How to Make a Gallon of Mead: A Simple Mead Recipe

Maybe you’ve heard of mead before or maybe you haven’t, but one image that always seems to come to mind when mead is mentioned is Vikings drinking their grog. I don’t know a whole lot about Vikings, but I do know a bit about mead! Mead is a fermented honey and water mixture, some call it honey wine, and it is quite possibly the first fermented drink that humans purposefully made. Luckily for us, it’s quite easy to make! I’m going to show you how to make a gallon of mead with this simple blueberry orange mead recipe to be exact.

One Gallon Mead Recipe

I should mention right now that whenever you add fruit to a mead it’s technically called a melomel. You could also use apple cider instead of water and then you’d have what’s called a cyser.

This is a recipe for one gallon of mead, but I’m always of the mind that if you’re making one you might as well make two. This is especially true if you already have two glass jugs from my hard cider recipe, as it’s really not any harder.

Mead Equipment and Ingredients

I’ve created a page that has links to all of my favorite mead ingredients and equipment here: Mead Equipment & Ingredients: Everything You Need to Get Started

Simple One Gallon of Mead Recipe

How to Make Mead: One Gallon Mead Recipe

Alright, let’s get started! The first thing to do is sanitize everything that will be used in the brewing process, the jug, airlock, big pot, spoon and funnel. Just follow the directions on the sanitizer and don’t throw it out until you’re totally done (just in case your dog licks the funnel or you drop your spoon).

Once everything is sanitized, put about 1/2 gallon of water (non chlorinated if possible) in the pot on medium heat. When it’s warm, but not boiling, add the honey and stir it so it all dissolves.

The next step is to add the yeast, but you need to make sure that it isn’t too hot so that you don’t kill it. It should feel lukewarm, use a thermometer if you’re unsure, no more than 90°F. Then you can add the yeast. One yeast package will make up to 5 gallons of mead, so if you’re doing 2 gallons you can just split one between the 2 jars.

Keep it in a cool (not cold) dark place. Mead takes longer to ferment than cider or beer, depending on the temperature it will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks. I usually give it 6 weeks to be on the safe side for bottling as you don’t want any explosions! I’ve definitely had some very champagne like mead before. You want to wait until you don’t see any bubbles in the jug and your airlock is still.

Here is a video that tells you a little more about mead:

Bottling the Mead

Bottling one or two gallons of mead is pretty much the same process as bottling cider. You may want to wait awhile to drink your mead as it definitely gets better with age. I often drink it “green” (young) as I enjoy it either way. It is fun to save a couple of bottles for several months, or even a year, just to see how the taste changes with age.

More Mead Recipes

Now that I’ve shown you how to make this simple one gallon of mead recipe, chances are you will want to make more soon! Lucky for you, I have also written a posts on How to Make 5 Gallons of Mead and How to Bottle 5 Gallons of Mead.

I also have one gallon mead recipes for Wildflower Mead, Dandelion Mead, Blackberry Mead, Elderberry Mead, Elderflower Sparkling Mead, and Maple Orange Mead that are all delicious!

Simple Mead Making eBook

Be sure to check out my Simple Mead Making: A Beginner’s Guide to One Gallon Batches eBook for more detailed information on brewing, bottling, and recipe ideas!

Cheers and happy mead making!