Sparkling mead is a delicious beverage at any time of the year. It makes for a refreshing cool drink in the summer months and can feel warm and inviting in the winter. The other great thing about mead, sparkling or otherwise, is that it is easy to create at home. All you need to make excellent homemade mead is the right equipment and ingredients. Here is our guide to creating your own sparkling mead at home.
What You Need
- A container such as a carboy for fermentation. The container should have an airlock with a drilled rubber stopper.
- A second large container.
- Hydrometer
- Siphoning hose.
- Strong bottles for handling carbonation, such as beer and cider bottles.
- Strong bottle seals such as Champagne corks.
- 12 cups of distilled or spring water.
- 1.4kg of honey.
- 5g of yeast.
- 1/2 tsp of yeast energiser
- 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient
- 3/4 tsp of Potassium Sorbate
How to Make Sparkling Homemade Mead
- Sanitise all equipment. Avoid using bleach as this can ruin the fermentation process.
- Add four cups of hot water to your container followed by 1.25kg of honey. Mix the honey and water well.
- Add eight cups of cold water to the mixture and stir to create a must.
- Add the yeast energiser and yeast nutrient to the must and stir gently until dissolved.
- Take a cup of the must and pour in the yeast. Stir it gently and let it sit for 15 minutes. Once it starts to foam, pour the contents of the cup back into the container. Close the container and seal the airlock.
- The mead will begin fermenting within a few hours. Make sure the container remains at room temperature for the mead to ferment properly.
- After 10 days or so you should notice the bubbling start to slow down. Siphon the contents of the container into a second container, making sure not to siphon any leftover sediment.
- Measure the mead with your hydrometer. If the sugar level is above 2 Brix, add another ½ tsp of yeast energiser and let it ferment further.
- Keep measuring the sugar level until it reaches zero or close to that amount. If it is still too high, keep adding more yeast energiser and yeast nutrients and continue fermentation.
- Once fermentation is complete, siphon the mead back into the first container. Clean the second container of any remaining sediment and siphon the mead back into it.
- Add the Potassium Sorbate to the mead. This will prevent any further fermentation from taking place.
- Taste the mead. If you wish to make it sweeter, add more honey.
- Before bottling your mead, add around 2/3 cup of honey per bottle to make it sparkling.
- Bottle your mead, seal the bottles, and enjoy it when you are ready.
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About the author : Rob James
