Mead Making

Mead is one of the oldest fermented drinks in the world — essentially honey wine — and it's genuinely one of the most rewarding things you can brew at home. You don't need a lot of equipment, the process is straightforward once you understand the basics, and the results can be exceptional. Whether you're drawn to a simple traditional mead, a fruit-forward melomel, or something more experimental, this collection has everything you need to get started.

We stock a carefully chosen range of mead-making supplies: specialist and general-purpose yeasts that perform well with honey, dedicated mead nutrients, acids for balance, finings for clarity, and the fermentation vessels and equipment you'll need throughout the process. Everything here has been selected because it works — not just because it's available.

Customers often ask us whether mead is difficult to make. Honestly, it's one of the more forgiving ferments once you get the fundamentals right. The two areas where most beginners run into trouble are yeast nutrition and patience — honey is notoriously low in the nutrients yeast need, and mead generally takes longer to clear and condition than beer. Get those two things right and you're most of the way there.

Mead Making Buying Guide

Which yeast should I use for mead?

Yeast choice makes a significant difference to the character of your finished mead. The Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast is the obvious starting point — it's been formulated specifically for mead, tolerates honey's challenging fermentation environment well, and produces a clean, balanced result. It's what we'd recommend for most first-time meadmakers.

If you're making a fruit mead (melomel), the Lalvin 71B is a popular choice among experienced meadmakers. It's known for softening malic acid and producing a rounder, fruitier character — particularly good with berry and stone fruit additions. The Lalvin ICV-D47 is another well-regarded option for traditional meads, producing floral, honey-forward notes, though it's best fermented at cooler temperatures (below 18°C) to avoid off-flavours.

For higher-gravity meads or if you want a drier, more neutral result, the Lalvin EC-1118 and Gervin GV3 are both highly alcohol-tolerant and will ferment out fully even in challenging conditions. The Mangrove Jack's SN9 is another high-alcohol option worth considering for stronger meads.

Do I need to add nutrients?

Yes — and this is probably the single most important thing to understand about mead making. Honey is almost entirely sugar with very little of the nitrogen, vitamins, and minerals that yeast need to ferment healthily. Without adequate nutrition, fermentations stall, produce off-flavours (particularly hydrogen sulphide, which smells of rotten eggs), or simply fail to finish.

The Mangrove Jack's Mead Yeast Nutrient is formulated specifically for this purpose and is the easiest option for most home meadmakers. Tronozymol and Young's Yeast Nutrient are more general-purpose nutrients that also work well. Many experienced meadmakers use a staggered nutrient addition (SNA) approach — adding nutrients in stages during the first few days of fermentation rather than all at once — which tends to produce cleaner results.

What fermentation vessel should I use?

For most home mead batches, a demijohn is the natural choice. We stock both the classic 1 Gallon Glass Demijohn and the lighter, more practical 4.5L PET Wide Neck Demijohn — the wide neck makes it much easier to add fruit or other adjuncts if you're making a melomel or cyser. For larger batches, the 10L Fermentation Bucket works well for primary fermentation before racking into a demijohn to clear.

You'll also need an airlock — the Bubbler Airlock or Junior Airlock both fit standard demijohn bungs and do the job perfectly well. Pair with a Bored Rubber Bung sized to your vessel.

How do I know when my mead is ready?

A hydrometer is essential. It tells you your starting gravity (so you can calculate the potential alcohol), tracks fermentation progress, and confirms when fermentation is complete. The Hydrometer is the standard tool for this. If you want something more convenient, the Tilt Wireless Hydrometer floats in your fermenter and sends real-time gravity and temperature readings to your phone — genuinely useful for longer mead fermentations where you'd otherwise be taking repeated manual readings.

Do I need to adjust the acidity?

Traditional meads made with good honey often don't need much acid adjustment, but fruit meads and melomels frequently benefit from it. We stock Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Malic Acid, and an Acid Blend — the blend is a good all-rounder if you're not sure where to start. One thing we'd always recommend: taste before you add, and add in small increments. It's easy to over-acidify and much harder to correct.

Beginner or experienced — what's the difference in approach?

If you're brewing mead for the first time, keep it simple. A traditional mead (just honey, water, yeast, and nutrients) is the best way to learn the process before adding complexity. Aim for a starting gravity of around 1.080–1.100 for a medium-strength mead of roughly 10–13% ABV. Use the M05 yeast, add nutrients, keep fermentation temperatures stable, and be patient — most meads benefit from at least 4–6 weeks of conditioning after fermentation is complete, and many improve significantly with longer ageing.

More experienced brewers often experiment with fruit additions (melomel), spices (metheglin), apple juice (cyser), or grape juice (pyment). The equipment and ingredients here support all of these styles. If you're already comfortable with wine making, you'll find mead follows a very similar process — our Wine Making collection has additional equipment and ingredients that cross over well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Categories

• Wine Making — equipment and ingredients that cross over well with mead making
• Brewing Ingredients — finings, acids, and other additives for finishing your mead
• Home Brewing Equipment — siphons, bottles, cappers, and everything else you'll need
• Home Brew Starter Kits — if you're new to home brewing and want a complete beginner setup

Why Buy From The Hop Shop?

We've been helping people brew at home for over 50 years. Mead has always been part of what we do — it's one of those crafts that rewards curiosity and patience, and we enjoy helping customers get it right. We stock the brands and products that actually work, we give honest advice, and if you're not sure what you need, you're welcome to get in touch. Everything you need to brew a good mead is here in one place.

Making your first batch? Read our complete guide to making mead at home.