Old Slavic drink - mead - has been known since ancient times. Honey was drunk at feasts and celebrations, brought to warriors before battle for courage and after battle - to revive strength. The newlyweds had to drink mead during all meals for a month (the “honeymoon” has just such roots). The strength of such a drink should not be more than 15 *. The drink was stored in large oak barrels in the dark of the cellars, thereby creating an exemplary environment for fermentation.

To prepare a traditional version of mead, you need to take:

• 1.5 - 2 liters of water from a spring or artesian well (the ratio of water to honey is 1/3)
• 0.5 kg of honey (buckwheat or lime)
• 0.5 kg sugar
• a hundred-gram package of yeast.

And here is the step-by-step method of cooking with your own hands:

Remember: honey is a highly flammable substance, so be careful when heating it!

We dilute the yeast with water and, when the syrup cools down to room temperature, add to the saucepan. There is no need to rush: overheating of the yeast leads to their death.

Mix both substances thoroughly, cover with a canvas and leave warm for two days for fermentation. In the process of fermentation, foam forms on top of the mash. Before pouring into containers, it should be removed, and the liquid itself should be tightly sealed using a medical glove with a puncture on the finger, a tight lid with a hole for a gas outlet tube or a special stopper.

Fermentation and its timing

Fermentation lasts 5-7 days... All this time, the mash should be warm. If the glove pulled over the bottle falls off or the air bubbles released from the tube disappear, fermentation is considered complete. To be on the safe side, bring a lighted match to the surface of the mash: the invariable structure of the flame indicates the end of the process. The fermentation time also affects the strength of the final product, the longer the mash is allowed to stand, the stronger the mead will turn out.

Wort filtration

Fermentation is over and you can start filtering the mead. The filtration process is carried out in several stages. The coarse first filtration is carried out by pouring the liquid into another container through double gauze. This allows you to remove unnecessary components from the mash: leaves, sticks, lemon wedges or cherry fruits, etc.

After the first filtration, the drink must be kept in a dark, cool place for another month. After this period, the mead is filtered again, the remaining unused glass of honey is added, everything is mixed again and poured into bottles for storage. Of course, you can taste the drink right away, but it will not have the same bouquet of aftertastes as the elixir aged for another one and a half to two months.

Storage

Save the finished mead in a cool, dark place. It should be remembered that the taste and aroma of the final product is directly related to the aging period. In ancient Russia, mead was kept for years. Today's mead brewers have simplified the preparation process and therefore reduced the fermentation process. But if you want to taste real mead, take your time!

Video instruction

How to make a gazed honey drink?

To get a carbonated drink like champagne, add a little fructose or a little yeast to a bottle of mead.

When preparing mead according to this recipe, the boiling process can be skipped by replacing plain water with carbonated water. The gas of any mineral carbonated water in the process of fermentation raises foam, which contains all that is superfluous and unnecessary.

A mixture of honey and water in a ratio of 1/3 (1 part honey + 3 parts carbonated water) is poured into a saucepan, the capacity of which is twice the volume of the mixture. In the process of mixing, foam rises, which immediately needs to be removed as much as possible, after which we pour it into small containers.

Add a few hop cones, 100 grams of raisins and a handful of any berries that will cause the fermentation process to the bottle with the mash. Fruit can be replaced with fresh juice, and for aroma, add a little spices, an almond or cedar nut. We close it with a plug with a hydraulic outlet and set it in the sun for two weeks.

After this time, the mash must be shaken repeatedly until it brightens and wins. Pour the filtered drink into bottles. We carbonate, adding directly to the jars 1.5 teaspoons of fructose and a little dry yeast. The drink acquires nobility over time: the longer it costs, the more expressive the final product.

How to cook without yeast and boiling?

For mead prepared without boiling, the process is longer, but it retains more nutrients in the drink. The best for making mead in this way is May honey, it is the sweetest of all types of honey and the most aromatic. Instead of yeast, use a few hop cones or raisins.

