Simple Mead
Mead is an ancient alcoholic drink that is simply honey, water and yeast. Mead has been made as long as there has been recorded history and probably long before the first written word was put to papyrus or stone.
The general ratio for mead is 1 pound of honey to every gallon of water. One package of wine or champagne yeast is the only other ingredient you'll need.
The only equipment you'll need that you may not have already is a carboy, airlock and rubber stopper. Everything else you need you probably already have in your kitchen, a long handled spoon, a funnel and a stainless steel stock pot.
Start by dumping the honey into the stock pot. Add 1/2 to 1 gallon of fresh, clean water. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly with the long spoon, until the honey just begins to simmer.
Pour the honey mixture into the carboy. Use the funnel to make sure you don't loose a single drop. Add fresh water until the carboy is filled to about 3 inches from the top.
Push the airlock into the center hole of the rubber stopper and then secure the stopper in the neck opening of the carboy. Fill the airlock with about an inch of water and place the cap on the airlock.
Place the carboy in a place where it will not be disturbed and the temperature remains constant. We have a special cabinet built into our kitchen island just for mead, but any room, closet or pantry will work just fine.
The mead will be drinkable in about a month, but will still be cloudy. The longer you let this sit, the stronger and clearer the mead will become.
When you're ready to drink the mead, use 1/4 inch food grade tubing to siphon the mead into bottles or jars for storage. Cap tightly and serve at chilled or at room temperature.
*Words to the wise
If you are using fresh honey, let the honey/water mixture simmer for at lest ten minutes before using for mead. This will kill any bacteria that may be in the fresh honey.
A simple funnel can be made by cutting off the top of a 2 liter soda bottle.
