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Thank you very much for buying the Blue Ox Brewing Deluxe Mead Making Kit. We put a lot of effort into formulating this product and we really hope you like it. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at Hello@BlueOxBrewing.com or give us a ring at +1 224-402-8599. Cheers!

CONTENTS:

• 1 Gallon Carboy & Rubber Stopper
• 3-Piece Airlock
• Racking Cane & Cap
• Tubing & Clamp
• Sanitizer Packet
• D47 Yeast & Yeast Nutrient Packets 1, 2, 3
• Funnel
• Making Mead Instructional Guide
• 4 Flip-Top Bottles
• Hydrometer Kit

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

• 40 oz of honey (we recommend 100% natural clover honey, tupelo honey, meadowfoam honey, or wildflower honey).
• 1 gallon of spring water (can use filtered water)
• Mug or glass that will hold 2oz of warm water (this will be used in the yeast rehydration step).

BACKGROUND ON MEAD

Ever wonder what the builders, soldiers, pirates, Vikings, philosophers, and royalty have in common? A love of Mead. This is the ancestor of all alcoholic beverages.

Wondering how Vikings got so big and bad, or how Aristotle “fortified” his mind? Goblets full of mead, that’s how. We applaud you as you contribute to the resurgence of this ancient and golden concoction.

Made from water, honey, and yeast, mead is in its own distinct alcoholic beverage category. This unique drink is so special this golden elixir was once considered the DRINK OF THE GODS. Join them in the labor of love and create your own.

DAY 1:

* Before getting started, we recommend practicing the siphoning technique you will use to bottle your mead. We suggest reading the “Time to Bottle...” section right now and practicing with water. Once you make your mead, you likely won’t have another carboy around to practice on. Practice now before you make your mead.

Step 1: Find a tub or sink large enough to fit the carboy, funnel, hydrometer set (including the baster), rubber stopper, and three-piece airlock. Fill the tub with a gallon of water, and mix in half of the sanitizer packet. The other half will be reserved for the bottling equipment. MAKE SURE TO SAVE THE OTHER HALF OF THE SANITIZER (keep it in a safe place where you’ll easily find it).

Soak the equipment for a minute or two, then let it dry on clean, unused paper towels. This sanitizer is specially formulated to sanitize without being rinsed. Simply let it dry and it will be ready to go.

Step 2: Once dry, gather your spring water and honey.

Fill the carboy halfway with spring water. Then, grab your 40oz bottle of honey, and pour 1/3 of it into the water inside the carboy. Put the stopper into the opening at the top of the carboy, and covering the hole with your thumb, begin swirling and shaking the carboy until the honey dissolves. Then add another 1/3 of honey in, shake and swirl until dissolved. Then add the remaining third, and swirl and shake until fully dissolved. Now you have your must, which is unfermented wine. Make sure you give it a strong shake, really put some muscle into it. This will dissolve some oxygen into the must, which will help with yeast reproduction in the aerobic phase, before it gets to the anaerobic/alcohol fermentation phase. 

Step 3: Add more spring or filtered water into the carboy up to the “ONE GALLON” lettering on the carboy. Put the stopper back in, cover the hole, and shake for a full minute. Now it's time to use the hydrometer to test the "Potential Alcohol" level. You will use the baster to move the must from the carboy to the test tube. Then, follow the instructions included in the hydrometer kit to find your first reading for your potential alcohol. It is VERY important to record this number in a safe place as you will reference it later. After you have recorded your first reading for the potential alcohol, return the must back to the carboy.

Step 4: In a separate sanitized container, rehydrate the D47 yeast following the steps on the back of the Lalvin D47 packet, but you’re also going to add the contents of Nutrients Packet 1 along with it. Once the D47 and Nutrients Packet 1 pack have had the opportunity to rehydrate together for 20 minutes, pour the contents of the rehydrated mix into the carboy. Take a paper towel and dry the opening of the carboy.

Step 5: Now add the contents of the Nutrients Packet 2 pack into the carboy. Dry off the rubber stopper as well, then place the rubber stopper into the opening of the carboy.

Step 6: Take the cap off of the airlock and fill the body of the airlock with water up to the fill line, then replace the cap. Insert the tip of the airlock down into the stopper.

Step 7: Let your mead sit in the carboy undisturbed for 24 hours (helps to set an alarm). Keep the carboy in a cool, dark place. The best temperature for mead is between 63- and 70-degrees Fahrenheit.

DAY 2:

Step 8: After you’ve let the mead sit undisturbed for 24 hours, remove the airlock from the rubber stopper. Place your thumb over the hole in the rubber stopper and gently swirl the carboy to help release the extra gas that has built up in the jug. Stop swirling and let sit to allow the foam to subside.

Step 9: With the foam now settled, swirl the jug again, this time for several minutes. This will help get rid of additional carbon dioxide and give the yeast a healthy boost. Let the foam subside again. Once it has, place the airlock back into the stopper and set the carboy in a safe place.

