Semi-Sweet Mead

Mission

Create a batch of premium quality semi-sweet riesling-like mead using a mild honey such as sage, tupelo, raspberry, apple, orange or a mixture of these blossoms. Keep a running journal of the daily, weekly and then monthly progress, and bottle in about 16 months.

Ingredients
  • 18-20 lbs honey - aiming for Finishing Gravity (FG) 1.012
  • Water for a total carboy volume of about 5.25 gallons
  • 1 pkg Wyeast Rudesheimer smack pack
  • Yeast Nutrients
    • Stage 1 (SG 1.123) 1.25 tsp DAP, 1.25 tsp Fermaid-K, 1.0 tsp K2CO3
    • Stage 2 (SG 1.114) 0.75 tsp DAP, 0.75 tsp Fermaid-K
    • Stage 3 (SG 1.067) 0.5 tsp DAP, 0.5 tsp Fermaid-K
General Assembly

Clean and prep the primary fermentation bucket
  • Scrub, rinse and then soak the plastic primary bucket/lid/airlock overnight using warm water and Five Star PBW®.
  • Rinse the primary well, then use OneStep® and some warm water in each, swish around and drain. Do not rinse again.
Assembly

Here's an invaluable "mead spreadsheet" (thanks Hightest).
  • Perform the following about 5 hours ahead of time. Here's a video of the procedure:
    • Shake the yeast "smack pack" well.
    • Feel around for the inner nutrient packet.
    • Smack the package so that the inner nutrient packet breaks.
    • Comb the nutrient into the yeast cells.
    • Let sit for about 5 hours (until bag is fully inflated).
  • Add 2 gallons of room temperature water (about 72 degree F) to primary fermentation bucket.
  • Add about 18 lbs (about 1.5 gallons) of honey to the primary fermentation bucket.
  • Add room temperature water up to about 5.25 gallons.
  • Mix VERY thoroughly. Really take your time.
  • Slowly add in more honey, with a great deal of mixing, to bring to a SG of 1.123. Note that this initial gravity is probably the most critical measurement in the whole recipe, so make sure that all of the honey is incorporated completely and the reading is done accurately.
  • Open the inflated smack-pack and pour the yeast sludge into the honey/water mixture. This is called innoculation.
  • Mix like crazy again - do not skimp on this step - mixing in lots of air will give those yeasties the start they need.
  • Afix the lid and the airlock.
  • From here on out, sunlight and temperatures above 75 degrees F are not good for your mead.
  • Eight hours after innoculation, stir in the Stage 1 nutrients - gently at first and then more vigorously.
  • Move the primary to a cool (about 68 degrees F is great) dark place.
  • Every twelve hours (through day 5), gently stir the mead for 2-5 minutes. This will speed the initial off-gassing of CO2. You're not trying to introduce air, you're trying to "burp" it at this point, so be gentle.
  • Record the SG of the mead daily and update the Journal.
  • When the SG reaches 1.114 (approximately day 5), gently stir in the Stage 2 nutrients.
  • When the SG reaches 1.067 (approximately day 9), gently stir in the Stage 3 nutrients.
  • Rack in about 6 weeks to a clean 5 gallon glass carboy with a stopper and an airlock.
  • Rack again in 8-10 months to another clean 5 gallon glass carboy with a stopper and an airlock. The mead should be clearing at point. This is where we might back-sweeten with honey if we feel the mead is too dry.
  • At about 14 months total, consider racking a final time.
  • Bottle in about 16 months total elapsed time since innoculation.
Journal
  • Day 1: Tentative start date - Sunday, August 22, 12:00pm.