It is very easy to prepare a set mead. Such preparation allows not to boil water, and to replace production yeast with “wild” yeast. As a fermentation catalyst, raisins, cherries, blueberries, and also bee bread are most often used.

Cherry example:

1. For 4 kilos of fruit, we take 2 kilos of honey and 1 liter of water.
2. We sort out the cherries, remove the seeds and twigs, but not mine.
3. We dilute honey in warm water and fill unwashed berries with such syrup.
4. We close the container with the mixture with a napkin, stand for two to three days, until it ferments.
5. When bubbles appear on the surface of the wort, which indicates the activation of the fermentation process, pour it into jars and install water seals on them.
6. The wort will ferment violently for 7-10 days.
7. Then we filter and pour the mash into dry bottles.
8. The subsequent fermentation will be quiet and will last about three months.
9. But to get a light sour nectar, it is worth keeping it for 5-6 months.

You do not need to boil and ferment the mead if you decide to make an alcohol-based drink.

Video recipe for cooking without boiling:

Take:

• May honey will need 400 grams
• home distilled moonshine - one liter
• melissa - 3-4 leaves
• hop cones - 3 - 5 pieces
• a handful of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine moonshine with sweet amber, stirring until the honey is completely dissolved. Add your favorite spices (the set of spice additions can vary depending on preference: cardamom, mint, cloves or thyme will perfectly replace the recommended ingredients). Bottled and well-sealed liquid, place in a cool, dark place for three months. Strain the drink several times before serving.

How to put alcoholic mead to turnip?

Beekeepers and honey lovers have repeatedly thought about how to increase the degree of mead. In the old days, such a Slavic drink was used primarily as a remedy: it was used to treat colds, various disorders of the body, and it was simply used "for sugrevu" and relaxation.

The average strength of mead ranges between 30 * and 40 *... Thrill-seekers can prepare a drink in 60 * or more. A fortified drink is obtained by distilling honey mash through a moonshine still. The difference between mead and honey moonshine is that when preparing the latter, sugar is needed and you can cook it from any honey: fresh or candied.

Proportions for making honey moonshine:

1. for a 10-liter bucket of water, two kilos of sugar and honey + 200 grams of raw yeast.
2. We dilute all the components in a large container and insist for two weeks.

We check the readiness of the mash with a lighted match and distil it through the distiller. If, during distillation, odorous herbs or spices are added to the mash, the taste of the drink will be softer at the exit. From the amount of products suggested in the recipe, we get about four liters of moonshine.

Simple recipe

• vodka - 0.5 liters
• honey (any) - 400 grams
• mint or lemon balm leaves - 6-8 pieces
• juice of one lemon (50 grams).

Pour vodka, honey, lemon juice into a bottle of champagne or wine (700 gram), add mint or lemon balm leaves, plug firmly and shake well. Shake the bottles daily for 6 days so that the contents in the bottle become homogeneous and the amber sediment disappears. You can use it from the seventh day, after filtering the drink and pouring it into a specious container.

On hop cones

Mead on hop cones can be prepared in two versions: fortified, the alcohol content in it will be 40 *, and low-alcohol, the alcohol content in it will be no more than 12 *.

In both examples, take:

• 4 liters of water
• 600 grams of honey
• 50 grams of hop cones
• a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• vodka, alcohol or moonshine (optional).

Cooking process:

1. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, after which the force of fire is minimized.
2. Add honey, and stir the brew until the final disappearance of the honey.
3. It takes five minutes to brew a drink... In this case, a foam "cap" will collect on the surface, which must be removed by all means.
4. Add hop cones and cinnamon to this syrup, mix well and set aside to cool.
5. Introduce yeast into the cooled drink, give time for them to completely dissolve and bottle the resulting mixture.
6. A few days(until foam forms on the surface) infuse the drink in a darkened storage.

Then pour it into dry jars with water seals that prevent the penetration of oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. After a week, filter the drink through three layers of cloth. If you planned to make fortified, add alcohol, vodka or moonshine to the mash, which will add the desired degree to it. In order for the mead to fully taste, it will take at least six months to stand it in the cellar.

