Hey Guys and Gals! A deep red cherry mead. Makes one gallon.
Ingredients
3 pounds honey
2 pounds sweet or tart cherries, pitted
1 gallon water
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 packet wine yeast (Lalvin 71B works well)
Directions
1. Warm half the water, without boiling, and stir in the honey until dissolved.
2. Pit the cherries, crush them lightly and put them in a straining bag in your sanitized primary. Pour in the honey water and top up to one gallon with cool water.
3. Stir the yeast into half a cup of warm water and let it stand 15 minutes until bubbling. Once the must is below 80F, add the yeast and nutrient.
4. Fit an airlock. Bubbling should start in 24 to 48 hours. Leave the fermenter about a third empty for frothing.
5. After 6 to 7 days, when the frothing has slowed, rack the mead off the fruit into a secondary carboy.
6. Ferment 1 to 2 months or more, until clear. Bottle with a siphon, leaving the sediment behind, and age at least 3 months.