DAY 7:

Step 10: Open your baggie labeled Nutrients Packet 3 and pour into the carboy. Pour slowly and if it gets foamy, swirl the mixture to help foam subside before adding the entirety of the packet.

Step 11: When the foaming has subsided, put the rubber stopper back in the carboy and give it another swirl, this time for another minute.

Step 12: When foaming has subsided, put the airlock back into the stopper and let it sit, allowing it to continue fermenting.

Step 13: Let it age. We recommend letting it age for at least 3 more weeks. For the next 2 weeks, give it a swirl and a shake every few days to assist with fermentation and to reduce the gas levels. For the final week, let it sit peacefully to let all the sediment fall to the bottom.

Step 14: After Day 30, you will use your hydrometer again to get a final reading. You will use the same process you used to record your initial reading in STEP 3. 

TIME TO BOTTLE THE LIQUID GOLD

Your mead needs at least a month in the carboy, but feel free to continue to allow it to sit even longer if your hydrometer testing results show you need more time (see TIPS FOR USING INCLUDED HYDROMETER KIT of this guide). Do not bottle it before a month is up. Once you are ready to bottle the mead, you will use a siphoning technique to move your liquid gold from the carboy to your storage bottles. The reason to siphon your mead instead of simply pouring it from the carboy into bottles is to ensure the mead you’ve spent all this time creating stays smooth and tasty. If you just pour it into your bottles, the taste may be impacted as it could oxidize and create a harsh flavor. The included flip-top bottles are perfect for storing your mead!

Step 15: Using the half of the sanitizer you kept in step 1, mix the remaining sanitizer with a gallon of water to sanitize the siphoning equipment and bottles. You will sanitize the funnel, 43” tubing, tube clamp, racking cane, racking cane cap, and each bottle you plan to use.

Soak all pieces for 60 seconds ensuring each bottle is fully submerged or filled with the solution. Dry the pieces with paper towels.

Step 16: To build your siphon starter, slide the tube clamp onto one end of the tubing, and leave it open. Fill a large tub or bowl with water, and put the side of the tubing that has the open clamp on it into the bowl of water. Make sure you allow the tubing to fill up completely with water. If the opposite side of the tubing (the side not submerged in water) isn’t completely topped off, use a faucet to fill it to the top. On the clamped side of the tubing, close the clamp so water doesn’t leak out. On the side without the clamp, attach the tubing to the racking cane.  

Step 17: Place your carboy full of mead on a countertop or tabletop, and place your empty bottles on the floor. To work, siphoning needs the right distance and relies on gravity, so having the carboy and bottles right next to each other won’t work. To add the tops to the bottles, simply match up the two prongs to the 2 holes on the sides of the bottles.

Make sure the cap is on the bottom of the racking cane, it will act as a filter so you don’t move the sediment deposits at the bottom of the mead from the carboy to the bottles. Take the airlock and stopper out of the carboy and put the racking cane into the carboy.

Step 18: Hold the end of the tubing that has the clamp on it low to the ground and over a large empty tub or pot. Unclamp it to let the water pour out of the tube. THIS WILL START THE FLOW OF MEAD (oh yeah!). When mead starts flowing from the tubing, clamp the tubing again and move the tubing to your bottles.

Step 19: Release the clamp to let the mead flow into your bottles. Clamp and unclamp as needed to fill your remaining bottles. Close each bottle and make sure each is sealed well, except of course for the one you want to enjoy right now.

TIPS FOR USING THE INCLUDED HYDROMETER KIT

To determine the alcohol content of a mead: You must take an original gravity reading, after everything is mixed, but before fermentation starts. Record the "Potential Alcohol" level, which might typically be 10-14%. Then, when the fermentation has been completed, take a final reading. Then, subtract the final number from the original, and you have your alcohol level. Say you get a 13.5 PA at first, and a 1 PA at the end. The mead is 12.5% alcohol by volume.

The other very helpful thing with the hydrometer, and this could be more important, is to confirm when it is done fermenting. When you think it may be done, you want to take at least 2 readings, at least a few days apart. As long as its in the expected ending range, and IF the reading has not changed in 2-3 days, the fermentation is complete. On the other hand, if it goes down, it’s still fermenting, so give it more time. This can tell you when to bottle it, so you don't bottle too early with excess sugar.

Note that your alcohol level can vary depending on many factors. As long as it’s in the expected ending range, AND if the gravity does not change over a few days, then it IS done. This will help avoid bottling your mead during a "stuck ferment.“

TIPS

Choose a natural honey for best results. Some of our favorites are clover honey (sweet and mild), tupelo honey (sweet and buttery), and meadowfoam honey (hints of vanilla and marshmallow). Whichever honey you use to make your mead, it will be semi-dry. If you prefer to sweeten it up, you can do so by adding fruit, more honey, or a splash of juice to it.