# Small Batches of Mead?



## scottr08

Can anyone point me to a recipe to make a small batch of mead (less than 3 gallons)?


Thanks,

Scott
http://scottriley-bees-and-oysters.blogspot.com/


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## wfuavenger

all you have to do is take a recipe you want and scale it down. If you want 1 gallon batches, take a 5 gallon recipe and divide by 5.... If it is a 3 gallon you want, take everything and divide by 5 and then multiply by 3.... any recipe will work.


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## plaztikjezuz

Ken Schramm breaks it down pretty simple in his book THe Compleat Meadmaker.

small show mead 1-2 lbs per gallon
med show mead 2-3 lbs per gallon
big show mead 3-4 lbs per gallon

3 lbs honey
1 gallon water
1/2 tsp bentonite
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/16 tsp tannin
wine yeast like 71B or KV1
1 campden tablet

once you have the base almost fermented out I suggest adding fruit if you want to make a melomel. raspberries do not take much to come across 1 lbs or less, but strawberries take about 2 lbs or more, blueberries do not add tannin and use more than a lbs. stir daily to know down fruit cap. you can add fruit at the beginning also.


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## Bighorn06

Thanks, might have to give that a try.
Tony


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## fritz_monroe

wfuavenger said:


> all you have to do is take a recipe you want and scale it down.


Yep, this works fine. Of course you won't want to cut the yeast, or camden down.

Here's a page with a couple recipes for 1 gallon batches. 

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques28.asp

If you don't know him, Jack Keller is a big name in home winemaking. He's not known for mead, but he makes fantastic wines and would have some insight into meads as well.


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## Ben Brewcat

I would DEFINITELY reduce sulfites proportionally on a scaled-down recipe. Unless you're competing in the "matchstick mead" category .


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## fritz_monroe

Not sure what I was thinking, but true you have to cut down on sulfites, but not by cutting down a campden tablet. Better to use a sulfite powder dissolved in water


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## Ben Brewcat

Campden IS sulfites... premeasured. The tablets are nice because the powder is easy (very concentrated) to mis-dose over or under. It's been many years, but it used to be 1 tablet per gallon IIRC, so easy to scale to batch size.


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## fritz_monroe

It's been years since I've used campden, but I thought that I used 1 tablet for a 5 gallon batch. That's what I was basing it on, tough to cut a tablet into 5ths. Looks like I was wrong, seems the consensus is 1 tablet per gallon.


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## nursebee

A hydrometer and knowledge of yeasts will be the best tool for scaling of meads.


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## honeybeekeeper

I just got done bottling a small batch of honey mead today. I started the recipe about 2 mths ago and i finally took a taste today, it is really good! Here is a material & ingredients list below, Good Luck!!

*Ingredients List to purchase from the Supermarket*:

1 Gallon of Spring Water (room temperature, do not get refrigerated)
3 pounds of honey – pure unprocessed
1 bag of balloons big enough to stretch over the mouth of the spring water jug
1 package of Fleishmann’s Yeast
1 box of raisins
1 Orange

*About the honey*

Clover honey works very well but you can use almost any type of unprocessed honey and the amount of honey you use will determine the sweetness of the mead. If you want to make a dry mead you would use 2 pounds of honey and if you want to make a sweet mead you would use about 3.8 pounds of honey. For simplicity sake we are using 3 pounds of honey which will make us a medium to sweet mead. This is the recipe i used and it turned out great.

*You can go to this link and find out more info and the step by step directions*:
http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/fast-cheap-mead-making.htm


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## beerated

honeybeekeeper said:


> I just got done bottling a small batch of honey mead today. I started the recipe about 2 mths ago and i finally took a taste today, it is really good! Here is a material & ingredients list below, Good Luck!!
> 
> *Ingredients List to purchase from the Supermarket*:
> 
> 1 Gallon of Spring Water (room temperature, do not get refrigerated)
> 3 pounds of honey – pure unprocessed
> 1 bag of balloons big enough to stretch over the mouth of the spring water jug
> 1 package of Fleishmann’s Yeast
> 1 box of raisins
> 1 Orange
> 
> *About the honey*
> 
> Clover honey works very well but you can use almost any type of unprocessed honey and the amount of honey you use will determine the sweetness of the mead. If you want to make a dry mead you would use 2 pounds of honey and if you want to make a sweet mead you would use about 3.8 pounds of honey. For simplicity sake we are using 3 pounds of honey which will make us a medium to sweet mead. This is the recipe i used and it turned out great.
> 
> *You can go to this link and find out more info and the step by step directions*:
> http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/fast-cheap-mead-making.htm


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## beerated

Going to try your receipe for Econo-mead. I will of course move up to proper winemaking equipment in the fall,but why not try your receipe now. My first boss told me when he was in the Navy, the first thing him and his friends always did when they spent time on an island, was make up a mead type of concoction and hide it in a pit. One time he said they came back to an island and their mead was still hidden away.He said it was some taste stuff. Thanks Honeybeekeeper. :applause:


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## honeybeekeeper

Your welcome and i hope it turns out ok!!...I just bottled mine today, right now its approx 2 mths old. When its around 6 mths old i will take a bottle off the shelf!


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## mattoleriver

Disclaimer: I've drunk a little mead and I've brewed a little mead but I really can't claim to be much of a mead type guy. Same is true for most wines too, I just prefer my beer. That does not mean that I have any problem with those who enjoy making and/or drinking mead. Some folks become quite charming and witty as I drink, others become charming and witty as they drink.

Is oxidation an issue with mead brewed in a plastic container? There is no way that I would let a beer ferment in a spring water jug for more than a week due to oxidation effects. Somewhere deep in the dark recesses of my mind I seem to recall that some wines benefit from oxidation. Anybody?

George


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## Steve C

That Pic of ingredients is from a web site on making mead...
The main article had it fermenting in 1 gal "Glass" jug's..ole apple ceder jug type.
I have a batch 3 weeks into ferment now...it's starting to slow down now.
I will rake it to secondary jug by end of next week, if it slow down enough

I used the method that was in the article with just plain ole honey, water, yeast stuff, and a good sweet mead yeast.... took very well and so far so good....??


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## AndreiRN

You can add some pollen or be bread for special flavor.


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## plaztikjezuz

fritz_monroe said:


> Yep, this works fine. Of course you won't want to cut the yeast, or camden down.


i would recommend cutting both of them.
to much yeast can make the mead taste flat because of the lack of esters, it can add odd flavors like sulfur from not having enough nitrogen, i do not suggest adding the whole packet to one gallon.

i also suggest proportion the camden and other additives.


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