4 lbs honey (3 – 4.5 lbs, adjusting amount according to level of sweetness or dryness required.)
6 lemons
8 pints water
Yeast nutrient
A sachet of white wine yeast
(If a wine yeast is to be used have it activated and ready in advance.)
Bring the 4 lbs honey to the boil in 4 pints of water. Stir continously until the honey has dissolved, or it may burn. Skim off any scum which rises to the top.
Add the juice of 6 lemons to the mixture.
Add a teaspoonful of yeast nutrient and stir it in.
Add the remaining 4 pints of water and then transfer to the fermenting jar.
When the mixture cools add the sachet of white wine yeast. Cork using an air-lock stopper.
8 pints of water and 4lbs of honey will give you about 8 pints of mead – after racking.
Racking should take place when the mead is starting to clear and a layer of sludge can be seen at the bottom of the fermenting jar. (Put very simply, racking means to siphon the wine from one container to the next, so as to leave any sediment behind.)
The mead will be drinkable within 3 months but will be better if kept longer.