With regard to the type of honey and spicy or berry additions, the drink can have a variety of tastes, aromas and useful properties. Spices, available berries and fruits and medicinal plants will give your nectar not only a specific taste and aroma, but also enhance the medicinal properties originally inherent in all components of the mead.

However, one should not abuse such a simple and, at first glance, completely safe product. It is worth remembering that any medicine makes a productive measure of its use.

Video on the topic: how to make homemade mead

The modern industry offers a variety of beverages made from bee products, streams, herbs, fruits and yeast. Honey vodka, hoppy honey, mead, honey wine or beer can be found in most stores. But a drink made with your own hands from your favorite ingredients can seriously compete with any factory product.

Put mead, prepared in the way our ancestors did, by the method of natural fermentation, is a low-alcohol drink. Known in Russia under various names ("honey", "medok", "pitny honey"), it amazed with its taste and unique properties. True, it took a very long time to cook it - tens of years.

But time has made adjustments to old recipes and recommendations for making mead. New modernized recipes have appeared, according to which it is possible to prepare a drink based on honey with a higher degree (from 10 to 18%), but with the same unique honey taste and bright aroma. And today we will look at recipes for making strong mead at home.

To get a strong mead, yeast and hops are used for its preparation. These two components just provide the normal process of fermentation of the drink and its strength. Sometimes grain is used instead of yeast.

The second indispensable condition that ensures the strength of the mead is the duration of the fermentation and infusion process. The drink must be aged. Moreover, the longer the finished mead will stand, the stronger and tastier it will become.

A very strong mead (up to 40%) is obtained by increasing the fermentation period and a special method of preparation (first, honey mash is prepared, then it is distilled on a special apparatus).

But this technology, rather, resembles the production of a strong alcohol-containing drink - moonshine from honey. Mead is very simple to prepare (no distillation is required), and, as a rule, it is a drink with a lower degree.

Due to small changes in the preparation technology and the use of components in different proportions (although all recipes necessarily contain water, honey, yeast, hops, and sometimes seasonings, spices and fruits), you can get a lot of drinks with a variety of tastes, with less or more alcohol and sugar, differing in astringency, aroma and strength. For those who prefer stronger alcohol, there are alcohol or alcohol.

This pleasant intoxicating drink belongs to the low alcohol category. Its strength is usually between 5 and 10 degrees. The production is based on honey and water. Depending on the recipe and variety, various spices and other additives can be used: cinnamon, thyme, ginger, cardamom. Some housewives put berries: cranberries, rose hips, lingonberries. They supply the drink with vitamins and give it a pleasant sourness.

Special requirements are imposed on the quality of the constituent components of an excellent drink.

Special requirements are imposed on the quality of the constituent components. The water must be clean, potable, free of impurities. Baker's, brewer's or wine's yeast can be added to speed up the fermentation process.

The history of the drink and ancient technologies

Mead is a drink that was popular not only in Russia. He was loved in many countries, only he was called differently everywhere. Since honey is a valuable product, they used mead mainly on holidays. Sometimes it was insisted for up to 20 years, which is why the taste, aroma and useful qualities were excellent. In the Middle Ages, the drink was forgotten, but in the Soviet years it was remembered again.

The oldest method of making Russian mead was fermentation in wooden barrels with berry juice. The preparation of such potable honey took a very long time, because yeast and heat treatment were not used. The resulting product was called staged. The name comes from the manufacturing technology: the liquid was left in barrels for a long time, sometimes burying them in the ground. It is this mead that is considered classic.

Useful properties and contraindications for use

Our ancestors appreciated the benefits of a delicious aromatic drink. Mead is great for warming, helping to fight germs, and almost no hangover. It also has other beneficial properties:

• improves blood circulation, normalizes sleep;
• helps relieve muscle pain;
• useful for angina, bronchitis, colds;
• increases sexual desire in men and women;
• relieves swelling;
• strengthens the immune system.

