Better brewing through science.
I don’t think it’s physically possible to make mead faster than this. Three days from pitch to in my belly.
I’ve used a vanilla honeybush spice/tea combo here because it provides a nice body and balance while enhancing the honey flavor. Short meads can be lacking on those fronts, so this is a nice way to compensate. You can get Honeybush tea from www.mountainroseherbs.com.
1. Brew vanilla honeybush tea by adding 1/4 cup honeybush and 1 broken vanilla bean to a French press. Pour in 1 liters of off boil water.
2. Allow to brew until cool.
3. Add 1.5 lbs Palmetto honey, 1 tsp Wyeast Beer Nutrient and strained tea to a carboy.
4. Add water just shy of 1 gallon and mix.
5. Add 1 activated smack pack of Wyeast 1388 and ferment at 75 F.
6. Once the gravity hits 1.010, put it in the fridge to cold crash and stop with residual sweetness. For me, this was Day 2.
7. Drink straight out of the carboy.
8. If you decide to bottle this, you will need to stabilize to avoid bottle bombs!
It has a nice body due to yeast, vanilla and tea tannins. The honey-like flavor of the tea enhances the honey aroma far beyond what a short mead would be capable of. The tea also has a nice spiciness to it that complements the overall beverage. A wonderful and blazing fast summer quencher!
Specs
SG 1.060
FG ~1.005
7.2% ABV