At a glance
- Style
- Metheglin
- Alcohol
- About 11.6% ABV
- Finish
- Semi-sweet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Honey
- Wildflower or clover
- Yeast
- Lalvin K1-V1116
- 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.
- 2.5 lb Honey, wildflower or clover
- 0.75 gallons Spring water (to make 1 gallon of must)
- 1 packet Lalvin K1-V1116 wine yeast (one packet covers up to 6 gallons)
- 6 g Go-Ferm (yeast rehydration nutrient) (optional but recommended)
- 4 g Fermaid O yeast nutrient (split into 4 doses, see steps)
- 0.75 oz Dried hibiscus flowers (flor de Jamaica), whole (about 20 g, in secondary)
- 0.5 tsp Potassium sorbate
- 1 Campden tablet
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 and two 1-gallon jugs with airlock
- Hydrometer
- Nylon straining bag and sanitized marbles
- Auto-siphon
- Dark or amber bottles if you have them
New to this? Our mead making kit checklist covers what each piece does and what you can skip.
Step-by-step method
-
Make the base
Sanitize, then dissolve the honey in water to 1 gallon. The gravity should read about 1.088.
-
Pitch the yeast
Rehydrate the K1-V1116 with the Go-Ferm in 50 ml of 104°F (40°C) water for 15 minutes, pitch and keep it at 60 to 68°F (16 to 20°C).
-
Staggered nutrients
Add a quarter of the Fermaid O at 24, 48 and 72 hours and at the 1/3 sugar break (about 1.059). Degas gently before each addition.
-
Rack when finished
When the gravity has been steady near 0.998 to 1.000 for three days, usually after 3 to 4 weeks, rack into a clean jug and let it settle for 2 to 3 weeks.
-
Steep the hibiscus
Put the dried flowers in a weighted bag and drop it in. The color arrives within hours; the tartness builds over the next few days. Taste daily and pull the bag after 2 to 5 days, when the tartness is about where you want it. Longer steeps add a grassy, vegetal note.
-
Rack again
Hibiscus sheds fine sediment. Give it a week or two to settle, then rack into a clean jug and top up to keep oxygen away from the color.
-
Stabilize and sweeten
Add the crushed Campden tablet and sorbate, wait 48 hours, then sweeten with honey 1 oz at a time. About 6 oz lands near 1.012. Taste as you go: the acidity needs that sweetness to taste bright rather than sour.
-
Bottle away from light
Bottle, ideally in dark glass, and store it somewhere dark. The ruby color fades toward brick over months, faster in light and warmth, so this is a mead to enjoy in its first year.
Timeline
- Day 0Mix and pitch
- Days 1 to 7Nutrient additions
- Weeks 3 to 4Rack off the yeast
- Weeks 6 to 7Hibiscus in for 2 to 5 days
- Weeks 8 to 9Rack, stabilize, sweeten, bottle
- Month 3 and onDrink; best color in the first year
Why this recipe works
Hibiscus goes in secondary because it is strongly acidic. Honey musts have little buffering, so their pH already drops during fermentation, and adding a sour flower to primary can push it low enough to slow or stall the yeast. Added to a finished mead, it only changes the flavor. The color also tends to be brighter, since yeast cells absorb some pigment during fermentation.
Three quarters of an ounce per gallon gives a deep ruby and a clear tartness. Half an ounce makes a rosé-colored, gentler mead; past about an ounce it turns sharp and vegetal.
K1-V1116 is a robust, clean-fermenting wine yeast that finishes reliably dry. A neutral base lets the hibiscus define the flavor, and a fermentation that ends cleanly makes the sweetness you add later easy to control.
Hibiscus is familiar as a drink well beyond mead: agua de Jamaica in Mexico, bissap in West Africa, karkadé in Egypt. All are sweetened, for the same reason this mead is semi-sweet. Without sugar, hibiscus reads as sour and thin.
Variations
- Agua de Jamaica style: add half a cinnamon stick and a strip of lime zest with the hibiscus.
- Hibiscus-ginger: add 0.5 oz of sliced fresh ginger to the bag, a nod to West African bissap.
- Sparkling hibiscus rosé: use 0.4 oz of flowers, skip the sorbate, prime with 1 oz of honey and bottle in pressure-rated bottles.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| It is too sour | Sweeten by another ounce or two of honey. Next time use less hibiscus or pull it sooner. |
| The color turned brown or brick | Light, warmth and oxygen fade hibiscus pigments. It cannot be reversed; next time keep the headspace small, bottle in dark glass and drink it younger. |
| It tastes grassy or like tea | The flowers steeped too long. A few months of aging softens it; next time pull them after 2 to 3 days. |
More mead recipes to try
- Lavender mead recipe: A light traditional base with a few days of culinary lavender. Floral, not soapy.
- Ginger mead recipe: Fresh ginger twice, lemon for lift and a crisp, dry finish. Excellent sparkling.
- Raspberry mead recipe: Big berry flavor from 2.5 lb of fruit per gallon, added in secondary and balanced with a semi-sweet finish.
More spiced and herbal mead recipes: Spiced mead (metheglin), Coffee mead (plus chocolate and vanilla), Viking-style 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
How much hibiscus should I use per gallon of mead?
About 0.5 to 1 oz of dried hibiscus flowers per gallon. This recipe uses 0.75 oz for a deep red color and a clear tartness.
When should I add hibiscus to mead?
In secondary, after fermentation. Hibiscus is acidic enough to stress the yeast in primary, and the color is brighter when it is added later.
What does hibiscus mead taste like?
Tart and bright, a little like cranberry, with a light floral edge and a ruby-red color.
Why did my hibiscus mead lose its color?
Hibiscus pigments are unstable and fade with light, heat and oxygen. Store it cool and dark, and drink it within about a year for the best color.
How strong is hibiscus mead?
About 10 to 12% ABV, depending on how dry it ferments before sweetening. It is ready in 3 to 4 months.