Contraindications to drinking the drink are mainly associated with allergies and individual intolerance. Honey is a strong allergen, and at the first unfavorable signs (rashes, itching, shortness of breath), it must be discarded.

But healthy people should not abuse mead either. This drink contains alcohol and has too much sugar. True, there is more benefit from homemade mead than from store-bought mead: it does not contain fusel oils and other harmful substances.

What honey is suitable for cooking

Choosing the right honey is especially important. The better it is, the tastier the drink will be. A large number of surrogate is presented on the shelves, so it is best to purchase the product from familiar beekeepers. If this is not possible, you need to pay attention to the following points:

How to make mead at home: proven recipes

It is better to cook mead in an enamel bowl. Aluminum is not suitable for these purposes, since the honey will begin to darken and burn. Here are the most popular recipes for a drink that have long been tested by time:

• Mead without boiling. This is the easiest recipe. It is necessary to boil and cool a liter of water, add 50 g of unwashed raisins and honey each. When the honey dissolves, the dishes are closed with a lid and left for a couple of days. Then the drink is filtered, corked well and left in the dark for 2 or 3 months.
• Boiling drink. To prepare such a mead, you will need 19 liters of water, 5.5 kg of honey, lemon and 100 grams of yeast for baking bread. Dissolve honey in 6 liters of liquid, add citrus juice, bring to a boil and remove from heat. When the syrup has cooled, add the rest of the water and half of the yeast. The mixed mixture is poured into a bottle, covered with a glove or a water seal and left to ferment for a month. Then put the yeast that remained, mix, close it again with a water seal and leave it for another 30 days. When the specified time has passed, the drink is filtered, bottled and allowed to brew for 4–5 months.
• Carbonated mead. Fans of carbonated drinks can pour some honey into a clean, dry container: about 1.5 teaspoons per liter of mead. Top up the containers with a drink, leave about 5 mm to the brim. The bottles are tightly closed and put away for a week in a dark place, from time to time releasing excess pressure. In order for the carbonated mead to acquire a pleasant taste, it must be allowed to ripen for another five days.
• Candied honey drink. Stuck honey is an excellent raw material for making a drink. To do this, 300 g of honey is diluted in a liter of water and, while stirring, the syrup is boiled. After an hour, you need to pour out a little syrup, and put 3 hop cones, one pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg in the remaining liquid. After that, cook for another hour, dilute with water to the initial state and cool. Add a pinch of yeast to the rest of the solution and leave to rise. Mix the syrup with the yeast solution, cover the dishes with a rubber glove and leave the mead to ferment. After 5-6 days, the drink is drained, filtered and kept in the cold for another week.
• Fortified mead. For those who respect strong alcoholic drinks, folk recipes are advised to add a few tablespoons of vodka or moonshine to almost finished drinking honey.
• An old-fashioned drink. For the fermentation process, in this case, take fresh berries or raisins. If it is dried fruit, only 50 g of dried fruit and 80 g of honey are required per liter of water. When fresh berries such as cherries are used, 2 kg of honey and 4 kg of berries are required. Then the honey is dissolved in water, the berries are poured and covered with gauze. Insist in a dark place for 4 months, since the fermentation process in this recipe is slow. When the first signs of fermentation appear, the liquid is filtered and removed to the cold.
• Herbal mead. If you want to give the drink an original taste, you can add herbs to the standard ingredients, for example, 2 teaspoons of mint and dry St. John's wort. Some housewives add a few peas of black pepper for piquancy.
• Mead is yeast-free. Making a yeast-free mead is easy. You need to take a liter of water and dissolve 80 g of honey in it. The resulting syrup is poured into 50 g of raisins and put in a warm place for a couple of days to begin to ferment. Then the mead is filtered, poured into bottles and removed for 3 months in a cellar or refrigerator.
• A modern version of the drink. One of the most popular recipes among the people looks like this. Dissolve 3 kg of honey in a liter of water and heat to remove the foam. After half an hour, turn off, allow to cool. Then add ordinary dry yeast, put a glove with a hole on the bottle. Then the sediment is removed and placed in a cold place. Can be bottled after a month. If it turns out too sweet, the drink is diluted with cranberry juice.

