I bought yeast, and the gravity measuring tool, and some sanitizer, and the little airlock cork, and some honey, and a glass gallon jar.
If somebody has a document or PDF with childlike instructions for me to follow on how to do this I would be so greatful!
Maybe some recipe that goes through the whole process from start to drinking, fruit adding would add another layer of fun!
Helpful beginners advice would also be great!!
havent done a mead in years but:
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sterilize all of your equipment first (different ways, find the one that works best for you)
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simmer the honey and water (unchlorinated), skim off anything that floats to the top
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let it cool to skin temperature & add the yeast, give it a nice stir and drop it in your fermenting vessel
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top it up with unchlorinated water but leave a bit of head space. if your ferment is very active, you’ll see why
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attach a cork & airlock, and put it out of the way, somewhere dark and cooler but not cold
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some folks like to add vodka to the airlock but I always just used water
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forget about it for a few weeks
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buy some bentonite clay, add a bit when it looks like the ferment is done/has slowed. this will clarify the mead
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decant, bottle/age for a while. the longer the better!
This is outdated advice. You shouldn’t simmer raw honey. If chlorine is a concern then use sulfites or boil and cool the water separately.
If you want to use bentonite clay then add it at the beginning. It’s not effective to just add it in secondary and just leave it, it has to be agitated. That’s why people use it in primary fermentation now as this helps to get it moving.
I’d recommend using a digital thermometer to check the temperature before pitching the yeast. measuring by hand requires a bit of experience. check the instructions for the yeast whether they might need rehydration before pitching. if you are doing rehydration, make sure that the temperatures are fairly close to avoid temperature shock. good luck