Mini Mead
(courtesy of Rob Bates, owner, The Reno Homebrewer in Reno. Makes 1 gallon)
This is a smaller, scaled-down version of Bates’ Gold Medal Mead recipe, which won in the mead category at an American Homebrewers Association competition about 10 years ago.
3 pounds honey
½ ounce oak chips
1 teaspoon diammonium phosphate yeast nutrient
1 teaspoon Irish Moss fining agent
1 package Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
Sterilize everything with solution of iodophor or weak, unscented chlorine bleach (1 teaspoon bleach to 1 gallon water). Do not rinse.
Bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Add honey and Irish Moss and boil for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and add yeast nutrient.
Cool mixture to below 90 degrees F. Add yeast. Let mead ferment at 70 to 90 degrees F for 4 weeks.
Siphon mead into glass jug and add oak chips. Age mead in jug for 8 weeks, then bottle at age 6 to 12 months. (You may need to hide it from yourself so you aren’t tempted to drink it.)
Fermentation and condition at lower temperatures will make entire process take longer. Don’t rush it, though, as mead improves with age.