Thus, the period of infusion of mead largely depends on the method of its preparation. It usually takes five days for it to ferment. But the appearance of such a drink will not please: it will be frothy and cloudy. In order for the mead to mature and acquire a marketable appearance, it needs to be put in the cold for a while.

Mead (honey wine) is basically a low-alcohol drink, the main ingredient of which is honey, which is fermented with yeast. The drink turns out to be light, like beer or dry wine, with an alcohol content of about 4 -10 degrees. In some cases, the mead was aged for up to 20 years! In addition to honey, yeast and water, mead brewers add to the composition of some recipes: spices, herbs, fruits, berries, juices, hops, bee bread and other flavors.

Mead is prepared from different varieties of honey, even from fermented and old ones. The effect of the correct mead is very interesting - a slight intoxication, a cheerful mood, the head seems to be fresh, he understands everything, and his legs become wadded and wobbled and braided. Many are interested in the question - how many degrees are there in mead? As stated above, from 3 degrees and there is also a strong mead, but its preparation differs in that strong moonshine or vodka was added to the finished product and the drink sometimes reached a strength of more than 70-75 degrees.

In general, there are several types of mead, the difference is in the method of preparation and in the composition of the drink.

• Intoxicated - with the addition of hops and a bitter taste;
• Put - cooking without boiling honey;
• Boiled or hearty - cooking with boiling;
• Fastened - with the addition of strong alcohol;
• Fake - containing spices and herbs.
• Non-alcoholic.

They drank drinking honey on big holidays and festivities, at a wedding, at the birth of a child. In addition, a drink made from honey had healing powers and was beneficial. In the old days it was drunk as a sedative, diuretic, and cold remedy. Newlyweds on their honeymoon were simply obliged to drink mead, as it was believed that it contributes to the appearance of healthy and strong babies, and gives husbands masculine strength.

For the first time, honey drink appeared in Veliky Novgorod in the 19th century, it was brewed in almost all courtyards. Later, they forgot about the wonderful honey-intoxicating drink, and only in our time, honey brewing began to revive. There was even an industrial production of mead according to old recipes in the city of Suzdal. Cooking mead at home is easy, it contains affordable ingredients that can be bought at any market or store. The following are the simplest and most affordable recipes for making mead at home.

A simple recipe for intoxicated mead

Ingredients:

• honey - 2 kg;
• water - 10 l;
• dry yeast - 5g;
• hops - 15 gr;
• cinnamon - 2 gr;
• nutmeg - 2 gr.

For preparation, any honey is needed - flower, linden, the tastier the honey, the better the drink will be. It is advisable to purchase it from trusted sellers, since recently there have been many fakes of honey and, as a result, the drink can be spoiled by a low-quality product. It is advisable to use wine or beer yeast in the recipe, they will give the mead a more pure aroma. Of course, regular dry baked goods or drinks can be used, but a slight yeast flavor will be present. You will also need an enameled cooking pot and a fermenting container of the required volume.

Preparation:

1. Pour water into a saucepan, put on fire, when it boils, add honey and reduce heat to avoid burning. Important! You need to take 10% more water than in the recipe, since during cooking some of the water will boil away. Stir honey well periodically. After a few minutes of boiling, a foam cap appears on the surface, it must be carefully removed, it contains wax, various impurities that are not needed. Cook well for 1.5 hours.
2. Add hops and spices to a clean, foam-free food, which will give the drink a pleasant aroma, stirring to cook for another 30 minutes.
3. Cool the honey wort to a temperature of 25-28 degrees, this can be done by placing the pan in a bowl with cold water or ice.
4. While the wort is cooling, prepare the yeast according to the instructions. Pour the chilled feed into a fermentation tank, add the diluted yeast, place a water seal on the container and leave to ferment at room temperature. Usually mead ferments in a week. The end of fermentation can be determined by the water seal, the release of carbon dioxide stops. You can also use a vinometer and measure the density of the mead.
5. Strain the finished drink through a gauze filter, pour into bottles, close tightly with lids, leave it warm for a day. Then transfer the bottles to a cool place.

