At a glance
- Style
- Cyser (spiced)
- Alcohol
- About 13.4% ABV
- Finish
- Semi-sweet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Honey
- Clover or wildflower
- Yeast
- Lalvin 71B
- Ready in
- 3 to 4 months
- Batch
- 1 gallon, scalable
Ingredients
Quantities are for one US gallon (3.8 liters). Pick a batch size and every amount updates; one packet of yeast covers up to six gallons. Not sure how much honey your own twist needs? Use the mead calculator.
- 0.85 gallons Apple juice or fresh cider, 100% juice, no preservatives (no potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate; ascorbic acid is fine)
- 1.75 lb Honey, clover or wildflower (plus about 7 oz more to backsweeten)
- 1 packet Lalvin 71B wine yeast (5 g; one packet covers up to 6 gallons)
- 6 g Go-Ferm (yeast rehydration nutrient) (optional but recommended)
- 5 g Fermaid O yeast nutrient (split into 4 doses, see steps)
- 2 sticks Ceylon cinnamon (or 1 stick of cassia; in secondary)
- 0.5 pods Vanilla bean, split (in secondary)
- 2 Whole allspice berries (in secondary)
- 0.25 Whole nutmeg, cracked (in secondary)
- 0.25 tsp Wine tannin powder (optional) (or 1/2 cup of strong black tea)
- 0.5 tsp Potassium sorbate
- 1 Campden tablet (potassium metabisulfite)
Swapping the fruit or changing the amount? Adding fruit to mead covers how much to use per gallon, when to add it and how long to leave it. This recipe ferments dry and is sweetened at the end: how to backsweeten mead has the stabilizing doses and a honey chart for any batch size.
Equipment
- 2-gallon bucket with lid for primary
- 1-gallon glass jug
- Airlock and drilled bung
- Hydrometer
- Small muslin spice bag
- Auto-siphon and tubing
- No-rinse sanitizer (Star San)
New to this? Our mead making kit checklist covers what each piece does and what you can skip.
Step-by-step method
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Check the juice
Read the label: potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate will stop the yeast from multiplying. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is fine. Take a gravity reading of the juice alone; most US supermarket apple juice reads 1.045 to 1.050.
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Mix the must
Pour the juice into the sanitized bucket (from a 1-gallon jug, hold back about 2.5 cups). Warm the honey so it pours, stir it in until no streaks remain, and add the tannin if using. The reading should be near 1.102.
-
Pitch the yeast
Rehydrate the 71B with the Go-Ferm for 15 minutes and pitch. Keep it at 60 to 68°F (16 to 20°C) under an airlock.
-
Feed the yeast
Apple juice is short of the nitrogen yeast need, so do not skip the nutrients. Add a quarter of the Fermaid O at 24, 48 and 72 hours and at the 1/3 sugar break (about 1.068) or on day 7, degassing gently first.
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Rack when dry
In 2 to 3 weeks the gravity should hold near 1.000 for three days. Rack into the glass jug and top up with a splash of the same juice.
-
Spice in secondary
Put the cinnamon, split vanilla, allspice and cracked nutmeg in a sanitized spice bag with a sanitized marble and drop it in. Taste every 2 to 3 days. Pull the allspice and nutmeg early if they start to lead; the cinnamon and vanilla should. Most batches are done in 7 to 10 days.
-
Clear and stabilize
Leave it 4 to 6 weeks to clear, then add the crushed Campden tablet and sorbate and wait 48 hours.
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Sweeten to pie
Sweeten with honey 1 oz at a time: about 7 oz takes it from 1.000 to 1.014. For more apple on the nose, use thawed frozen apple juice concentrate (no preservatives) for part of it. Take a reading after either.
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Bottle
Bottle and give it at least a month. It is drinkable at about 3 months and smoother at 6.
Timeline
- Day 0Check label, mix, pitch yeast
- Days 1 to 7Four nutrient additions
- Weeks 2 to 3Fermentation finishes, rack
- Weeks 3 to 5Spice bag in, taste every 2 to 3 days
- Week 8 to 10Stabilize, sweeten, bottle
- Month 3 and onDrink; good for about 2 years
Why this recipe works
The base is the same apple-and-honey math as our cyser: about 41 points from 0.85 gal of juice and 61 from 1.75 lb of honey, to start near 1.102. What changes is everything after that.
