The following recipe is from ‘The Complete Joy of Home Brewing’.  The notes are basic, but point to what is needed to reproduce or improve on the recipe.

Antipodal Mead

Brew Date – 08/19/05
Batch Size – 5 gal.
Honey Varietal – Clover
S.G. goal – 1.100
% ABV goal – 15%

Notes: The yeast can ferment this one dry

• 15 lbs Honey (Grade A clover)
• 1 tsp Yeast nutrient
• 1 Tbs Acid Blend
• 1 tsp Irish Moss
• 0.5 tsp Gypsum
• Water to 5 Gallons
• Packet Pasteur Champagne Yeast

8/19/05

Heated tap water to 160ºF for 20 minutes; removed from heat.  Added all ingredients and stirred well to mix honey.
Cleaned 5 g carboy using water and 0.5 cup bleach.  Let sit for 15 minutes, rinsed well with hot water and poured in must.  Shook for less than a minute.
When cooled to 80 F, rehydrated yeast according to instructions and pitched.

S.G. = 1.102
Average brew temp = 68 F

8/20/05

Bubbling about 1 every 5 mins.  Very slow!

8/22/05

Bubbling 1 every 2 seconds.

8/24/05

Some lessons learned as a result of this process

Future changes:  Do not use Irish Moss or Gypsum in must.  Use bucket for primary fermentation and aerate A LOT more.

9/14/05

s.g. = 1.010
ABV = 12.26%
Taste is still sweet, but nice honey flavor.  Some other flavors in there, none of which are unpleasant.  Alcohol is not burning, but pleasantly warm down the throat.  Would like it to be a little dryer, so will continue fermenting.Racked into 5 g carboy.  Volume loss brings it down to just over 4.5 g.  Concerned with oxidation so blanketed with CO2.  Next 5 g batch I make, I will be sure to prepare some extra Must to save for top-ups.
(Must get hold of the siphon pump to make this process easier)

8/25/06 F.G. = 1.010
This did not ferment any more.  It probably stalled because of the lack of oxygen in the first 3 days, or because the acidity was too high.  It actually tastes nice with the little bit of sweetness, so it came out good.

Bottled the Mead into 18 bottles.  It is sweet and the honey tastes really nice.

INTRODUCTION	CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS MEAD?
CHAPTER 2: HONEY	CHAPTER 3: ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
CHAPTER 4: EQUIPMENT	CHAPTER 5: TERMINOLOGY AND CALCULATIONS
CHAPTER 6: THE BASIC RECIPE	CHAPTER 7: PLANNING
CHAPTER 8: RECIPE CALCULATIONS	CHAPTER 9: YEAST
CHAPTER 10: NUTRIENTS	CHAPTER 11: MEAD DAY
CHAPTER 12: SANITATION	CHAPTER 13: PREPARATION AND MIXING
CHAPTER 14: INTO THE FERMENTER	CHAPTER 15: AERATION, FERMENTATION AND RACKING
CHAPTER 16: SIPHONING	CHAPTER 17: AGING AND OAK
CHAPTER 18: BOTTLING	CHAPTER 19: TROUBLESHOOTING AND COMMON QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 20: WHAT NEXT?	APPENDIX 1: HONEY VARIETALS
APPENDIX 2: TYPES OF MEAD	APPENDIX 3: ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT
APPENDIX 4: PLASTICS	APPENDIX 5: INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE MEAD CALCULATOR
APPENDIX 6: ABV/BRIX/S.G. CHARTS	APPENDIX 7: CONVERSION TABLES
APPENDIX 8: SAMPLE RECIPE	APPENDIX 9: HOW TO READ A HYDROMETER

 

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