After 5 days, the mead will be ready for consumption. It turns out a light aromatic drink, pleasant to the taste, with a strength of 5-7 degrees.

Boiled Spicy Mead Recipe

Repeatedly proven recipe from the moonshiners forum. The amount and composition of spices can be changed and supplemented to taste. During the entire process, observe sterility, cleanliness of dishes and equipment.

Composition:

• Water - 10 liters;
• Honey - 1.5 kg;
• Dried ginger - 5g;
• Coriander - 5g;
• Cinnamon - 3gr;
• Mint - 3 gr;
• Nutmeg - 2g;
• Cardamom - 2g;
• St. John's wort - 2 g;
• Star anise - 1 gr;
• Wine yeast - 3g.

Manufacturing:

1. Pour water into a saucepan, a little larger by 1-2 liters, during cooking it will boil away. Heat water to 40-50 degrees, add honey and bring to a boil while stirring. Cook for 2 hours. During cooking, you must constantly remove the foam, carefully monitor the cooking process, not allowing the foam to "escape".
2. Mash the coriander, nutmeg, cardamom and star anise with a rolling pin. Add all the spices to the pan with sweet well-fed. For better filtration, wrap the spices in several layers of gauze or use a special bag (filter bag) and infuse the spices in it for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Cool the spicy wort to a temperature of 20-25 degrees. Dilute wine yeast in warm sweetened water according to the instructions. It is fashionable to use brewer's yeast in the recipe, but it is not advisable to use baker's yeast, they will give a yeast flavor to the drink.
4. Pour the wort through several layers of cheesecloth into a fermentation vessel, add the diluted yeast. Stir the contents of the container well to saturate the wort with oxygen for better yeast performance. Close the lid and install the odor trap. Leave to ferment at a temperature of 18-20 ° for 1-1.5 months. Gently drain the wort from the sediment by filtering through cheesecloth.
5. In clean plastic liter bottles, add 1 tablespoon of honey each for carbonation (formation of carbon dioxide). Fill with fermented mead. For carbonation, you can use a primer - selected wort before fermentation in a volume of 10%, in our case 1 liter. The primer is poured into the fermented wort and bottled. Cork the bottles, keep at room temperature for a week, and then put the bottles in the basement or cellar.

After a week, you can taste the drink. As a result, you should get a light honey carbonated drink, 3-5 degrees of alcohol, very tasty, easy to drink like kvass, with a delicate aroma of honey and spices. It is very pleasant to drink it in the summertime in the heat.

Cooking recipe video:

Put mead with cherries without yeast and boiling

This is a classic old recipe for mead, according to which our ancestors made it. Prepared with wild fruit or berry yeast. Cherries, raspberries or raisins are used instead of yeast. According to this recipe, mead is not boiled, it does not need to be boiled, the taste is pleasantly soft. The strength of the drink is 3-7 degrees. Such cherry honey can be stored in the basement for years, over time it becomes tastier like wine.

Ingredients:

• Water - 3 liters;
• Cherry - 15kg;
• Honey - 6kg.

How to make mead:

1. Pour cold water into a saucepan and dilute honey in it.
2. Remove pits from the cherries and pour over the cherries with sweet honey water. Cherries cannot be washed, they contain wild yeast necessary for fermentation.
3. Cover the pot with two layers of cheesecloth and place in a warm place. In a day or two, natural fermentation will begin. It lasts 7-10 days.
4. Pour the mead into a bottle, close it and put it in a cool place - a cellar or basement. After 3-4 months, the drink will be ready to drink.

The benefits of mead. The very fact that honey is present in the drink suggests that it is useful and will not harm health. No wonder in the old days the newlyweds drank mead all month, hence the name - Honeymoon. The main benefit of mead is the high content of vitamins and nutrients in the drink. It is used as an anti-inflammatory and antiviral agent for colds. Provides antiallergic effect.