The yeast is 71B instead of EC-1118. EC-1118 leaves the malic acid alone, which keeps a cyser crisp and fresh-apple. 71B is known for softening malic acid, and here that is the point: the softer, rounder result tastes more like cooked apple, which is what "pie" means in a glass. It tolerates about 14% alcohol, above this recipe.
Vanilla is the ingredient that does the most work. Cinnamon and apple alone read as spiced cider; half a vanilla bean adds the warm, sweet-pastry impression. Allspice and nutmeg are there in small amounts for depth and should never be the first thing you taste.
It finishes sweeter than the cyser, at 1.014 rather than 1.006, because spice and sweetness support each other. Dry spiced apple tastes woody and hot.
Variations
- Caramel apple: caramelize half the honey first as for a bochet for a toffee note that reads like the browned top of a pie.
- Bourbon barrel: add 1/2 oz of medium-toast oak cubes soaked in bourbon for 2 to 3 weeks during clearing.
- Maple apple: backsweeten with dark maple syrup instead of honey, about 6 fl oz to reach 1.014, for a pie-crust-and-syrup note (see our acerglyn recipe).
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Nothing happened after 48 hours | Almost always preservatives in the juice. Check the label again; if it contains sorbate or benzoate, start over with different juice. |
| It smells like rotten eggs | Hydrogen sulfide from nitrogen-starved yeast, which is common with apple juice. Degas, check that every nutrient addition went in, and add 1 g more Fermaid O if you are before the 1/3 break. |
| The spice is too strong | Pull the bag right away. Time softens it, and blending with a plain cyser or a little extra honey helps. Next time, taste every 2 days from day 3. |
More mead recipes to try
- Cyser (apple mead) recipe: Apple juice replaces the water. Crisp, easy and ready sooner than most meads.
- Spiced mead (metheglin) recipe: Cinnamon, clove, orange and vanilla added by taste in secondary. The holiday mead.
- Pumpkin mead recipe: Roasted pie pumpkin in primary, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger in secondary.
More fruit mead recipes: Strawberry mead, Raspberry mead, Blueberry mead, Blackberry mead, Cherry mead, Peach mead, Mango mead (and pineapple mead), Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM), Pyment (grape mead), Elderberry mead, Banana mead, Pomegranate mead, Cranberry mead.
Or browse all our mead recipes. If this is your first batch, start with the traditional mead recipe or the step-by-step guide to making honey wine.
Frequently asked questions
What is apple pie mead?
A cyser (mead made with apple juice) spiced with cinnamon, vanilla and a little allspice or nutmeg, and finished semi-sweet so it tastes of baked apple.
Can I make apple pie mead with store-bought apple juice or cider?
Yes, if it is 100% juice with no potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate. Unfiltered cider gives more apple flavor; filtered juice clears faster. Ascorbic acid on the label is fine.
What spices go in apple pie mead?
Cinnamon and vanilla lead; allspice and nutmeg support. Use whole spices in a bag in secondary, taste every 2 to 3 days and pull them a little before they are as strong as you want.
How is apple pie mead different from cyser?
It uses a softer yeast (71B) for a cooked-apple character, adds pie spices and vanilla in secondary and finishes sweeter, around 1.014 instead of 1.006.
Is apple pie mead the same as apple pie moonshine?
No. Apple pie moonshine is a mixed drink of spiced cider and distilled spirit. Apple pie mead is fermented from honey and apple juice, with no added spirit, at about 13% ABV.
When should I start apple pie mead for the holidays?
By early September for Christmas and by early August for Thanksgiving. It is drinkable at about 3 months and better at 6.
How much honey per gallon of apple pie mead?
1.75 lb per 0.85 gal of juice for a starting gravity near 1.102, plus about 7 oz at the end to sweeten.
How strong is apple pie mead?
This recipe is about 13.4% ABV.