Millennium Mead

Recipe Name:

Millennium Mead

Style:

Traditional

Still/Petillant/Sparkling:

Sparkling

Dry/Semi-Sweet/Sweet:

Dry

Hydromel/Standard/Sack (Strength):

Sack

Volume:

5 US Gallons

OG:

1.120

FG:

0.998

% Alc:

16.5

Description of this Mead

This is a sparkling traditional mead that is very light and dry.

Fermentables

Amount     Type of Fementable (honey, fruit, grain, extract, sugar, etc.)

12# Clover honey
3# Wildflower honey
1 cup Corn Sugar for bottling

Other Ingredients

Amount     Type (herbs, spices, wood, finings, etc.), When/Where Added

4 tsp yeast nutrient (Added in 1 tsp increments on the brew day, the day after, the next day, and day after that.)
1.5 tsp yeast energizer (Added in 0.5 tsp increments on the day after the brew day, the next day, and the day after that.)
0.5 tsp Irish moss (Rehydrate in some filtered tap water before adding to the must during the pasteurization phase.)

Yeast

Type of Yeast (e.g. Lalvin 71B)

Amount Pitched

White Labs 715 Champagne Yeast Yeast Starter

1 quart

Directions

The day before you make the mead, make the Yeast Starter.

Boil 2 gallons of filtered tap water for 10 to 15 minutes.  Insert your wort chiller, spoon, and floating thermometer at this time to sterilize them.  Turn off the heat, and allow the must to cool to ~180 F.  Stir in the honey and add 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 0.5 tsp re-hydrated Irish moss.  Bring the temperature to 160 F and hold it there for 20 minutes to pasteurize the must. 

After pasteurization, use the wort chiller or an ice bath in the sink to cool the must to 65 to 70 F.  When cooled, pour the must into the sterilized ferementer and add enough pre-boiled and cooled filtered tap water to bring the volume up to ~5.25 gallons.  Shake the fermenter to make sure the must is well mixed before taking a sample for a gravity reading.

If the temperature is around 65 to 70 F, pitch the yeast starter.  Aerate the must well.  Install a fermentation lock on the fermenter.

The day after, add 1 tsp yeast nutrient and 0.5 tsp yeast energizer to the must and gently stir it in.  When the initial vigorous yeast activity has subsided, you can stir it a little more vigorously.  Be careful when making these additions as the yeast activity will tend to foam significantly.

Perform the same procedure after another 24 hours and again after 48 hours.

Allow the mead to ferment for about 6 weeks before transferring to a secondary fermenter.  Take a gravity reading when you transfer to see how the mead is progressing.  Allow the mead to bulk age for several more months.

When the mead clears, it is time to bottle.  Heat 1.5 cups filtered tap water to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and mix in 1 cup corn sugar.  Cool the mixture to room temperature and gently pour into the bottling bucket.  Rack the mead into the bottling bucket and make sure the sugar water is mixed in well.  Proceed with the bottling process.

Leave bottles at 70 F for a month or so to carbonate.  It is wise to open a bottle after a few weeks to check on the carbonating process.  When they are sufficiently carbonated, move all bottles to a refrigerated environment.