It helps well with angina and tonsillitis. It is a diuretic and helps with edema. It will benefit from vitamin deficiency, relieve fatigue and restore sleep. Mead with red wine is useful for diseases of the cardiovascular system. It will help to cope with intestinal infections, diarrhea, constipation.

The harm from mead. Despite its beneficial qualities, the drink can also harm the body. The most dangerous thing is an overdose, because mead is alcohol, which in large doses is poison. You can not drink to people with individual intolerance, with an allergy to honey. Alcohol will harm nursing mothers and pregnant women.

How to eat mead. Usually mead is drunk and not eaten like a refreshing drink. But it goes well with a pear or banana, with hard types of cheese. Drink well with melon or cranberry juice. Fried or smoked sausages are also suitable for snacks.

Storage of mead. The shelf life of mead depends on how it is prepared. According to wine technology, mead can be stored in a cool room for years. It is better to store the drink in glass containers or in oak barrels. Do not store in metal containers, protect from sunlight. Do not freeze under any circumstances, all nutrients and taste will be lost. Be careful when opening bottles of mead, there is a lot of gas in it.

Few people know the taste of real and high-quality homemade mead. After all, modern mead, which is sold in stores, is very different from the real one. But why not try making this magical drink yourself?

General cooking principles

1. For recipes, it is better to use a light variety of honey, a white product is better, this will affect the color of the future drink. It must have an unsurpassed aroma and taste;
2. The drink ferments for five days. After this time, an aromatic and sparkling drink is obtained, but cloudy;
3. You can use yeast or hop cones in the recipe. Yeast will speed up the fermentation process several times. And the hop cones leave the taste of yeast;
4. It is better to use brewer's yeast;
5. After introducing honey into the water, it is necessary to look after the syrup. it can stick to the bottom of the container;
6. So that the drink does not turn out cloudy, it is necessary to remove the foam formed during fermentation;
7. The drink is consumed both warm and hot;
8. The fermentation process is controlled in two ways;
9. In the first case, a hole is made in the lid and a rubber glove is put on, after a while the glove will swell, it is removed and the fire is brought up, if it does not burn, the process is over;
10. In the second case, a tube is inserted into the hole, and the other end is placed in a separate container with water. When bubbles stop coming out of the tube, the process is over;
11. Before adding yeast, the mixture must be cooled, otherwise the yeast will not bloom;
12. If you insist the drink for six months, the result will be a viscous, aromatic and strong drink;
13. A piece of cloth or a rubber glove is used as a water seal;
14. There are two types of mead: a fermented drink and an alcoholic tincture with honey.

Mead at home "Classic"

Cooking time

calorie content per 100 grams

Cooking steps:

This recipe is one of the most expensive. A lot of honey is needed to make it, but the resulting drink is worth it.

Time taken to cook: 270 minutes.
Caloric content: 101 kcal.

Cooking steps:

1. Dissolve in water. Place the resulting syrup on a burner and bring to a boil;
2. After that, reduce the heat and simmer for three hours;
3. After the set time has elapsed, add the hops. Wrap hops in gauze with a weighting agent;
4. It is necessary that the hops be at the very bottom;
5. Leave to cook for another hour, over low heat;
6. Cool the mixture and strain;
7. Pour into bottles, and they should only be 4/5 filled. Place the drink in a warm but dark place. The temperature must remain at least 18 degrees;
8. Foam will form during fermentation. After a month, the drink can be consumed.

If the drink has stood for too long, then strong tea is added to it.

"Lightweight" mead (yeast-free)

This recipe allows you to prepare not a strong drink, compared to the classic version. In addition, the preparation time for this recipe is several times longer than for other drinks. Sometimes, in order to improve the taste, various berries are added to it. This recipe contains raisins, it can be replaced with other favorite berries.

Time taken to cook: 10 minutes.
Caloric content: 74 kcal.

