SPARKLING MEAD

Just 4 u

Ingredients:
3 lb. honey (preferably of a 1 gallon water
mild flavour) Yeast nutrient
Good mead or wine yeast
(say Maury)

Method:
Bring the water to the boil for a minute or so, and then allow it to cool to 120
degrees F. Warm up the honey meantime to the same temperature, and then mix the two,
stirring well to dissolve the honey.
Allow the honey liquor to cool to 70 degrees F. and then add the required amount
of a yeast nutrient and the pre-prepared yeast culture. Failing this, one can use a level
teaspoonful of granulated yeast, but there is then a risk if racking should happen to be
delayed later on, of spoiling the delicate mead flavour. Pour the liquor into a fermenting
jar, filling it to the bottom of the neck, and keep the surplus in a covered jug nearby. Put
both vessels in a warm place (65-70 degrees F.). As the fermentation froths out of the jar,
as it may do, top up from the jug. When the vigorous ferment slows down, and froth
ceases to form, fill the jar to the bottom of the neck, fit an airlock, and clean the exterior.
When fermentation stops completely move the jar to a cold room and leave it there for a
fortnight or three weeks before siphoning the mead off the lees, and into a clean jar. Use a
rubber bung or a waxed cork but do not wire it down. The following March (after roughly
six months’ storage) siphon the mead off the lees again and to the gallon add 2 oz. honey
(or white sugar) dissolved in ¼ pint of water, boiled and cooled as before. Mix
thoroughly and bottle, using strong bottles (of the champagne type, if possible), cork, and
wire or tie the corks down.
Note that honey is usually deficient in trace minerals and is sometimes difficult to
ferment. It is therefore important to use a yeast nutrient.