Fruit Mead

One winter when I lived in Montreal, Arielle went down to Aunt Janet and Uncle Randae’s house with the kids. Hal called me up, and I went over and we ate take-out Indian food, and hung out. At one point Hal grabbed a ceramic bottle, and asked me if I wanted some mead. I had never tried it before, and so, with some hesitancy (and expecting a glass of something strong like whiskey), I took a sip. It was delightful.

My next experience with mead came one night in the summer of 2020 when I was getting my hair bleached with my friends on their deck, and we were trying to read tarot cards. It was refreshingly fruity for a hot summer night, and complemented the chaos of our evening perfectly.

Now, fruit mead is one of my favorite projects to undertake — I always have a batch going. Yes, it takes a good few months, but the satisfaction of a cold glass of something you brewed yourself is absolutely worth it. Plus, it makes any celebration more fun, because you really won’t know what to expect until you open it.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs honey

• 24 oz pure fruit juice

• 1 1⁄2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

1. Using a warm water bath, warm the honey in its container until it is pourable. Add the warm honey to a sanitized 1-gallon carboy.

2. Add 1⁄2 tsp yeast onto the warm honey to act as a yeast nutrient. Add juices, shake a little bit to combine and cool down. Add the rest of the yeast. Shake to aerate. Add an airlock and put it in a visible place (watch that it doesnt bubble over).

3. Check after 1 week. Give it a swirl every now and then. Then put it in a cool, dry place.

4. Let it sit for 6 more weeks, then bottle, using sanitized equipment, into 10 (16 oz) air-tight, flip-top bottles.

5. Let sit in bottles for 3 months or longer before enjoying.