Cooking steps:

1. Dissolve the required amount of honey in cool water. Better to defend the water;
2. Soak the raisins well, drain the water, and add to the syrup;
3. Cover the neck of the dishes with a small piece of gauze folded in several balls;
4. Place the container in a warm place;
5. The fermentation process will begin in a few days. As soon as this happens, strain the future drink through cheesecloth. It must be folded in several layers;
6. Leave in a cool place;
7. The drink will be ready in 90 days.

Mead with raspberries

Any new components in the recipe in one way or another affect the taste of the drink. Fans of this drink note that it is raspberries that can emphasize and improve the taste of mead.

Time taken to cook: 20 minutes.
Caloric content: 91 kcal.

Cooking steps:

1. Boil water and dissolve honey in it;
2. Simmer the resulting syrup for five minutes;
3. Cool the resulting consistency to about 45 degrees;
4. Grind raspberries well and add the resulting gruel to the syrup;
5. Introduce yeast, they must be dissolved in advance;
6. Close the resulting solution and leave until fermentation. This process takes approximately 2 days;
7. After that, strain and distribute the future drink into bottles;
8. This drink will be infused for two weeks, after which it can be consumed.

Fragrant mead with bee bread and lemon without yeast

This recipe does not use yeast. Their function is performed by raisins and bee bread.

Time taken to cook: 25 minutes.
Caloric content: 79 kcal.

Cooking steps:

1. Heat the water, but do not bring it to a boil;
2. Dissolve honey in this water;
3. Then add lemon juice, spices, raisins and bee bread;
4. In this recipe, it is better not to wash the raisins, otherwise you can wash the substances necessary for fermentation;
5. Leave the future drink for fermentation;
6. After this stage, distribute it among the bottles;
7. Leave for 3-4 months to infuse.

This drink is tasty and healthy, since no chemistry is used to make it. It is used as a remedy for the fight and prevention of colds.

This recipe has been tested by many professionals and amateurs. The number and list of spices depends on your personal preference.

Time taken to cook: 55 minutes.
Caloric content: 98 kcal.

Cooking steps:

1. Choose a container for cooking a little more than you need water;
2. Heat water to about 50 degrees;
3. Introduce into it and mix until complete dissolution;
4. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat and leave to cook for two hours;
5. Periodically it is necessary to stir and remove the foam;
6. Knead all the spices with a rolling pin and place them in a container with syrup;
7. You can make a bag and put spices there, this will improve the filtration process;
8. Leave the spices in the syrup for 15 minutes;
9. Cool the resulting solution to 20 degrees;
10. At this time, dissolve the yeast in warm water with a little sugar;
11. You can use brewer's yeast instead of wine yeast. But they do not recommend using bakery. They will give the drink a yeast flavor;
12. Pass the resulting syrup through several layers of cheesecloth and introduce yeast;
13. Stir the resulting solution. During mixing, the liquid will be filled with oxygen. This will improve yeast performance;
14. Close the container with a lid with a hole;
15. Leave for fermentation in a warm place, the temperature should be kept at least 18 degrees;
16. Fermentation takes 1-1.5 months;
17. Separate the sediment from the main part of the liquid and filter several times;
18. Put a spoonful of honey in the bottles and pour the resulting mead, close the lid;
19. Store the mead at room temperature for a week. Then store it in the cellar.

1. To get a richer taste, add lemongrass;
2. You can store it in the refrigerator or cellar. For storage, use a glass or wooden container. It is also necessary to exclude exposure to sunlight;
3. Freezing the drink is strictly prohibited;
4. Berries give the drink not only a special aroma, but also give off their beneficial substances;
5. The color and consistency of the drink depends on the infusion period. The longer it stands, the stronger, more fragrant and denser it will be;
6. During fermentation, the drink will emit gases. Therefore, do not close the container tightly. Otherwise the bottle will explode;
7. Before pouring the drink into bottles, it is first drained, and then passed through several layers of fabric or gauze;
8. It is better to use enameled dishes;
9. Spices can only be added after removing the foam from the syrup;
10. A good place for fermentation would be a place under a radiator or heater;
11. The foam that formed on the third day of fermentation indicates the correctness of your actions;
12. During the process, sterility must be observed.