Five: The biggest problem that new mead |
| perfectly normal. It could be an inch or | | | | makers have is the problem of sanitation. |
| more thick. This cake of sediment (called | | | | Your batch of new honey wine is an |
| Leeds) is the biggest reason why you rack to | | | | environment that is very friendly for |
| a new carboy. My advice is that the very | | | | bacteria to grow in. And you want your yeast |
| first racking should come after the airlock | | | | to be the only thing that grows. But if there |
| has settled to less than 1 bubble every | | | | are other bacteria, or strains of yeast in |
| thirty seconds -and then wait a few more days | | | | the batch, they may take over and ruin your |
| or even a week. Then rack it off into a new | | | | batch or give it off flavors. To avoid this |
| container. Again the rule of patience applies | | | | you should always sanitize all of your |
| and it is perfectly ok to wait even longer. | | | | equipment and tools with a wine maker's |
| After that you can rack as you see fit - once | | | | sanitizer like Easy Clean. This isn't |
| a month is pretty good. | | | | washing, it is sanitizing with a chemical |
| | | | that kills bacteria. |
| Tip Three: Figuring out when your mead is | | | | |
| ready to drink. This too is a very common | | | | Mead making really is quite easy and for the |
| question that people ask and there is no | | | | most part you just need to set it aside and |
| definitive answer that can be had without | | | | leave it alone for long periods of time. By |
| testing. Every batch of mead is different and | | | | following these simple tips you should be |
| maturity will depend on a lot of factors like | | | | able to make yourself some delicious batches |
| type of honey, quantity of honey, type of | | | | of this nectar of the gods. |
| yeast and temperature of the room that your | | | | |