This mead won 1st place in Traditional Mead (Category #24) at the 2014 National Homebrewers Competition hosted by the American Homebrewer’s Association (AHA).

I don’t like that the AHA has locked down award-winning recipes—the world is better when information is free for everyone, so I’ve posted my recipe here. I’m also going to start explicitly licensing my recipes Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike.

This was the 3rd mead I ever made, the recipe is a little ridiculous, but the results were outstanding.

Stats

  • Original Gravity: 1.150
  • Final Gravity: 1.030
  • ABV: 15.75%
  • Batch Size: 5 Gallons (18.93 L)

Fermentables

Ingredient Amount % When
Tupelo honey 26.0 lb (11.79 kg) 100% mixed in a bucket to start

Yeast

Strain Amount Starter
Lalvin 71B-1122 dry yeast 2 packs N/A

Other

Ingredient Amount When
Go-Ferm 28g Rehydrating yeast
Diammonium phosphate (DAP) 8g Primary Fermentation
Fermaid-K 18g Primary Fermentation

Notes

100% RO water

Kristen England Even-Speed Mead method

  • Day 0: 4.5 g Fermaid K, 2g DAP, Rehydrate 2 packs 71B with 28 g Go-Ferm
  • Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 8: stir
  • Day 2, 4, 6: 4.5g Fermaid K, 2g DAP, Stir

Primary Fermentation: 14 days at 68° F (20° C)

Post-fermentation: potassium sorbate and back-sweeten with 1+ lbs of Tupelo honey to taste.