How to Make Mead at Home: A Beginner-Friendly Dry Mead Recipe
Curious about how to make mead at home? This complete guide walks you through the equipment, ingredients, and step-by-step instructions to create a classic dry mead — also known as honey wine. Perfect for beginners and homebrewing enthusiasts!
Making mead — a traditional fermented drink made from honey, also called honey wine — is an easy and rewarding home brewing project. Here's how to make mead step-by-step.
- Sanitize Equipment: Clean all brewing tools thoroughly to prevent contamination from unwanted microbes.
- Heat and Dissolve Honey: Warm water and dissolve the honey gently to preserve its aroma while reducing wild yeast.
- Mix Your Must: Combine honey and water to create the "must," the base mixture for fermenting mead.
- Aerate the Must: Add oxygen to help activate yeast and encourage strong fermentation.
- Pitch Yeast and Nutrients: Add wine yeast and yeast nutrients to begin fermentation.
- Secondary Fermentation: Rack the mead into a new vessel after fermentation slows to clarify and develop flavors.
- Bottle Your Mead: Bottle the clear, aged mead and store in a cool, dark place to mature.
Each of these steps reflects the ancient yet accessible art of mead-making — a delicious and creative adventure for modern homebrewers.
Below is a tried-and-true recipe for a 5-gallon batch of basic dry mead.
Looking for a one-gallon mead recipe? Click the link at the bottom.
Equipment Needed for Making Mead at Home:
- 7.8 gallon food-grade fermentation bucket & lid
- Airlock and rubber stopper
- 5 gallon glass or plastic carboy
- B-Brite or One Step Sanitizer
- Automatic siphon and hose
- Optional: Hydrometer for tracking alcohol content
Dry Mead Ingredients (5-Gallon Batch):
- 12 lbs raw or pasteurized honey
- 4 gallons distilled or filtered water
- 5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
- 1 packet Lalvin 71B or Mangrove Jack’s Mead Yeast
- 5 Campden tablets (Potassium Metabisulfite)
- 2.5 teaspoons Potassium Sorbate (optional)
Step-by-Step Instructions: How to Make Dry Mead
- Sanitize Everything: Clean and sanitize all tools and surfaces to avoid contamination.
- Prepare Honey Mixture: Dissolve honey in 1/3 of the water, heating gently to 140°F and holding for 30 minutes. Avoid boiling to preserve aroma.
- Create the Must: Combine the honey-water mixture with remaining cool water. Mix well to form your must.
- Aerate: Once cooled to 65–75°F, stir or shake the must vigorously to introduce oxygen.
- Pitch Yeast and Nutrients: Stir in yeast nutrient and sprinkle the yeast. Cover with sanitized lid and airlock.
- Primary Fermentation: Let ferment in a dark, cool location (65–70°F) for several weeks. Watch for bubbling in the airlock.
- Rack to Secondary: After 3–4 weeks, transfer to a clean carboy to continue clearing and flavor development.
- Aging: Age the mead for at least 2–3 months for better taste and clarity.
- Stabilize (Optional): To prevent further fermentation, add potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate. This is essential if back-sweetening.
- Bottle: Once the mead is clear and still, bottle it using sanitized bottles and corks or caps.
- Enjoy: Store bottles for several months. Dry meads improve significantly with aging.
Want to print this mead recipe or try a smaller one-gallon version?
Download the Dry Mead Recipe Sheet (PDF)
Frequently Asked Questions About Making Mead
- What is mead? Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey, water, and yeast. It's one of the oldest known alcoholic drinks.
- How long does it take to make mead? Fermentation lasts a few weeks to months, but aging for 3–12 months improves flavor and clarity.
- Can I use raw honey to make mead? Yes! Raw honey can be used, though gentle heating helps neutralize wild yeast.
- Do I need special yeast? Wine or mead-specific yeast is best. Bread yeast can work but may produce off-flavors.