Started on September 4, 2023 and racked to 5 bottles on September 25, 2023. Was happy with the amount of mead generated, a gallon is too much to drink and I don't know that many people to foist homemade mead upon. Only one review so far, expressed an opinion that it was stronger than the 2022 batch. It could be that the Mead is still too young.
September 4, 2023
Make 2/3 cup maple syrup from ½ cup water and 1 packed cup maple sugar.
2/3 cup maple syrup is equivalent to 5.3333333333 oz.
Original recipe was 2lbs honey and 12.5 oz of maple syrup, 1.6 g yeast and 0.5 g yeast enhancer.
Halved is 1lbs honey and 6 oz maple syrup.
Ingredients
· 1/2 Gal water, 8 cups
· 1 lbs Honey
· 3 oz maple syrup
· 60 grams maple sugar, about 1/3 cup, err on more?
· 0.8 grams Yeast, Mead M05 Mangrove Jack
· 0.25 gram Di-ammonium Phosphate, yeast enhancer
Equipment
· 1 gallon jug
· Air lock
· Long thermometer
· 1 cup measure
· 2 cup measure
· Large metal pot to sanitize things in
· Metal Pot to hold ½ gallon plus of water, 8 cups
· Pot to mix honey, maple stuff and water
· Funnel
· Large Metal spoon
· Metal skewer to stir in jug
Instructions
1.
Sanitize all your equipment using as
per the instructions on the packet.
Note: Never use bleach! Bleach will react negatively with the fermentation
process.
2. Warm honey and maple container to make pouring easier.
3. Put 4 cups of warm water in a pot, measure out about 2 lbs of honey and mix with the warm water in the pot.
4. Mix the maple sugar in a measuring cup and dissolve.
5. Mix in the maple syrup.
6. Pour honey/maple/water mix into 1 gal jug.
7. Add additional 4 cups of water to fill to just about half of the jug and stir/shake.
8. Use a thermometer in your gallon jug. Continue when the temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees.
9. Add your yeast enhancer stirring gently until dissolved.
10. Pull out about 1 cup of must in a two cup measure and pour your yeast in and stir gently. Let it sit for about 15 minutes or so. When it starts to foam, gently pour back into the jug. Close jug and install airlock.
11. The mead will start fermenting after a couple of hours. You will see the airlock start bubbling. Keep the jug in a place between 65 and 85 degrees and let the yeast do its work. This could take 10 to 20 days.
12. When the air lock bubbling slows down dramatically, rack the mead into your bottles using the siphoning tube. Be careful not to siphon up the sediment on the bottom of the jug.
