Sweet Traditional Mead

by Steve Murphrey
2nd Place Shamrock Open 2002

Starter ingredients:

Wyeast 3184
Boiled some light dry malt extract in water
Mead ingredients:
5 quarts barber-shop honey
5 gallons warm water
1.75 ounces yeast nutrient
1 ounce acid blend
Instructions:
  1. Mix honey and water.
  2. Heat to 185 degrees F.
  3. Maintain temperature for 20 minutes.
  4. Cool to 73 degrees F.
  5. Add yeast starter, yeast nutrient, acid blend, and sweet mixture to 7-gallon carboy.  Original gravity was 1.098.
  6. Aerate.  After 5 days, the first bubble appeared.  Little activity for the next 4 weeks. 
  7. So I measured the pH (2.7), and I added 3 tablespoons of calcium carbonate.  The next day, it was bubbling at 1 per 15 seconds. 
  8. Racked into secondary about 6 weeks later.
  9. Eventually, several months later, I bottled in sterile bottles.