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Rabbit’s Foot Meadery Sweet Mead Clone

5 gallons/19L, honey; OG = 1.110; FG = 1.030; ABV = 12%

Ingredients:

15 lbs. (6.8 kg) wildflower honey
5 tsp. yeast nutrient
5 tsp. DAP (diammonium phosphate)
5 tbsp. bentonite
2 pkg. Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

Step by Step:

Use the finest wildflower honey that you have available. Blend your 15 lbs. (6.8 kg)  of wildflower honey with about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of boiling water and stir well. Do not boil the mixture. Add the additional water (2–3 gallons/7.6–11 L) a little at a time until the specific gravity reaches 1.110. You should end up with around 5 gallons (19 L), but you may have a little more or less depending on the density of the honey. For this recipe, you should use two packets of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. More yeast to start is better. Rehydrate the yeast in a cup of 104 °F (40 °C) water for 30 minutes, then mix it into the honey and water mixture. Pour the contents of the batch back and forth into an additional sanitized fermentation bucket to aerate.

Add 5 tsp. of yeast nutrient and 5 tsp. of DAP. Add 50% of your nutrients now and allow to begin fermenting. The next day you should see signs of fermentation. Add the remainder of your nutrients.

Ferment until the specific gravity reaches 1.030-1.035 and add 1 tbsp. bentonite per gallon mixed into a slurry. Allow this mixture to settle out and the following day stir it up again. Following this, the mead will clear rapidly but still continue to ferment. Watch the gravity for the next few days until it reaches 1.030 and then rack it off the lees (sediment). If you have the ability to filter the mead, go ahead and do it now. Ideally, you would bulk age this mead for a month or two before drinking, but it should be quite nice right away.

Bottle the mead still (without bottling sugar for carbonation)  The final alcohol content will be around 12% ABV.