The Mead Making Process with Steps Explained

Today we're talking all about the mead making process. I tackle this from a multi-step perspective so you can hopefully make mead with a great understanding of then process. Mead is a really fun and easy beverage to make, but it does take some understanding of what to do after each step. I hope this video helps! Please leave a comment if you have questions or concerns!

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0:00 Introduction
0:52 The Stages Overview
2:05 Step 1: Preparation & Collecting Ingredients
2:34 Step 2: Mixing, Primary Fermentation & Nutrients
5:50 Step 3: Racking into a New Vessel
7:22 Step 4: Post Fermentation/Secondary Steps
11:10 Step 5: Aging & Clearing the Meads
12:40 Step 6: Bottling & Packaging
13:07 A Rough Timeline
13:45 Review
14:20 Example with my Recipe Card
15:10 Recipe Card from Doin the Most
15:26 Final Review

[lifeofrobert]

Great review and simplification without losing nuance. Should be required watching for any newbie. 😊

[gz]

Thank you Ryan Gosling of the Mead world.

[JemyM]

I thank you for this. I began my own mead-making in 2021 and your early mead making videos were the more important for me both to get into and gradually improving my mead-making journey. My absolute first batches were often foul, infested, stalled and horrible. I am now on my 20th successful batch, getting more and more advanced over time. More ingredients, different processes, different kinds of yeast based on what I make, experimenting on my own. I have made traditional, bochet, rhubarb, blueberry, spiced, mango-habanero, bochet-cyser, blackberry, raspberry-licorice, strawberry, cherry, pinapple-coconut, peach, nectarine, lychee and apricot. Seeing this new mead making video made me reflect on the journey.

[jumper]

Great Video. You talk about keeping the oxygen out after racking. Could CO2 or Nitrogen be used as in beer making to remove the oxygen if there is space at the top og]f the container?

[purplepeopleeaters]

The timing of this vid couldn’t have been better for me. Just subscribed to you yesterday as I’m planning on starting my first batch this weekend. Keep up the great work!

[MacMnn]

After fermentation has stopped and you are considering back sweetening/racking, it states you need to add both Camden tablets and potassium sorbate. I done this with my first batch and i feel like it left a weird smell i can only describe as like an eggy fart and was concerned it ruined my mead, it has been left in bottles and is around 2 months old. Started my second batch last night and i was wondering if you would recommend using Camden tablets and potassium sorbate on this one? I don’t want the same issue after all the effort and time committed, are these both requirements? I also do not add Camden tablets at the start of my fermentation, would greatly appreciate your advice.

[stephenhegarty]

Great information and I have a question on the use of a brew bag for fruit or keeping the fruit loose in primary fermentation?

[zombieheadshot]

Thanks again for another great mead video Ryan Gosling!

[iowalayensbeekeeping]

Great review of the process for a beginner. Thanks

[PB-iecj]

Hey Ryan G., newbie mead-maker here. Really love your videos.
I'd like to ask a question, though:

I've seen you recommend the schedule of staggered nutrienrs to be on days 0, 2, 4, and 6 on various occasions. But I've also seen Making the Most recommended the TOSNA schedule, which is 24h in, 48h in, and 72h in and then 7 days later (or at 1st sugar break).

I kinda like your schedule more. But what are the advantages of each? Would you recommend yours over TOSNA? And if so, may i know why?

Thanks!

[mattmatt]

Great video. Backsweetening? I know what it means but how do you do it? How much honey do you add?

[TigerPat_]

Really Appreciate Your Video, Thanks ! 🐯🤠

[johnkolstad]

You should make a book of your mead recipes.

[lancelot]

Would it be unwise to only use honey to flavor your mead while fermenting, and then back sweeten with your fruit/spice flavors(understanding I would need to stabilize it first)?

[gregj]

I’d like to see how you go about that 20 year brew.

[dvsmike]

What about potassium sorbate as the sole way to crash it?

[johnflint]

Is there a refractometer that you would recommend for mead? I use a hydrometer but also wanted a refractometer but I’ve read they aren’t very accurate with mead.

[ebdhudnav]

Back in 2020, I started making beer from the kit simply because all the store shelves were empty of every beer and wine. And the very liquor there was, way too expensive. That's how I got into the hobby. Then, I slowly started wine. No, can't wait to get into mead

[kahwigulum]

No one ever talks about how much of brewing is cleaning. It's 90% cleaning and 10% brewing. That there are virtually no in-depth videos on how to clean, what to clean with, why to clean, and ways to reduce the amount of time spent cleaning. Virtually no videos on how yeast behave (like no one talks about how yeast can foam or produce off-flavors when agitated too much), common problems beginners might face. Virtually no videos on how to rack properly, or why to rack. I see you all talk about these things as if we can read your minds (hint: we can't), nor do any of you include this stuff in your recipe cards and equipment needed. Racking means needing multiple carboys or containers, though this is never talked about. You all assume we just get it (hint: beginners won't). You all seem to think that we'll get it just by watching, which isn't how everyone learns, but then cut all of the video on everything else besides the 10% of brewing and include none of the information on the 90%. So many of my brews were ruined because steps in the recipe videos were skipped or just not mentioned unbeknownst to me. It also doesn't help when a beginner like myself goes on discord or wherever to get help and am inundated with criticisms because I followed the recipe to the letter and didn't do a thing that was never mentioned in the video in the first place.
Brewtube has a serious 'curse of knowledge' problem and doesn't seem to want to help beginners actually get good.
Make a video about that.